Women earning £100k or more at work took to Mumsnet to share some interesting insights into how they ended up earning six figures - but several top earners said that they had been much happier since packing in their high-paying jobs.
A post on the popular Am I Being Unreasonable Forum sparked the discussion when one user asked women to share the steps they took to get into a job where they earned £100k or more. More than 200 women replied to share their top tips - but surprisingly one of the most common pieces of advice seemed to be that it wasn’t worth the stress.
A former director of finance said that they had started out aged 19 as an accountant’s assistant alongside their degree, and after several promotions following her graduation had ended up on just under £120k. But she admitted that she had given up the job for one that paid a quarter of the salary.
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“Quite frankly it’s not worth it,” she wrote. “I have a lot less stress and more job satisfaction on less than 30k.”
The Mumsnet user added that her top tips were to learn to be assertive, and to take advantage of any training offered up throughout the course of your career. She also advised that anyone hoping to make more than £100k had to be “relentless” and added that people should ask themselves if they have the “mental strength” to deal with the level of stress that comes with such a high-paying job.
A few lawyers commented on the thread to share how they had got into their careers - although many shared similar sentiments over whether making the big bucks was worthwhile. “My pay will keep going up but I work much longer hours than I would like,” one lawyer admitted.
She added that she was planning to reduce her hours and take a pay cut after a few more years. “I like the work and the firm but I want to have time for a life as well!” she said.
Tales of high earners giving it all up seemed to dominate the thread as more people shared why they left their money-making professions. “I was on £98,500 when I packed it all in,” another Mumsnet user revealed.
She recalled: “I woke up at 3:50am every morning thinking about work. I had trouble getting to sleep at night thinking about work.”
After taking early retirement, she said that while she’s “not rich by any means” in money terms, she enjoys her life far more than when she was earning £100k. “I would roll my eyes when people said ‘money isn’t everything’ when I was younger, [but] it really isn’t,” she wrote.
A doctor on £100k still in the profession held a similar view, explaining that she had got into their role following 14 years of further education and specialist training. Saying that she had made “lots of sacrifices”, she admitted that after experiencing PTSD from working through Covid she was doubtful as to whether the job was “worth it”.
However, not everyone agreed - one worker who shared that she was in a leadership role in a tech company said that earning six figures brought her “enormous pride”. Her advice included changing companies to negotiate pay rises, advocating for yourself, and looking into whether your skillset could earn you more in a different sector.
Another Mumsnet user who worked in investment management urged women not to be “scared” of venturing into male-dominated fields, and advised that confidence was the key to success when going for interviews. A different poster working in tech said that there were “no shortcuts”, and that climbing the corporate ladder had involved lots of late nights and weekends spent studying.
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