The Student Room Group

Your degree and your career aspirations - how do they match up?

Scroll to see replies

Original post by Trapz99
They actually work very hard for their money. The lifestyle is not really glamorous or lazy like a lot of people think. I wouldn't even say they are overpaid.


I see. Could you elaborate?
Undergrad:
Degree: Petroleum Engineering
Jobs/Careers of Interest: Just wanted a degree and to get into postgrad oxbridge/Imperial (pretty much from first semester, I had been looking into them).
Graduate Salary Expected: 25-33k (Achieved lower end of the spectrum)

Postgrad
Degree: Metals and Energy Finance
Jobs/Careers of Interest: Reserves Based Lending/ general energy finance
Graduate Salary Expected: 40k+?, don't really care though.
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Oilfreak1
Undergrad:
Degree: Petroleum Engineering
Jobs/Careers of Interest: Just wanted a degree and to get into postgrad oxbridge/Imperial (pretty much from first semester, I had been looking into them).
Graduate Salary Expected: 25-33k (Achieved lower end of the spectrum)

Postgrad
Degree: Metals and Energy Finance
Jobs/Careers of Interest: Reserves Based Lending/ general energy finance
Graduate Salary Expected: 40k+?, don't really care though.


Have you thought about project financing, commods trading etc?

Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by Princepieman
Have you thought about project financing, commods trading etc?

Posted from TSR Mobile


It's funny you should mention that because I've actually recently established a rapport with an associate in energy project finance at SG lol. It's definitely something i'm interested in.

Commod trading is something i'd love to do, but i'm not sure i'm cut out for it. At least right now anyway. I could change my tune after I get stuck into the MSc.

For now all I know for sure wrt my immediate career post - masters is that I don't want to go into M&A. (So i'm probably going to end up in M&A)
Degree: Maths & Physics BSc/MSci. (Part III/MSc at Oxbridge? PhD?)
Jobs/Careers of Interest: Actuary. (Quantitative analyst/researcher/developer etc..)
Graduate Salary Expected: 25-35k (+)
Original post by Princepieman
Because then you'd realise most bankers are pretty normal people, not 'robots' as you so aptly put it.

Are you one of those news hipsters who's convinced all mainstream media is conspiracy?

Posted from TSR Mobile


Degree: BTEC
Jobs/Careers of Interest: The banking or the consulting managing thing
Graduate Salary Expected:85-115k


is this a realistic starting salary?
Original post by welcometoib
Degree: BTEC
Jobs/Careers of Interest: The banking or the consulting managing thing
Graduate Salary Expected:85-115k


is this a realistic starting salary?


LOOOOOOL, ofc, expect a 90% Y-o-Y increase as well..
Original post by Princepieman
LOOOOOOL, ofc, expect a 90% Y-o-Y increase as well..


oh, my friend in year 11 told me all the bankers earn 115k in their first year and he will earn that too, so i believed him.
Degree: Law
Jobs/Careers of Interest: Medical Law (Defence)
Graduate Salary Expected: eHow.co.uk suggests that the average salary is £118,059, but newly qualified solicitors are expected to start on £20-30k.
Degree- English and Creative writing
Job of interest- Editor
Salary- £26k
Original post by evalilyXOX
Degree: Law
Jobs/Careers of Interest: Medical Law (Defence)
Graduate Salary Expected: eHow.co.uk suggests that the average salary is £118,059, but newly qualified solicitors are expected to start on £20-30k.


Seems way too low for a newly qualified..

Most city (London based) firms are paying in the region of £55-75k on qualification (US firms pay more but they don't do your specialisation of interest, I don't think). Provincial firms are more £30-40k on qualification.

The average seems a tad high, I don't think many places outside of London will shell that much out to regular solicitors (i.e. non-partners), but then again it would be achievable 5+ years PQE at a decent firm in London.


Posted from TSR Mobile
I'm hoping to start a degree in BA Journalism, Media & Sociology in September. No idea what job I want but possibly Politics, Journalism or sociological research :smile:
Original post by Princepieman
- Learning curve
- Solid formal and on-the-job training
- Interesting and challenging work environment
- Fast paced, varied work
- Working on deals that will shape the business landscape alongside the executives of large scale companies
- Solid network of smart, high potential co-workers
- The upward trajectory is very fast (if you stay)
- Tonnes of responsibility
- Build a core set of both hard (modelling, analysis etc) and soft (communication, work ethic etc) skills
- Exit opportunities to other jobs
- Pay
- Prestige
- etc..


Bearing this in mind for the GS "Why IBD?" interview question bro^
Original post by Metrododo
Bearing this in mind for the GS "Why IBD?" interview question bro^


LOOOOL no probs man. Inb4 they fast-track you to partner for such a perfect response.
Original post by Princepieman
LOOOOL no probs man. Inb4 they fast-track you to partner for such a perfect response.


Ofc, with the 500k welcome bonus :scrooge:
Original post by Princepieman
Because then you'd realise most bankers are pretty normal people, not 'robots' as you so aptly put it.

Are you one of those news hipsters who's convinced all mainstream media is conspiracy?

Posted from TSR Mobile


Hipster? No, I'm not 12. I'm just not a sheep. Are you trying to tell me that bankers aren't in it for the money? What are they doing then, cause they sure ain't saving kids with cancer...
Original post by BizzStrut
For 15 years. Then they're out of the system. And everybody else is still slaving a 9-5 for another 30.


'Everybody else?'. Not all of us are doing jobs purely for the salary - some of us chose vocations that make a difference to peoples lives.
Original post by KatieBlogger
Hipster? No, I'm not 12. I'm just not a sheep. Are you trying to tell me that bankers aren't in it for the money? What are they doing then, cause they sure ain't saving kids with cancer...


Yeah, cuz everyone working in the UK is going to save kids from cancer..

What they do is provide a service, they help allocate capital to the organisations (gov, corporations, non-profits etc) that need it. They also act as intermediaries, advising on how best to buy or sell other entities. Traders/salespeople provide liquidity to the market - for example your pension, which is invested into the public markets by pension funds, would be at risk from said funds being unable to come in or exit transactions as easily in the public markets. Leaving significant risk exposure to price movements, a.k.a you losing a chunk of your pension.

A lot of this stuff is pretty damn large scale, and without it, the glue that smoothens out how capital is allocated would disappear leaving chaos behind. People don't understand this yet pass it off as 'evil' because that's the easier route to take.

No one would survive in the city if they're only motivation was 'money'. The money is the side effect of the career, not the reason for sticking through it for so long.
(edited 7 years ago)
Reply 198
(Hopeful) Degree: MechEng
Jobs/Careers of Interest: Formula one aerodynamicist/ race engineer
Graduate Salary Expected: 40-45k, maybe as high as 50k
Original post by Princepieman
Yeah, cuz everyone working in the UK is going to save kids from cancer..

What they do is provide a service, they help allocate capital to the organisations (gov, corporations, non-profits etc) that need it. They also act as intermediaries, advising on how best to buy or sell other entities. Traders/salespeople provide liquidity to the market - for example your pension, which is invested into the public markets by pension funds, would be at risk from said funds being unable to come in or exit transactions as easily in the public markets. Leaving significant risk exposure to price movements, a.k.a you losing a chunk of your pension.

A lot of this stuff is pretty damn large scale, and without it, the glue that smoothens out how capital is allocated would disappear leaving chaos behind. People don't understand this yet pass it off as 'evil' because that's the easier route to take.

No one would survive in the city if they're only motivation was 'money'. The money is the side effect of the career, not the reason for sticking through it for so long.


All I read was "concepts totally removed from workers humanity", "I think the things these workers are doing are massively important even though it's just stuff we've made up which wouldn't mean a thing if we were hit with a nuclear bomb tomorrow. Who would you want whilst the world was burning? A really ''important'' banker or a medically trained individual?

Banking is devoid of humanity, nature, compassion etc and it would have zero meaning if we stripped it of it's meaning whereas other professions have inherent meaning...but yeah, banking is really important to make the earth spin on it's axis. I'd say the same thing about working in Tesco. It's all the same to me.

Take it all away - what matters? What would need to be done and be worth doing regardless of monetary systems? Helping people, helping animals, helping the environment...or banking? Being a nurse or carer, protecting endangered animals, replanting forests etc is important - not playing around with numbers which mean nothing without the meaning we've placed on them.

I haven't said banking is evil I've just said people do it for the money - I'm not wrong. People don't think ''I want to be a banker in London'' in order to make a difference to the world - they do it for money.

Quick Reply