[Clare~Bear]

(Original post by ily_em)
Minimum wage is £6.08, so assuming a 40-hour week that's £12,646 a year. £18k is nearly 50% more

It might be 50% more, but still, a ~ £3 per hour more, isn't that much considering the average was is about £25k and many people get well above this.

[MancStudent098]

Wow, an £18k starting salary in London. I bet he can afford a really fancy cardboard box.

[jennifex]

(Original post by TheEnigmaUK)
It makes me feel like what's the point of considering University, especially when he's earning that as a starting salary in the job. As far as I know, it's an Admin type assistant job, which his sister referred him to at her law firm in London. Maybe it is "who you know" and not "what you know" because he's seem to have done okay out of it. He used to work in a Factory doing different duties, from office work to helping in the main factory lifting/carrying/manufacturing etc.

I know he's a single case, but is it even worth getting into debt and going Uni these days? Especially when people can earn £18,000 starting salary in a job like that.
To be fair though, he is 24 years old working in an admin assistant job, but at the end of the day he's earning a decent salary, which could increase. He hasn't even got a degree, he was just working at the same place for a few years before his sister referred him to his new job.

I feel like c**p, because I'm 23 and considering going back into education for 4 more years, yet he's earning a decent salary without a degree or much college study.

What do you think..?

huh? Do you actually think that nobody without a degree should earn over £18,000? A degree doesn't equal a job with a large salary. Actually this is so fundamental I can't even be bothered explaining it!

[Serentonin]

It's hardly a lot I'm on 17k and mines just a crappy retail gap year job.

[Norfolkadam]

I concur with most of the replies, I don't have a degree and I'm on £20,000 a year, it's nothing that special. I live comfortably but I've hardly got money to burn.

[Pitt1988]

I've got a mate who never got a degree, didn't even get A-levels but he's just worked at the same company since leaving school and managed to bag a 30k+ a year job at 23.

University isn't the be all and end all; Alan Sugar and Richard Branson will tell you that!

[jus2sik]

(Original post by someonesomewherexx)
Yep, It's who you know/who knows you...I'm attending more career fairs and networking events now, It's not too late for anyone.

i was thinking along the lines of building up a sexual relationship with a manager, it worked great for my old team leader, she got sacked after her fourth disciplinary and the boss hooked her up with a job in a estate agents starting at 22000 a year

[someonesomewherexx]

(Original post by jus2sik)
i was thinking along the lines of building up a sexual relationship with a manager, it worked great for my old team leader, she got sacked after her fourth disciplinary and the boss hooked her up with a job in a estate agents starting at 22000 a year

Don't do it, relationships like that don't always end well. What's the guarantee that she'll hook you up with a better job or even any at all?. Work hard, put all you've got into whatever you do and you'll be rewarded .

Easy to say isn't it

[canŵio]

I'm starting a degree knowing I'll rack up huge amounts of debt.

My brother doesn't have a degree - or A-Levels for that matter - and at 19 (same age as me) is earning £30,000.

It sounds pretty amazing but he had to create his own opportunities - he applied for an apprenticeship and kept calling. After a year of waiting he finally talked his way in, and now he's completed his 3 year course, he's earning a bucketload and was even given a company car.

The thing is, that would never have worked for me because I'm not interested in any apprenticeship schemes, I've always been interested in the academic side of subjects so going to uni is the right thing for me. sure it will cost a lot of money, but that's why i'm going to make it worth my while.

[melevin9]

Im pretty sure you said he lives in London. An 18k job in London is equivalent to a 14k basic salary job in another part of the country. A 24 year old earning that much is nothing special so dont get downhearted

[Blind Ferret]

Surely you're not just finding out that it's now what you know, it's who you know. It's about networking these days, even with a good degree.

[Arsene Wenger]

A degree isn't the be all and end all. I graduated in 2009 but still struggle to get a job. I think having a university qualification is more of a novelty thing now.

[the bear]

all of these "my mate who has just one GCSE blagged his way into a £40K job with a company beemer and has hot chicks coming out of his ****" posts are frankly hilarious...

a degree is one's passport to the republic of knowledge, where a man's worth is not judged by the size of his bank balance or hotness of his chicks; a penniless graduate is de facto of greater worth than some millionaire carpet vendor.

[TheEnigmaUK]

(Original post by Pitt1988)
I've got a mate who never got a degree, didn't even get A-levels but he's just worked at the same company since leaving school and managed to bag a 30k+ a year job at 23.

University isn't the be all and end all; Alan Sugar and Richard Branson will tell you that!

Yeah, but Branson and Sugar started their careers 40+ years ago, when technology was relatively unknown. They made technology more advanced, and in return, they earned 100's of millions.

[britchick]

If he were to lose his job or to be made redundant, however, he would not have a degree to fall back on to make his application stronger. Unless he knows other people who can get him another decent job without needing a degree, chances are he will find it harder to find as good a job than someone who went to university.

[TheEnigmaUK]

(Original post by Arsene Wenger)
A degree isn't the be all and end all. I graduated in 2009 but still struggle to get a job. I think having a university qualification is more of a novelty thing now.

I agree, but isn't it more important what your degree is in? For me, if I was to go back to education, it would no way be for an Art or Media degree. At 23 (25 if I started Uni next year) years old, I don't want to waste time going back to education unless it's for a worthwhile degree. I had my heart set on going back to study for Physiotherapy, but after doing some research I'm not sure if Physiotherapy is even a viable option either. So I really don't know what to do any more!

[Octohedral]

The point of a degree is to learn an academic subject.

Sadly, the government have decided to push half the population through academia, and it's pointless. If you want to be an academic, do Chemistry. If you want to be a plumber, get an apprenticeship. If you want to be a banker, get a low paid banking job / apprenticeship and work your way up.

Obviously this doesn't always work in real life - many jobs, for some unknown reason, want graduates. I can understand, for example, maths and banking, but what is the point in spending three years studying archaeology, at the taxpayers' expense, just so you can start a career in management at Tescos? (actual example).

I DON'T GET IT.

/rant

[Pitt1988]

(Original post by TheEnigmaUK)
Yeah, but Branson and Sugar started their careers 40+ years ago, when technology was relatively unknown. They made technology more advanced, and in return, they earned 100's of millions.

Just because the technology around then wasn't as good, doesn't mean there won't be technologies available different to what we have now in 40+ years time. In fact, probably even more scope for entrepreneurial exploits with technology's exponential growth.

[Sternumator]

Its alright now but it won't increase much. It would be hard to raise a family, buy a house and all the other usual stuff off 18k in London.

[sarah-clara.jones]

It is interesting how people don't think 18,000 is a lot. I am working abroad at the moment and objectively 18,000 sounds like a dream. When I was in London I probably wouldn't have thought it was that much either, it's all relative. But I think it is possible to be happy on much less. Just it is the culture in London to always want more.