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From games and physiotherapy to a career that pays over 60k and above

Hey, I am a mature student, did a 3D animation course (which wasn't taught very well so most of it was self-taught) and ended up doing games art for about 6 years before I realized I did not like it due to salary and lack of much interaction with people. Now doing physiotherapy as I did not want to go into tech and this was the only degree that accepted my qualifications (I am from a different country and getting my qualifications accepted was very difficult). Now I am in my second year of a physiotherapy degree (3 years altogether) and I don't enjoy it. Yes I knew it would not pay well but I was hoping I could get to a 45k salary at least but now due to inflation I am not sure I would be happy with that and I heard that salary is not easy to obtain (you need a masters). Mind, I had to decide on a new career path during covid so did not have the opportunities or time to go around and experiment different careers and I did not want to waste time as I am already old. I just want to find a career that pays better (above 60k with inflation adjusted).

I am currently highly regretting both my degrees, want to drop out of physio, and want to pursue something that pays way more and thinking of maybe getting into tech but in a noncoding area or finance or sales (although I am not very confident in my sales skills). Any advice on what career I could pursue or what path to take? Or should I bear with physiotherapy and then apply for a graduate scheme in the NHS? My problem is that I am getting old and also want to have children so I am unsure how long I can physically and mentally keep working hard.

(edited 5 months ago)

Reply 1

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by Szan01

It's very difficult to say without knowing much about you.

The other thing is that I strongly don't recommend trying to get a job solely for the pay. You can end up being miserable and find life a lot more difficult that you need it to be.

In terms of careers that can offer high pay (e.g. above £50k), they are normally associated with at least one of the following:

Specialised expertise that is difficult to get or master e.g. coding

Require a lot of time and experience e.g. medical consultant, engineer

Low in supply but high in demand e.g. plumbing, electrician

Involves a lot of people skills e.g. finance, property

Involves a lot of risk and responsibility e.g. CEO/management, HR

Directly brings in money to the company e.g. sales, marketing

Requires a lot of hours or input e.g. senior management

Notably there is a lot to tradeoff somewhere if you want something that offers decent pay. You would also need to usually have a lot of experience in order to get that pay i.e. graduates usually don't get 6 figure salaries right off the bat.
Also, why are you depending on your qualification to get you the high salary? Qualifications tend to be the least important factor in most hiring decisions as far as I know.

People also hire based on personality and skills. If you don't fit in to the organisation or team, it usually doesn't matter how spectacular your CV looks, you're not likely going to be hired. I would pick the career that you feel you can do something effortlessly whilst excelling in it, since you're going to have quite a bit of competition from equally capable candidates.

Possible high paying roles can include anything from:

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Management

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Medical consultant

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Business consultant

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Marketing

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Head teacher

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Senior engineer

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Most trades

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Property

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Sales

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Finance - front office more than anything

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Senior programmer

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Designer

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Some experienced jobs in Central London

Do also note, that the roles that pay high fixed salaries (i.e. not performance based) tend to also have short tenures or roles where they can easily get rid of you i.e. not usually stable. If there was any possible layoffs, they usually target people who are paid the most (makes economic sense). You can't have it all.
On the upside, a number of the above roles won't require you to have any particular qualifications usually i.e. you aren't expected to have endless degrees or professional qualificaitons in order to apply for the role.

The thing is if you are looking for something that offers high pay whilst you are working minimal hours, you're not likely going to find it in a job unless it's sales oriented or you are a very seasoned experienced personnel.

As I don't have any further information on you, there is little more I can say. There are various websites that you can check the job profiles for specific careers should you wish:
https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/explore-careers
https://www.careerpilot.org.uk/job-sectors/sectors
https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles