Do not go into engineering

I'm pretty sure OP is either trolling or is very much seeing everything through rose tinted glasses.

OP complains that Engineering is soul destroying then offers IB as an alternative which while earning noticeably more involves working double the hours or more each week and is generally not considered to be a particularly skilled or fulfilling job.

I grew up in the finance world and all the earnings that come with it, even more actually as I come from a higher income area than the UK. But actually you don't make that much more than what OP is saying unless you're in the Big 4 or really climbing ladders. My friends are now on 6 years of experience in the industry, working at major companies albeit not Big 4 and they are making just over the £30k mark. It's also worth noting that the typical route to a finance career is not via a degree and so to an extent you have already made a mistake if you've gone the degree route akin to the side of engineering that most people will come here for.

I had a pretty good life offered to me working for a medium sized company in the finance/business sector, with salaries most people making this choice could only dream of, travel opportunities with first class tickets across the world, access to the company's helicopter, being on the board before I turned 25 let alone 40 which would already be an incredible feat for most. That's what the right engineering expertise and the right job seeking expertise at the right place and time will get you in that industry, you can turn their millions into much more and they will return the favour in kind. That life wasn't my cup of tea however, of course it will be for some people but you really need to be in the situation before you know. It's also far from the norm, you get that when you run circles around the current people running things, not being a bog standard graduate.

It's also worth noting that engineering jobs tend to be in areas with lower cost of living so while you may be earning less you will have a lot more disposable income. For context I'm currently on my PhD stipend of £15k (~£17k taxable income equivalent) plus a little extra from other work in a major city, I have my own apartment, I eat out at good restaurants, and I'm on track to have about £5k leftover this year (or I would have if I wasn't travelling a lot). The main difference is I don't drive which would add about £3k per year from what I've seen and no council tax for ~£1.5k per year, but also I'm living in a more expensive area than many engineers would so even £20k as a salary can afford a pretty good life in these kinds of areas. Once you get past that, if you don't have a family to support then you are just giving yourself more disposable income. For good finance jobs you will be in much more expensive areas where the value of your salary quickly diminishes.

Engineering is an awful career if you want to have a nice quality of life, be able to have kids,provide for a family then avoid engineering!

I've been in Aerospace since 2012 terrible pay you'll struggle to eat and pay your bills forget raising a family.

They say there's a shortage of engineers in UK

(Translation)
There's a shortage of people willing to work a High stress, high responsibility, high pressure for McDonald's level pay.

Your salary peaks in 3-5 years with zero further progression (more responsibility yes more pay no)

When your 25 knowing your current salary is what you can expect to get for the rest of Your career most years not even keeping up with inflation is pretty soul destroying.

After tution fees your worse of than if you just left school and started working in a supermarket.

Go into financial medical law instead. Hope someone heads this warning before you wake up 30 and it's too late

As an MEng EE graduate I agree with this post and would encourage anyone to avoid doing an engineering degree. Most of the jobs are small companies who will pay you £18k for high stress and high responsibility. The bigger companies are difficult to get into and you are usually just a number in an office cubicle. I would recommend becoming an electrician or maintenance engineer through an apprenticeship instead as the job is easier overall and the pay is around the same

I'm pretty sure OP is either trolling or is very much seeing everything through rose tinted glasses.
OP complains that Engineering is soul destroying then offers IB as an alternative which while earning noticeably more involves working double the hours or more each week and is generally not considered to be a particularly skilled or fulfilling job.

Well, I made it into a decent engineering firm that rhymes with Pesto . I do get paid well, my contract says 9-5 but the reality is more of like 8-8 plus most of Saturdays and often Sundays. In the past 6 years I might have slept in "my" office 10-12x. I am at 65k but at what cost. Getting into finance ins't very smart, they all get replaced by software anyway...

I don't believe this is true I know plenty of civil engineering grads who work approx 60 hours per week.
I don't think that people in IB work 120 hours per week (correct me if I'm wrong)

Herein lies the problem and the reason why engineers work long hours extra time for no more money.

TOO MANY YESMEN WHO DONT HAVE A BACKBONE TO SAY NO.

If your contract says 9-5 then you come in at 9 and leave at 5 if the boss has a problem tell them "Unlucky these are my contracted hours you want me to work longer then you pay me more money" or negotiate any extra hours today means an early finish of the same amount on friday.

But there are plenty of other yesmen out there to replace you so they don't care and it will be the same in the next job you go to.

This is the reason I didn't do engineering.

Even if a civil engineer with 5yr experience earns £40k they are likely working 60 hours.
A nurse is contracted for 36-37.5 hours, if they work hours over this they get paid overtime with a bonus so if they had to do 60 hours they'd probably get more than an engineer with a similar level of experience.

Sorry if this comes of as rude but this is just my opinion

What are you all talking about? Entry role for Elec or Mech Engineer in either design or manufacturing starts at £25k minimum (not sure about research and development). Realistically you will get £28-32k straight out of Uni on almost any 2-year graduate programme. Working 37.5h/week with little overtime (unless you ask for it, which will be compensated). +Benefits.
Having enough experience (3-5 years) you choose whether to excel in technology (lead engineering, senior engineering) or go into engineering management or engineering project/program management. At this stage you can expect anything between £42k up to £60k, depending on responsibilities and your impact. Again, 37.5h/week, however taking on greater responsibilities can sometimes mean working early/late or weekends - and yes, compensated!

I worked with both Technology departments (design engineering) and within manufacturing for a few years and have yet to experience any real pressure. I saw maybe 1-2 crysis situations a year max, but again, somethings is not right with the company itself (not the career) if you experience pressure all the time.

I enjoy my work (and the pay of course). Have energy after work and enjoy coming back to work every morning.

Having said that, every company is different, so choose wisely.

Thanks for the great insight.

What degree did you do just out of curiosity?

I graduated with BEng in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Manchester Metropolitan Uni.

Nice, are you still in design/technical engineering now or have you decided to go down the management path?

Also what is your day to day (at work) normally like?

Yes, I’m still in very technical role, although I consider managing a team of engineers if the opportunity comes as I’d like to keep engaged in technical stuff even then.

I’m regards to my daily activities - as I work in manufacturing at the moment (electronics assemblies), half the time its fault finding half the time improvements projects.
There’s a buttload of things I am yet to do and it’s great as I don’t like sitting around doing nothing.
Large projects are usually associated with implementing production automation which consist of the solution high level design and validation, followed by circuit design, trial and error, coding, learning new things, etc. All the fun stuff

It depends on where you can get a job if you earn 30k in the North of England then it's ok you coico have a reasonable life not great but not bad. Down south your poverty stricken.

Still a good career abroad if you don't mind leaving. Me I don't want to leave for family reasons

My personal experience I've been working at a major aero company since 2012 my entire life saving right now £321 awesome right? Debt collection coming I'm behind on council tax!

Salary doesn't even cover cost of living where the company is based Mate who left school worked in Starbucks ever since got a house, savings nice lifestyle no tuition fees

If it's your passion then Go abroad it's still a respected profesion with good pay just not in UK

What are you all talking about? Entry role for Elec or Mech Engineer in either design or manufacturing starts at £25k minimum (not sure about research and development). Realistically you will get £28-32k straight out of Uni on almost any 2-year graduate programme. Working 37.5h/week with little overtime (unless you ask for it, which will be compensated). +Benefits.

Not realistic at all as graduate schemes are highly competitive to get into (I had MEng from a good university + work experience and had no chance). The headline bigger companies may offer the salaries you mention but certainly not for smaller or medium ones.

I have been to many interviews at smaller and medium-sized comapnies and all of them were only prepared to offer me minimum wage or slightly above as a graduate engineer (with MEng and 2 work experiences at this point). I've even been laughed at for answering the question what pay do you expect with "something above minimum wage".

I was promised £20-25k at my first job by the recruitment consultant but offered £18k by the company (medium-sized). They said they would review my salary at 3 months and then 6 months but a year later it still never happened. During this time my boss engineer who often worked weekends, through lunch and didn't take his holidays joked about me coming in at weekends unpaid and then said "what's so funny" when I laughed. The fact I booked holidays, took my lunch half hour and left work on time was frowned upon.

As for progression on salary all I'm saying is that the senior engineers (20+ years experience) said that the electricians that they work with from other companies earn more than them.

Sounds like you are not an Engineer