Potential Career Earnings dilemma.....please help

MiddyMum

Please be gentle with me! :rotfl:

I am 25 years old and have spent the last 2 years educating myself to be in the position to apply for a Midwifery degree. I have volunteered on postnatal ward during that time, and since I have 5 years experience of working within the care sector I feel I have a good understanding of what the role involves.

I had always resigned myself to the fact that Midwives don't get paid very well, but since I could see myself in the role, would be good at it and passionate about it this is just one of the things I was just going to have to deal with.

Lately, I have been looking at my finances in a lot more detail. I have made a decision to not take a student loan during the 3 year course as it's non-means tested and everyone applying for this course gets 2k, and if I work while I train I could scrimp and go without this debt. I would get a NHS bursary too, so I would leave university with no debt whatsoever. It worries me that a midwives salary tends to max out at around 30-40K. Although, looking on the NHS pay scales there is scope to earn more than this, right up to 67k in fact but after looking at the distribution of NHS salaries this is very rare for midwives. 30-40k is a very good salary, please don't get me wrong here. But, there seems to be a lot of bad morale in the NHS, lots of red tape, paper work, less time for care. I hear from Nurses and midwives that the role just isn't what it used to be. Although, I do like that the NHS has one of the best pensions around.

I am a go-getter, ambitious, and have a work hard ethic.Working very long hours does not bother me if I know I have the potential to be remunerated well. I think I would be a good midwife, and would do very well in my career. Although, I can't help but wonder if I would be better placed in a role that could earn a little more. I consider myself to be of good intelligence (not above average), but I had always dreamed that one day I would be in a position to pay for my daughter to go to private school. Am I kiddng myself if I think I will be able to do that on a single midwives salary? I think I am.

My career should never be all about the money, as money is not worth being miserable for. However, I would be lying to myself if I said there wasn't things in my life that I want to achieve, those things require a good earning potential..

Not sure what I am asking here...a few years ago I considered Accounting & Finance/Economics but shrugged it off as I didn't think I was that good at Maths but on my Access course I got really high marks in my statistics modules. Care work is all I have ever done but a little part of me is wondering whether I should broaden my horizons now while I am still young.

Doing a degree in Accounting & Finance would mean that I would incur debt! However, it would enable me to satisfy my desire for a role that could challenge me a lot more, and give me the peace of mind that I could put money towards the things I actually want in life too. I don't want to be one of these people that moan about how much they are paid but do nothing about it.

Not sure what I am asking, I dont have any parents I can ask about this so it's all in my head and feel a little lost as I thought being a midwife is what I wanted.

Firefox1975

I think you will learn alot in the next 15 - 20 years.

I don't want to be negative - but it's hard not to be realistic.

I can;t tell you anything about midwifery - but i can tell you i work in Finance and I have for 18 years - I don't get anywhere near the "low" ? salary you are aiming for.

Please don't be too disheartened if your plans of earning lots of money don't come to fruition. But I applaud your enthusiasm!:T

and good luck!:beer:

MiddyMum

Thank you for replying, do you mind if I ask what area of finance you work in? Oh, and I don't think 30-40k is low at all. I guess I am just wondering whether I will need to earn more with some of the plans I dream of.

jenijen27

Don't forget that there will also be shift allowances etc on top of the basic salary which can add quite a lot.
Also I don't think many people manage to work alongside studying midwifery as you have to work the same hospital shifts as your mentor when on placements. You also won't get the same holidays as people doing other degrees

DKLS

Dont forget as an Agency midwife you should be able to get you between 31-55 quid an hour. and if you considered taking your skills abroad you could get anything between 50-100k.
A couple of old friends of mine, one went to Canada as an A&E nurse, the other went to the Seychelles! as a nurse.

Ps Its nice to see some ambition on this forum for a change.

MiddyMum

jenijen27 wrote: »

Don't forget that there will also be shift allowances etc on top of the basic salary which can add quite a lot.
Also I don't think many people manage to work alongside studying midwifery as you have to work the same hospital shifts as your mentor when on placements. You also won't get the same holidays as people doing other degrees

Yes, I hadn't taken into account the shift allowance and overtime actually.

I would have to work alongside the course, as I want to be able to save some money. It will only be a couple of shifts a week at Tescos stacking shelves so it won't be taxing. It will be tiring yes as I will be working on the wards as well as doing assignments but I need to or I will graduate without any money in my bank.

MiddyMum

DKLS wrote: »

Dont forget as an Agency midwife you should be able to get you between 31-55 quid an hour. and if you considered taking your skills abroad you could get anything between 50-100k.
A couple of old friends of mine, one went to Canada as an A&E nurse, the other went to the Seychelles! as a nurse.

Ps Its nice to see some ambition on this forum for a change.

Thank you for replying.

I hadn't considered the agency thing either! I am going to have a look at that, £55 an hour is loads! Maybe all is not lost..:rotfl:I dont mind doing two jobs when the time comes, tiring yes but I am prepared to put up with the exhaustion for a little while if it means I can have a healthy bank balance.

dizzyrascal

Is there any particular reason why you want a private education for your child?
I can think of many things that might do more good and prepare them for the world. Investing in extra tuition or perhaps investing in a good hobby/sport or world travel.
Private schools are not all they are cracked up to be, some are really poor. They get good results because they select their pupils and have smaller classes.
Also don't forget that you have to find the fees out of earned income, plus all the extras.
The fees also go up with every year at school so that secondary fees can be as much as 3 times the amount of the primary school fees. Sixth form will be even more.
If your child is able and bright they should do well in most schools. Might be worth thinking about getting them into the better schools in your area (this can take some planning)
It's just a thought.

Idiophreak

If you trained, and became a midwife, why do you assume that would be it for your life?

It's the same in most careers...if you stop on the first rung of the ladder, you stop being able to earn the big bucks.

So, imagine working as a midwife for 5 years...then maybe you start to manage a team of midwives, then maybe you become a regional director for midwives...Have you looked at the salaries that midwive's bosses get? Their bosses?

As you may tell, I don't know much about midwives, but the point I'm making is that educating yourself to do a role doesn't limit you to that role for your whole life. You've a career in front of you...your first job is just the first step.

Idiophreak

dizzyrascal wrote: »

They get good results because they select their pupils and have smaller classes.

...which is why you pay for it.

I quite agree with your sentiment, and I'm a long way from convinced by a lot of the methods I've seen in private schools, but it's hard to argue with the results they get.

Personally, like you, I believe there are other things you can invest the money in to improve your children's overall life and prospects...but if the OP has it in their mind as an aspiration, that's their call...

MiddyMum

The reason I want her to go to private school is because first and foremost most of them do get results. One I had my eye on had a GCSE success rate of 100% A*- C, with 60% getting at least 7 A grades. I also like that these schools can open up oppurtunities that I never had growing up, call it a " who you know " type of thing. Uni's like Oxford and Cambridge won't admit that they look at the type of secondary school you went too when you apply for an Undergrad but they sure do.