when starting at the bottom in an industry, how does it take to get a decent salary?

fitnessguy1

if someone starts at the bottom in any industry, how long would you say it takes for them to reach a level where their pay is good - very good?

i was looking at going into the media/entertainment industry because that's where most of my interests lie, but i understand it's competitive and also doesn't pay that well when starting out.

i just wondered how long it took you to get to a level in your industry where your pay was maybe above average to really good. does it take as long as 5, 10, 15 years?

i am not opposed to working hard, it's just when you're slogging away every single day without any recognition, i.e. a pay increase, then it would really feel like "is this worth it?" because i would do all that's possible to reach a good level in a short amount of time if i can.

the reason i ask this is because i have been in and out of dead end jobs, so now i want to try my hand at something entirely different and actually get recognition for it, instead of working in minimum wage jobs for people who give no care in the world about you or your financial worth.

i need to kind of start from the bottom as i don't particularly have any discernible qualifications and never knew what i wanted to do so had become too comfortable with my work life, but now want a change and need to really work my !!! off to gain some financial stability for once in my life.

TELLIT01

It's an impossible question to answer. Part will come down to how good you are at the job, and whether your opinion of how good you are is shared by the employer. In the current market it will take much longer than it did pre-recession. I certainly wouldn't expect to go from the bottom to 'very good' in the space of a few years without changing jobs a couple of times.
Employers seem more willing to pay a higher salary to new staff than they are to pay the same figure to existing staff to retain them.

asajj

TELLIT01 wrote: »

It's an impossible question to answer. Part will come down to how good you are at the job, and whether your opinion of how good you are is shared by the employer. In the current market it will take much longer than it did pre-recession. I certainly wouldn't expect to go from the bottom to 'very good' in the space of a few years without changing jobs a couple of times.
Employers seem more willing to pay a higher salary to new staff than they are to pay the same figure to existing staff to retain them.

This ^

Also sometimes people get lucky

Gavin83

It also depends on what your definition of a very good salary is.

As said above there are too many variables to answer the question. Depends how good you are, your company and to a certain degree luck. The industry you work in will make a difference as well.

TELLIT01

Just by way of illustration - in one job which I was in pre-recession my salary almost doubled in the space of about 6 years. In one post-recession it increased by no more than 1% each year. Take inflation into account and that was a real world pay cut each year!

theoretica

fitnessguy1 wrote: »

i just wondered how long it took you to get to a level in your industry where your pay was maybe above average

To consider the really simplistic view where everyone's pay increases with experience at the same rate then for a working life of 45 years you would get to the median point in 20-25 years. Obviously, life is more complicated than that. Some people's salaries shoot up really fast, and other people's don't.

TELLIT01

Even if you got into a job where they stated you would reach a set point in the pay scale after x years, assuming good performance, it's not straightforward. One place I worked had that system but when somebody questioned why they weren't on the set point after x years, they were told they were. The set point as far as the company was concerned was at the level when the person started.
To clarify, person starts job and set point after 5 years is stated to be £20k. Pay band increases 5% per year so after 5 years that set point is theoretically nearer £26k, but original "set point" of 20k remains applicable for person who started 5 years previous.

BitterAndTwisted

I work in the media/entertainment industry and most people earn barely above minimum wage at entry-level. Factor in fighting tooth-and-nail against others with a degree or family/friends in the industry to get even an interview, shifts, unsociable hours and all the rest, you've got to be totally dedicated to a long-term career or you won't even be able to get started.

People only really start earning half-decent money when they have seriously-good experience and go freelance or move up into management. How long that might take would be up to you.

n.b. working your @rse off rarely if ever equates to "financial stability"

fitnessguy1

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

I work in the media/entertainment industry and most people earn barely above minimum wage at entry-level. Factor in fighting tooth-and-nail against others with a degree or family/friends in the industry to get even an interview, shifts, unsociable hours and all the rest, you've got to be totally dedicated to a long-term career or you won't even be able to get started.

People only really start earning half-decent money when they have seriously-good experience and go freelance or move up into management. How long that might take would be up to you.

n.b. working your @rse off rarely if ever equates to "financial stability"

yeah, i thought it was a very competitive industry. i was thinking along the lines of the big companies, t.v. networks etc, where the competition would be even worse. how long do people stay at the entry level? is it case by case, some people move up faster?

see, for me management wouldn't be my thing because of too much responsibility. i guess i would be content with a level or two below management as long as the pay was still good.

when i say "hard work" i mean more along the lines of just working hard, doing whatever can be done to keep moving up in the fastest way possible. on the opposite spectrum you have construction workers who work their butts off but aren't being paid much, so i guess it's all relative.

szam_

Can't speak for that industry but in my industry I'm currently on nearly 26k. I have an interview tomorrow and my team leader (who I found out is leaving today actually so actually told her what my half day leave was for) told me to aim for between 30 and 35k as that's what my skills are currently worth.

I'm 27 and been in my industry (working) for around 5 years - I have no A-Levels, BTEC or Degree, I'm mostly self-taught. In my opinion it's been a pretty good return for me so far.

missbiggles1

fitnessguy1 wrote: »

yeah, i thought it was a very competitive industry. i was thinking along the lines of the big companies, t.v. networks etc, where the competition would be even worse. how long do people stay at the entry level? is it case by case, some people move up faster?

see, for me management wouldn't be my thing because of too much responsibility. i guess i would be content with a level or two below management as long as the pay was still good.

when i say "hard work" i mean more along the lines of just working hard, doing whatever can be done to keep moving up in the fastest way possible. on the opposite spectrum you have construction workers who work their butts off but aren't being paid much, so i guess it's all relative.

What skills, qualifications and experience do you have to offer?