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

VanyaHargreeves

I have a LOT of friends in the film/media etc industry, and to tell you the truth, when you're starting out you'd be lucky to get unpaid work experience, let alone paid work.

DigForVictory

Ever thought of teaching? Seriously, it can be well paid, but perhaps more importantly, you'll have a lasting impact on a lot of people for decades.

I can forget bands, adverts etc. I haven't figured how to exorcise Mrs.V...

Callie22

VanyaHargreeves wrote: »

I have a LOT of friends in the film/media etc industry, and to tell you the truth, when you're starting out you'd be lucky to get unpaid work experience, let alone paid work.

Completely agree. My OH works in the film industry and the general assumption is that you'll work for free (it's usually advertised as lo/no/deferred pay). It's incredibly difficult to move up to the level where you get paid, mainly because 'free' always trumps 'paid' and there's a never-ending stream of people starting out in the industry who are more than willing to work for nothing. They tend to move on when they realise that the promise of future paid work rarely materialises, but there's always someone else willing to work for free.

My OH makes a reasonable wage although it's certainly not proportional to the hours he puts in, and it's taken him a very, very long time to get to where he is. I'm not referring to our situation, but if I'm being completely honest (and very cynical) I'd say from knowing quite a few people the only reason a lot of people can work in the media is because they have a partner/spouse who earns a 'good' wage - those of OH's media friends who are in couples almost exclusively have one partner in the industry, and one in a steady 'normal' job. It would be very difficult to manage otherwise as the work tends to be so unsteady.

InsideInsurance

A) Whats a reasonable salary?
How long is a piece of string

Are you actually talking about a decent salary (eg £75,000) or are you meaning being paid a decent salary for the job you are doing (so £45,000 for BA)?

To repeat my normal mantra, to get promotions you stay in a company and get payrises by switching companies.

Personally when I moved into a new area I spent a few of years earning ok money but very low for what I did and got a couple of promotions in that time. After that I left the company and immediately increased my salary by 50% and over the next two years tripled it

DKLS

Friends little brother worked as a runner for 9 years, basically a dogsbody working long hours often at the mercy of the ego's of talent, was on about 8k a year in London and have to do all sorts of tasks including some tasks that would never be put in a job description.

Now its paying off big time and he works two jobs, he works on morning news shows then starts another on a sports channel in the afternoon.

kiyonebabe

I think the truth of any job is, if you love it you'll excel and that should lead to recognition down the line. But if you're looking to move to find better prospects for a long term career then cast your net a little wider, ask people you know how they feel about their jobs and prospects and understand what long term might look like for you.

I started out in sales years ago but after talking to a friend who worked as an auditor I ended up working in audit. A complete change and not something I was aiming for but it's led to good long term prospects and a proper vocation.

So be prepared to look for something you haven't yet thought of and don't head into an industry without doing enough research to be able to realistically plot your progression.

xsinaftersinx

I worked in the music industry and you can barely earn above minimum wage, I worked in central London, no set work hours but I was in the office from 9am and vary rarely left before 9pm, if I had gigs to work at I didn't get home until 2am at the earliest and then it was just rinse and repeat. Pay was not hourly, there was no overtime and I was paid the fantastic salary of £14k a year. This was not an entry level job either, it was a lot of marketing and artist relations work. The problem is that salaries are low because the companies know it's a dream job, they can pay as little as possible because there is always someone there who will do the work.

You don't start to earn enough money to be classed as a good salary until you get out and start your own company but to do that you need the clients, which you will only get after doing the lower pay / no pay work. Two friends of mine started their own company after working for a label for 15 + years and are only now earning enough to buy homes etc.

[Deleted User]

Starting 'at the bottom' (i.e. graduate role in IT) I guess it took me 7 years to get what I counted as a decent wage (It'd be a good wage in the north, but it's 'average' in my area)

BUT... I had a degree and an MSc, so it's not really entry level. My old manager worked his way to over £60k without anything other than A Levels, but he had a tonne of experience

Metranil_Vavin

@ fitnessguy - I thought you were dead set on becoming a graphic designer??