Picking the right career path can help you out in the future drastically. Depending on where you live, certain jobs make more money than others. Make the right decision early in your life, and you’ll live comfortably.
Here are some of the highest-paying jobs in the UK:
- Aircraft controllers
- CEO
- Aircraft pilots and flight engineers
- Marketing and sales directors
- Legal professionals
- IT and Telecommunication Directors
- Brokers
- Financial managers and directors
- Medical practitioners
This article will cover what each of these jobs entail, how you can get them, and how much money they make on average. We’ll use a mean entry-level position’s salary to give you an estimate. Keep reading.
The Top Paying Jobs in The UK
The exact pay for each job depends on where you’re working and how good you are at your job. Therefore, treat the figures given below as a ballpark estimate and not a precise value.
1. Aircraft controllers – £1960 per week
The United Kingdom is a hub for international and domestic travel. As such, there are more than 200 million people traveling to and from airports in the UK every year. Managing the hundreds of planes these people travel in is an aircraft controller’s job.
This job involves monitoring and controlling planes’ speed, course, and height. The sky has traffic just like roads do. An aircraft controller’s job is quite similar to that of a traffic police person.
Job Requirements
You need five GCSEs, including English and Maths in your O Levels with grades A to C. In A Levels, you need two subjects. Additionally, most people enter the profession through the National Air Traffic Services.
While you don’t need a bachelor’s degree to get this job, having one will make you stand out among other applicants as more and more people in this field are starting to get undergraduate degrees.
2. Corporate Managers – £1950 per week
A corporate manager’s job responsibilities depend entirely on the business they’re working in. They have to manage, control, motivate, and plan. This job is also known as ‘business manager.’
Job Requirements
In addition to decent O and A Levels, you need a bachelor’s in business management or a related field to become a corporate manager. An engineering degree in business management works too.
3. Flight Engineers and Aircraft Pilots – £1491 per week
Pilots fly planes made by flight engineers. As an aircraft pilot, one can be expected to fly private, commercial, business, or freight planes on short or long trips.
Flight engineers, on the other hand, are expected to work on developing planes and technology related to them. This can be everything from its engine to the plane’s body.
Job Requirements
After your A Levels, you need a bachelor’s degree in air transport engineering, avionics, or aerospace engineering to become a flight engineer.
The requirements are lower for pilots. You only need decent A Levels to be eligible for a commercial pilot’s license. These licenses are available at CAA-approved training schools.
4. Marketing and Sales Directors – £1397 per week
Marketing and sales directors are responsible for launching products into the market. Once a company develops a new snack, bottle, pen, etc., it is the marketing and sales directors’ job to make sure people buy it.
They usually have a team under them to help with this objective. The size of the business determines how big this team is.
Job Requirements
You can get into this career after graduating high school and don’t necessarily need a degree in business or marketing. However, if you do get one, it will help you secure a high-paying job easily.
The UK gives professional marketing and sales qualifications through the Chartered Institute of Marketing. Getting your hands on them will give you an edge over your competitors and help you get the job you want.
5. Legal Professionals – £1394 per week
Coroners, judges, lawyers, and solicitors also make a decent salary in the UK. This career is broadly divided into commercial and non-commercial jobs. People who choose to pursue it have to pick a specialization based on what they’re interested in.
Job Requirements
Coroners have to be qualified barristers, solicitors, or medical doctors since they have to investigate dead bodies. Their job is to determine whether someone died accidentally or due to violence. Hence the qualifications mentioned above are important.
You need to have practiced as a solicitor in the UK for at least seven years to qualify as a judge. Given that you’d have to make decisions that will change lives, this experience is essential in giving you enough knowledge and know-how to make those calls.
To become a lawyer or solicitor, you need a legal degree. You can go down the legal executive route.
6. IT and Telecommunication Directors – £1370 per week
The next high-paying job we’ll be discussing is IT professional. As the world moves more and more towards digital media, this field is seeing an increase in importance. So the people in it are being paid higher.
IT directors are usually in charge of establishing and maintaining computer systems and helping employees with any issue they face. This could be related to hardware or software. They’re like the real-life version of a helpline.
Instead of calling the Dell customer service, you can contact your IT people to fix any problems you’re facing.
Job Requirements
Computer science degrees are not required for this job but are preferred and will give you an edge over other applicants. Formal training or education always makes your application stand out among others.
But if you’re good with computers but don’t have a degree, that’s okay too. As long as you’re able to show your proficiency with technology, you’re sure to land the job. Although you will have to work a little harder than people with degrees to make your application stand out, it definitely isn’t impossible.
7. Brokers – £1250 per week
Experienced brokers can earn more than £2m a year. Starting salaries are, of course, much lower, though. As a broker, you have to manage the investment portfolios of companies and individual clients.
These clients will give you access to their shares and stocks and give you the authority to determine how they can be invested. Typically, brokers get a percentage of the interest earned through the investment, but specific policies differ from company to company.
Job Requirements
A bachelor’s degree in finance, economics, or business would help you secure a job as a broker.
8. Financial Managers and Directors – £1247 per week
Financial managers are slightly different from brokers because they give advice on general financial matters and not just investments. So as the financial director of a conglomerate, you’d weigh in on the benefits and harms of mergers, collaborations, etc.
Financial managers help businesses make effective decisions. Therefore, it is important to have a clear grasp of the legal ramifications of financial decisions as a manager.
Job Requirements
A degree in business or law is crucial to securing a position in a top firm. The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrations recommends polishing your skills and learning about business as well as finance to become the best in your field.
9. Medical Practitioners – £1220 per week
Doctors get high-paying jobs globally, and the United Kingdom is no different. As a medical practitioner, you may have to diagnose patients’ illnesses, prescribe medication, perform surgeries or tests, etc.
There are a lot of different specializations within the medical field, and depending on which one you choose, your job responsibilities will differ. For example, as a physician, you’d only have to look at basic tests like a CBC and recommend further treatments to your patients.
On the other hand, as a surgeon, you’d spend most of your time in an operating room as a surgeon.
Job Requirements
A 4 to 5-year medical degree is required. This degree must be followed up with a 2-year foundation course, after which you can get the title of a ‘junior doctor.’ Becoming a fully-fledged doctor requires on-the-job experience.
Final Thoughts
There are quite a lot of jobs that pay well in the UK. We’ve listed down the top 9 among them. While there are some overlaps, like financial managers and brokers need similar degrees, each of these jobs is quite different from one another.
So you should try to pick a field that is close to your interests. Choosing only based on what pays the most is not a good idea as you will get tired of your job and compromise on your performance. This will lead to you not doing well and eventually never being promoted.
As such, you should definitely take into account the pay for each job. However, consider other things like what subjects you enjoy and the type of interactions you appreciate. Then make your final decision about what you want to pursue.
