Originally Posted by
Tobias0501
I guess i’ll have to chuck it in. I’m not fussed about changing my current job, it’s just nice knowing i’ve got x amount coming in every month. It’s a pain to be honest, I get the rota every wednesday for the following week, and shifts can be 8-4/9-5/10-6 and can run over pretty much all the time.
Living in a rural area there isn’t a huge amount of other jobs that are local, but i guess i’ll have to find something.
Would just be nice if there was an option like a student loan to be able to do it!
A sector where money is typically good straight off the bat is the railway. Plenty of overtime opportunities too and if you live in London in particular, lots of job opportunities too. I've listed some examples below with typical basic gross salaries:
Gateline (working the ticket gates): £15-20k
Platform/Dispatch: £23-30k
Ticket Office: £25-£35k
Guard £18-£25k (trainee), £28-32k (qualified)
Driver £24-£32k (trainee), £45-69k (qualified)
Signaller £24k-ish (Grade 1) to £45k+ (Grade 9), training salary is one grade below qualified salary in role applied for, so you can be a trainee on £40k from day one.
All of these you can apply for "off the street", though for Ticket Office or Guard you'll need cash-handling experience and for Guard, Driver or Signaller, you'll need to have some safety-critical experience (either through a hobby or through employment). Overtime can be good for boosting income (I don't do any myself), I've heard of platform staff grossing over £40k and drivers grossing over £100k, though don't rely on it. Also, bear in mind drivers (at least) have a long notice period, typically three months though some companies insist on six, you may have to lay back some training costs if you leave early, otherwise all training is paid for by the company.
I'm a driver and deciding to leave for a flying career would be a difficult decision to take, very unlikely I'd want to take the plunge without a flying job lined up.
Of course, there's other well-paid careers like the Merchant Navy, or accountancy (school-leaver trainee). You could also look at flying scholarships or sponsored schemes (rare as hen's teeth these days).