Cost of living

6 Jobs that pay over £100K a year

By Olivier Guiberteau• Last updated: Mar 28, 2024
6 Jobs that pay over £100K a year
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In today's competitive job market, many individuals aspire to secure high-paying positions that offer financial stability and ample opportunities for growth. Among the myriad of career options available, certain professions stand out for their ability to provide substantial salaries, often exceeding £100,000 per year. These lucrative roles attract skilled professionals who possess specialized expertise and qualifications, making them highly sought after in various industries.

1. Chief Executive

Okay, we’re starting big, but if money is really what you’re after, then becoming a Chief Executive of a successful company is one way to do it.

Most large companies pay their CEOs easily over £100,000 per year and you need only look at companies like Amazon, Google and Microsoft to see just how high some CEO salaries can go.

The CEO of Alphabet, which is Google’s parent company, earns more than £500,000 a year through salary alone, and the visionary loose cannon Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, is also reportedly close to that amount.

A great way of lining yourself up for a CEO position is by completing a MBA - here's 7 Fortune 500 CEOs that have one, just to persuade you.

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2. Broker

Ever wanted to be one of the people standing in the middle of the stock exchange, screaming wildly and waving small pieces of paper like their lives depended on it?

As exciting as this all seems, a broker’s job goes way beyond this frantic melee. Essentially their job is to manage the investment portfolios of their clients by buying and selling stocks.

While their annual salary will often take them over the 100K threshold, it is with bonuses that brokers can really rake in the money, with some earning more than £2 million a year.

If you’re money-mad, have a high tolerance for the manic trading environment and a nose for a good investment, this could be perfect for you.

3. Air Traffic Controller

I bet you weren’t expecting this one, right? While not all air traffic controllers make over £100,000 per year, there are certainly some who do and it remains one of the best-paid jobs of this kind anywhere in the country.

If you’re wondering why, well imagine being responsible for hundreds of aeroplanes and the safety of thousands of passengers while they are in the air.

This is one job that requires almost superhuman levels of concentration at all times - and that is why you are handsomely rewarded for your troubles.

4. Corporate and Financial Manager

Now I know that this might sound far less interesting than the previous entry, but if you’re more of a numbers person than a thousands of lives literally in your hands kind of a person, this could be for you.

The role of a corporate manager can be hugely varied depending on the size and scale of the organisation you work for, but will typically involve plenty of planning, organising, motivating and even training to ensure the company runs smoothly.

A financial manager will provide advice as well as financial and strategic support to ensure a company’s finances are in the best possible shape and may at times even appear on the board of large companies to advise on high-level financial decisions being made there.

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5. Prime Minister

This might sound like one step too far, but if you’ve come to this article to find out how to make plenty of money, well, this is certainly one option.

A little like the air traffic controller position, this job comes with an awful lot of responsibility, and it’s pretty much guaranteed that massive numbers of people will hate you.

But if you feel up to it, this £158,000 per year salary is on offer if you're the Prime Minster of the United Kingdom. And this position also comes with a whole host of wonderful perks such as free housing, and free transportation.

The downside is levels of stress perhaps unmatched outside of war zones and responsibility of millions on your shoulders.

*If this is your cup of tea, we’d probably suggest waiting until after the largest public health crisis in modern history has passed - you don’t get extra for dealing with a pandemic, unfortunately.

6. Attorney

OK, let’s come back to Earth a little. It’s probably no great surprise to see that becoming an attorney can be the ticket to some serious money.

But - and this is a big but - it will take some time to get there. New attorneys might make between £25,000 and £35,000 as they begin their long road in Law. For those that have the willpower, determination and patience, converting that to a salary that reaches over £100,000 should be do-able within a few years - cough, sorry, I meant decades.

The point is that this is a job that demands both a huge amount of education and an awful lot of time put in if you want to reach the hallowed land. Much of this will also depend on what kind of law you choose to go into.

Also read: Will studying abroad help my career?

Generally speaking, the more caring and compassionate kind of areas pay the least, while the opposite also applies. It’s no surprise that financial, corporate and personal injury law often provides the biggest salaries.

Interested in if studying abroad will help you grab your dream career? Explore Edvoy today and find out more about what being an international student has to offer!

Money. Is there anything more conflicting than good old fashioned legal tender? While growing up we are told that money should not be the focus of our lives, but once we start paying our own bills, starting a family and looking to push that next holiday destination to somewhere truly exotic, things begin to change.

Money is seen as both the root of all evil and the golden ticket to a different life. A dark devious temptation waiting in the shadows, and the key to all of our dreams.

Of course, most of us manage to tread somewhere between these two extremes and live a life where we know the value of money without letting our existence orbit around it.

If you're looking at studying and staying on in the UK, it's probably worthwhile having a look at our article about the highest paying degrees in the UK and the most in demand jobs in UK.

If you're thinking about exploring elsewhere in the world as you study, why not explore which degrees make the most millionaires?

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Oli lives in London and is a writer and photographer.

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