High paying flexible jobs

I'm an accountant - but the first 15 years in the 'Big 4' were not that flexible at all - (it may be different now)
I am now self employed but couldn't have done that without all the experience gained in working like a dog for others for 20+ years !!

WFH is great when you're established with friends, relationships, time consuming hobbies etc. I think it would be lonely for young people and you'd never meet anyone.

If you're old and know what you're doing in your field - consulting in it works.
If you're young and just starting in the career ladder then something v well paid and v flexible is probably illegal !
 
Polos Mum said:
I'm an accountant - but the first 15 years in the 'Big 4' were not that flexible at all - (it may be different now)
I am now self employed but couldn't have done that without all the experience gained in working like a dog for others for 20+ years !!

WFH is great when you're established with friends, relationships, time consuming hobbies etc. I think it would be lonely for young people and you'd never meet anyone.

If you're old and know what you're doing in your field - consulting in it works.
If you're young and just starting in the career ladder then something v well paid and v flexible is probably illegal !
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100% this.

High paying and flexible comes after you have proven yourself doing the hard yards, doing your tour of duty overseas or on the troubled projects.

If you want flexibility you have to go over and above in the quality of your outputs and you must be able to work undirected.

Agree on the WFH comments as well. Our grads really need to work in company, physically regularly. Not all the time but you really notice the soft skills in those who do that are far superior to those that don’t.
 
One of the larger accountancy firms Azets is working with one of their clients to send its accounting trainees to work behind a bar for a period of time to help them develop people skills !!
Lack of how to deal with people is a real problem for younger people in the accounting industry, and presumably others too. 80% of what I do is managing people - the numbers is the easy and quick bit.
 
I also work in academia, but not research anymore. Depending on your lifestyle and experience, it's possible to earn a decent wage as a Research Fellow, but it's mostly FTC, which is why I eventually left. I now manage funding and knowledge exchange, which is quite flexible outside core hours (10-16:00), although stressful around deadlines and after decisions are made (some academics have rather large egos that bruise very easily).
 
Polos Mum said:
I'm an accountant - but the first 15 years in the 'Big 4' were not that flexible at all - (it may be different now)
I am now self employed but couldn't have done that without all the experience gained in working like a dog for others for 20+ years !!

WFH is great when you're established with friends, relationships, time consuming hobbies etc. I think it would be lonely for young people and you'd never meet anyone.

If you're old and know what you're doing in your field - consulting in it works.
If you're young and just starting in the career ladder then something v well paid and v flexible is probably illegal !
Click to expand...

Bit of a wide sweeping statement about wfh - very much comes down to the individual of any age, their own individual needs, and what the job is.

Lack of skills et al in the latest generation of graduates suggests a wider societal issue…
 
Traks said:
No help really but not NHS anything! It’s the most inflexible job ever!
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I'm NHS and my role is actually quite flexible. I only attend the office twice a month, can flex my hours to suit each day to a certain extent, so will sometimes have a longer lunch or start later to get a ride in the morning. I receive 33 days annual leave and can purchase an additional 10 days, never had an issue with any of my requests for leave.

I am no longer patient facing so I can be more flexible than other colleagues but I am currently at risk of redundancy (organisation has to reduce workforce by 40%).
 
Conversely I also work in Finance as a head of department and whilst the road 'to the top' used to be very Big 4 focused, I find it's not so much any more. Don't get me wrong, I don't earn the big bucks and if I did want to I would still have a lot of hard work ahead, but I earn enough to comfortably run a horse on part livery in the South East, a house in which I live alone and a car I enjoy which is enough for me!

I haven't ever really worked like a dog like you see the young graduates do in London now, but I was very selective about what jobs I chose and the size/sector of company I chose to work for to curate a CV which would enable me an easier life from here on out and really I have only just got to that stage, albeit I have just turned 30 so it's not super late in life. I did however study ACCA in my lunch breaks for 6-7 of those years which requires commitment and discipline - it was my trade off for not going to uni, it took that long as I had breaks between exams here and there and had no exemptions, but you could really knuckle down and do it in 4 years realistically.
 
New2this said:
Academic. So long as you publish and teach your classes no one cares where you are. High paid? Not to begin with, but goes up every year. But you'd need to do a PhD and post doc. Basically best job in the world... But the getting of it is soul destroying and may leave you with a mental health condition.
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And then you get to the top of your tree and they make tou redundant anyway. Happened to my lecturer who just got an OBE for her research work!
 
In my experience, careers don't start out as both flexible and high paying. My early career years weren't flexible at all. Now, my diary is my own. If I was so minded, I could take time out to ride during the day. As it is, I'm very focused on what I do so I pay for my horses to be ridden for me and then I can potter on the weekends without being stressed.

Whilst I may not be able to do everything with them, having a higher paying job has given me the financial freedom to ensure that my horses' needs are met on a very personalised, horse-centric basis. They are such happy little souls and that means that having them is a joy rather than a stress. That means a huge amount to me.
 
I'm also an accountant - though I now have a broader COO role which covers pretty much everything
Depends a bit on what you consider 'well paid'
I chose to prioritise my career and now earn a very good salary - but I put the hours in to get it. Our industry is not really a WFH type (private dentistry, the dentists and nurses obv can't wfh!) so I am limited to maybe 1 day per fortnight, and I work 7-4.30/5 most days with events / calls / emails outside of that.
I chose accountancy because it is well paid and Mon-Fri. I could have stopped progressing and found a more flexible role at a lower salary, but I wanted to see how far I could get. Once I am ready to take a step back, a lot of more flexible options will be open to me (p/t / contracted consulting, Non exec director roles etc) which will still allow me to earn a good but less reliable wage. I'm mid 40's now and have a partner who earns well and I guess in 5 years or so I will prob do that.

Accountancy can be very flexible- the studying is a slog (I did a p/t business degree and then studied for my professional exams evenings and weekends) and after that it is really up to you how much you do. As someone said above though, flexibility and trust need to be earned, or you need to take the risk to go out on your own.
 
Polos Mum said:
One of the larger accountancy firms Azets is working with one of their clients to send its accounting trainees to work behind a bar for a period of time to help them develop people skills !!
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Do you think lock down was the catalyst to create this issue?

Polos Mum said:
I'm an accountant - but the first 15 years in the 'Big 4' were not that flexible at all - (it may be different now)
I am now self employed but couldn't have done that without all the experience gained in working like a dog for others for 20+ years !!

WFH is great when you're established with friends, relationships, time consuming hobbies etc. I think it would be lonely for young people and you'd never meet anyone.

If you're old and know what you're doing in your field - consulting in it works.
If you're young and just starting in the career ladder then something v well paid and v flexible is probably illegal !
Click to expand...

/\ This!

I'm no where near as qualified as @Polos Mum but I'm heading in this direction. I'm 20 plus years working in various finance/accounting/business management roles, in various industries, slowly working up through my qualifications (along side raising a family and having horses). I currently have a reasonably flexible role and a 'middling' salary which is more than enough to be comfortable in a two income home with no dependents (animals not included), but it's not my forever job.

My 5 year plan is to work for myself drawing on the experience and knowledge I've gained and the relationships I've developed.
 
teapot said:
Bit of a wide sweeping statement about wfh - very much comes down to the individual of any age, their own individual needs, and what the job is.

Lack of skills et al in the latest generation of graduates suggests a wider societal issue…
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Agreed WFH is wide ranging in its definition and different models certainly suit different people. WFH a couple of days a week is totally different to 5 days a week.

I'm a grumpy old git and go into the office 2 days a year. Our grads want to be in 5 days a week because they don't have a nice home office to work from and have twigged that they learn a lot from people around them informally.
 
dorsetladette said:
Do you think lock down was the catalyst to create this issue?
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It certainly didn't help at all. I think it accelerated the use of technology which allows people to work physically away from the people they are working with.
We discovered that it can all be done remotely and zero travel saves a massive amount of time and so money. It was happening anyway but the pace of it really took off in covid.

Nearly 30 years ago (eeek) all audit work was done on client site - we only went to the office to collect stationery!. Each week as a new grad I'd rock up at a new business with people I'd never met and have to get loads of work done with them in a week. Sitting in their office, asking them to unplug the fax machine to collect emails (no joke!), working with people who were really helpful and understanding and many who were certainly not! Sometimes in a team of 2/3, sometimes on my own.
Tight schedule as the next week was on site with another client - so no option of "finishing it off later".
It was a steep learning curve in how to work with whoever was in front of you.

I think it is a really really tough world for young people now

 
Polos Mum said:
It certainly didn't help at all. I think it accelerated the use of technology which allows people to work physically away from the people they are working with.
We discovered that it can all be done remotely and zero travel saves a massive amount of time and so money. It was happening anyway but the pace of it really took off in covid.

Nearly 30 years ago (eeek) all audit work was done on client site - we only went to the office to collect stationery!. Each week as a new grad I'd rock up at a new business with people I'd never met and have to get loads of work done with them in a week. Sitting in their office, asking them to unplug the fax machine to collect emails (no joke!), working with people who were really helpful and understanding and many who were certainly not! Sometimes in a team of 2/3, sometimes on my own.
Tight schedule as the next week was on site with another client - so no option of "finishing it off later".
It was a steep learning curve in how to work with whoever was in front of you.

I think it is a really really tough world for young people now
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I always felt sorry for the onsite Auditors, especially the painfully shy ones. I think they were glad of a dark and quiet archive room sometimes.
 
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Just a thought on influencing, and I know all influencers are different, but my step-brother is in a relationship with a full time influencer. She makes six figures and she has a beautiful life. But she does work. She is in the gym every single day, watches her weight like no one I know. She is always perfectly put together and camera ready. She is constantly shooting and editing for her social media, or managing her bookings, planning content or traveling. Rain or shine, she makes content. She has to be out and about doing new and interesting things constantly, and she plans the aesthetic of everything all the time.

I am not saying it's the same as spending 14 hours on your feet doing a complex surgery, but I do think the reality is that those who make a reliable income from this sort of work do have to work very hard at it. And it's the sort of work where you have to be constantly on trend, aware of what will drive views and engagement, and that takes a certain mindset. I also think it's something I would really struggle with. I find it really hard to motivate myself unless I see a deeper meaning in what I'm doing. I think I'd lose the energy for something like that quite quickly. And you just can't be "off" or miss the cadence of posting that keeps the algorithms happy for any sustained level of time and not end up losing substantial revenue.

Not to mention what happens when you hit the age that the general internet isn't going to be mesmerized by a bikini photo...
 
LadyGascoyne said:
Just a thought on influencing, and I know all influencers are different, but my step-brother is in a relationship with a full time influencer. She makes six figures and she has a beautiful life. But she does work. She is in the gym every single day, watches her weight like no one I know. She is always perfectly put together and camera ready. She is constantly shooting and editing for her social media, or managing her bookings, planning content or traveling. Rain or shine, she makes content. She has to be out and about doing new and interesting things constantly, and she plans the aesthetic of everything all the time.

I am not saying it's the same as spending 14 hours on your feet doing a complex surgery, but I do think the reality is that those who make a reliable income from this sort of work do have to work very hard at it. And it's the sort of work where you have to be constantly on trend, aware of what will drive views and engagement, and that takes a certain mindset. I also think it's something I would really struggle with. I find it really hard to motivate myself unless I see a deeper meaning in what I'm doing. I think I'd lose the energy for something like that quite quickly. And you just can't be "off" or miss the cadence of posting that keeps the algorithms happy for any sustained level of time and not end up losing substantial revenue.

Not to mention what happens when you hit the age that the general internet isn't going to be mesmerized by a bikini photo...
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I think I would find that stressful and all consuming and not for me! Well done that girl
 
Another IT bod. Currently work 10am to 4:30pm from home and can take a two hour lunch break (from 12 to 2) if I make up the time. So, yes, a well paid flexible horse-friendly job.
But yes, like others have said, only possible because now we can work from home and spent a good few years in the early days working damn hard!
 
Tech can be great - it can be well paid, and if you prioritise flexibility when choosing which industry to work in (which I didn't) its perfectly possible to have a role with minimal need to be in the office and the ability to take time out as needed.
 
LadyGascoyne said:
Just a thought on influencing, and I know all influencers are different, but my step-brother is in a relationship with a full time influencer. She makes six figures and she has a beautiful life. But she does work. She is in the gym every single day, watches her weight like no one I know. She is always perfectly put together and camera ready. She is constantly shooting and editing for her social media, or managing her bookings, planning content or traveling. Rain or shine, she makes content. She has to be out and about doing new and interesting things constantly, and she plans the aesthetic of everything all the time.

I am not saying it's the same as spending 14 hours on your feet doing a complex surgery, but I do think the reality is that those who make a reliable income from this sort of work do have to work very hard at it. And it's the sort of work where you have to be constantly on trend, aware of what will drive views and engagement, and that takes a certain mindset. I also think it's something I would really struggle with. I find it really hard to motivate myself unless I see a deeper meaning in what I'm doing. I think I'd lose the energy for something like that quite quickly. And you just can't be "off" or miss the cadence of posting that keeps the algorithms happy for any sustained level of time and not end up losing substantial revenue.

Not to mention what happens when you hit the age that the general internet isn't going to be mesmerized by a bikini photo...
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That sort of influencing is horrible and must be so damaging to them. The horsey ones work hard, but manily with their own horses and without the same intense pressure on looks. But theres only a handful making a proper living out of it, so its not really a sensible career option
 
I'm Dun said:
That sort of influencing is horrible and must be so damaging to them. The horsey ones work hard, but manily with their own horses and without the same intense pressure on looks. But theres only a handful making a proper living out of it, so its not really a sensible career option
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Hers is an animal one - I won't say which because she'd be very identifiable.
 
LadyGascoyne said:
Hers is an animal one - I won't say which because she'd be very identifiable.
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I imagine this would be even more galling, there are SO many conflicting opinions and people get so seriously OTT emotive about animals that I imagine she must feel a lot of the time like she cannot do right for doing wrong. At least with fitness or handbags, whilst there will always be opinions, people are more willing to live and let live.

I roDe Dex in his hacking rubber Pelham in the school for a wee while because I had lost some confidence in his out of control canter, and really it was a placebo for me to calm down, actually he really rather liked it and it was the catalyst to really getting on so the best thing to do, but it crossed my mind even that people on the yard would see that and think what a numpty what on earth is she doing, let alone 200,000 people I don't know online.
 
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Polos Mum said:
One of the larger accountancy firms Azets is working with one of their clients to send its accounting trainees to work behind a bar for a period of time to help them develop people skills !!
Lack of how to deal with people is a real problem for younger people in the accounting industry, and presumably others too. 80% of what I do is managing people - the numbers is the easy and quick bit.
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This is where I work, I quite like the idea of bar work for grads otherwise they become very consumed in their exams and are likely already not the most fun going by their chosen careers!
 
I'm Dun said:
And then you get to the top of your tree and they make tou redundant anyway. Happened to my lecturer who just got an OBE for her research work!
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UK based humanities or social sciences? Doesn't surprise me! Thankfully I'm Ireland and so long as you are permanent here this never really happens. That said - permanent contracts are basically hens teeth and the whole point of hr is to deny them.

I hope your lecturer is ok. A lot of academics... It's their whole world. So much more than a job (not me! I'm there for the flexibility and the monthly salary check). When something like that happens, it can destroy someone.
 
Anthropology, well, primatology under the umbrella of anthro. I'm still absolutely furious that they lured me here on the pretence of a degree with these lecturers and then people like that were gotten rid of. Shes gone to Cambridge, which is Oxfords loss!
 
Ok. So I’m a cleaner. It fits in around my horses. And covers their costs. I charge 20 pounds per hour. And only work locally. I can turn out my four. Do the stables. Ride one. And still be at clients house by 9am. Many are empty and I have keys, as they are at work. So I can also work around farrier visits.
 
I'm Dun said:
Anthropology, well, primatology under the umbrella of anthro. I'm still absolutely furious that they lured me here on the pretence of a degree with these lecturers and then people like that were gotten rid of. Shes gone to Cambridge, which is Oxfords loss!
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I have friends at Cambridge. In some ways Oxbridge is the worst. They know they can offer crappy contracts and still get really good people as reputation etc. Academia is so broken.
 
Polos Mum said:
One of the larger accountancy firms Azets is working with one of their clients to send its accounting trainees to work behind a bar for a period of time to help them develop people skills !!
Lack of how to deal with people is a real problem for younger people in the accounting industry, and presumably others too. 80% of what I do is managing people - the numbers is the easy and quick bit
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I saw this & thought this is great initiative.

I waitressed and did bar work in my youth & I honestly think it's brilliant for confidence and people skills. I learnt so much about interacting from.everyone across all walks of life.

I'm sure it's one of the reasons I'm able to pick up phone or go over and chat to anyone across our business when needed.
Polos Mum said:
Agreed WFH is wide ranging in its definition and different models certainly suit different people. WFH a couple of days a week is totally different to 5 days a week.

I'm a grumpy old git and go into the office 2 days a year. Our grads want to be in 5 days a week because they don't have a nice home office to work from and have twigged that they learn a lot from people around them informally.
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Not just young guns. I'm an almost 40-something with a WFH but try to go into the office as much as possible (in reality, it's a few times a month) - but contractually I can WFah every day forever more. I like the interaction socially but there's just so much more I'm aware of and looped into when in the office.

Don't get me wrong, I love the fact I can be riding at 8.30 and logged on by 9am WFH (and I have a nice home office) and my work-life balance is better. But I'm not convinced it's always a wholly better way of working.
 
MuddyMonster said:
I waitressed and did bar work in my youth & I honestly think it's brilliant for confidence and people skills. I learnt so much about interacting from.everyone across all walks of life.
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I did waitressing as a teen too. I learned I should not have a public facing job.

Apparently when someone asks for “red sauce” you don’t respond with “Cranberry or tomato?”
 
I don’t know how virtual offices haven’t taken off! I WFH full time but I’m in the virtual office all day along with my colleagues, it scares people at first but it is brilliant!! We work collaboratively, we have break out rooms where we can have separate meetings or quiet time, if we’re just working, we’re generally in the ‘main office’, we bring clients in to have meetings and take them into a break out room.

We meet in person every quarter but as we see each other every day it’s no different

It’s definitely the way forward
 
Definitely not vet! I'm away from home 7.30-7.30 most days, later sometimes. Lose 1-2 weeknights and every third weekend to being on call. No lunchbreak to get any 'you' jobs done. Sorring out farrier etc is a major nightmare. I have given up riding for winter this year (though still have the general mucking out etc to fit in), although when I was younger I did come home at 7pm or so then ride two horses.

Pay is pretty average (when I was 20 years qualified I was earning £45k) and in general the industry doesn't pay overtime. There isn't really much option for career progression unless you specialise early on, and redundancies are now very much on the horizon.

Obviously there are many positives (though increasingly fewer these days), but for the purposes of the question the OP asked it is a very bad job choice for having horses! No flexibility, long hours, average pay.
 
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