Degrees of financial separation

We came across an interesting article about the relationship between earning potential and the course that you do and the University that you study at. Unsurprisingly, the main message within the article was that what you study and where you study can result in greater earning potential over the course of your career.

The great news is that having a degree regardless of subject and University means greater earning potential over a lifetime for the majority of graduates compared to those who didn’t study to degree level. Plus you’ll have the chance to have a great time at Uni!

However the difference between the average earnings for graduates of different subjects can be quite pronounced 5 years after graduation and grow wider as the years progress. According to the report, those people who study subjects like Medicine & Dentistry, Economics and Mathematics can expect to earn double of the average earnings of a creative arts, agriculture or mass communications graduates inside the first 5 years after finishing studying.

So does that mean that you need to have decided your career pathway and locked in your future earning potential at 15 or 16 when you choose your A Level courses? Of course not. There are plenty of careers out there where the actual course you have studied is not crucial beyond the fact that you have shown a willingness to study and hopefully work hard.

The recruitment industry is one such job sector and it is not unheard of for graduates or people with some sales experience earning upwards of £50,000 per year in their second year of work and then hitting a 6 figure earnings a few years further down the line.

So not only is the earning potential fantastic with a career in recruitment, there is another way a career in recruitment can be a boost to your finances post graduation. This is to do with the dreaded student loan!

Firstly the payback of the loan can be quicker as you tend to earn a significant amount earlier on in your career in recruitment compared to other types of careers and secondly, the amount of time that you have to invest in your education is less other types of careers that have a similar earning potential ie architecture and medicine. This means that you can typically earn more and quicker than most other types of careers if you choose recruitment once you have finished studying.

A career in recruitment offers much more than a healthy monthly pay cheque. Recruitment is a fast paced and evolving industry which means that progression within an individual organisation or within the wider industry sector can be pretty rapid for a dedicated person. A lot of the bigger consultancies tend to have global operations as well and therefore international travel and work opportunities could be on the cards too. As there is a competitive market place for talented recruiters, there are typically other fringe benefits of working in recruitment ranging from company cars (or equivalent cash sum), incentives such as prizes in sales days and free lunches/meals out and most professional consultancies offer a pension scheme as well.

You can find out more about a career in recruitment by visiting the trade bodies websites:
Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) – http://www.apsco.org/
Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) – https://www.rec.uk.com/