u/101100011011101

I read about many smart, highly educated professionals like engineers, scientists, and public sector workers with years of experience who stall out around £40k to £60k. Meanwhile, others cross £100k+, how? And why many can't do it even though they're experienced, educated etc.?

What career tracks offer a realistic path to £100k plus without needing C-suite management?

Is it about industry switching (e.g., traditional engineering to tech/finance), or specific high-value skills?

How much comes down to job-hopping, contracting, or corporate politics versus the traditional promotion ladder?

Curious to hear why some make £100k and most don't and what are differences between people making below £100k and those making above it.

I’m currently considering leaving my job after receiving an offer from another company, 30% salary increase.

If my current employer makes a counteroffer and asks how much the new company is offering, would you tell them the actual figure?

I’m wondering whether it’s better to:

Tell them the exact salary/bonus figure I’ve been offered.

Give them a slightly higher figure to strengthen my negotiating position.

Simply say that I have a competitive offer without giving the number.

Also, if I give them a figure, would they normally ask to see the offer in writing or ask for proof? Is it common for employers to request a copy of the offer letter?

I’ve received and signed a contract for a new job starting in January. I’m now completing the pre-employment screening with a third-party provider, and one of the questions asks whether they can contact my current employer for a reference.

The issue is that I haven’t handed in my notice yet. I have a three-month notice period and planning to give my notice at the end of the month.

Should I allow them to contact my current employer now, or select that they can’t contact them? I obviously don’t want my current employer finding out that I’m leaving before I’ve formally resigned. What would happen if I select 'no' to that question?

What’s the best way to handle this during pre-employment screening?

I’ve received a job offer that I’m interested in accepting, but I’d like a little time to review the details before formally confirming.

How long is it generally reasonable to take before replying to a job offer? Is it better to respond within a day or two, or is it acceptable to take several days if there’s no specific deadline given?

Also, would you recommend sending a short “holding” email in the meantime, along the lines of saying that I’ve received the offer, I’m reviewing the details and will get back to them shortly?

I'm 32M, single and looking to buy my first home on my own somewhere in the South East of England, maybe Haywards Heath area.

My current situation:

£46k basic salary

Around £6k annual bonus

£85k saved

No partner's income to rely on

Based on my own research, I think I could potentially borrow around £230k

That would give me a theoretical budget of around £315k, although I'd probably aim for something closer to £300k to leave some money for the costs of buying and a bit of an emergency fund.

I'm finding the whole process quite overwhelming, risky and complicated.

Does this sound realistically doable, or am I being too optimistic about what I can afford?

Any advice or reality checks would be very welcome.

I’ve recently received a job offer for one role, which I’m happy about. However, I’m also currently interviewing for three other positions.

Two of the other roles are at final interview stage next week, while another is still at first stage. There’s a possibility that some of these roles could offer a higher salary than the job I’ve already been offered.

What’s the best way to handle this situation?

Should I accept the current offer while continuing with the other interviews, or be upfront with the other companies and tell them I’ve received an offer and ask whether they can speed up their process?

I don’t want to risk losing the offer I already have, but equally I don’t want to commit too early if one of the other opportunities could be significantly better.

Any advice on how you’d approach this would be appreciated.

Would £120 be enough? That's for food, stuff such as soap, shampoo, dishwasher tablets etc.

If you could choose between a happy relationship with nice girlfriend / wife or being single and mongering, which option would you choose?

Many bar girls in Thailand receive financial support from simps, such as money transfers, free dinners, phones, clothes, rent, or even motorbikes. Some also have multiple men helping them at different times. What men get that? Almost none. Men have to work and many don't like their jobs. Many girls can be selective in their customers.

Meanwhile, the average man in the West usually has to work full-time to pay for his own housing, food, bills, and anything else he wants, so it's much harder while bar girls get everything on a plate for free just because they look pretty and of course they will have sex with customers and sponsors but not even that long with each customer. Many girls in the west have sex often with various men but for free.

I'm interested in hearing different perspectives, especially from people who have lived in Thailand or have first-hand experience.

Is it only some minority of most attractive girls that get invited for sponsored trips for example to Koh Larn, Phi Phi or even abroad? Maybe like less than 10% get invited for something like? Or do you think it's more?

What are costs of doing that? I'm not planning to do so, just curious.

Is putting VC on for example Olise when you know you will captain Mbappe is actually the best way to use VC? Then just leaving VC for whole MD on that one player? Better than to put it on a GK? Then you can still captain GK in chronological date order.

I talked with average looking 19 years old Thai / Dutch girl on TF, video called with her and she looks worse than photos.

She said that her rate is 5k baht just to meet for a date somewhere and then if I want her to come to my hotel room then it's another 5k, she said it's for a few hours. She also said 500 baht deposit transfer is needed first and also booking taxi for her. She's in Bangkok. She also said need to take photos of the caah and hotel card and take selfies.

Do you think she is absolutely insane? I asked her how many customers she get per month and she said not too many. Do you think it's her tactic to start negotiating down from that? I don't think any guy ever paid her 5k just to go on a date and then another 5k for ST. Why would anyone pay that if there are prettier girls for 2-3k ST?

Thai /Dutch girl asked like 4x going rate, not even pretty on video call. Is it common that mixed girls ask for more money?

I'm planning to go to Thailand in November, my 4th trip and this time I'd like to go straight to Chiang Mai after landing in BKK, for a week.

Then go to Laos for one week and then to Vietnam for one week.

Do you think that's too much travelling from point A to B and so on? Maybe it's better to only explore north of Thailand and Laos or north of Thailand and Vietnam only?

Maybe someone did something similar in 3 weeks and can share.

I’ve been at my current company for 3 years. It’s a very stable business and apparently they haven’t made anyone redundant in over 30 years, not even during Covid, and they’ve never reduced salaries either. If someone leaves then it's usually for a London role. There are many people who worked in the company for 10+ years.

The downside is that I could probably earn more elsewhere, commuting to the City of London for work, so I’ve been thinking about moving jobs. But at the same time, the economy feels quite uncertain right now and I keep wondering, what if I change jobs and then fail probation, or get made redundant shortly after joining for whatever reason? I think I couldn't just come back to my current company.

Part of me feels like staying somewhere stable is safer, especially in the current climate, but another part thinks I might regret not progressing financially/careerwise.

I received the below email, do you think it's a scam job?

I’m with Crossing Hurdles, a global recruitment firm. We’d love to refer you for a remote freelance opportunity with Verita AI as an Insurance Domain Expert. You’ll leverage your background in underwriting or actuarial science to directly improve the reasoning and accuracy of advanced AI systems.

Organization: Verita AI

Referral Partner: Crossing Hurdles

Role: Insurance Expert (Underwriting & Actuary)

Engagement Type: Freelance / 1099 Contractor

Compensation: $100–$125 per hour

Location: Remote

Start Date: Immediate (Candidates must complete onboarding within 24 hours of selection)

Commitment: Minimum 10+ hours/week (Ideally 15–20 hours, dependent on interest and availability)

Application Form Link: Insurance Expert

About Verita AI:

Verita AI is a US-based AI frontier lab focused on accelerating the advancement and deployment of powerful AI systems. By partnering with leading AI research organizations, Verita AI develops high-quality data and evaluations to improve the reasoning, accuracy, and business relevance of frontier models within complex financial and corporate sectors.

Role Overview:

We are seeking experienced Insurance Professionals to train, evaluate, and refine advanced AI models. As an Insurance Domain Expert, you will apply your real-world industry expertise to audit AI-generated outputs, ensuring they are logically sound and factually accurate within high-stakes insurance contexts.

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• Structure Complex Workflows: Translate real-world insurance processes (underwriting decisions, claims handling, actuarial analysis, and operations) into structured training tasks for AI systems.

• Identify Edge Cases: Spot critical knowledge gaps, failure modes, and nuances in model performance that only an industry expert would catch.

• Document & Feedback: Provide precise, structured feedback and document your step-by-step thought processes and assumptions for engineering teams to rapidly improve AI outputs.

Who This Is For:

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• Work is primarily asynchronous, allowing for flexible scheduling around your existing commitments.

• Minimal required meetings; day-to-day collaboration and task management are handled seamlessly via Slack and internal platforms.

• Candidates must be prepared to complete the onboarding process and initiate communication with the project team within 24 hours of receiving an offer.

Application Process:

Submit the Application Form: Complete the short qualification form.

Profile Review: We will immediately share your profile with the Verita AI client for review.

Offer & Onboarding: If selected, you will receive a direct offer and must complete onboarding within 24 hours to begin actively working on the project.