Britain’s Top 10 Salaries

from: msn UK


The resultsof the 2007 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) have revealedthe official figures for the UK’s highest and lowest paid jobs. And,for the umpteenth year on the run, company directors and chief executivescontinue to dominate the number one spot with an average salary of£212,910 per year – an increase of 30 per cent since 2006. Remarkably,this is 20 times the amount earned by library assistants – the unwilling holders of the worst-paid job award earning on average £10,749.

The survey, which was conducted by the Office of National Statistics, covers the average pay for full-timeworkers from around 300 trades and professions. And, last years surveyalso revealed that the average weekly pay for UK employees grew by 2.9per cent year-on-year to reach £457 per week.

Here are the UK’s top 10 best paid jobs.

1. Directors and Chief Executives
Directors and CEOs are responsible for a company’s overall performance and answerable to its share-holders.

Entryrequirements: The likes of Sir Richard Branson and Sir Alan Sugar arein the minority of UK chief executives, with the majority traditionallyrequiring a degree and possibly an MBA.

Average Salary: £212,910

2. General Practitioners ([url=ttp://msn.careerbuilder.co.uk/UK/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobResults.aspx?siteid=int_ukmsn_inlinelink&strcrit=rawWords%3dgp]GP[/url]s)
Jobdescription: GPs provide primary and ongoing care in the community forpatients. They are skilled in diagnosing a patient’s condition based onphysical, psychological and social factors and recommend patients forfurther treatment or referred to hospital clinic if required.

Entry requirements: A degree in medicineis essential obtained over a five-year period (or four years for agraduate entry programme), followed by a two-year foundation programmewhereby junior doctors will earn up to £35,000 per year.


Average Salary: £110,000

3. Brokers
Jobdescription: Gordon Gecko’s “Greed is Good” tirade in the 1980s film“Wall Street”, is arguably the same mantra adopted by many of today’scareer-hungry stockbrokers – unless your name happens to be NickLeason, of course. Their basic salary may only position them as thirdon the list but, with some city brokers earning bonuses in excess of£2m a year their place in real terms can be much higher. A brokermanages the investment portfolio of private clients or companies bybuying or selling stocks and shares to generate the maximum return oninvestment.

Entry requirements: A degree in any discipline although a business, economics or finance degree would be advantageous.

Average Salary: £94,293

4. Financial Managers and Chartered Secretaries
Jobdescription: Financial managers provide advice, financial and strategicsupport -- such as budgetary controls or financial implications of aparticular course of action -- to organisations to enable them to makeeffective business decisions. Chartered secretaries work at board levelto ensure that an organisation complies with regulations and providelegal, personnel, property and financial advice. With their keybusiness knowledge across a wide range of operational areas, charteredsecretaries are highly valued by their organisations.

Entry requirements: Financial Managers require a degree in any discipline coupled with professional accountancy qualifications. The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators recommends that entrants have a degree in law or business.

Average Salary: £77,931

5. Aircraft Pilots and Flight Engineers
Job description: Exactly what it says on the tin – to fly commercial, business or freight aircraft on short- or long-haul flights.

Entryrequirements:  ‘A’ Levels/HND are sufficient and pilots must undertakean intensive training programme to obtain their commercial pilot’slicence (CPL) and Airline Transport Pilot’s Licence from a CAA-approvedtraining school. Oh, and a good pair of sunglasses, too.

Average Salary: £63,664

6. Civil Servants (Senior)
Jobdescription: Think Sir Humphrey Appleby in Yes, Minister and you willunderstand the role of a senior civil servant. In total, there arearound half a million civil servants in the UK employed in more than170 government departments and agencies charged with the responsibilityto devise policy and implement legislation, among other duties.

Entryrequirements: A second-class Honours degree or above. Exceptionalgraduates can apply for the Civil Service’s Fast Stream which flows allthe way to the top and the Sir Humphreys who head the departments.

Average Salary: £54,950

7. Police Officers (Inspector and above)
Jobdescription: A detective police inspector is a middle manager who isresponsible for supervising the ranks of constable and sergeant andacting as a link between the investigating team and senior officers.And they are usually the public face of the Force - responsible forensuring good community relations. Tact and diplomacy are essentialcharacteristics, unlike Inspector Clouseau who famously commented,“Madame, that is by far the ugliest nose I have ever seen and Icompliment you on it, it suits you!”

Entry requirements: No formal requirements, entry is open to anyone with a clean criminal record.

Average Salary: £54,241

8. Managers (marketing and sales)
Job description: Marketing and salesmanagers are tasked with developing and launching new products into themarketplace, implementing marketing plans, creating brand awarenessand, ultimately, increasing sales.

Entry requirements:Marketers typically enter the profession upon graduation (a degree inMarketing or Business is not necessary but is advantageous) or aftercompleting either a HNC or HND. Professional marketing and salesqualifications can be obtained through the Chartered Institute ofMarketing.

Average Salary: £54.029

9. Lawyers, Judges and Coroners
Jobdescription: Solicitors fall into two categories: commercial andnon-commercial. Broadly speaking, they provide a wide range of legalsupport and advice to business and private clients on issues such aslandlord and tenancy agreements, buying and selling property ormatrimony. Judges are the arbitrators appointed to oversee the legalproceedings in court. Coroners direct and conduct the post-morteminvestigation to determine the cause and responsibility for anaccidental, unexplained or violent death.

Entryrequirements: Solicitor - degree (any discipline) or via the legalexecutive route. Judge – qualification upon completing minimum sevenyears as a practising solicitor. Coroner – must be a qualifiedbarrister, solicitor or medical doctor.

Average Salary: £52,049

10. Air Traffic Controllers
Withmore than 200 million passengers travelling to and from UK airportsevery year, air traffic controllers really do have their work cut out.Their job is to manage the safe take-off and landing of severalaircraft at the same time by monitoring and controlling an aircraft’sheight, speed and course.

Entry requirements: Contrary tocommon assumptions, entry is not the preserve of university degreeholders, although an increasing number of graduates are entering theprofession. The minimum requirement is five GCSEs (grades A-C includingEnglish and Maths) in addition to two ‘A’-Levels/GNVQ advanced level.Most people enter the profession via the National Air Traffic Services(NATS).

Average Salary: £51,911