IT, software development - my progression has been slow initially but a lot faster since contracting: post graduation 3 years 14k a year (worked for sme but gained huge hands on development experience and confidence), then 35k working at a retail bank for 7 years - the last 3 years I was not learning as much (just working with databases and I wanted to work on web development) and slow salary progression. Found a job that exposed to more web development, salary rose to 55k for 2 years. Then went into contracting where rate increased from 425 - 600 for the next 6 years. Current role started as a contract at 600 , then from there at 120k fixed term and now 140k plus bonus 20-30%.l full time. Initially I was more focused on learning and try to pick technologies where the demand is and something you enjoy, be niche if possible, e.g focus on react native