What are the Career Options In the Gambling Industry in the UK
Many people might think that there’s only one way to make money in the online betting industry – by placing a bet and getting lucky, of course. The odds of getting lucky tend to be lower than you might think. Even then, you’ve got to place quite a bet – perhaps thousands of pounds – for it to amount to a truly meaningful sum.
Not so fast. The betting industry in the UK, like all other industries which provide a service, are supported by thousands of people going into work every day to do a job so that you and I can place our bets as easily as possible.
Little do you know that there is a lot of money to be made at some of these companies. Let’s get into some of the details.
Gambling Industry – Career Outlook
Every industry in 2020 took a hit. You might think that, with everyone stuck at home, online betting would be shooting through the roof. Unfortunately, the lack of sporting events throughout the year left quite a hole even for gambling.
Now that things are (hopefully) looking up, you can believe that the gambling industry will continue to grow. Many regulations are slackening, and sports events are back in full swing.
With all that said, the gambling industry will see a huge need for new talent in several careers, and most of them will be focused on the online betting industry. Online casinos and online betting account for more than 50% of the total GYC.
Combine this with the loosening regulator environment, and the way is paved for extreme growth and need for high-paying careers.
Online Gambling Careers
With online gambling sites, you will not find many opportunities like you would at brick-and-mortar casinos like dealers, bartenders, and other jobs that are a bit more accessible. The old way to make money in those days was to become a truly great dealer working with the best casinos. Even then, the tips were inconsistent, and the top jobs were fought over fiercely.
The kinds of jobs you’ll find in online gambling companies are more closely related to those you’d find at a technology startup or even large tech company. The bar is a bit higher, but the rewards are certainly greater as well.
Marketing
Every great betting site is fascinating to behold. When you first visit either the website or the mobile app, you are greeted with a pleasing landing page or welcome page, and you can’t wait to log in.
Alternatively, if you’re on YouTube or some other social media and show interest in betting sites, you probably see marketing material like Betfred promo code U deals or something similar. These adverts have some tantalising entry bonuses and are so colourful and inviting that it’s difficult to ignore.
All of these are the work of marketing teams at betting sites. If you’re in marketing at university and you’re of a competitive nature, marketing at one of these sites could lead to an excellent career.
While a marketing manager might make up to £80,000, there are other senior-level marketing jobs that can pay out even more. An analyst might start out at around £40,000, but, again, it really depends on the company you’re going for.
Software Engineering
You might be asking why we’ve started with software engineering and not with the top-paying careers like CEO. That’s because the likelihood of becoming the CEO of an online gambling company is slim to none.
Software engineers, however, are going to be a huge growth opportunity for those in computer sciences focuses at university. These positions are the ones responsible for putting together seamless mobile apps, integrating third-party systems, writing new programs in one or several programming languages, and generally making sure the company keeps delivering good products to customers to make money.
A senior software engineer could earn up to £250,000! It’s worth remembering that this career track requires at least a Bachelor of Science in computer-related studies. However higher-paying positions may require further studies or certifications.
An average salary for a lower-level software engineer might be closer to £45,000.
Data Scientist
An entry-level data scientist might make about the same £45,000 on average, but the growth can lead to around £160,000 for a senior data scientist position.
Data scientists at online betting companies are the ones who compile mountains of data, analyse it, and come back to the software engineers and traders with data-focused feedback about what both customers and the industry are doing.
As with the software engineer positions, these will be in high demand as the number of customers increase and the amount of data needed to be analysed mounts.
Content Creation
Content creators are generally the ones working closely with marketing to create content for blogs or media sites. It might be writing material, but they may also be involved in creating audio or video content. This could branch off into revenue-generating podcasts or YouTube channels.
Jobs in content creation generally aren’t the highest paying, perhaps up to £55,000 p.a. This may not be a lot, but it really depends on the company you’re creating for and what the goals are.
Risk Management
Betting sites are essentially bookmakers, so that means that they carry quite a lot of risk by actively engaging with customers placing bets.
For that reason, risk managers are critical to the success of any betting sites. The career path is fairly linear, beginning with the entry-level risk manager making somewhere around £60-70,000.
If you’re lucky, you can rise to chief risk officer and bring in just about anything but expect something around £140-150,000.
These jobs require a combination of science and art because risk managers are the ones who must take all of the data and decide how to allocate risk throughout the books. This affects every other job in the company and, at the far end of the extremes, the company itself.
Gambling Commission
While working for one of the big betting sites or even a startup might seem like the place to go looking for money, don’t discount a career in the UKGC. These may not get you rich, but you’ll be constantly engaging with the industry, you’ll be challenged, and it will be stable.
In an industry where things are anything but stable, this could be the answer. They bring on associates in professional specialities including risk, compliance, and legal. Working with the UKGC, while low paying, could also be a good route to obtain the critical experience needed to improve your future career prospects.
Legal associates might bring in around £40,000, compliance managers might see around £30,000.
The benefits are excellent, and the pay range will also depend on the location.
Final Thoughts: Careers in the Gambling Industry
In the olden days, the path to money actually working in the gambling industry involved starting at the very bottom and perhaps getting lucky by catching the notice of an observant pit boss.
However, the gambling industry in the UK is moving online faster and faster, so this is going to create massive growth in the needs for jobs to support that move. Most of the more attractive-paying jobs may be heavy in qualifications but take a look at the offerings if you are studying at university and have a passion for the gambling industry.
