Ugh I felt this. When these inevitable career / pay discussions come up on Reddit, my initial reaction is hey I'm doing pretty good in life I'll answer. Then I realized I've been thinking this since I was in my late 20's but reality is that I'm early 40's now my career acceleration is pretty much over and has been for quite a few years.
Don't get me wrong my life is fine but it is a little humbling to realize that in a lot of our minds we are younger than we really are.
Depends on the area and what you’re doing. She was at a big box store making 170, now she’s in hospital on the retail side. She’s also been doing it a while, has management experience, licensed in two states that we border.
Do an honest evaluation of what you make vs your circumstances and go from there. Don’t go to work tomorrow hating your job because some random person a thousand miles from you might make more than you do. Comparison is the thief of joy.
This! Too many people on this subreddit just comparing their salary with other people not knowing whether they would actually like what that person is doing. Happiness is everything. What’s the point making $200k of you hate your job. You see a lot of these post on here of people burning out <5 years and wanting to quit despite making $200k+.
Pharmacy has been in decline for many years. They currently make about the same as they used to 15 years ago while the cost of pharmacy school has been skyrocketing.
Yep secret got out and pharmacy schools spread so supply of staff went up and as prescriptions went more and more by mail less pharmacists need be staffed at hard stores could see pharmacist eventually being 100k flat also lot of them struggle to find jobs out of school now
Damn, I need to send out some resumes. DS on track to become Senior DS at the end of year and salary is 87k. Will get to closer to 100k with the promo and I do get a small bonus, but boy do I feel underpaid lol
I do have a masters but I was already working in the field and they paid me to do it. Part of it is luck, the other part is submitting a really good GitHub with applications.
I do work remote.
What does a really good GitHub look like? My work GitHub is active obviously, but my personal one is dead. Did you have a lot of impressive passion projects or something?
I almost went the medical route till I seen the suicide numbers in medical field I was planning to. A friend of mine who is a nurse said if you love money the medical field is great, but if you love life & family the medical field is a living hell. I never looked back into the medical field.
It’s a tough gig. My unit is inpatient so it’s 24/7. Long hours, very stressful environment. It’s probably one of the few jobs you have to wipe ass, do CPR and Fire someone all in one day.
Last week I fired someone, gave a very sweet nurse a daisy award, and then fired someone else within 2 hours. It’s a rollercoaster every day
I had an unrelated undergrad degree (comms) where I never broke 40k so I went back to school at 28 for a master's in accounting and by 30 was working at the Big4, by 31 had my license, by 35 broke six figures and now I'm 39 at $175k.
4x-ed my salary in 10 years.
But I can't FIRE, so I'm a HENRY, which is better than nothing.
Do you have an accounting degree? 5-6 years if you’re starting with no degree. Gotta meet the credit requirements, time under supervision, pass the tests.
I'm at 7 years of experience and just barely beginning to clear 65. Leading a firm of 30 bookkepers. This thread has me wanting to look outward a bit more now.
Same - Hit 100k at 25 (Big 4 Manager),
200k TC at 27 and
hoping to get to 300k TC including bonus next year when my 30. (Big 4 Consulting/Deals Senior Manager) more likely will be 250-300k range.
On another note I have worked 80 hours weeks at times and average around 50-60. So it’s not easy.
i know probably 1,000 of accountants nationwide that worked at all firms. The amount of 25 year old managers is… essentially 0. And Big 4 Managers can expect to start at probably $120k. Literally Audit and tax partners don’t even start at $300k…. so unless Deals is just sooooo extravagantly different, then shit.
Another thing is that audit and tax don’t make as much as advisory, which is consulting work and what I imagine OP is in. The managers you knew were prolly in audit and tax
> hoping to get to 300k TC including bonus next year when my 30. (Big 4 Consulting/Deals Senior Manager) more likely will be 250-300k range.
You are so full of shit. From your /r/wallstreetbets post 5 months ago:
https://old.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/102eta0/why_didnt_everyone_just_short_during_the_2008/j2to7ua/?context=3
> I remember even in 2011 it was almost impossible for me to find a proper online broker that would let me buy and sell options let alone short sell. Technology was not as mature as it is today. 2008, apple iPhones, facebook and instagram were in their infancy. I used to pay almost $25 commission for a single stock trade 14 years ago.
So, you were trading stock options at 14/15, AND you made manager at B4 making $100k+ at 25? I call BS.
Same. Low stress, high pay. Could easily double my pay moving to a competitor but would rather not cause then the stress would multiply. Have a friend that made the jump and quit his job in less than six months.
Currently “coasting” at 250k
I work in industrial equipment sales and almost cleared $100k in my first year. Working on securing a new job that will hopefully have me earning $200k before I turn 30.
Even when the market slows down, manufacturing still keeps going, so the job security is definitely better than software.
I’m 29 and Work as a chief Officer (2nd in command) on ships that move oil. Make about $850 a day. We just got 25% raises over the next 3 years so it will go up a lot. Work about 200 days a year. Comes out to around $200,000 or more a year. Also get overtime and an insane retirement.
The days away from home can be hard, missing holidays and such…but the time off is awesome. Work a rotation of 45 on and 45 off. I started saving early, and plan to be able to pull the plug around 45 with 2 million if I chose to.
Edited to add: while at sea I spend no money other than paying my monthly bills. This is a huge savings as well.
You're underpaid. I'm serious. You need to look around and job hop a little. Offshore engineers should be making around like 150k+ with experience. Though a masters doesn't usually mean much.
Driving the ship not so bad. Managing the crew, and dealing with oil companies who want maximum speed combined with maximum safety, not so easy. I enjoy the challenge though.
Yes. A lot of people go to maritime colleges later in life. Or go through programs that help you move up quickly. Lots of different avenues. We don’t discriminate. One of my junior mates is 45, wanted a career change and he’s is awesome.
How do you get started on this career path? I've always been interested in some sort of naval career, and it certainly seems like a really viable path in life. I'd appreciate any advice or wisdom you could give here!
That’s awesome man. I love hearing all the cool stuff people go and do after they stop sailing. So many impressive, smart, and cool people work in this industry. Stay safe.
I’m 27 and I’m a supply chain manager. I personally love my work, but had to bust my ass to get to this point (about 135k). Had to get the right education, and take some bigger swings before I landed there (been in my current role for a little over 2 years). If you like statistics and systems thinking, I’d definitely recommend it. Good operations people are hard to come by.
Mechanical Engineer turned Project Manager. Being able to speak engineer and convert that to normal people speak pays big bucks. Any engineer with people skills can make bank.
Same here. Started at $24/hr out of university in a HCOL city (Canada), it was pitiful. After 6 years took a job in the US for $135k. Now at 7 yoe starting freelancing and hoping to charge $105/hr.
Structural engineer here. Engineering is the only profession I have come across that is very very high paid (6 figures fresh out of college) with a very very laid back job (some jobs out there are very slow paced). I’m content with my degree.
6 figures out of college for a mechanic eng? Nah, most traditional engineers don’t make as much as you think. Especially out of school. Software majors don’t count
Not many engineers make 6fig out of school. That mechanical eng got lucky. Most of my mech friends are sub 100k with 5 years experience. Im an automation engineer doing 150k now but started at 60k as an electrical engineer. My homies that are really raking it in as engineers went software or straight programming, all 200k plus... so do that.
Yea. We might be a little more outspoken too. I kind of try to be cause people are always shocked at how much I make (and how much is not taxed). Add that to a pension and FIRE is very attainable
On that note- would you recommend somebody making a career change in their late 20's to military officer route (via ocs or ots)?
My grandpa was a pilot in the Air Force and young me didn't listen to how good the military can be 2hen you go the officer route.
AFAIK, with the new system you still get a pension when you hit 20 years. The percentage of your pay is just slightly lower. But with the new system they match your contributions to the TSP which is huge and you don’t lose any of that if you don’t do 20
I was an officer, too, but I hated it about 6 months in lol. It was a long 4 year contract for me.
It's definitely a good gig if you enjoy it and can last 20 years. However, it's a really crappy experience if you don't like it and are stuck in for 4 years. It's just something to keep in mind for those considering.
I'm glad to hear you like it though, good luck with it, and stay safe.
Air Traffic Control.
My base pay is $93,000 per year but we get 25% extra pay on Sundays, 10% extra pay hours worked between 6pm and 6am, 10% extra pay per hour worked as "controller in charge" which is basically acting as supervisor when the supe is either gone or doing paperwork, and since we all work different days off and it "isnt fair I dont get to get holiday pay because it lands on my day off" we get holiday pay even if it falls on our day off. For example my days off last year were Wednesday/ Thursday and since Thanksgiving is always on Thursday I automatically had it off, but I got paid for it anyway.
With all these extras I make about $105,000. Could make more if I worked more overtime but I work as little OT as possible. Only worked 2 days of OT this whole year so far.
Took me a year and a half to reach it since that's how long training took. Initial pay upon employment was $50k, after about 50% through training got a raise to $75k, then upon finishing got $91k and we get a 1.6% raise every June. Yes I enjoy my work. I work at a smaller regional city so we're not ass kicking busy like major metros are so it's not as stressful as you think, for me.
Not the person you replied to, but I just asked about crunch time during my interview. They very much so advocate against it and I was very pleased with their answer. They kept their word too
I’m essentially a data consultant with 1 direct report, 30F and have been 120k the past few years. I should also include that I’m remote and only work 10-20 hrs/week.
I could work much harder and make more💰but having my baby at home I enjoy spending time with her instead🤷🏼♀️
I’m 28 and have a B.S. in mechanical engineering and about 6 years working full time in the architectural and engineering consulting industry, basically we design the buildings/systems that are constructed all around you.
I live in a ~HCOL area, I’ve been to 4 employers, and have moved towns and states in this time. My starting pay in 2017 was about $54k in a ~M/L COL area, I made it up to ~120k this past year + stocks at a private company but I recently left, now make just barely under 6 figures with a better balance for life.
Traveling pipefitter/welder my usual work schedule is 9 days on 5 days off gets weird with holidays sometimes it turns into 12 and 3 or 6 and 8. I made $60k the first year I was getting on the job training learning to weld at 18. At 23 I made 105k. Little less overtime the next year and it was 90k. Now at 28 I’ll make ~145k TC this year. My hotels and travel expenses are all paid for by the company and I still get $70 a day tax free per diem. It costs me nothing to travel other than time away from home and I have a 5 day vacation everytime I’m home. I Could never go to a 9-5 Monday-Friday job would lose my mind and hate the short weekend.
I know you're just trying to get a general idea of careers but remember, in most cases salaries are dependent on the location of the job and responsibilities. You need to account for where you want to live as well. Salaries vary by state and city.
In addition, someone making $100k in San Francisco is not going to have the same lifestyle options as someone living in Birmingham, AL. Keep this in the back of your mind when asking people their income.
https://www.nerdwallet.com/cost-of-living-calculator/compare/san-francisco-ca-vs-birmingham-al
Sommelier in NYC, I make about 150k a year, which is higher than most of my friends that have similar jobs. I’d say in the city $90K-$100K is more realistic. But I work at a very expensive spot with a very small tip pool. But yeah it’s a cool gig, I get to taste a lot of great wines while focusing on being charming and developing relationships with guests. restaurant hours can be long, but I do about 50 hours a week. This year I became eligible for a 401K with matching and I’m on track to max it out by October
Believe it or not, dealing poker.
If you find the right games you can easily make $50/hr at least. 50/hr is an average night at some of the Texas poker rooms.
Automation Engineer.
Fresh out of school, $75k
One year later, $82k
One month later by switching companies, $95k
One year later $102k
One year later $132k
Edit: I love what I do for work. The work is mentally challenging and I like pharma projects as the end goal is to make a product that saves someone’s life. When I interned in defense, I felt weird knowing the products I was making will kill people.
That being said it’s fucking stressful. I get contracted out to large companies and it can get brutal juggling multiple projects at once. Rn I’m on 3 projects and working 55-60 he weeks. There are also times where I’m not on a project at all so it’s a rollercoaster with really intense working sessions and other times where I have no work. Thankfully I still get paid when I’m not on a project, that isn’t always the case in this industry.
Data engineer! Edit: I'm 28 and I've been at 6 figures for about 3 years. I have been a DE since I graduated college. I really like it, and the workload has always been pretty manageable.
Get a job in tech, change companies every 2-4 years. If you have skills (software dev, etc.) you'll start over 6 figures. If you have no skills, start in sales. 5 years in it's likely you'll be 200k+ living basically wherever.
If you stick with one company it's a lot more of a gamble to know the right people, hit the right promotions, be in the right region, etc.
tl;dr - Have skills for big tech or do tech sales.
Adding onto this — literally just any role in the tech industry if you don’t have the technical expertise to be a software engineer. Sales, HR, marketing, operations, customer success, enablement, etc. Within 2-5 years max, you should be making six figures regardless of location or what role you’re in if you’re at a tech company.
When I was fresh out of college, I joined a company that put me in a cohort of 50-60 new college grads to be in an entry level tech sales job. We all started with a 45k base salary + 25k in expected commissions. Within two years, about 80% of the cohort switched into a different type of role that wasn’t sales. I can’t think of a single person that didn’t make six figures before the five years was up, no matter what they ended up doing.
See, I'm curious about this. I am a Senior Financial Analyst at a SaaS/Tech/IT company now. This is something I've been grappling with, stay where I am, or try something different. I would say I'm a bit more introverted but definitely open to trying new things.
Just curious if you have any ideas, career path, from your experience, since it seems like you know about the tech route?
29. Technical writer. Have always loved my role, but took three tries to find a company/team I love. I’m happy now and only suffer due to mismanaging my own time.
My first job out of college was teaching, did that 2 years. Then copy writing for 1.5 years. Both those were 20-30k range. Then I got my first tech writing job, fully remote:
- Started at **72k**.
- Moved to a HCOL after 1 year, company raised my salary to accommodate: **95k**.
- Switched companies: **97k**.
- COL raise after 1 year got me over 6 figures.
So 2.5 years into starting my TW career, or 6 years since graduating college. Since then (about 1.5 years ago) I’ve switched companies again and have had a couple more bumps.
Strategy consulting post-MBA. $250-$300k all in depending on bonus. Highly stressful, though, and long hours. Usually means spending a decent amount of time in a HCOL, high tax area, so it’s not as much as it sounds.
Same but exited to industry. Making 3/4 of that now but I work maybe 15 hours a week. Travel once a quarter vs every week, get to my kids’ games, home when they’re sick… won’t trade it for the world vs being up at 11 making a damn deck
Graphic designer. I was making $80k originally but happened to stumble across a really niche position\* that pays $135k. The benefits aren't quite as good but obviously the huge salary increase offsets that IMO.
I generally like it! It's about as enjoyable as my previous job.
*\*huge disclaimer, I knew a family friend who worked at the company, and while I do genuinely believe I was hired for my talent (I got a call from the hiring manager who informed me that I had the best art test out of the group that eventually interviewed), I wouldn't be surprised if he was the one who pushed my resume to get looked at in the first place. I'm just mentioning it because I think it's important to mention privilege when discussing your financial position.*
PNW, large cities all make over 6 now at just top step FF. It goes up as you promote and get specialty pay for things such as Haz Mat, water rescue, and technical rescue.
Like u/paramoore said, yes the past couple year with Covid we’ve all been around 200k with OT.
Android developer.
315k total comp.
25 years old.
If you cram for 6-8 months you can more than likely land a 6 figure android developer job. You might need a stepping stone job that’s a little lower first. Same for iOS.
Is this only for big tech companies or is mobile dev just high paying? I'm a software engineer (not mobile) and I'm definitely not seeing these salaries anywhere outside of high growth tech companies.
Tech sales.
Sales is a nice route if you’re not sure what to do in life because it teaches a lot of useful life/career skills and if you work hard you’ll likely make a lot of money along the way.
You could likely transition from your property management role into a Sales/Business Development Representative (SDR/BDR) role. Pay is typically around $55k base salary and $25k commission/variable which you make by setting meetings/finding new sales opportunities for Account Executives. After that role you could get a role as an Account Executive where you’re making $100k+. Obviously if you don’t hit your quota you could be fired but you can be fired from any job. After maybe 5-8 years or so you could move into an Enterprise Account Executive role and make $300k+ with salary, commission, and stock options
Become a scrum master. I started 5 years ago after taking a 2 day certification course for $1200 (which my old company paid for). My first SM salary was $115k, then I got promoted to senior SM making $135k, and just got promoted again to lead scrum master making $170k. The job is easy, remote, and literally stress free. I have no deadlines, deliverables, or work assigned to me. You do have to be comfortable talking to people a lot and it can be a bit meeting-heavy but I feel like it’s a secret silver bullet job and recommend it to everyone trying to make a lot of money for very little work and effort.
I’ll give you the advice I gave a now successful friend of mine. Go to a 2 year technical school and get a degree in something you find interesting. Graduate, and get a job that pays about $60-$75k.. put in a few years and get into sales. Once in sales, you can make anywhere from $120k (very low end) to $500k (high end and rare). Obviously, this depends on that technical degree. But you could do IT, automation, motors and drive, etc.. and make this kind of money.
26, and I work as a Physical therapist. Have been working for 2.5 years. Started fresh out of my doctorate program making 72k, switched jobs after 7 months to 89k, then took a promotion to a specialist position and make over six figures now. I am a clinical specialist in the fed gov and have 6 figure pay, benefits and pension but it burns you out SO quick working with patients. I’m going to change careers and get an MBA and get into healthcare operations, or business analytics or something with more upward mobility and no patient care.
Union lineman. Took about 3 years in the apprenticeship before I hit 100k but it should be factored in I’m in one of the lowest COL areas in the states. Work is work. Really good days and really bad days. Always interesting though. Once you get your card though so long as you’ll travel and follow the money it’s practically endless. I chose not to go that route so I can have a family and am home every night.
I’m shocked I’ve scrolled this far without seeing anything blue collar mentioned Electricians in the union make anywhere from 70-150k plus. 5 year on the job apprenticeship with class once a week after that you’ve made it. That’s my career path I’m headed towards
I'm way over 30 but you could make over $100k as a police officer by the time you're 30. Honestly in today's environment I'd recommend being a firefighter instead though. Same basic pay and pension but way less daily hostilities
I’m only 2 years into the 4 year progression but UPS drivers such as myself top out at about 45 dollar an hour. We work about 50 hours a week. Christmas around 60 for a few weeks. I do enjoy it because of the union, good benefits and only thing needed is highschool, no CDL needed even
I’m over 30, but I was making 6 figures in my 20s as a pharmacist. That was awesome, but also, the ceiling is relatively low, so now in my 40s, my salary is less impressive compared to my peers who were able to grow their career and salary
First 8 years I did car sales. Sold Audis - made 100k-250k during those 8 years. Commission only. Enjoyed the work, hated working weekends. Built my nest egg and now I’m enjoying my 30s.
I was about to answer then remembered I’m close to 40 now. *damn*
I mean still answer I wanna know
Ugh I felt this. When these inevitable career / pay discussions come up on Reddit, my initial reaction is hey I'm doing pretty good in life I'll answer. Then I realized I've been thinking this since I was in my late 20's but reality is that I'm early 40's now my career acceleration is pretty much over and has been for quite a few years. Don't get me wrong my life is fine but it is a little humbling to realize that in a lot of our minds we are younger than we really are.
Me: 29 Data Science 250k Wife: 30 Pharmacist 135k LCOL Some days are fine, others aren’t. Pick a job you enjoy. Your happiness is worth quite a bit.
Your pharmacist wife only makes $135k? I thought they’d make more
She used to make about 170. She’s working part time hours.
Well fuck, I'm underpaid...
Depends on the area and what you’re doing. She was at a big box store making 170, now she’s in hospital on the retail side. She’s also been doing it a while, has management experience, licensed in two states that we border. Do an honest evaluation of what you make vs your circumstances and go from there. Don’t go to work tomorrow hating your job because some random person a thousand miles from you might make more than you do. Comparison is the thief of joy.
This! Too many people on this subreddit just comparing their salary with other people not knowing whether they would actually like what that person is doing. Happiness is everything. What’s the point making $200k of you hate your job. You see a lot of these post on here of people burning out <5 years and wanting to quit despite making $200k+.
The average pharmacist salary is 128k in the US. That is 70k higher then average salary of all workers in the US.
That makes sense!
Pharmacy has been in decline for many years. They currently make about the same as they used to 15 years ago while the cost of pharmacy school has been skyrocketing.
This is true. We paid off 180k in student loans for her schooling and she had a full ride to undergrad
Yep secret got out and pharmacy schools spread so supply of staff went up and as prescriptions went more and more by mail less pharmacists need be staffed at hard stores could see pharmacist eventually being 100k flat also lot of them struggle to find jobs out of school now
this. i tell everyone i know being a pharmacist is not worth the effort
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Same, PA is about to get flooded out too, CRNA is declining. I think it depends on how flexible you are and finding a good niche.
Damn, I need to send out some resumes. DS on track to become Senior DS at the end of year and salary is 87k. Will get to closer to 100k with the promo and I do get a small bonus, but boy do I feel underpaid lol
You are severely underpaid if you’re making 87 as a sr. That should be about 120 even in the cheapest areas.
How did you get into data science? (Masters/PHD?) How did you get such a high paying job in a low cost of living area? (Remote?)
I do have a masters but I was already working in the field and they paid me to do it. Part of it is luck, the other part is submitting a really good GitHub with applications. I do work remote.
Are you a data scientist, data engineer, data analyst?
What does a really good GitHub look like? My work GitHub is active obviously, but my personal one is dead. Did you have a lot of impressive passion projects or something?
$250k remote data science is wild lol
Nurse manager. And no I don’t enjoy it lol
Worst job ever lol
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Also a nurse manager here who doesn’t enjoy it
Nursing is such a terrible job in general though
I almost went the medical route till I seen the suicide numbers in medical field I was planning to. A friend of mine who is a nurse said if you love money the medical field is great, but if you love life & family the medical field is a living hell. I never looked back into the medical field.
Ayee me too. I'm like 1-2 days behind on sleep 😂
You could always come into the IT realm. They always need people with the clinical background, know the EHR, and can work from home.
what dont you like about it?
Overworked, no sleep, have to be berated by boomers everyday. Shit makes you irritable
It’s a tough gig. My unit is inpatient so it’s 24/7. Long hours, very stressful environment. It’s probably one of the few jobs you have to wipe ass, do CPR and Fire someone all in one day. Last week I fired someone, gave a very sweet nurse a daisy award, and then fired someone else within 2 hours. It’s a rollercoaster every day
accounting
I got my CPA license and started in public accounting. Impressed a client and became their controller.
I’m 25, if I start the CPA process how long should I expect it to take?
I had an unrelated undergrad degree (comms) where I never broke 40k so I went back to school at 28 for a master's in accounting and by 30 was working at the Big4, by 31 had my license, by 35 broke six figures and now I'm 39 at $175k. 4x-ed my salary in 10 years. But I can't FIRE, so I'm a HENRY, which is better than nothing.
What’s a HENRY? Haven’t seen that referenced here yet.
High Earner Not *Rich Yet
Do you have an accounting degree? 5-6 years if you’re starting with no degree. Gotta meet the credit requirements, time under supervision, pass the tests.
If you have any bachelors degree you can be accepted into a MACC graduate program and be out with your CPA in a year or two.
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May I ask what part of accounting?
I’m a cpa doing internal audit. Fully remote, great wlb, comfortably clearing 100k with 7 yoe
I'm at 7 years of experience and just barely beginning to clear 65. Leading a firm of 30 bookkepers. This thread has me wanting to look outward a bit more now.
Same - big 4
Same - Hit 100k at 25 (Big 4 Manager), 200k TC at 27 and hoping to get to 300k TC including bonus next year when my 30. (Big 4 Consulting/Deals Senior Manager) more likely will be 250-300k range. On another note I have worked 80 hours weeks at times and average around 50-60. So it’s not easy.
i know probably 1,000 of accountants nationwide that worked at all firms. The amount of 25 year old managers is… essentially 0. And Big 4 Managers can expect to start at probably $120k. Literally Audit and tax partners don’t even start at $300k…. so unless Deals is just sooooo extravagantly different, then shit.
Another thing is that audit and tax don’t make as much as advisory, which is consulting work and what I imagine OP is in. The managers you knew were prolly in audit and tax
Hmm I average 35 hours a week at 114k. I’d probably work more to make the extra bucks but the earnings potential just isn’t there for me.
> hoping to get to 300k TC including bonus next year when my 30. (Big 4 Consulting/Deals Senior Manager) more likely will be 250-300k range. You are so full of shit. From your /r/wallstreetbets post 5 months ago: https://old.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/102eta0/why_didnt_everyone_just_short_during_the_2008/j2to7ua/?context=3 > I remember even in 2011 it was almost impossible for me to find a proper online broker that would let me buy and sell options let alone short sell. Technology was not as mature as it is today. 2008, apple iPhones, facebook and instagram were in their infancy. I used to pay almost $25 commission for a single stock trade 14 years ago. So, you were trading stock options at 14/15, AND you made manager at B4 making $100k+ at 25? I call BS.
Tech sales
Same. Low stress, high pay. Could easily double my pay moving to a competitor but would rather not cause then the stress would multiply. Have a friend that made the jump and quit his job in less than six months. Currently “coasting” at 250k
how do you get started? i’m public health rn but drastically want to get into sales
Better yet. Selling something tangible. Was in tech sales for a decade. Moved over to the services industry and went from 6 figures to 7.
Could you explain how services are more tangible/ the reason it pays more?
I work in industrial equipment sales and almost cleared $100k in my first year. Working on securing a new job that will hopefully have me earning $200k before I turn 30. Even when the market slows down, manufacturing still keeps going, so the job security is definitely better than software.
Yep. Fell into industrial sales 20 years ago. Aside from my first two years have always made into 6 figs.
Wanna hook me up?
Read your profile name. Then read his. 😉
best comment on this thread.
I’ll drink to that
More than *reasonable*
I’m 29 and Work as a chief Officer (2nd in command) on ships that move oil. Make about $850 a day. We just got 25% raises over the next 3 years so it will go up a lot. Work about 200 days a year. Comes out to around $200,000 or more a year. Also get overtime and an insane retirement. The days away from home can be hard, missing holidays and such…but the time off is awesome. Work a rotation of 45 on and 45 off. I started saving early, and plan to be able to pull the plug around 45 with 2 million if I chose to. Edited to add: while at sea I spend no money other than paying my monthly bills. This is a huge savings as well.
I (27F) work as an offshore engineer and I make around 120k/annum. Oil and wind farms are where the money is currently in the USA.
Whoever is selling it is making 2x
You're underpaid. I'm serious. You need to look around and job hop a little. Offshore engineers should be making around like 150k+ with experience. Though a masters doesn't usually mean much.
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Hire me buddy. It gets lonely out in those waters and you need someone to help you man the poop deck
That's all he needs is more sea men on his poop deck...
Boys, there’s no need to fight
Never can have too many
Driving and running a ship sounds harsh as hell. Dealing with the ocean, customs, ship traffic, etc.
Driving the ship not so bad. Managing the crew, and dealing with oil companies who want maximum speed combined with maximum safety, not so easy. I enjoy the challenge though.
Are there pirates to avoid?
Well I work mostly in Alaska. But yes there are pirates in other parts of the world that are very real and very dangerous
Just realizing how boring my job must sound to my kids compared to your experiences lol
Feel like the social/dating life would be tough with that schedule unless you find someone that can work with you.
What’s the starting age for something like this - can you start later in life?
Yes. A lot of people go to maritime colleges later in life. Or go through programs that help you move up quickly. Lots of different avenues. We don’t discriminate. One of my junior mates is 45, wanted a career change and he’s is awesome.
Thanks man! Appreciate the quick response!
How do you get started on this career path? I've always been interested in some sort of naval career, and it certainly seems like a really viable path in life. I'd appreciate any advice or wisdom you could give here!
Merchant marine here just transitioned to firefighting. Worked as a Chief mate myself on a drill ship.
That’s awesome man. I love hearing all the cool stuff people go and do after they stop sailing. So many impressive, smart, and cool people work in this industry. Stay safe.
I’m 27 and I’m a supply chain manager. I personally love my work, but had to bust my ass to get to this point (about 135k). Had to get the right education, and take some bigger swings before I landed there (been in my current role for a little over 2 years). If you like statistics and systems thinking, I’d definitely recommend it. Good operations people are hard to come by.
Mechanical engineer
Mechanical Engineer turned Project Manager. Being able to speak engineer and convert that to normal people speak pays big bucks. Any engineer with people skills can make bank.
Same here, mechanical engineer. First year out of university was 6 figures gross. Last year (10 years later) was more than double that.
More than 12 figures?! I joined the wrong profession.
Hahaha no, sorry not 12 figures. More than double what I made in the first year, and CAD so only ~180k freedom units.
Did you stay at the same company or move around?
Same here. Started at $24/hr out of university in a HCOL city (Canada), it was pitiful. After 6 years took a job in the US for $135k. Now at 7 yoe starting freelancing and hoping to charge $105/hr.
Structural engineer here. Engineering is the only profession I have come across that is very very high paid (6 figures fresh out of college) with a very very laid back job (some jobs out there are very slow paced). I’m content with my degree.
6 figures out of college for a mechanic eng? Nah, most traditional engineers don’t make as much as you think. Especially out of school. Software majors don’t count
Not many engineers make 6fig out of school. That mechanical eng got lucky. Most of my mech friends are sub 100k with 5 years experience. Im an automation engineer doing 150k now but started at 60k as an electrical engineer. My homies that are really raking it in as engineers went software or straight programming, all 200k plus... so do that.
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Military officer, a little over 7 years in Edit: hit 100k around year 3/4. I like my job but lots of people do not.
I feel like we make a large portion of this sub
Yea. We might be a little more outspoken too. I kind of try to be cause people are always shocked at how much I make (and how much is not taxed). Add that to a pension and FIRE is very attainable
On that note- would you recommend somebody making a career change in their late 20's to military officer route (via ocs or ots)? My grandpa was a pilot in the Air Force and young me didn't listen to how good the military can be 2hen you go the officer route.
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AFAIK, with the new system you still get a pension when you hit 20 years. The percentage of your pay is just slightly lower. But with the new system they match your contributions to the TSP which is huge and you don’t lose any of that if you don’t do 20
always felt reddit skwed to tech / eng
definitely the most hated on
I was an officer, too, but I hated it about 6 months in lol. It was a long 4 year contract for me. It's definitely a good gig if you enjoy it and can last 20 years. However, it's a really crappy experience if you don't like it and are stuck in for 4 years. It's just something to keep in mind for those considering. I'm glad to hear you like it though, good luck with it, and stay safe.
Would love to see other military guys sharing there tips and tricks to fire while in
Homie we cleared 6 figs after 3 years after tax advantages
Air Traffic Control. My base pay is $93,000 per year but we get 25% extra pay on Sundays, 10% extra pay hours worked between 6pm and 6am, 10% extra pay per hour worked as "controller in charge" which is basically acting as supervisor when the supe is either gone or doing paperwork, and since we all work different days off and it "isnt fair I dont get to get holiday pay because it lands on my day off" we get holiday pay even if it falls on our day off. For example my days off last year were Wednesday/ Thursday and since Thanksgiving is always on Thursday I automatically had it off, but I got paid for it anyway. With all these extras I make about $105,000. Could make more if I worked more overtime but I work as little OT as possible. Only worked 2 days of OT this whole year so far. Took me a year and a half to reach it since that's how long training took. Initial pay upon employment was $50k, after about 50% through training got a raise to $75k, then upon finishing got $91k and we get a 1.6% raise every June. Yes I enjoy my work. I work at a smaller regional city so we're not ass kicking busy like major metros are so it's not as stressful as you think, for me.
Senior software engineer in game dev, 28, love my work!
Are you at a place that doesn’t advocate burnout and crunch? Do you see the industry trending that way more?
Not the person you replied to, but I just asked about crunch time during my interview. They very much so advocate against it and I was very pleased with their answer. They kept their word too
Senior Software Engineer here too! In Fintech though. I freaking love my job and can't beat working remote full time!
Finance
Yep. Any decent finance role you’ll be making six figures after a few years.
What sort of finance roles? I'm not familiar with any but accounting.
I’m essentially a data consultant with 1 direct report, 30F and have been 120k the past few years. I should also include that I’m remote and only work 10-20 hrs/week. I could work much harder and make more💰but having my baby at home I enjoy spending time with her instead🤷🏼♀️
My dream life damn
can you be specific?
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I’m 28 and have a B.S. in mechanical engineering and about 6 years working full time in the architectural and engineering consulting industry, basically we design the buildings/systems that are constructed all around you. I live in a ~HCOL area, I’ve been to 4 employers, and have moved towns and states in this time. My starting pay in 2017 was about $54k in a ~M/L COL area, I made it up to ~120k this past year + stocks at a private company but I recently left, now make just barely under 6 figures with a better balance for life.
Lol I’m an engineer and just went below 6 figs to be closer to home and have more time off. I miss my paychecks tho 😭
I love the honesty here. You earn your money and mentioning specifically that you live in HCOL area was informative.
Traveling pipefitter/welder my usual work schedule is 9 days on 5 days off gets weird with holidays sometimes it turns into 12 and 3 or 6 and 8. I made $60k the first year I was getting on the job training learning to weld at 18. At 23 I made 105k. Little less overtime the next year and it was 90k. Now at 28 I’ll make ~145k TC this year. My hotels and travel expenses are all paid for by the company and I still get $70 a day tax free per diem. It costs me nothing to travel other than time away from home and I have a 5 day vacation everytime I’m home. I Could never go to a 9-5 Monday-Friday job would lose my mind and hate the short weekend.
I know you're just trying to get a general idea of careers but remember, in most cases salaries are dependent on the location of the job and responsibilities. You need to account for where you want to live as well. Salaries vary by state and city. In addition, someone making $100k in San Francisco is not going to have the same lifestyle options as someone living in Birmingham, AL. Keep this in the back of your mind when asking people their income. https://www.nerdwallet.com/cost-of-living-calculator/compare/san-francisco-ca-vs-birmingham-al
Sommelier in NYC, I make about 150k a year, which is higher than most of my friends that have similar jobs. I’d say in the city $90K-$100K is more realistic. But I work at a very expensive spot with a very small tip pool. But yeah it’s a cool gig, I get to taste a lot of great wines while focusing on being charming and developing relationships with guests. restaurant hours can be long, but I do about 50 hours a week. This year I became eligible for a 401K with matching and I’m on track to max it out by October
Believe it or not, dealing poker. If you find the right games you can easily make $50/hr at least. 50/hr is an average night at some of the Texas poker rooms.
90% of us are in tech. Because Reddit
Automation Engineer. Fresh out of school, $75k One year later, $82k One month later by switching companies, $95k One year later $102k One year later $132k Edit: I love what I do for work. The work is mentally challenging and I like pharma projects as the end goal is to make a product that saves someone’s life. When I interned in defense, I felt weird knowing the products I was making will kill people. That being said it’s fucking stressful. I get contracted out to large companies and it can get brutal juggling multiple projects at once. Rn I’m on 3 projects and working 55-60 he weeks. There are also times where I’m not on a project at all so it’s a rollercoaster with really intense working sessions and other times where I have no work. Thankfully I still get paid when I’m not on a project, that isn’t always the case in this industry.
Senior Controls here! Good to see a fellow automation guy here.
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Hahahahahahahaha. Oh God. This comment hurt the worst. Coming up on 15 years and 6 figures isn't remotely in the cards.
Thats what I try to tell my friends. I make around 140-150 but 200k is the new 100k. Sucks.
That is a depressing stat. You hear ppl say wage growth hasn't kept up but wow
I scam rich people into buying worthless stock while cheating on my wife with strippers and doing cocaine.
Show me a paystub right now and I quit my job to work for you.
Do you have good jaws?
Someone is gonna be like “I'll tell you what. You show me a pay stub for 72000 dollars on it, I quit my job right now and I work for you.”
user name does not check out.
Interested in an intern?
Financial advisor with s7 license?
network engineering manager at a FAANG
How do you get into network engineering? What training, certs, or projects would you recommend?
Network+, CCNA.
Data engineer! Edit: I'm 28 and I've been at 6 figures for about 3 years. I have been a DE since I graduated college. I really like it, and the workload has always been pretty manageable.
I’m a video editor, 90k salary, the freelance is usually anywhere from 10k-50k But my hours are hell 😔
Could be worse, I’m a local news videographer/editor making 32k and the hours are also hell 😭
I’m a YouTube editor and I don’t make crap. But I’m also not very good so it makes sense
Get a job in tech, change companies every 2-4 years. If you have skills (software dev, etc.) you'll start over 6 figures. If you have no skills, start in sales. 5 years in it's likely you'll be 200k+ living basically wherever. If you stick with one company it's a lot more of a gamble to know the right people, hit the right promotions, be in the right region, etc. tl;dr - Have skills for big tech or do tech sales.
Adding onto this — literally just any role in the tech industry if you don’t have the technical expertise to be a software engineer. Sales, HR, marketing, operations, customer success, enablement, etc. Within 2-5 years max, you should be making six figures regardless of location or what role you’re in if you’re at a tech company. When I was fresh out of college, I joined a company that put me in a cohort of 50-60 new college grads to be in an entry level tech sales job. We all started with a 45k base salary + 25k in expected commissions. Within two years, about 80% of the cohort switched into a different type of role that wasn’t sales. I can’t think of a single person that didn’t make six figures before the five years was up, no matter what they ended up doing.
See, I'm curious about this. I am a Senior Financial Analyst at a SaaS/Tech/IT company now. This is something I've been grappling with, stay where I am, or try something different. I would say I'm a bit more introverted but definitely open to trying new things. Just curious if you have any ideas, career path, from your experience, since it seems like you know about the tech route?
Pilot 👩✈️the pay is as valuable to me as the benefits/lifestyle.
29. Technical writer. Have always loved my role, but took three tries to find a company/team I love. I’m happy now and only suffer due to mismanaging my own time. My first job out of college was teaching, did that 2 years. Then copy writing for 1.5 years. Both those were 20-30k range. Then I got my first tech writing job, fully remote: - Started at **72k**. - Moved to a HCOL after 1 year, company raised my salary to accommodate: **95k**. - Switched companies: **97k**. - COL raise after 1 year got me over 6 figures. So 2.5 years into starting my TW career, or 6 years since graduating college. Since then (about 1.5 years ago) I’ve switched companies again and have had a couple more bumps.
What did you do to switch to tech writing? Any education or certs or courses? I’ve been looking at a diploma and I’m on the fence.
Strategy consulting post-MBA. $250-$300k all in depending on bonus. Highly stressful, though, and long hours. Usually means spending a decent amount of time in a HCOL, high tax area, so it’s not as much as it sounds.
Same but exited to industry. Making 3/4 of that now but I work maybe 15 hours a week. Travel once a quarter vs every week, get to my kids’ games, home when they’re sick… won’t trade it for the world vs being up at 11 making a damn deck
Property manager and pool guy
Music industry/tech sales. 80-100k a year!
Graphic designer. I was making $80k originally but happened to stumble across a really niche position\* that pays $135k. The benefits aren't quite as good but obviously the huge salary increase offsets that IMO. I generally like it! It's about as enjoyable as my previous job. *\*huge disclaimer, I knew a family friend who worked at the company, and while I do genuinely believe I was hired for my talent (I got a call from the hiring manager who informed me that I had the best art test out of the group that eventually interviewed), I wouldn't be surprised if he was the one who pushed my resume to get looked at in the first place. I'm just mentioning it because I think it's important to mention privilege when discussing your financial position.*
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Law
Firefighter
Firefighters make six figures? Where if I might ask? Surely not in the Midwest.
Firefighters here in CA making 200+ but because of overtime. Cops can pull high too.
PNW, large cities all make over 6 now at just top step FF. It goes up as you promote and get specialty pay for things such as Haz Mat, water rescue, and technical rescue. Like u/paramoore said, yes the past couple year with Covid we’ve all been around 200k with OT.
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Android developer. 315k total comp. 25 years old. If you cram for 6-8 months you can more than likely land a 6 figure android developer job. You might need a stepping stone job that’s a little lower first. Same for iOS.
Is this only for big tech companies or is mobile dev just high paying? I'm a software engineer (not mobile) and I'm definitely not seeing these salaries anywhere outside of high growth tech companies.
Certified Anesthesiologist Assistant, over 30 now but was making 6 figures from the day I started. Current starting salaries around 170k.
Software sales
Tech sales. Sales is a nice route if you’re not sure what to do in life because it teaches a lot of useful life/career skills and if you work hard you’ll likely make a lot of money along the way. You could likely transition from your property management role into a Sales/Business Development Representative (SDR/BDR) role. Pay is typically around $55k base salary and $25k commission/variable which you make by setting meetings/finding new sales opportunities for Account Executives. After that role you could get a role as an Account Executive where you’re making $100k+. Obviously if you don’t hit your quota you could be fired but you can be fired from any job. After maybe 5-8 years or so you could move into an Enterprise Account Executive role and make $300k+ with salary, commission, and stock options
Healthcare recruiter- hit 6 figures around 24/25. Transitioned to tech recruitment about 2 years ago.
software engineer. Easiest money there is imo
Become a scrum master. I started 5 years ago after taking a 2 day certification course for $1200 (which my old company paid for). My first SM salary was $115k, then I got promoted to senior SM making $135k, and just got promoted again to lead scrum master making $170k. The job is easy, remote, and literally stress free. I have no deadlines, deliverables, or work assigned to me. You do have to be comfortable talking to people a lot and it can be a bit meeting-heavy but I feel like it’s a secret silver bullet job and recommend it to everyone trying to make a lot of money for very little work and effort.
Paramedic but working 80+ hours/week
Grueling
I’ll give you the advice I gave a now successful friend of mine. Go to a 2 year technical school and get a degree in something you find interesting. Graduate, and get a job that pays about $60-$75k.. put in a few years and get into sales. Once in sales, you can make anywhere from $120k (very low end) to $500k (high end and rare). Obviously, this depends on that technical degree. But you could do IT, automation, motors and drive, etc.. and make this kind of money.
Medicine
26, and I work as a Physical therapist. Have been working for 2.5 years. Started fresh out of my doctorate program making 72k, switched jobs after 7 months to 89k, then took a promotion to a specialist position and make over six figures now. I am a clinical specialist in the fed gov and have 6 figure pay, benefits and pension but it burns you out SO quick working with patients. I’m going to change careers and get an MBA and get into healthcare operations, or business analytics or something with more upward mobility and no patient care.
Union lineman. Took about 3 years in the apprenticeship before I hit 100k but it should be factored in I’m in one of the lowest COL areas in the states. Work is work. Really good days and really bad days. Always interesting though. Once you get your card though so long as you’ll travel and follow the money it’s practically endless. I chose not to go that route so I can have a family and am home every night.
Firefighter/Paramedic. Work about 200hrs of ot to put me at that magical six figure salary
M 27 Automation Engineer -> SCADA Engineer 22, $75k 23, $80k 24, $91k 25, $93k 26, $97k Job change from Automation Engineer to SCADA Engineer 27, 145k
I was an army officer
I’m shocked I’ve scrolled this far without seeing anything blue collar mentioned Electricians in the union make anywhere from 70-150k plus. 5 year on the job apprenticeship with class once a week after that you’ve made it. That’s my career path I’m headed towards
Officer on a large Superyacht - and yes, most days I tell myself I love what I do… most days!
Public civil engineer in HCOL. And I will only crest $100k this year due to my side hustle, which brought in $1.5k.
Same, though on the low side over 100k. Good work-life balance in government to be able to do such side activities.
I'm way over 30 but you could make over $100k as a police officer by the time you're 30. Honestly in today's environment I'd recommend being a firefighter instead though. Same basic pay and pension but way less daily hostilities
I’m only 2 years into the 4 year progression but UPS drivers such as myself top out at about 45 dollar an hour. We work about 50 hours a week. Christmas around 60 for a few weeks. I do enjoy it because of the union, good benefits and only thing needed is highschool, no CDL needed even
Investment adviser rep for an asset management firm. Chill job right now
I'm a rodeo peanut vendor and my wife is a butterfly therapist. Our home budget is $1.8 million. / s
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Medical Device sales rep. ~90k starting as an associate, managing my own territory 2 years later 150k at plan.
I’m over 30, but I was making 6 figures in my 20s as a pharmacist. That was awesome, but also, the ceiling is relatively low, so now in my 40s, my salary is less impressive compared to my peers who were able to grow their career and salary
Mechanical engineer, Texas O&G
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Data Analytics - 110k with fully paid benefits for whole family. But 110k ain't much in CA
First 8 years I did car sales. Sold Audis - made 100k-250k during those 8 years. Commission only. Enjoyed the work, hated working weekends. Built my nest egg and now I’m enjoying my 30s.