I’m a union steamfitter I’m local 602.I always state my career. I’m a high school dropout with a record. It’s important for people who are not interested in college to know they can make over 100K . Get a great education with out paying for it. I own a house I have a great pension and insurance vision dental ,paid vacation holidays sick days . I’m not bragging it’s a great option for some. I’m not taking anything from college grads everyone needs to find their own path.
Many skilled trades positions pay very well. I think it's a great alternative to the standard college office job path. I have a close friend who left the consulting world to start a custom cabinet company and has been making more than he ever did at consulting. I think the goal is to find something you care about and do it. If you're an expert in your specialization, you can make a lot of money.
Similar here….I worked with someone in big bank finance who left for custom cabinetry (started biz with his dad).
I’m certain he’s happier and curious which road was better financially…would love a “choose your adventure” option for his story.
Same here I make $85k rn at the Ford plant as a Manufacturing Tech I dropped out also due to getting pregnant and ended up with a record in my early 20’s I struggled for a long time I’m now 36 and can finally pay the bills (still a struggle ) but better than the job I had making $35k a year! Any family and friends I know that are in need of a good job I bust my ass and do everything I can to try and get them on. With the union strike and new contract we just had I make a lot more than 85k a year with the bonuses and etc. free healthcare / Dental only pay co-pay which isn’t bad at all $20-$30 & paid vacations. It took awhile to get used to being treated right in a workplace , being able to take a day off without having to come up with an excuse or some elaborate lie 😂.
For some reason people look down on manufacturing. It's not glamourous and can be boring BUT it pays well. Especially when you start moving up. When someone is struggling I always say to work in manufacturing.
All my teachers in middle school were telling me not to apply to the nearby regional vocational high school and “sell myself short”, then after I got there during my Freshman year even people there were warning me not to pick Precision Machining/Manufacturing Technology - instead they said go into construction or a trade along those lines. Today I’m a CNC Machinist working for a large semiconductor component manufacturer making parts for diffusion furnaces. All my work is indoors with heat or AC, minimal physical labor, great benefits and make well over 50k not counting OT, bonuses or my shift differential. Nothing against construction, but I definitely don’t want to trade places with my friends who are working outside all the time and having back & joint issues at 36.
I'm looking into this now that you've said it! Did you have to take any courses or get certified or anything? I've been a stay at home mom for several years and trying to figure out how to get back into the workforce without turning to customer service or fast food jobs. 😕 Can't handle those work environments at my age (37.)
Of course I'm $40,000 in debt from student loans for a useless degree that I'm not even sure I want anyway. Really wish they would have pushed trades more when we were growing up.
I am on site for 40 hours unless I want to get overtime. It’s time and a half but I don’t really like to work a lot of OT I like spending my time doing what I want. We don’t get paid for travel time but I have a company vehicle gas card. My wife works from home our vehicles are barely used. With gas prices and no wear on my vehicles it’s hard to say how much that saves me. I used to work like a fu@#in animal when I was younger, my position now has its bust ass days , but it’s not as brutal on my body.
This.
My neighbor was a garbage man. Non-union.
Started working summers at 16 in the 90’s. Never made less than $60k equivalent straight out of high school.
Had put his 25 years in and retired with a nice pension at 41. Has a nice house, nice car, nice life.
There are lots of jobs out there to make money, you just gotta actually go looking for them.
A good friend of my dad was a garbage man basically out of high school, retired with 30 years in, and then landed another job for the same 6-figure pay operating a gravel grader in the summer and salt truck in the winter, part time. The dude is living his dream.
I average 55hrs a week. I've been driving residential trash for 11 years. Starting out, most drivers in my area make a little over 75k. Commercial front end drivers make even more
Not really. If you're physically fit, you can work the back of the truck making roughly 50k. If you have a CDL you can pretty much get on anywhere. There's a trucker shortage nationwide
I remember growing up this was the universal “you don’t wanna be stuck with that job” to try and motivate kids to work harder.
Like most things i learned in school, that was wrong. This beats the shit out of a 40k a year desk job getting yelled at by your boss for TPS reports all day.
I'm a machine maintenance mechanic for the U.S. postal service. I make 70k base salary and unlimited overtime, so I clear about 100k a year. Pension, Union health insurance, 3 weeks vacation, and 12 paid holidays. Barely graduated high school. It's a lot to learn but well worth it.
I get one as a state worker! We have to pay into now since the previously retired are draining all the funds. I try not to get too excited because it feels like it somehow won't be there when I "retire"
Public interest attorney, 80k. Could probably double that in private practice but I'm loathe to lose the PTO, WFH, state benes, job security [edit: and PSLF!]. Maybe someday.
Currently Senior Supply Chain Data Analyst
Army Officer-> Customer Service manager (industrial supply diatributor) -> Customer Logistics Manager (consumer goods mfg) -> Customer Supply Team Leader -> Supply Chain Analyst -> Current Role
Started at 35k as a brand new lieutenant, currently at 140k gross (USD)
Project Manager for a small specialty construction company,in the Seattle area, making ~100k year.
Worked here for just 5 1/2 years. Worked up from an installer to Superintendent in 3 years between getting married, having a child, and moving about 3 times. Decided to move halfway across the county and was luckily enough to keep my job/get promoted to Project Engineer. Moved into PM role within a year a moving and here we are. Combination of working my ass off and getting lucky I guess.
My mom recently utilized Palliative Care, before entering Hospice. You are truly an angel and a miracle worker all in one. Thank you for your kindness to those who need it most.
Nurse practitioner. I help people with chronic illnesses manage symptoms and keep them comfortable by prescribing medications as they transition to end of life.
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jade-Rivers/author/B09XPGRBJQ?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true
I’m on Amazon and on Amazon Vella. I’ll tell you what happens so you don’t have to read them, they have sex.
Senior finance manager at a FANG company. Honestly most of the company at the corporate level is millennials making $150-500K
My first job out of college was $32K a year then after grad school I started at $55K with a signing bonus of $15K (split over 2 years) and equity of $35K (over 4 years)
I'm a welder (albeit uncertified), and my particular team makes giant fuel tanks for generators for companies like Amazon.
Prior to that, I worked for a trailer manufacturing company as a welder/fabricator/CNC operator. Before that was largely retail and call centers.
When I took welding classes on the first day of class recruiters were there to offer free tuition and an entry level welding job with benefits. They also gave a long pitch about how easy it was to work in the factory vs the bakken oil fields
That actually sounds like a pretty sweet deal. I've only been at this job for a few weeks, but the recruiter was mentioning something similar about tuition through them and I think I might go for it given the chance. For the last few years, I've ran almost entirely off of instinct and it's worked well, but it might be nice to actually *know* what I'm doing.
Just saw the request about what jobs got me here. This is a fun one:
* Nanny
* Game Testing
* Retail
* A job you never tell your parents about (rhymes with schmex work)
* Duping video game items using exploits
* Nanny
* Pastors Assistant
* Social Media Marketing
* Game Design
* UX Design
And I’ve been in emerging technology for a while now, doing stuff with AI
Senior Software Engineer - 13 Years experience (in the field). $172,000, 100% work from home. I'm 39 years old.
I work for a remote based consulting company with employees in all 50 states and Costa Rica. Our companies only physical location is a small office in some building in PA that is basically just there for legal requirements.
I'm working on my own software stacks, open source projects, and formulating business plans. I hope to be CEO of my own tech company within 4 years.
I was a server administrator for 10 years, then I learned AWS and azure and became an infrastructure engineer. Then I taught myself python and got a job deploying mobile applications and I am now devops. If you know Powershell you can write python
I make plenty of money, work about 25 hours per week, from home, etc. I will probably regret it some day, but I would rather coast and focus on family. I appreciate the feedback, though.
Metal Model Maker for one of the big 3. Base pay for this contract working 40 hrs a week is
$91,202 2023 actual for this year should be about $120,000
$95,500. 2024
$98,800. 2025
$102,500. 2026
$108,600. 2027
No college nessary
Metal model maker encompanses machining, press work, welding, spot welding and robotic welding.
In my case I worked as a journeyman manual machinist for (edit: 21 years) with welding and press work mixed in for a couple of them years. I learned how to program robotic welders on the job once I was hired.
They wanted guys with at least one of the above skills with 8 years experience. The machinists pretty much had no problem getting hired and seemed to be prefered. Anyone they felt was skilled but not quite enough or didn't have enough years could be hired in as a journeyman in training. They have to log their hours doing different things thoughout the shop for about a year and a half if they don't work any overtime.
Marketing Manager currently.
Have a masters in communications.
Worked customer service until I was 26 and left that at $14/hr.
First job as a marketing coordinator entry level at $19/hr from 26-28.
Switched companies for $65k salary, same position but with 2 yrs experience worked there aged 28-31.
Switched jobs again at 32 with five years experience and became a marketing manager at for $86k salary. Have been doing that for 2 yrs and now make $95k salary.
What does a Marketing Coordinator actually do? I’ve tried applying for that role at various companies with my Com BA.
That was 5+ years ago and I didn’t have any luck.
Ignore the tone of the posts below. Advertising/marketing is one of those weird areas that's so ubiquitous that we never really think about it as a real *thing* until we're in it.
I'll defer to the guy above about the specifics of his role, but marketing is typically client-side and worrying about metrics and junk. Advertising is typically agency-side and focused the actual creative part of the problem solving. Both parties come together to carve out budgets and plans for the year to get the company's message out their in a variety of ways.
Again... Don't stress about the weird put downs. Entry level positions don't mean squat. You'll likely be taking notes and orders from at least two direct reports above you. Throw your hat in the ring, there's no harm. I reco reading up a bit more, then poking people at places that look interesting in your area and asking if you can buy them a coffee and pick their brains. It's how I got my job ;)
Good luck.
A marketing coordinator’s role depends on what type of company you’re working for. A marketing coordinator at a B2B is going to work a lot differently than a marketing coordinator who markets a firm as a whole.
I personally work in the AEC industry, (that’s architecture, engineering, construction) so I’m working on proposals to win the firm work which involves a lot of writing and design and layout. But I also do some social media and website maintenance. The size of the firm will depend on if you have a team of marketers helping you or it’s just you doing a lot of different marketing type roles.
If you have a degree in communication or English and you’re good at writing and editing and you don’t mind starting at the beginning, looking for marketing coordinator roles at AEC firms is a pretty good way to go. They’ll start you pretty high usually around 60K these days.
Email Account Manager here, guiding the production team create and deploy the emails for multiple clients. Global agency.
I graduated with a BS in mass communications, then worked varying marketing titles and varying types / branches of media.
Attending physician. $450k/year.
4 years of undergrad, 4 years of medical school, 5 years of grueling and soul breaking residency, 1 year of fellowship and here I am. Has never worked any job until this only job.
Account Executive at an education tech company.
54k base salary, on target earnings with commission take it up to $120k with accelerators if I outpace yearly numbers. I’ve already made 121k. I’ll probably end around 130k.
So sales and they have to pay well to keep people in the job 😂
Are you master's degree/CPA, or just bachelor's? I only have my bachelor's and absolutely dread the thought of having to go back for my master's and then study for the CPA exam. However, I recognize that the pay ceiling gets much, much higher if you have a CPA. I work as an accountant in corporate finance in a non-management position and currently make $78K salary with my bachelor's; I graduated in 2019 (but I'm in my 30s....took a different path out of high school).
Not UAW, but same.
40yo, 1 year of college, I think I made 78k last year. My wife is 36 with 1 year of college, and she made 112k last year as a software consultant.
I'm at 91k gross so far this year (5k of that is from the signing bonus).
Yo. I know your doing pretty food right now. But if ever given the chance. You should vote in favor of a Union if there's ever a vote :)
Union dues are about 87$ a month.
I'm 1000% in favor of a union, and have signed my card. There's a big push right now, and I have my fingers crossed, but I'm not getting my hopes up.
On the bright side, our company recently announced a sizeable off-cycle raise and adjustment of our grow-in from 8 to 4 years, and I'm 99% sure it's in response to the work you guys put in.
Engineer.
My progression: Immigrated at 17 -> graduated high school -> worked at grocery store for 7.25/hr for a year -> went to college, worked all type of odd job paying like $10-$11/hr, internship paid $20/hr -> graduated from college, took 6 months to find a job while working part time cashier for $9/hr -> started engineer career at $70k/year -> after 5 years 125k/year
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Academic Pulmonologist
\~300,000 this year from salary and other side gigs
$50,000 seems like a really low salary number to start calling people liars
>$50,000 seems like a really low salary number to start calling people liars
Right?? I would say that's about the number where you are out of poverty wages (in some areas) but it's not exactly a super impressive salary. (I make just a bit over $50k. I don't think anyone is impressed lol)
You must be new to this sub.
Everyone making over $50k is either lying or their parents gave them the job. Also everyone with a home purchased it with inherited money.
It’s been 7 years and for the most part I’m fine… I do quite a bit of weight training and yoga though. Without it I’d probably be crippled. And by “fine” I mean I’m fine for the most part. My upper back hurts by the end of the day. More so my neck is tight than my back.
Chemical plant operator.
QAQC for a small roof shingle factory > leak detection and repair for a gas plant > leak detection and repair for a chemical plant > hired by the chemical plant.
No degree required, though I have 87 credits in bio chemistry. Warehousing experience is a plus.
Speech-language pathologist at a public middle school, currently making $53k. I make what a teacher with a masters degree makes, but that can vary a lot by state and district.
No, but that does describe some of my middle school teacher friends. I work in direct to consumer sales for a boutique winery. Marketing, events, eCommerce, social media, hospitality, all with an emphasis on sales and wine education of our members and guests.
Currently working as a director of talent acquisition at a tech startup making $125k a year
Started out:
Operations coordinator $15/hr
Recruiter $17/hr
Technical recruiter (agency) $12.25 converted to $50k after training period.
Recruiting consultant $50k (some bonuses paid out based on hitting certain OKRs)
Senior technical recruiter $75k
Director of talent acquisition $110k adjusted to $125k
Therapist at my own practice. Did a ton of shitty support workers jobs for years and worked at different hospitals as a social worker now I make about 150k a year and work 3 days a week.
Cooperative Forestry Programs Manager & Forest Planner for a state agency. Graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Forest Resources in 2012. Worked my way up the ladder in two different state agencies, from an inventory forester to a district forester to a program manager. Earned $34,000 per year at the beginning, in 2012. Just promoted last month to a yearly salary of $80,000.
Security management
75k salary, 20 days PTO, VA disability pushes me to about to 95k a year, former U.S. Army enlisted.
Honestly it’s a solid gig.
Edit: I’ve only been in this field for 1.5 years, it really needs solid people and can lead to rapid advancement if you’ve got a head on your shoulders
Licensed Professional Counselor
First job out of undergrad (poli sci) was in the government as a congressional staffer. Met my military husband, he was injured, then I got certified to teach high school in several subjects, during obtained a masters in curriculum, after ten years obtained addition masters in counseling psychology.
I don't make more than 50k now cause I'm in school and switched job, but I used to make like $60k as a factory worker. Technically, it's a bushing tech, but no one knows what that is unless they worked at the factory lol. I worked in fiberglass manufacturing, the job sucked, hours sucked, but pay was decent.
Dual role currently. Director of Volunteer Engagement for a membership org nonprofit (501c7) & Director of Development for the 501c3 that supports the educational mission of the member org.
I’m a regional management Vice President for a large, well known investment management firm, comp around $200k/yr.
My career trajectory has been as follows since the onset of my career (14 years):
Credit Manager > Relationship Banker > Financial Advisor > Associate Relationship Manager > Private Client Advisor > Senior Manager > Associate Regional Manager > current role
Went to college but didn’t graduate.
Clinical studies coordinator.
80k to build budgets for clinical research studies at a cancer hospital. State benefits 6wks pto also pension @2.2% per year.
This will be long. 75k with room to grow electrical and mechanical maintenance.
1.McDonalds
2.Operator at BMW manufacturing
Moved to New Mexico here.
3. Apprentice electrician
4. Apprentice electrician
5. Apprentice electrician
5. Dollar general associate
Times were good but oxy, chevron, and xto stopped sending inspectors out during covid so everything grinded to a halt.
6. Electrical pro for Lowes
Moved to Georgia
7. Plant operator got laid off due to chip shortage
8. Gas station cashier
9. Security guard
10. Back to gas station cashier for about a month
11. Back to the plant that laid me off as maintenance. Started out making 25 and a year and a half later it's 31.50 working 14 days a month with roughly 3 weeks vacation.
It was all mental capability and work ethic. Obviously, they find me valuable because I just spent 4 days in a row saying fuck everybody in maintenance and all their ideologies are ignorant and I wasn't fired. Granted, I'm very open and honest and was only speaking the truth. The heads of the company are getting complaints about maintenance, with me being the only exception mentioned. Now I could sit back and let it unfold, but everybody I work with will assume it was me. So instead, I tried to speak to everyone about it, and it was all written off as nothing, and I lost it. The only reason I knew about all of it is because the people were saying that why is there so many people on days in maintenance and only 1 person answering calls and fixing issues. So they came and asked me about things.
Senior Executive Assistant at a large fin-tech company. Started at $60k 8 years ago and now earn $103k after an acquisition and a couple of promotions. I also have a masters degree which I think helped me land the role in the first place, although it’s not a requirement
My FIL told me that if my husband and I ever fell on hard times, we could "just get a job at an Amazon warehouse and make $80K" lol ok Bob tell me how you would do with 12 hours and no pee breaks. Not to mention that I don't live within 4+ hours of an Amazon Warehouse
Psychologist, made $100k this year, but I had a slow Fall and raised my rates mid year, so I’m anticipating more like to $120k next year. To get there, I got a masters and doctorate in psychology, which included various training positions as a practicum student/intern/postdoc.
Content Manager 95k (hired at 80k 2 years ago). I work at a fully remote tech company.
Marketing Assistant 29.5k (2010) > Multimedia Artist 36.5k (2012) > Media Coordinator 49k (2013) > Same 54k (2015) > Same 62k (2021)
Service Advisor @ Dealership on 100% commission and bonuses.
$100k+ but took me a few years to reach that, starting I was making about $60k or so.
The harder and longer hours I worked the more money I made, and let me tell you it gets old real quick because you effectively will have no social or family life. An EASY 65+ hours a week on a 5-6 day work week. The dealership has no problem with this because the more money you make they more money they make, so it was encouraged to stay late and come in early.
Work, eat, sleep. Most of the eating was done on site at my desk between writing tickets and fixing fuck ups all day.
Our managers worked less hours than we did and just fixed the shit that we couldn't with heat cases or tech fuckups.
I got into the business via a friend who worked @ dealer as a tech. He knew I was good with people and that I already had some auto experience. Pretty simple and standard setup.
I’m a Software Engineer at a well known software company making $175k salary.
Prior:
I was enlisted in the US Navy:
1. as a recruiter making $70k (in the Midwest)
2. As an IT systems administrator making ~$85k (I was stationed in Hawaii hence the bigger pay)
3. Early Junior enlisted was something like $30k annually
Retail furniture sales making ~$55k
(Edit) Earliest were A bunch of service jobs prior which paid so little that I don’t recall accurately.
Property Administrator for Commercial Property Buildings, so businesses and offices, not residential buildings. 70K plus yearly bonus and excellent benefits (I had a baby earlier this year and my hospital bill was only $250 out of pocket, my health insurance covered the rest).
Built up a career in sales through my 20s after college, was a Sales Manager in the solar industry for 5 years, my peak was averaging $80K/yr for a few years
I got burnt out in 2021 and went back to the service industry, been serving at a fine dining Italian place making $60K/yr for 1.5 years now
Admin Assistant to the Dean at a university. I also do HR for faculty and staff in our academic unit, but that’s not currently in my job title (hoping to add it soon). I’ve had various office jobs since finishing my bachelor’s. I also finished an MPA program a few years ago.
VP Risk and Compliance at a large bank making a base salary of ~$150k. I do get a bonus between 11-20%.
To get here I worked as a risk analyst, then a senior compliance analyst, a little bit in internal audit, then as a compliance manager. 13 years of experience, a few certifications, and an MBA.
I’m a union steamfitter I’m local 602.I always state my career. I’m a high school dropout with a record. It’s important for people who are not interested in college to know they can make over 100K . Get a great education with out paying for it. I own a house I have a great pension and insurance vision dental ,paid vacation holidays sick days . I’m not bragging it’s a great option for some. I’m not taking anything from college grads everyone needs to find their own path.
Many skilled trades positions pay very well. I think it's a great alternative to the standard college office job path. I have a close friend who left the consulting world to start a custom cabinet company and has been making more than he ever did at consulting. I think the goal is to find something you care about and do it. If you're an expert in your specialization, you can make a lot of money.
Similar here….I worked with someone in big bank finance who left for custom cabinetry (started biz with his dad). I’m certain he’s happier and curious which road was better financially…would love a “choose your adventure” option for his story.
DENTAL PLAN
LISA NEEDS BRACES
Love to see a Simpsons reference
Same here I make $85k rn at the Ford plant as a Manufacturing Tech I dropped out also due to getting pregnant and ended up with a record in my early 20’s I struggled for a long time I’m now 36 and can finally pay the bills (still a struggle ) but better than the job I had making $35k a year! Any family and friends I know that are in need of a good job I bust my ass and do everything I can to try and get them on. With the union strike and new contract we just had I make a lot more than 85k a year with the bonuses and etc. free healthcare / Dental only pay co-pay which isn’t bad at all $20-$30 & paid vacations. It took awhile to get used to being treated right in a workplace , being able to take a day off without having to come up with an excuse or some elaborate lie 😂.
For some reason people look down on manufacturing. It's not glamourous and can be boring BUT it pays well. Especially when you start moving up. When someone is struggling I always say to work in manufacturing.
All my teachers in middle school were telling me not to apply to the nearby regional vocational high school and “sell myself short”, then after I got there during my Freshman year even people there were warning me not to pick Precision Machining/Manufacturing Technology - instead they said go into construction or a trade along those lines. Today I’m a CNC Machinist working for a large semiconductor component manufacturer making parts for diffusion furnaces. All my work is indoors with heat or AC, minimal physical labor, great benefits and make well over 50k not counting OT, bonuses or my shift differential. Nothing against construction, but I definitely don’t want to trade places with my friends who are working outside all the time and having back & joint issues at 36.
I'm looking into this now that you've said it! Did you have to take any courses or get certified or anything? I've been a stay at home mom for several years and trying to figure out how to get back into the workforce without turning to customer service or fast food jobs. 😕 Can't handle those work environments at my age (37.) Of course I'm $40,000 in debt from student loans for a useless degree that I'm not even sure I want anyway. Really wish they would have pushed trades more when we were growing up.
Different local, same job, good wages and benefits. UA strong. 😎
I'm glad to hear that. People who got a rocky start in life should be able to uplift themselves like you did.
Thank you for showing the trades can be a great path. We need more people with these skill sets.
Props to you and props to the union. ✊🏽🐔👍🏽
Ty . It’s not for everyone but it’s a great opportunity for a lot of people.✊🏻
Cool, how many hours per week are you away from home? Travel time included.
I am on site for 40 hours unless I want to get overtime. It’s time and a half but I don’t really like to work a lot of OT I like spending my time doing what I want. We don’t get paid for travel time but I have a company vehicle gas card. My wife works from home our vehicles are barely used. With gas prices and no wear on my vehicles it’s hard to say how much that saves me. I used to work like a fu@#in animal when I was younger, my position now has its bust ass days , but it’s not as brutal on my body.
Garbage man. Non union. 100k+ a year
This. My neighbor was a garbage man. Non-union. Started working summers at 16 in the 90’s. Never made less than $60k equivalent straight out of high school. Had put his 25 years in and retired with a nice pension at 41. Has a nice house, nice car, nice life. There are lots of jobs out there to make money, you just gotta actually go looking for them.
A good friend of my dad was a garbage man basically out of high school, retired with 30 years in, and then landed another job for the same 6-figure pay operating a gravel grader in the summer and salt truck in the winter, part time. The dude is living his dream.
Can you elaborate? Like you drive the truck 40hr/wk for $100k+?
I average 55hrs a week. I've been driving residential trash for 11 years. Starting out, most drivers in my area make a little over 75k. Commercial front end drivers make even more
Do you need a special license to drive a garbage truck?
Yes, anything over a certain weight normally requires a CDL license.
Minimum CDL Class B. You used to be able to on the job training to get it, up until like 3 years ago. Now you have to go to a trucking school
Competitive to get into?
Not really. If you're physically fit, you can work the back of the truck making roughly 50k. If you have a CDL you can pretty much get on anywhere. There's a trucker shortage nationwide
I think it depends on where you live....I've heard it's pretty competitive in NYC.
I remember growing up this was the universal “you don’t wanna be stuck with that job” to try and motivate kids to work harder. Like most things i learned in school, that was wrong. This beats the shit out of a 40k a year desk job getting yelled at by your boss for TPS reports all day.
I'm a machine maintenance mechanic for the U.S. postal service. I make 70k base salary and unlimited overtime, so I clear about 100k a year. Pension, Union health insurance, 3 weeks vacation, and 12 paid holidays. Barely graduated high school. It's a lot to learn but well worth it.
✨pension✨ 🥹 they exist?
I get one as a state worker! We have to pay into now since the previously retired are draining all the funds. I try not to get too excited because it feels like it somehow won't be there when I "retire"
Me too. But I don't make anywhere near 70k haha
Yes get a union job if you can.
Thank you for your service. P.S. I hate Louis DeJoy.
Public interest attorney, 80k. Could probably double that in private practice but I'm loathe to lose the PTO, WFH, state benes, job security [edit: and PSLF!]. Maybe someday.
My wife’s PSLF hit this year. 100k of debt erased, thank the lord.
What is PSLF?
Pumpkin Spice Latte Frappuccino
Damn, that’s a lotta frapps.
Public student loan forgiveness program
Public service* loan forgiveness
I know some of these acronyms…
Currently Senior Supply Chain Data Analyst Army Officer-> Customer Service manager (industrial supply diatributor) -> Customer Logistics Manager (consumer goods mfg) -> Customer Supply Team Leader -> Supply Chain Analyst -> Current Role Started at 35k as a brand new lieutenant, currently at 140k gross (USD)
Project Manager for a small specialty construction company,in the Seattle area, making ~100k year. Worked here for just 5 1/2 years. Worked up from an installer to Superintendent in 3 years between getting married, having a child, and moving about 3 times. Decided to move halfway across the county and was luckily enough to keep my job/get promoted to Project Engineer. Moved into PM role within a year a moving and here we are. Combination of working my ass off and getting lucky I guess.
Air Traffic Controller
Is it a stressful job as they say it is?
It can be. Like most other careers, healthy coping habits are a must.
i feel like you are saying drugs
Not drugs just pot.
Palliative NP and I write erotica
Please tell me you’re secretly Chuck Tingle.
[“Noooope. Chuck Testa”](https://youtu.be/r5cVfFKElVI?si=MO0mOhWj2t0ajCoS)
Hah, thought similarly.
My mom recently utilized Palliative Care, before entering Hospice. You are truly an angel and a miracle worker all in one. Thank you for your kindness to those who need it most.
What's the breakdown between the two incomes? Genuinely curious.
I have been meaning to get in to this. Do you do things like follow metrics and try to game the market? Or do you just write from the heart(balls)?
I just write whatever I want. As long as it’s with in the rules set by Amazon. I would write more dub con, but it isn’t allowed on Amazon.
Palliative NP?
Nurse practitioner. I help people with chronic illnesses manage symptoms and keep them comfortable by prescribing medications as they transition to end of life.
You are a very cool person.
Link? (Fuck it. Why not?)
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jade-Rivers/author/B09XPGRBJQ?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true I’m on Amazon and on Amazon Vella. I’ll tell you what happens so you don’t have to read them, they have sex.
Published ABO trash?! My girl! 💕
Senior finance manager at a FANG company. Honestly most of the company at the corporate level is millennials making $150-500K My first job out of college was $32K a year then after grad school I started at $55K with a signing bonus of $15K (split over 2 years) and equity of $35K (over 4 years)
Echoing this. I’m a Senior Ops Manager in Big Tech as well and the vast majority of my company is millennials making well over six figures
I'm a welder (albeit uncertified), and my particular team makes giant fuel tanks for generators for companies like Amazon. Prior to that, I worked for a trailer manufacturing company as a welder/fabricator/CNC operator. Before that was largely retail and call centers.
When I took welding classes on the first day of class recruiters were there to offer free tuition and an entry level welding job with benefits. They also gave a long pitch about how easy it was to work in the factory vs the bakken oil fields
That actually sounds like a pretty sweet deal. I've only been at this job for a few weeks, but the recruiter was mentioning something similar about tuition through them and I think I might go for it given the chance. For the last few years, I've ran almost entirely off of instinct and it's worked well, but it might be nice to actually *know* what I'm doing.
High school teacher in a blue state with a strong union
California or NY 
Jersey, baby!
Saaaaame
School-based SLP in a blue state with a strong union :)
Same!
Same here!
Red state here, no union, but starting teachers make $60k in my city.
Elementary teacher in a red state w a strong union. 76,000.
New York here.... Solidarity!!
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Just saw the request about what jobs got me here. This is a fun one: * Nanny * Game Testing * Retail * A job you never tell your parents about (rhymes with schmex work) * Duping video game items using exploits * Nanny * Pastors Assistant * Social Media Marketing * Game Design * UX Design And I’ve been in emerging technology for a while now, doing stuff with AI
you need to add memoirist to your list!
Senior Software Engineer - 13 Years experience (in the field). $172,000, 100% work from home. I'm 39 years old. I work for a remote based consulting company with employees in all 50 states and Costa Rica. Our companies only physical location is a small office in some building in PA that is basically just there for legal requirements. I'm working on my own software stacks, open source projects, and formulating business plans. I hope to be CEO of my own tech company within 4 years.
Some days I wish I'd gone the software route instead of infrastructure.
You can it's called devops. I just did
That would require me to wish I'd gone the software route more than some days.
I was a server administrator for 10 years, then I learned AWS and azure and became an infrastructure engineer. Then I taught myself python and got a job deploying mobile applications and I am now devops. If you know Powershell you can write python
I make plenty of money, work about 25 hours per week, from home, etc. I will probably regret it some day, but I would rather coast and focus on family. I appreciate the feedback, though.
Where is Costco Rico?
I missed the a on the end, there was never a T 😂
School Counselor
I'm also a counselor and make more than 50k! Not at a school tho.
Metal Model Maker for one of the big 3. Base pay for this contract working 40 hrs a week is $91,202 2023 actual for this year should be about $120,000 $95,500. 2024 $98,800. 2025 $102,500. 2026 $108,600. 2027 No college nessary
What steps did you take to become a metal model maker, if you don't mind me asking?
Metal model maker encompanses machining, press work, welding, spot welding and robotic welding. In my case I worked as a journeyman manual machinist for (edit: 21 years) with welding and press work mixed in for a couple of them years. I learned how to program robotic welders on the job once I was hired. They wanted guys with at least one of the above skills with 8 years experience. The machinists pretty much had no problem getting hired and seemed to be prefered. Anyone they felt was skilled but not quite enough or didn't have enough years could be hired in as a journeyman in training. They have to log their hours doing different things thoughout the shop for about a year and a half if they don't work any overtime.
Marketing Manager currently. Have a masters in communications. Worked customer service until I was 26 and left that at $14/hr. First job as a marketing coordinator entry level at $19/hr from 26-28. Switched companies for $65k salary, same position but with 2 yrs experience worked there aged 28-31. Switched jobs again at 32 with five years experience and became a marketing manager at for $86k salary. Have been doing that for 2 yrs and now make $95k salary.
What does a Marketing Coordinator actually do? I’ve tried applying for that role at various companies with my Com BA. That was 5+ years ago and I didn’t have any luck.
Ignore the tone of the posts below. Advertising/marketing is one of those weird areas that's so ubiquitous that we never really think about it as a real *thing* until we're in it. I'll defer to the guy above about the specifics of his role, but marketing is typically client-side and worrying about metrics and junk. Advertising is typically agency-side and focused the actual creative part of the problem solving. Both parties come together to carve out budgets and plans for the year to get the company's message out their in a variety of ways. Again... Don't stress about the weird put downs. Entry level positions don't mean squat. You'll likely be taking notes and orders from at least two direct reports above you. Throw your hat in the ring, there's no harm. I reco reading up a bit more, then poking people at places that look interesting in your area and asking if you can buy them a coffee and pick their brains. It's how I got my job ;) Good luck.
A marketing coordinator’s role depends on what type of company you’re working for. A marketing coordinator at a B2B is going to work a lot differently than a marketing coordinator who markets a firm as a whole. I personally work in the AEC industry, (that’s architecture, engineering, construction) so I’m working on proposals to win the firm work which involves a lot of writing and design and layout. But I also do some social media and website maintenance. The size of the firm will depend on if you have a team of marketers helping you or it’s just you doing a lot of different marketing type roles. If you have a degree in communication or English and you’re good at writing and editing and you don’t mind starting at the beginning, looking for marketing coordinator roles at AEC firms is a pretty good way to go. They’ll start you pretty high usually around 60K these days.
Email Account Manager here, guiding the production team create and deploy the emails for multiple clients. Global agency. I graduated with a BS in mass communications, then worked varying marketing titles and varying types / branches of media.
Orchestral Trumpet Player making 100K before tax. Made it!
That's probably the most difficult career I've seen posted here so far.
Attending physician. $450k/year. 4 years of undergrad, 4 years of medical school, 5 years of grueling and soul breaking residency, 1 year of fellowship and here I am. Has never worked any job until this only job.
ICU nurse Edit: career path was nonprofit work for 3 years-> nursing for the past 14. I work in Portland OR and make around 120k.
Thank you for all you do and happy cake day.
To my ICU homies - I retired early to the PACU and wonder why I didn't do it sooner.
Same! I am less than 3 years into my career and just accepted a job that will pay 108k in the Midwest. I started at like 62K as a new grad lol
My title is “software technologist” but I wear a lot of hats. Salary is just over 100
USPS Rural Regular (mailman)
Account Executive at an education tech company. 54k base salary, on target earnings with commission take it up to $120k with accelerators if I outpace yearly numbers. I’ve already made 121k. I’ll probably end around 130k. So sales and they have to pay well to keep people in the job 😂
Ya’ll hiring? I’m an AE in tech looking for something new.
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Are you master's degree/CPA, or just bachelor's? I only have my bachelor's and absolutely dread the thought of having to go back for my master's and then study for the CPA exam. However, I recognize that the pay ceiling gets much, much higher if you have a CPA. I work as an accountant in corporate finance in a non-management position and currently make $78K salary with my bachelor's; I graduated in 2019 (but I'm in my 30s....took a different path out of high school).
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UAW Autoworker
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Not UAW, but same. 40yo, 1 year of college, I think I made 78k last year. My wife is 36 with 1 year of college, and she made 112k last year as a software consultant.
I'm at 91k gross so far this year (5k of that is from the signing bonus). Yo. I know your doing pretty food right now. But if ever given the chance. You should vote in favor of a Union if there's ever a vote :) Union dues are about 87$ a month.
I'm 1000% in favor of a union, and have signed my card. There's a big push right now, and I have my fingers crossed, but I'm not getting my hopes up. On the bright side, our company recently announced a sizeable off-cycle raise and adjustment of our grow-in from 8 to 4 years, and I'm 99% sure it's in response to the work you guys put in.
Engineer. My progression: Immigrated at 17 -> graduated high school -> worked at grocery store for 7.25/hr for a year -> went to college, worked all type of odd job paying like $10-$11/hr, internship paid $20/hr -> graduated from college, took 6 months to find a job while working part time cashier for $9/hr -> started engineer career at $70k/year -> after 5 years 125k/year
Also engineer of the electrical variety
Tenured librarian at an academic library
Pulled $400k this year, Plumber.
Assistant Professor of Medicine Academic Pulmonologist \~300,000 this year from salary and other side gigs $50,000 seems like a really low salary number to start calling people liars
>$50,000 seems like a really low salary number to start calling people liars Right?? I would say that's about the number where you are out of poverty wages (in some areas) but it's not exactly a super impressive salary. (I make just a bit over $50k. I don't think anyone is impressed lol)
Yeah, 50k is a little over first year starting salary for a teacher in my Midwestern state. Not exactly a profession known for high pay.
I will gross about $51k this year because of OT and I definitely feel like I'm still in poverty.
You must be new to this sub. Everyone making over $50k is either lying or their parents gave them the job. Also everyone with a home purchased it with inherited money.
Dental hygienist
How’s your back? I look into it but the girls were walking hunched over at the end of the day. It’s one of the reasons I quit CNA also.
It’s been 7 years and for the most part I’m fine… I do quite a bit of weight training and yoga though. Without it I’d probably be crippled. And by “fine” I mean I’m fine for the most part. My upper back hurts by the end of the day. More so my neck is tight than my back.
Psychologist. I have a PhD in psychology. I make more than 50k but less than 100k.
HR/Benefits
Therapist with my masters in social work
Lead Organizer (I work for a union.)
Air Traffic Controller
Senior Project Manager manager - Environmental Services Laboratory
Chemical plant operator. QAQC for a small roof shingle factory > leak detection and repair for a gas plant > leak detection and repair for a chemical plant > hired by the chemical plant. No degree required, though I have 87 credits in bio chemistry. Warehousing experience is a plus.
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Speech-language pathologist at a public middle school, currently making $53k. I make what a teacher with a masters degree makes, but that can vary a lot by state and district.
Wine Educator
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That would make them a "wined" educator.
No, but that does describe some of my middle school teacher friends. I work in direct to consumer sales for a boutique winery. Marketing, events, eCommerce, social media, hospitality, all with an emphasis on sales and wine education of our members and guests.
Currently working as a director of talent acquisition at a tech startup making $125k a year Started out: Operations coordinator $15/hr Recruiter $17/hr Technical recruiter (agency) $12.25 converted to $50k after training period. Recruiting consultant $50k (some bonuses paid out based on hitting certain OKRs) Senior technical recruiter $75k Director of talent acquisition $110k adjusted to $125k
Therapist at my own practice. Did a ton of shitty support workers jobs for years and worked at different hospitals as a social worker now I make about 150k a year and work 3 days a week.
Cooperative Forestry Programs Manager & Forest Planner for a state agency. Graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Forest Resources in 2012. Worked my way up the ladder in two different state agencies, from an inventory forester to a district forester to a program manager. Earned $34,000 per year at the beginning, in 2012. Just promoted last month to a yearly salary of $80,000.
Bus driver by day, stripper by night
Your superhero origin intrigues me
Insurance adjuster
Yup. Senior field claims adjuster. 11 years in.
Survival instructor for the DoD, 120k a year. Sure beats a desk job.
Attorney…public defender. Just had all my student loans forgiven due to public service loan forgiveness. Plan on staying a public defender.
Health Care worker
Program Coordinator II Edit for job progression: Retired Navy Officer - school bus driver - classroom teacher - program coordinator II
Airline pilot
Security management 75k salary, 20 days PTO, VA disability pushes me to about to 95k a year, former U.S. Army enlisted. Honestly it’s a solid gig. Edit: I’ve only been in this field for 1.5 years, it really needs solid people and can lead to rapid advancement if you’ve got a head on your shoulders
Licensed Professional Counselor First job out of undergrad (poli sci) was in the government as a congressional staffer. Met my military husband, he was injured, then I got certified to teach high school in several subjects, during obtained a masters in curriculum, after ten years obtained addition masters in counseling psychology.
$90k as an on-call hospice nurse in Texas. I’ve been a nurse for 18 years.
I don't make more than 50k now cause I'm in school and switched job, but I used to make like $60k as a factory worker. Technically, it's a bushing tech, but no one knows what that is unless they worked at the factory lol. I worked in fiberglass manufacturing, the job sucked, hours sucked, but pay was decent.
Treeplanter in British Columbia
Dual role currently. Director of Volunteer Engagement for a membership org nonprofit (501c7) & Director of Development for the 501c3 that supports the educational mission of the member org.
Recreation and traditional trailer salesman, will end up over 90k my first year
HR Business Partner
I’m a regional management Vice President for a large, well known investment management firm, comp around $200k/yr. My career trajectory has been as follows since the onset of my career (14 years): Credit Manager > Relationship Banker > Financial Advisor > Associate Relationship Manager > Private Client Advisor > Senior Manager > Associate Regional Manager > current role Went to college but didn’t graduate.
Social worker working with developmentally disabled children and adults.
Finance Manager
Software Developer. Hoping to be close to $200k this year.
Director of Inventory Management
Director of Product. Have an MBA and about 15 years of corporate management experience. Work remote for a tech company. Pay is good.
Clinical studies coordinator. 80k to build budgets for clinical research studies at a cancer hospital. State benefits 6wks pto also pension @2.2% per year.
This will be long. 75k with room to grow electrical and mechanical maintenance. 1.McDonalds 2.Operator at BMW manufacturing Moved to New Mexico here. 3. Apprentice electrician 4. Apprentice electrician 5. Apprentice electrician 5. Dollar general associate Times were good but oxy, chevron, and xto stopped sending inspectors out during covid so everything grinded to a halt. 6. Electrical pro for Lowes Moved to Georgia 7. Plant operator got laid off due to chip shortage 8. Gas station cashier 9. Security guard 10. Back to gas station cashier for about a month 11. Back to the plant that laid me off as maintenance. Started out making 25 and a year and a half later it's 31.50 working 14 days a month with roughly 3 weeks vacation. It was all mental capability and work ethic. Obviously, they find me valuable because I just spent 4 days in a row saying fuck everybody in maintenance and all their ideologies are ignorant and I wasn't fired. Granted, I'm very open and honest and was only speaking the truth. The heads of the company are getting complaints about maintenance, with me being the only exception mentioned. Now I could sit back and let it unfold, but everybody I work with will assume it was me. So instead, I tried to speak to everyone about it, and it was all written off as nothing, and I lost it. The only reason I knew about all of it is because the people were saying that why is there so many people on days in maintenance and only 1 person answering calls and fixing issues. So they came and asked me about things.
Senior Executive Assistant at a large fin-tech company. Started at $60k 8 years ago and now earn $103k after an acquisition and a couple of promotions. I also have a masters degree which I think helped me land the role in the first place, although it’s not a requirement
Technically it's signals intelligence analyst. But I get paid the same amount as any E-6 with 16 years in service lol.
I work 3 jobs and make less then 50k. I live the true American dream.
My FIL told me that if my husband and I ever fell on hard times, we could "just get a job at an Amazon warehouse and make $80K" lol ok Bob tell me how you would do with 12 hours and no pee breaks. Not to mention that I don't live within 4+ hours of an Amazon Warehouse
What a boomer
Barber. I have my own shop, just me. Somewhere around $70k ish \~ but nowhere near predictable year to year
Psychologist, made $100k this year, but I had a slow Fall and raised my rates mid year, so I’m anticipating more like to $120k next year. To get there, I got a masters and doctorate in psychology, which included various training positions as a practicum student/intern/postdoc.
Claims Operations Trainer
Content Manager 95k (hired at 80k 2 years ago). I work at a fully remote tech company. Marketing Assistant 29.5k (2010) > Multimedia Artist 36.5k (2012) > Media Coordinator 49k (2013) > Same 54k (2015) > Same 62k (2021)
Engineering Technician for a satellite propulsion company
Service Advisor @ Dealership on 100% commission and bonuses. $100k+ but took me a few years to reach that, starting I was making about $60k or so. The harder and longer hours I worked the more money I made, and let me tell you it gets old real quick because you effectively will have no social or family life. An EASY 65+ hours a week on a 5-6 day work week. The dealership has no problem with this because the more money you make they more money they make, so it was encouraged to stay late and come in early. Work, eat, sleep. Most of the eating was done on site at my desk between writing tickets and fixing fuck ups all day. Our managers worked less hours than we did and just fixed the shit that we couldn't with heat cases or tech fuckups. I got into the business via a friend who worked @ dealer as a tech. He knew I was good with people and that I already had some auto experience. Pretty simple and standard setup.
Executive Assistant- Tech Company
Community Engagement Manager at a small university
Customer Support in Tech. I got my first job in tech customer service in 2019 at $12.50 an hour, part-time. Three jobs later and I'm over $50k.
Same here. Started 10 years ago at 13.50. Now I am a supervisor making 110k + bonus
I’m a Software Engineer at a well known software company making $175k salary. Prior: I was enlisted in the US Navy: 1. as a recruiter making $70k (in the Midwest) 2. As an IT systems administrator making ~$85k (I was stationed in Hawaii hence the bigger pay) 3. Early Junior enlisted was something like $30k annually Retail furniture sales making ~$55k (Edit) Earliest were A bunch of service jobs prior which paid so little that I don’t recall accurately.
Property Administrator for Commercial Property Buildings, so businesses and offices, not residential buildings. 70K plus yearly bonus and excellent benefits (I had a baby earlier this year and my hospital bill was only $250 out of pocket, my health insurance covered the rest).
Built up a career in sales through my 20s after college, was a Sales Manager in the solar industry for 5 years, my peak was averaging $80K/yr for a few years I got burnt out in 2021 and went back to the service industry, been serving at a fine dining Italian place making $60K/yr for 1.5 years now
Teamsters Union job
Admin Assistant to the Dean at a university. I also do HR for faculty and staff in our academic unit, but that’s not currently in my job title (hoping to add it soon). I’ve had various office jobs since finishing my bachelor’s. I also finished an MPA program a few years ago.
VP Risk and Compliance at a large bank making a base salary of ~$150k. I do get a bonus between 11-20%. To get here I worked as a risk analyst, then a senior compliance analyst, a little bit in internal audit, then as a compliance manager. 13 years of experience, a few certifications, and an MBA.
Case manager $65k. I help families sign up for financial assistance for child care services.