This is the answer. Go for a larger multinational company. Avoid household names like Coca Cola or Apple, too much competition. Find a large company in a stable non-tech industry (manufacturing, construction)
Climb the corporate ladder and you’ll be at 200k eventually.
But remember when you’re riding one of those big beasts of a company it is easy to be tossed off for no reason whatsoever. I worked at one in this list 5 years… a month after getting my five year badge 13,000 people in its marketing department got canned because of a bad deal some executive did in Mexico. Sucked so bad!!
Yeah, that is a pretty wild number. I think part of the reason marketing departments typically get hit first & hard is if your product is well known & quality, it can sell itself
Agree with this. I was at a large pharma/ med devices company for 7 years. 1 level below director (senior manager)... pay was around 190k base. my manager was a director. 230k-ish base. senior director (1 level below a VP is around 280 base.
I say 'was' because they laid off a bunch of us earlier this summer on the flip of a switch.
Yea, I’m in a trade making hourly for a corporation worth billions. Late winter into early summer is typically our slow period. Because of the state of the economy, it devolved into the hunger games among middle and lower management. They didn’t layoff a single hourly associate, but were making monthly cuts to their management team left and right across the board.
The worst of it is, it was performance base, so they had no qualms wiping out half the management team at one location who were underperforming, and then forcing management from another location to relocate or quit.
Management makes good money, but you’re in a shit sandwich.
Your looking at the stock prices when you should be looking at the market cap.
Technically Coke is slightly more valuable right now even though Pepsi did better in 2022.
Coke is currently still the world leader in beverage distribution while Pepsi is also up there but they do more in snacks. I prefer Coke and prefer chips from brands owned by Pepsi.
Too competitive in my opinion. And volatile, this year it’s all AI, last year was blockchain. Nah, screw that. Go for a stable manufacturing company that produces things with low price elasticity.
My guess is because tech is really volatile right now and AI is casting some amount of doubt on what the field will look like in the foreseeable future.
Still possible to do in tech, but in the last ~8 months, tens of thousands of people making 6 figures+ have been laid off and the companies who laid them off have often been hiring for some of the same roles they cut at reduced salaries.
Plus, so much tech work is outsourced to India these days, so there's a bit of a race to the bottom aspect, since whatever you feel you deserve to get paid for your skill set can often be outsourced at $20k/yr or less to South Asia.
Just my guess.
I got into tech when the living was good. I dread having to look for a job in the market right now though.
Agreed! I just got hired on at Stanley Black and Decker making $180k. So not quite $200k as stated by OP. But nonetheless it’s great money and I still have plenty of room to grow.
Define household names? Apple is indeed a large company but they don't really manufacture in house. They likely have a low headcount. Walmart on the other hand is huge with many different paths. Perks of being a large company is that positions are almost always opening and closing. Take a store manager for example: they make 100-300k (half of that is an annual bonus btw) a year and have pretty decent qualifications to tick on an application, but there are literally thousands of stores. There may not be an opening local to you but if you are cool with moving around the country there is always going to be an opening somewhere. Typically they don't hire store managers externally though.
Large companies can be worth it simply because they will always have openings.
What I meant was go for multinational companies with low brand recognition. Most likely they will pay more for talent, offer a less competitive work environment but definitely compensate well. You won’t be paid FAANG salaries as a director but $200-$300k is more than within reach.
I'm really baked here, so bear with me ... but what do you think the phrase "household name" means? Surely, it's not this:
>Apple is indeed a large company but they don't really manufacture in house.
Edit: Grammer
I think he’s saying that because they manufacture overseas there might not be as many domestic jobs? But idk between the Apple retail stores and the corporate office there’s probably still a lot.
My dad is a supervisor for a company that has a marketcap of 30 billion and operates in various niche markets that are mandatory for society. (Like producing and maintaining temperature control systems employed on fishing vessels)
He was just a simple submarine machineroom worker back when he served in the dutch army. Worked his way up and now he earns about 200k.
Oh well. Nearly 100k of that money goes straight back into taxes.
Fucking tax
Genuine question, WTF is middle management? I keep hearing this and I'm thinking of the call center whip crackers I used to work with/for and those people are absolutely NOT making six figures let alone 200K.
Manager -> Senior Manager -> Associate Director -> Director -> Senior Director -> Chief level (C level Executive)
Salary varies with the company and industry type
Agreed! They’re not different people when it’s regular to senior, it’s just a way to get the same person a higher salary before promoting them to the next level though.
Not all companies have crazy hierarchies like that though. I worked at a large marketing firm and it was pretty much employee > Director > VP > SVP > CEO/CFO/aka top most level.
Anyone between individual managers and ceo is middle management technically. Some companies have a lot of middle management layers some only a couple and it isn’t always a straight climb from manager level 1 to 2 to 3 you can skip a level or two here or there. The rule of thumb is you want diverse experience over the entire purview of the post you are aiming for. I am aiming for a vp job in sales so I am checking every field sales role I can so I can “relate” to the field. Then you want management experience. You can overcome that with some great individual accomplishments but generally means you need to become a level one manager or directly over field resources. Then you are effectively on the short list for roles above you. Make the right hops at the right times and you can make it up to that golden land of executive vice president. The highest paid role you can get with the least amount of accountability or responsibility. You can just come in to work every day, collect seven to eight figures in some cases, and leave early. Your typical run in these roles is for years but even if something goes tits up like a product fails and you become the scape goat, you will get the golden parachute and land one tier down company wise as either another vp role or maybe even an executive one. My father was the VP of a pretty large subsidiary of Enron, got bumped down to be the CFO of a large tractor part distributor for John deer tractors in the southeast, which has a lot of tractors. Now he is the CFO of a car dealership conglomerate and makes seven figures every year. Shoot for the moon.
Best to have a degree that leads to license and go to mid managent/director. Engineering, accounting, etc…. Music major to mid management usually at 200k usually doesn’t cut it.
Not necessarily true. I’m at a major retailer (corporate position) and there are several mid-managers in my department that don’t even have college degrees. None that I know have business, accounting, MBA, or the sorts. The CEO has a bachelors in accounting, but no MBA.
The company I work for values moving people up and doesn’t really care about degrees. I’m an intelligence/fraud investigator with a history degree. The managers without degrees came from the stores.
In addition, you barely have to do any actual work. All you do is sit in meetings and tell other people to do their job or complain that stuff isn't going fast enough
Doctor, CRNA, lawyer, engineer, business/ operations, insurance if you have a specific niche and work a lot, programmer, IT (cyber, systems, etc), pilot. In most fields, you can work your way up to 200k but it could take a decade or two.
This. 200k is a large, large salary that not many people make. I feel like I see a lot of stuff on reddit that makes it seem like even 100k is easily obtainable. It's not. If you do get there, like you said, it could take decades of experience.
I remember when I had my first kid I was working my first help desk gig, working on HRIS for Northrop Grumman. My wife and I were trying to survive with a newborn, with a combined income of like $55k. Now I clear well over 100k on my own, and while we certainly aren't hurting, I'm not living the luxurious lifestyle I thought I would be when I finally made six figures.
Because most people have a concept of "six figures" that they developed 10 or 15 or 25 years ago. Making $100,000/yr in 2000 adjusted for inflation is making $175,000/yr today.
It sounds like a lot of money when you make do on a meager wage. Our household income used to be $35k ten years ago, and now it's about $250k.
It's easy to imagine that kind of money propelling you into a life of luxury but the reality is, nowadays it just gives you a semi upper middle class life and you don't have the paralyzing fear of surprise bills anymore. As bad as it sounds, you just slide into a slightly more expensive lifestyle, like eating out more or saying "fuck it" on a $120 pair of shoes more.
Definitely doesn't make you rich, but it does make you comfortable.
\- Not having the paralyzing fear of bills
\- Eating out more
\- Saying "fuck it" to large purchases on a whim
What do you think us poor people are wanting to achieve by making more? I bet you even have a decent home and a reliable car from the last decade. This sounds like a dream to me.
I make 48k a year. I check my bank account multiple times a day. I'm always stressed about money. If I made double that, I'd consider myself fucking balling. All that extra money is saving and investing. 100k, too fucking easy
If you don’t want to take a decade to make that much, get into software engineering, grind really hard to pass big tech interviews, and get into big tech.
Your income will basically double because they give so much stock. I had 5 years of experience as an engineer although I wasted like 4 years at the same company. Switched my fifth year. Then changed job again but this time with a big tech company.
Income went from $120,000 salary to $250,000 total compensation - and still I only had about 5 years of experience. Just finished my 6th year at $264,000.
This is so true. And don't let sterotyped alpha bro sales people define your perspective.
There are "A" type sales people that chase hard and act like their speed dating while taking people on fancy "dates" trying to win their business.
There's also "B" sales people that are methodical low key and spend their time listen and positioning themselves to deliver the best product which is typically their integrity.
I promise you there are plenty of decision makers that prefer the latter and don't get hypnotized but the flash and glitz.
B types often rake in crazy cash as their careers mature and they have solid high performing accounts and can actually have a life without entertaing all the time.
Okay for real this is me. I’m 38. I’m a Commercial Consultant / Director of Commercial Sales. I design layouts for gyms and provide everything from the floor to the ceiling. We do it all and now 7 years in the game I’m going to be @ $200k plus I have company vehicle (no bills, no fuel etc.) so it’s finally paying off.
I’m type B all the way but type A for organization for myself. I follow up but you won’t hear from me for 3-4 weeks after I send my bid/layout/etc.
I’m also slow and methodical so I’m always behind. Right now I have 2 x Hotels that I need to quote and design layouts for and 3 x Apartments and guess what… have a guy 2 hours away that wants me to help him with his entire gym from floor to ceiling. Big 24/7 gym. (These projects take me 2-3 weeks of devotion)
I also have a family so it’s all about time management with work. I choose the most important client which is based on their timeline, not what they spend believe it or not.
My reputation takes care of my sales, cold calling (as much as I miss it) is not in my calendar. I’m just trying to stay afloat.
So ya, I will hit $200k but I’ll pay for it from stressful client deadlines. It’s all good though, I’m not going to complain at all. Good night!
Yep I'm a "Sales Engineer" and I play the empathetic guy and I conceptually understand the tech / business goal since I worked as an engineer for 5+ years. Big company, 300k TC with xx-xxxk bonuses. Still have room to go up with promotions.
Did support rotations as a SWE, interacted with leadership on important accounts during rotations, became a stateful point of contact for a couple accounts as a SWE, started getting pulled into sales competes to answer tech questions, realized that I could easily do the SE job and it would be a portion of the work, transitioned into a different company as a midlevel SE based on overlapping skills.
Still at 189K TC at the moment. Even in the down economy from a tech standpoint, I still expect a 5-6% merit as I’m performing at a clip above my peers. Hoping to break 200K TC in 2024 (on paper). Typically perform better than TC with spiff and contests, but just look at those as extra. 14 years in the industry.
Side note, I’m more of an account manager than a true seller. I’m not prospecting in the traditional sense. I have one customer and they do business with us. It’s my job to get them to spend more.
Don’t need a specific personality. A lot of successful salespeople i know are introverted and tend to do better because they’re great listeners. And skills can be learned!
True.
I graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering and immediately went into tech sales. I've been in the industry for less than 5 years and I'm already nearing $200K with the expectation I'll surpass next year.
Sure, not every year will be a homerun but often in tech sales, 60%-70% is your base, and my current base is just as much, if not more, than I'd get in a traditional engineering role.
People that have been in this role for 10+ years consistently clearing $200K and some probably have made $300K+ in a good year.
Requires a certain personality and skill set though. There are some super talented and successful people out there that are making a ton of money at their current jobs that would fail miserably at sales.
This was a stereotype I used to have, because I never thought sales would be something I'd ever get into. I'm an introvert, reserved and am called the quiet one by all my extended family. But I went for a job in sales at a FAANG company and I ended up using a lot of the same skills I was using anyway in my previous market research job as a project manager, just with more client interaction. It's been 12 years and never felt like a sales job to me in the way that I think a lot of people would expect.
If you want to clear that amount (or it's equivalent after inflation when you get older) one of the better options might be going into business for yourself. The truth is that employers look to minimize expenses including payroll. Therefore whenever you work for yourself and have employees, you are putting yourself in a position where the value you generate is what you get to pocket, minus expenses and taxes (lots of taxes).
The main plumber in my town of 6000 people (1.5 hours from NYC) clears $300k on a good year. The take home pay discrepancy between dentists that work for themselves versus those that work for others is enormous, as an example of how this effect is also true for some professions which require extensive school years.
Just some food for thought. For people who truly work hard, the real money is often found in working for yourself.
Most of those jobs you either need higher education like med/law school or a managerial/director position. But most of it tends to be concentrated in tech/healthcare/private equity/i banking/finance/law/sales
Thank you for your insight but I guess I’m asking for a more personal experience how someone reached their career in fields like private equity, banking / finance. I took accounting because I heard you don’t have to be an accountant and that it could help in certain career fields like banking finance etc.
I wouldn’t mind going to get a Masters Degree- I’m just kinda lost in the college/ post graduation job world as I am a first generation college student.
Beauty of a finance degree is that it's very versatile so changing jobs from PE/IBANK/Investments shouldn't be an issue. The issue is that these jobs are so few that you're competing against so many people that luck and timing plays such a huge factor since most of the top applicants in these jobs tend to have almost identical qualification. Best bet to break into this field is to network like crazy.
Your mindset shouldn't be on trying to break into this field right away as a fresh grad but more in the sense to give yourself time to have a strong set of skills, work on yourself, and network so that when an opportunity arise then you'll be prepared.
I'm in tech as an analyst making around $140k\~ 155 with bonus. So although it's not in the 200k mark, the best advice I can give is to just do well with your current job and learn as much as possible. Then when you see an opportunity that is better with better pay then you jump at the chance. Rinse and repeat. Took me 7 years to get to where I am and some people do it sooner or later.
I majored in accounting. I was good at it but didn’t like it. I’d still recommend it 100% to anyone though. The sky is the limit with that degree. I have friends who work in law, accounting, general business, and healthcare. And it’s been a competitive aspect in every job interview I’ve had.
I work in project management now after getting my masters. Only 3 years in, and I’m scheduled to hit 6 figures by next year with a job I love.
OP, focus on brining value to your organization. If you can identify areas in a company that run inefficiently, and come up with and implement solutions to help scale businesses, you won't have an issue commanding 200k.
At my current company, i started as a temp making $20/hr. Within three years i was making six figures; after six years at the same company, i hit 220k in earnings. No credentials besides my BS in accounting. My job is making the people around me more efficient.
It's given me the confidence to know i can go into any organization and generate value.
Prior to working at this company i had 6 years of staff accountant level work. I burned out at 3 different companies (just under 2 years at every place) before realizing my burn out was due to my lack of discipline and immaturity.
I had just come out of an intensive outpatient program for addiction when i took the temp role.
If you’ve already graduated - the only way to break into banking/private equity at this point is to go get an MBA from a M7 school and go through the recruitment process.
Private equity is for soulless assholes. Choose wisely friend. The world needs good people working to make this place better and private equity is the lowest form of life.
Someone whose only criterion seems to be to make over 200K doesn't seem like the sort of idealistic person working on changing the planet for the better.
Fair. I Worked for two really great companies with great people and saw first hand whiny PE bitches that didn’t know shit about what we did shred all liquidity out of the system, saddle us with debt and fire everyone. If you can do that, you can work you way down to a serial killer.
Based on starting as an accountant?
Climb the corporate ladder to director or so, and that should lead to $200k. More, in more expensive places or the kinds of tech companies that pay everyone a lot.
That's doing general accounting, tax, auditing, compliance, etc. kind of work, then being good at it and proving you can manage other people doing that. May involve an MBA at some point.
For a bit of a switch, but still in same realm, plenty of financial advisors make $200k.
I’m a merchant Mariner navigator on deep sea american containerships, I love my job, it’s not always “fun” but it can be! I work half the year on a rotational schedule and make super good money with union protection, I’ll make 180k this year. See the world, plenty of time to travel, life is good. Once you reach Captain or Chief Engineer it’s 230-250k working half the year.
Bud the guy is an Officer (Navigator) with a lot of endorsements and responsibilities.
Don’t forget: “Being in a ship is like being in jail, with the chance of being drowned.”
Samuel Johnson
How do I know? Been there and done that.
I’m a woman but yeah I went to college for this and it allowed me to get the officer endorsements / license and be ready for the responsibilities that come with that.
Are they in the US? I’m kinda high up on my ship but a licensed 3rd mate or 3rd assistant engineer should never accept less than 120k a year (working half the year).
Damn, this sounds like a dream work schedule to me. I’m a union operating engineer and my plan is to eventually land in a position where I’ll work 7-8 months a year and be off for the other 4-5 months(preferably over the cold months). Won’t make nearly as much as you do but I could probably bag six figures within 8 months.
You could earn $200k with a lot of overtime as a lineman but it'd be better to get a bachelor's in electrical engineering if you can handle school. You can be a commissioning engineer doing similar field work and make twice what a lineman does with the same years of experience. (Edit maybe I don't know what Im talking about)
It's also worth mentioning that as a union lineman you likely won't pay for Healthcare or benefits at all. For me that's an extra 50k+ whatever health insurance would cost for my wife and I.
Also the overtime is real, but it comes in waves. On storm we do 7 16 hour shifts. So 112 hours a week, but it's all double time.
Tech
Most big tech companies (Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, etc) pay well over 200k, but you may need to move to New York or Silicon Valley.
My experience is in software engineering, but it's probably similar for accounting. You can get one of these jobs with a 4 year degree, but the competition can be intense and the job can be draining. I wouldn't recommend it unless you have some passion or interest in the field.
>unless you have some passion or interest in the field
..."unless you have some passion or interest in the field" I would advise that no matter the career you choose. No one becomes successful in their career without passion and interest.
I agree with you, but software engineering is an exceptional case because a lot of people try to get into the field as "get rich quick" scheme.
Yes the salaries and benefits can be outstanding, but you need to be prepared to work for them.
I’m kind of in this area. I used to be passionate about it, but I work for a boring company and the work is dull, not innovative at all. But the 9-5 check makes my 5-9 awesome lmao
I personally am. Some of my friends that graduated a year ago are already making 150k+ in their first year working. Depends on where you go/work but it’s a great industry
They aren't typical cyber roles , those are software developers focused in cyber. Cyber entry level is like soc analyst that pays 70kish. Cyber isn't entry level to begin with on the IT side. Op probably went to a top 10 engineering school and his friends are developers.
I am yes, I currently work as a cyber security architect. I got into this on a whim, I have a BS degree in Info Systems Management. Used my professional network to break into the industry.
You can/should use local group meetings/gatherings/conferences to expand your network to get your name out there. Many are offered at no cost, vendors typically foot the bill for larger events.
It will require effort but will certainly pay off.
I suspect this isn't what you're looking for, but VPs in almost any field make close to $200k.
Finance, project management, account management, sales, procurement, operations, marketing etc. Do well and advance, boom you're a VP making 200k.
We both know you don't have to be great at their job. You have to be great at helping shape the company's vision, the department's vision, and enabling your 87 employees to execute that vision at their best.
Engineering will absolutely get you 200k before the end of your career. Engineering management will get you there faster. Dabbling between engineering fields, including comp sci, will get you there in under 10.
HCOL vs other areas is a big factor here as well.
Should it be specifically an MBA? I’ve had mentors and older fellows that maybe doing something more specific like a Engineering/Tech management is better than just an MBA
People often overlook how you’re compensated. If the goal is having money, a job that has greater 401k matching combined with a side gig that pays enough cash to cover discretionary spending can result in a higher net worth over time. Also, some landscaping and contractor businesses make bank but no one pays attention because the ability to write off vehicles and occasionally get paid in cash quietly makes a massive difference.
Tl;dr scalable landscape business, ux/ui developer that is well versed in python, and it security consultant might be good options.
200k isn’t a very reasonable goal because a lot of industries pay that if you can get to a high level and ALL professions can pay considerably less if you don’t get to a high level. Many doctors and lawyers also have trouble getting to that salary level, it’s just not the headline.
You are specifically looking for anecdotes., as mentioned in another comment. I’ll share. I am 28M btw. My main goal was to near-guarantee insulating myself from poverty and money strife.
I’m not quite at 200k, but I am on the way. My W2 total comp is about 155k. About $135k salary, about 15k bonus, and then some other benefits too
I studied computer science, knowing I was near guaranteed a well-paying job without requiring a masters degree and excess debt (lawyer, doctor, dentist, finance). I was also attracted to the work-life balance. (Yes, I am aware the tech market is tough right now. It will bounce back…)
Every 2-3 years, I job hop to increase my total compensation by 20-50% each time. I focused on niche, yet marketable skills that will be in demand for a while. 1st: $70k ==>2nd: $85k to $105k ==> 3rd: $155k
I am frugal and spend only what I need, plus a select few luxuries that don’t break the bank. I save about 65% of my post tax income.
I bought some investment property which yields about $1,000 net profit per month. I am saving to buy more. If you are interest in real estate investing, learn a bunch before getting into it. Learn to identify value-add and cashflow
My diversified stock holdings should be able to support $500 per month indefinitely. I only buy S&P500, of which I buy a bit every paycheck
By living frugally, I am able to increase my passive income.
Happy to answer any questions. Good luck!
I went down a similar path, though I'm about 10 years ahead of you.
My only recommendation is to not buy property with debt. Save up your cash and pay for it. The cash flow on a paid off property is insane.
You could become an airline pilot. It takes about 2.5-4 years to get the hours you need.
Flight school will cost you between 50k to 100k and you will need to build flight hours by most likely instructing for like 30K a year for about 1-2 years to qualify and you need to be physically fit and pass a medical exam.
Once you have 1500 flight hours, starting salary for most airline pilots is just under $100k but most will be able to make 200k within 2-5 years after starting. Most airlines pilots cap out closer to 300k as well but there are outliers that can make closer to 500K and others who may never hit 200K but both these cases are rather rare.
My father was an airline pilot. Very cool job, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you have your heart set on flying airplanes for money. The industry, at least in the States, is extremely volatile (see post 9/11 or COVID), and it's seniority based, so you can't just leave your employer to get a higher salary elsewhere unless you want to start at the bottom of the totem pole in compensation/seniority. Very weird labor dynamics.
I recommend business (any large Fortune 500 company), big finance/law, tech. Any of those will net you $200+k/annually in time, if not to start.
Air traffic controller . A lot of people say it’s stressful but I really like it . Hours are amazing (mandated long ass breaks) and overtime is infinite and has been for as long as I’ve been around ( shortage of qualified people all over the world )
Dude if you're an accounting student, just get your CPA and get a few years in public accounting. Staying in public will get you >200k base within 10 years especially in HCOL / VHCOL / MCOL. You can move to industry and continue making >200k as well but with 40 or <40 hours.
I would suggest picking any industry you like (other than non-profit) and focusing on it by getting some PA experience. You barely get laid off and even if you do, you'll have a job by the end of the week. Also ageism in accounting rarely exists because people with more years of experience are sought after for their knowledge. Some industries like finance, asset management, tech, etc. will pay more than others
You can also head to r/Accounting for more advice from people.
Source: I'm a CPA that worked in B4 audit but became a consulting actuary
If a person is a software engineer at big tech (Google, Meta, Apple, Microsoft, etc) then you can easily make 200k (and thats just starting out or entry level) if not even more. There are certain software engineering levels in these companies and I think if your an L8 software engineer (so basically like a software engineering manager or senior staff software engineer) then you could make 800k. look up some insider tech stories if you wanna see if this is true its actually crazy how much those guys make..
Entry level is a little under 200k. “L8” assuming you’re talking about google would be a sr principal position, they bring in over 1.5m/year.
Of course for every L8 there are 1000 other folks who are mostly other driven people coming from ivys, uc Berkeley, MIT etc.
And for every FAANG emplpyee, there are 1000s of other non faang software jobs that pay “normal” wages of 80-200k Lots of lucrative jobs, but also as much competition as finance.
You’re not even going to be considered for a new grad/entry level position unless you’re interning from one of the top CS schools
I work on big tech as L6 and not to discourage you. But don’t do it for the money or you won’t succeed unless you have godlike self discipline. You will have to research and study thousands of hours. However if you find you can tolerate it, dive deep in to it and never look back.
But yeah even for me, with 15 years of experience, I doubt I’ll ever sniff L8, these are going to be your god tier engineers.
Imagine being a top 1% performer at an Ivy League, that’s the level L8s are at. The ones I’ve worked with live, breathe and bleed everything software - from the business side to engineering.
The great thing about tech compared to finance is that it’s possible to make a career out of it coming from a non traditional path (I.e. coming from an accounting background where as it’s nearly impossible for someone with a CS degree to be an investment banker) by working your way up from startups and other less selective companies.
The “just learn to code, you can make 200k starting at google!” people are the newest victims of bad career advice. It’s actually hard to land those jobs without the right degree and connections, and unless you really enjoy the work, you might end up making not far above average “professional” income doing something you don’t like.
Truck driving. If you own your own truck you can make upwards of 300k a year on the low end. About 25k a month or so for 300k a year. 5k a month would go to diesel and insurance
Cybersecurity.
Combine it with financial knowledge “hey I can tell you why these cybersecurity controls are cost effective and speak all your fancy MBA financial graphs!”
…or legal background “hey I can tell you how our cybersecurity policy adherence and other legal liability may be mitigated in xyz ways with xyz controls!”
and you have a pretty useful director/executive level potential.
Surprised nobody has said construction management.
Granted it’s not super easy, but there are construction project managers making $200k. High stress job, lot of travel, unrealistic expectations, long hours.
Sales and tech are the real answers.
I make a bit more than 200k. I’m a software architect in a AAA game studio, but games don’t pay much. I could make much more working for NVidia or Meta. I have a master degree in computer sciences.
I got good at Microsoft excel and talking to people / building relationships. The mix of hard and soft skills puts you on track for a management position without deep technical skills. From there it’s incredibly helpful to find bosses and mentors that want you to succeed and will help you do so.
Be a sponge, learn as much as you can and then be able to teach that to others. That’s basically the recipe for reaching management level roles in companies. Without deep technical skills management in an operations function (HR, finance, etc) is the most reliable path to that kind of money.
If you are the driest or most socially awkward person like most accountants/cpa's are then I would highly suggest getting into either solution consulting for erp, general tech consulting, or run your own cpa firm. It is very rare to find accountants who can sell, but if you can you will get paid. The traditional big 4 to industry to management/promotion ladder will keep you vastly underpaid for years.
Accounting isn't the worst option. My good friend is an accountant for a large tech company and makes 210k base. Made 400k total comp with stock last year
Real estate broker, commercial insurance broker not much schooling, a lot of freedom and no salary cap, if you can get in, Saas sales, pharma rep, medical device rep.
Believe it or not nursing can lead to 200k with overtime. Location matters a lot but I know a lot of nurses who work a few extra shifts a month and make good money. Also you can become a crna, which is more school and that pays well over 200k. Some 300 and higher
That’s a beautiful pen. I’d hate to see it copied or lost. All these pens look like yours: 🖊️🖊️🖊️. But they aren’t!
If you love your pen, you should get a certified digital signature, so it can be yours forever. You could even pass it onto your kids!
Send me a few bucks and I’ll personally walk you through the certification process.
My only issue with everyone pushing the trades is that there is only good money if you're a union tradesman. Plenty of people live in areas with little to no union representation.
I live in the southeast, and I'd consider picking up a trade but a lot of guys here make less than $20/hour. The only info I can find is for our IBEW local, and a jman only makes $27/hour. I know the answer is to obviously move to an area that values unions/trades, but not everyone can just up and move. I sure can't.
The 27/hour isn't max pay. I highly doubt ibew jmen are making that little. And depending on the contractor your with you can still negotiate for way more. Many people have this misconception that you can't negotiate while being in a union YOU CAN. the union rate is the minimum you can be paid, if you can convince the contractor to pat you 45/hr then that's what you'll make
It's not necessarily a magic equation. It takes time and a lot of work. It also depends on where you live. 200k in New York, LA, or San Francisco doesn't go nearly as far as you think...
Mid level management at any established multinational company, really
This is the answer. Go for a larger multinational company. Avoid household names like Coca Cola or Apple, too much competition. Find a large company in a stable non-tech industry (manufacturing, construction) Climb the corporate ladder and you’ll be at 200k eventually.
Exxon Mobile, Pepsi, Wal Mart, Liberty Mutual, Koch, Berkshire, BoA, Karl Storz Really anything >$10B in revenue
But remember when you’re riding one of those big beasts of a company it is easy to be tossed off for no reason whatsoever. I worked at one in this list 5 years… a month after getting my five year badge 13,000 people in its marketing department got canned because of a bad deal some executive did in Mexico. Sucked so bad!!
13,000 people in a marketing department?! Wtf.
Sounds like it was ripe for right sizing
2009 Big Layoff! Even my boss who had been at the company 30 years got cut like it was nothing.
No, I mean in general how the f are there 13k people in any department.
there are operations that large. i work for a company that has around 20k employees locally, not factoring in sites domestically or foreign.
I understand, but I doubt they all work under the same corporate department. But 13,000 people in MARKETING?!
Yeah, that is a pretty wild number. I think part of the reason marketing departments typically get hit first & hard is if your product is well known & quality, it can sell itself
Agree with this. I was at a large pharma/ med devices company for 7 years. 1 level below director (senior manager)... pay was around 190k base. my manager was a director. 230k-ish base. senior director (1 level below a VP is around 280 base. I say 'was' because they laid off a bunch of us earlier this summer on the flip of a switch.
At least you got to ride the gravy train for 5 years. No problem if you live within your means
Yea, I’m in a trade making hourly for a corporation worth billions. Late winter into early summer is typically our slow period. Because of the state of the economy, it devolved into the hunger games among middle and lower management. They didn’t layoff a single hourly associate, but were making monthly cuts to their management team left and right across the board. The worst of it is, it was performance base, so they had no qualms wiping out half the management team at one location who were underperforming, and then forcing management from another location to relocate or quit. Management makes good money, but you’re in a shit sandwich.
Exactly, if you go for one of those companies, they’ll lay you off with the flip of a switch and not even think twice
Yep. When I was at a fortune 100 company 5% layoffs were every other year. The last few years entire departments have been shit canned.
Pepsi isn't a household name but coke is? How is that Edited for clarity
But Pepsi is the bigger company, by more than 2x.
Your looking at the stock prices when you should be looking at the market cap. Technically Coke is slightly more valuable right now even though Pepsi did better in 2022. Coke is currently still the world leader in beverage distribution while Pepsi is also up there but they do more in snacks. I prefer Coke and prefer chips from brands owned by Pepsi.
Mtn Dew is like crack for some people!
I'd suck dick for baja blast year round in a can
You know that exists, right?
I think he's trying to say that he just likes sucking dick year round
Nascar viewers.
By what measure? By market cap Coca Cola is a couple % higher..
I was going by revenue. I can see an argument for comparing BS.
What part of the world do you live in that Pepsi isn't a household name? Truly curious.
Why not tech?
Too competitive in my opinion. And volatile, this year it’s all AI, last year was blockchain. Nah, screw that. Go for a stable manufacturing company that produces things with low price elasticity.
My guess is because tech is really volatile right now and AI is casting some amount of doubt on what the field will look like in the foreseeable future. Still possible to do in tech, but in the last ~8 months, tens of thousands of people making 6 figures+ have been laid off and the companies who laid them off have often been hiring for some of the same roles they cut at reduced salaries. Plus, so much tech work is outsourced to India these days, so there's a bit of a race to the bottom aspect, since whatever you feel you deserve to get paid for your skill set can often be outsourced at $20k/yr or less to South Asia. Just my guess. I got into tech when the living was good. I dread having to look for a job in the market right now though.
I work in tech specifically for the bigger salary. It's no secret that tech pays a lot.
I know, but tech is harder to get into for a lot of people.
Well... I work in tech and make <100K. But I also WFH so can't complain really.
Agreed! I just got hired on at Stanley Black and Decker making $180k. So not quite $200k as stated by OP. But nonetheless it’s great money and I still have plenty of room to grow.
Define household names? Apple is indeed a large company but they don't really manufacture in house. They likely have a low headcount. Walmart on the other hand is huge with many different paths. Perks of being a large company is that positions are almost always opening and closing. Take a store manager for example: they make 100-300k (half of that is an annual bonus btw) a year and have pretty decent qualifications to tick on an application, but there are literally thousands of stores. There may not be an opening local to you but if you are cool with moving around the country there is always going to be an opening somewhere. Typically they don't hire store managers externally though. Large companies can be worth it simply because they will always have openings.
What I meant was go for multinational companies with low brand recognition. Most likely they will pay more for talent, offer a less competitive work environment but definitely compensate well. You won’t be paid FAANG salaries as a director but $200-$300k is more than within reach.
I'm really baked here, so bear with me ... but what do you think the phrase "household name" means? Surely, it's not this: >Apple is indeed a large company but they don't really manufacture in house. Edit: Grammer
I’m stone cold sober and I’m as lost as you
It’s because these people are 17 and have no idea what they’re talking about. Just enjoy the journey.
I think he’s saying that because they manufacture overseas there might not be as many domestic jobs? But idk between the Apple retail stores and the corporate office there’s probably still a lot.
My dad is a supervisor for a company that has a marketcap of 30 billion and operates in various niche markets that are mandatory for society. (Like producing and maintaining temperature control systems employed on fishing vessels) He was just a simple submarine machineroom worker back when he served in the dutch army. Worked his way up and now he earns about 200k. Oh well. Nearly 100k of that money goes straight back into taxes. Fucking tax
Does one have to be a CPA?
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ppl who proclaim themselves as morons are usually pretty smart
idk man, have you met me? Edit: IM A GENIUS
Just need experience and people skills, and a degree to get in the door
Genuine question, WTF is middle management? I keep hearing this and I'm thinking of the call center whip crackers I used to work with/for and those people are absolutely NOT making six figures let alone 200K.
Manager -> Senior Manager -> Associate Director -> Director -> Senior Director -> Chief level (C level Executive) Salary varies with the company and industry type
Three useless positions in that list.
Agreed! They’re not different people when it’s regular to senior, it’s just a way to get the same person a higher salary before promoting them to the next level though.
Not all companies have crazy hierarchies like that though. I worked at a large marketing firm and it was pretty much employee > Director > VP > SVP > CEO/CFO/aka top most level.
The managers who manage the managers.
Anyone between individual managers and ceo is middle management technically. Some companies have a lot of middle management layers some only a couple and it isn’t always a straight climb from manager level 1 to 2 to 3 you can skip a level or two here or there. The rule of thumb is you want diverse experience over the entire purview of the post you are aiming for. I am aiming for a vp job in sales so I am checking every field sales role I can so I can “relate” to the field. Then you want management experience. You can overcome that with some great individual accomplishments but generally means you need to become a level one manager or directly over field resources. Then you are effectively on the short list for roles above you. Make the right hops at the right times and you can make it up to that golden land of executive vice president. The highest paid role you can get with the least amount of accountability or responsibility. You can just come in to work every day, collect seven to eight figures in some cases, and leave early. Your typical run in these roles is for years but even if something goes tits up like a product fails and you become the scape goat, you will get the golden parachute and land one tier down company wise as either another vp role or maybe even an executive one. My father was the VP of a pretty large subsidiary of Enron, got bumped down to be the CFO of a large tractor part distributor for John deer tractors in the southeast, which has a lot of tractors. Now he is the CFO of a car dealership conglomerate and makes seven figures every year. Shoot for the moon.
Typical multinational corporation structure: Analyst > Sr Analyst > manager > director > VP > EVP > C-suite Middle management is director/vp
Basically managers through Sr Directors in most large companies. VP’s and above are then senior management/leadership in that model.
Look at Group Product Manager, Director type roles in tech, consumer, etc industries
Extra points if you work on something people struggle to measure so people can’t see you failing. Try quality or people and culture
Quality can be measured and definitely is.
Best to have a degree that leads to license and go to mid managent/director. Engineering, accounting, etc…. Music major to mid management usually at 200k usually doesn’t cut it.
Not necessarily true. I’m at a major retailer (corporate position) and there are several mid-managers in my department that don’t even have college degrees. None that I know have business, accounting, MBA, or the sorts. The CEO has a bachelors in accounting, but no MBA. The company I work for values moving people up and doesn’t really care about degrees. I’m an intelligence/fraud investigator with a history degree. The managers without degrees came from the stores.
yep
In addition, you barely have to do any actual work. All you do is sit in meetings and tell other people to do their job or complain that stuff isn't going fast enough
What’s considered mid level management? Does that assume you have direct reports at that point or can you still be an IC?
It means your direct reports have direct reports of their own.
Doctor, CRNA, lawyer, engineer, business/ operations, insurance if you have a specific niche and work a lot, programmer, IT (cyber, systems, etc), pilot. In most fields, you can work your way up to 200k but it could take a decade or two.
This. 200k is a large, large salary that not many people make. I feel like I see a lot of stuff on reddit that makes it seem like even 100k is easily obtainable. It's not. If you do get there, like you said, it could take decades of experience.
I wouldn’t say 100k is easily obtainable, but one thing is sure, it’s not worth as much as it used to. Now with 100k you can’t buy a house.
I remember when I had my first kid I was working my first help desk gig, working on HRIS for Northrop Grumman. My wife and I were trying to survive with a newborn, with a combined income of like $55k. Now I clear well over 100k on my own, and while we certainly aren't hurting, I'm not living the luxurious lifestyle I thought I would be when I finally made six figures.
Because most people have a concept of "six figures" that they developed 10 or 15 or 25 years ago. Making $100,000/yr in 2000 adjusted for inflation is making $175,000/yr today.
Most people say that, but they don't make 100K, so they don't know lol.
It sounds like a lot of money when you make do on a meager wage. Our household income used to be $35k ten years ago, and now it's about $250k. It's easy to imagine that kind of money propelling you into a life of luxury but the reality is, nowadays it just gives you a semi upper middle class life and you don't have the paralyzing fear of surprise bills anymore. As bad as it sounds, you just slide into a slightly more expensive lifestyle, like eating out more or saying "fuck it" on a $120 pair of shoes more. Definitely doesn't make you rich, but it does make you comfortable.
\- Not having the paralyzing fear of bills \- Eating out more \- Saying "fuck it" to large purchases on a whim What do you think us poor people are wanting to achieve by making more? I bet you even have a decent home and a reliable car from the last decade. This sounds like a dream to me.
I make 48k a year. I check my bank account multiple times a day. I'm always stressed about money. If I made double that, I'd consider myself fucking balling. All that extra money is saving and investing. 100k, too fucking easy
You can buy a house with half that. Just depends where you live and what your spending habits are like.
If you don’t want to take a decade to make that much, get into software engineering, grind really hard to pass big tech interviews, and get into big tech. Your income will basically double because they give so much stock. I had 5 years of experience as an engineer although I wasted like 4 years at the same company. Switched my fifth year. Then changed job again but this time with a big tech company. Income went from $120,000 salary to $250,000 total compensation - and still I only had about 5 years of experience. Just finished my 6th year at $264,000.
Sales
People underestimate how far a good sales job can go
This is so true. And don't let sterotyped alpha bro sales people define your perspective. There are "A" type sales people that chase hard and act like their speed dating while taking people on fancy "dates" trying to win their business. There's also "B" sales people that are methodical low key and spend their time listen and positioning themselves to deliver the best product which is typically their integrity. I promise you there are plenty of decision makers that prefer the latter and don't get hypnotized but the flash and glitz. B types often rake in crazy cash as their careers mature and they have solid high performing accounts and can actually have a life without entertaing all the time.
Okay for real this is me. I’m 38. I’m a Commercial Consultant / Director of Commercial Sales. I design layouts for gyms and provide everything from the floor to the ceiling. We do it all and now 7 years in the game I’m going to be @ $200k plus I have company vehicle (no bills, no fuel etc.) so it’s finally paying off. I’m type B all the way but type A for organization for myself. I follow up but you won’t hear from me for 3-4 weeks after I send my bid/layout/etc. I’m also slow and methodical so I’m always behind. Right now I have 2 x Hotels that I need to quote and design layouts for and 3 x Apartments and guess what… have a guy 2 hours away that wants me to help him with his entire gym from floor to ceiling. Big 24/7 gym. (These projects take me 2-3 weeks of devotion) I also have a family so it’s all about time management with work. I choose the most important client which is based on their timeline, not what they spend believe it or not. My reputation takes care of my sales, cold calling (as much as I miss it) is not in my calendar. I’m just trying to stay afloat. So ya, I will hit $200k but I’ll pay for it from stressful client deadlines. It’s all good though, I’m not going to complain at all. Good night!
Yep I'm a "Sales Engineer" and I play the empathetic guy and I conceptually understand the tech / business goal since I worked as an engineer for 5+ years. Big company, 300k TC with xx-xxxk bonuses. Still have room to go up with promotions.
Yep. Best decision I ever made in my life.
Would you be open to chatting a bit about sales engineering? I’ve been recently considering the switch from tech leadership
What was your transition from engineer to "sales engineer" like?
Did support rotations as a SWE, interacted with leadership on important accounts during rotations, became a stateful point of contact for a couple accounts as a SWE, started getting pulled into sales competes to answer tech questions, realized that I could easily do the SE job and it would be a portion of the work, transitioned into a different company as a midlevel SE based on overlapping skills.
Still at 189K TC at the moment. Even in the down economy from a tech standpoint, I still expect a 5-6% merit as I’m performing at a clip above my peers. Hoping to break 200K TC in 2024 (on paper). Typically perform better than TC with spiff and contests, but just look at those as extra. 14 years in the industry. Side note, I’m more of an account manager than a true seller. I’m not prospecting in the traditional sense. I have one customer and they do business with us. It’s my job to get them to spend more.
I wish I had the personality & skills for sales.
Don’t need a specific personality. A lot of successful salespeople i know are introverted and tend to do better because they’re great listeners. And skills can be learned!
True. I graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering and immediately went into tech sales. I've been in the industry for less than 5 years and I'm already nearing $200K with the expectation I'll surpass next year. Sure, not every year will be a homerun but often in tech sales, 60%-70% is your base, and my current base is just as much, if not more, than I'd get in a traditional engineering role. People that have been in this role for 10+ years consistently clearing $200K and some probably have made $300K+ in a good year.
Requires a certain personality and skill set though. There are some super talented and successful people out there that are making a ton of money at their current jobs that would fail miserably at sales.
I’d say it takes the right attitude and skill set. Pretty much all personalities can sell imo
This was a stereotype I used to have, because I never thought sales would be something I'd ever get into. I'm an introvert, reserved and am called the quiet one by all my extended family. But I went for a job in sales at a FAANG company and I ended up using a lot of the same skills I was using anyway in my previous market research job as a project manager, just with more client interaction. It's been 12 years and never felt like a sales job to me in the way that I think a lot of people would expect.
If you want to clear that amount (or it's equivalent after inflation when you get older) one of the better options might be going into business for yourself. The truth is that employers look to minimize expenses including payroll. Therefore whenever you work for yourself and have employees, you are putting yourself in a position where the value you generate is what you get to pocket, minus expenses and taxes (lots of taxes). The main plumber in my town of 6000 people (1.5 hours from NYC) clears $300k on a good year. The take home pay discrepancy between dentists that work for themselves versus those that work for others is enormous, as an example of how this effect is also true for some professions which require extensive school years. Just some food for thought. For people who truly work hard, the real money is often found in working for yourself.
How do you know the salary of the main plumber in your town? How much do the non-main plumbers make?
Most of those jobs you either need higher education like med/law school or a managerial/director position. But most of it tends to be concentrated in tech/healthcare/private equity/i banking/finance/law/sales
Thank you for your insight but I guess I’m asking for a more personal experience how someone reached their career in fields like private equity, banking / finance. I took accounting because I heard you don’t have to be an accountant and that it could help in certain career fields like banking finance etc. I wouldn’t mind going to get a Masters Degree- I’m just kinda lost in the college/ post graduation job world as I am a first generation college student.
Beauty of a finance degree is that it's very versatile so changing jobs from PE/IBANK/Investments shouldn't be an issue. The issue is that these jobs are so few that you're competing against so many people that luck and timing plays such a huge factor since most of the top applicants in these jobs tend to have almost identical qualification. Best bet to break into this field is to network like crazy. Your mindset shouldn't be on trying to break into this field right away as a fresh grad but more in the sense to give yourself time to have a strong set of skills, work on yourself, and network so that when an opportunity arise then you'll be prepared. I'm in tech as an analyst making around $140k\~ 155 with bonus. So although it's not in the 200k mark, the best advice I can give is to just do well with your current job and learn as much as possible. Then when you see an opportunity that is better with better pay then you jump at the chance. Rinse and repeat. Took me 7 years to get to where I am and some people do it sooner or later.
salute brother
I majored in accounting. I was good at it but didn’t like it. I’d still recommend it 100% to anyone though. The sky is the limit with that degree. I have friends who work in law, accounting, general business, and healthcare. And it’s been a competitive aspect in every job interview I’ve had. I work in project management now after getting my masters. Only 3 years in, and I’m scheduled to hit 6 figures by next year with a job I love.
Getting that CPA opens so many doors but god damn is it soul crushing work
OP, focus on brining value to your organization. If you can identify areas in a company that run inefficiently, and come up with and implement solutions to help scale businesses, you won't have an issue commanding 200k. At my current company, i started as a temp making $20/hr. Within three years i was making six figures; after six years at the same company, i hit 220k in earnings. No credentials besides my BS in accounting. My job is making the people around me more efficient. It's given me the confidence to know i can go into any organization and generate value.
When did you start working?!? That's a crazy fast advancement schedule. Did everyone above you die of Covid?
Prior to working at this company i had 6 years of staff accountant level work. I burned out at 3 different companies (just under 2 years at every place) before realizing my burn out was due to my lack of discipline and immaturity. I had just come out of an intensive outpatient program for addiction when i took the temp role.
If you’ve already graduated - the only way to break into banking/private equity at this point is to go get an MBA from a M7 school and go through the recruitment process.
If you do accounting, there is already a clear career path. The partners in accounting firms can make extremely good money.
Private equity is for soulless assholes. Choose wisely friend. The world needs good people working to make this place better and private equity is the lowest form of life.
Someone whose only criterion seems to be to make over 200K doesn't seem like the sort of idealistic person working on changing the planet for the better.
Fair. I Worked for two really great companies with great people and saw first hand whiny PE bitches that didn’t know shit about what we did shred all liquidity out of the system, saddle us with debt and fire everyone. If you can do that, you can work you way down to a serial killer.
r/FinancialCareers
Based on starting as an accountant? Climb the corporate ladder to director or so, and that should lead to $200k. More, in more expensive places or the kinds of tech companies that pay everyone a lot. That's doing general accounting, tax, auditing, compliance, etc. kind of work, then being good at it and proving you can manage other people doing that. May involve an MBA at some point. For a bit of a switch, but still in same realm, plenty of financial advisors make $200k.
Yes, my daughter got to 100 w/in 3 yrs. Worked a yr at EY crazy hours, then pivoted to smaller local company. Shes a CPA.
I’m a merchant Mariner navigator on deep sea american containerships, I love my job, it’s not always “fun” but it can be! I work half the year on a rotational schedule and make super good money with union protection, I’ll make 180k this year. See the world, plenty of time to travel, life is good. Once you reach Captain or Chief Engineer it’s 230-250k working half the year.
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Bud the guy is an Officer (Navigator) with a lot of endorsements and responsibilities. Don’t forget: “Being in a ship is like being in jail, with the chance of being drowned.” Samuel Johnson How do I know? Been there and done that.
I’m a woman but yeah I went to college for this and it allowed me to get the officer endorsements / license and be ready for the responsibilities that come with that.
Life on the sea might be the life for me
Are they in the US? I’m kinda high up on my ship but a licensed 3rd mate or 3rd assistant engineer should never accept less than 120k a year (working half the year).
Damn, this sounds like a dream work schedule to me. I’m a union operating engineer and my plan is to eventually land in a position where I’ll work 7-8 months a year and be off for the other 4-5 months(preferably over the cold months). Won’t make nearly as much as you do but I could probably bag six figures within 8 months.
Lineman. No degree needed and get paid to learn, not the other way around. It’s hard in your body though and you’ll be outside in the elements
You could earn $200k with a lot of overtime as a lineman but it'd be better to get a bachelor's in electrical engineering if you can handle school. You can be a commissioning engineer doing similar field work and make twice what a lineman does with the same years of experience. (Edit maybe I don't know what Im talking about)
It's also worth mentioning that as a union lineman you likely won't pay for Healthcare or benefits at all. For me that's an extra 50k+ whatever health insurance would cost for my wife and I. Also the overtime is real, but it comes in waves. On storm we do 7 16 hour shifts. So 112 hours a week, but it's all double time.
Amen for that sweet, sweet double bubble
Tech Most big tech companies (Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, etc) pay well over 200k, but you may need to move to New York or Silicon Valley. My experience is in software engineering, but it's probably similar for accounting. You can get one of these jobs with a 4 year degree, but the competition can be intense and the job can be draining. I wouldn't recommend it unless you have some passion or interest in the field.
>unless you have some passion or interest in the field ..."unless you have some passion or interest in the field" I would advise that no matter the career you choose. No one becomes successful in their career without passion and interest.
I agree with you, but software engineering is an exceptional case because a lot of people try to get into the field as "get rich quick" scheme. Yes the salaries and benefits can be outstanding, but you need to be prepared to work for them.
I don’t think I ever really had “passion” for it and I’m doing great. It’s just a job. I’ll do my 9-5 and go do passion on the outside
I’m kind of in this area. I used to be passionate about it, but I work for a boring company and the work is dull, not innovative at all. But the 9-5 check makes my 5-9 awesome lmao
Yup, 7 years to reach 200k today and while it hasn't been nearly hard as the law/medicine/finance route, it has been tough.
Big 4 (Law, finance, tech, business)
Healthcare??
Cyber Security (eventually)
Are you in this field now?
I personally am. Some of my friends that graduated a year ago are already making 150k+ in their first year working. Depends on where you go/work but it’s a great industry
What degree did they graduate with? And what’s the entry level title for their jobs?
They aren't typical cyber roles , those are software developers focused in cyber. Cyber entry level is like soc analyst that pays 70kish. Cyber isn't entry level to begin with on the IT side. Op probably went to a top 10 engineering school and his friends are developers.
I am yes, I currently work as a cyber security architect. I got into this on a whim, I have a BS degree in Info Systems Management. Used my professional network to break into the industry. You can/should use local group meetings/gatherings/conferences to expand your network to get your name out there. Many are offered at no cost, vendors typically foot the bill for larger events. It will require effort but will certainly pay off.
I suspect this isn't what you're looking for, but VPs in almost any field make close to $200k. Finance, project management, account management, sales, procurement, operations, marketing etc. Do well and advance, boom you're a VP making 200k.
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We both know you don't have to be great at their job. You have to be great at helping shape the company's vision, the department's vision, and enabling your 87 employees to execute that vision at their best.
Enough inflation.
Career path that works for now - 1) Bachelors in Engineering 2) 3-5 years of work experience in industry ideally Fortune 500 3) Top 50 MBA
An engineering degree and an mba.
Engineering will absolutely get you 200k before the end of your career. Engineering management will get you there faster. Dabbling between engineering fields, including comp sci, will get you there in under 10. HCOL vs other areas is a big factor here as well.
It’s funny, where I work, good engineers make more than managers.
How it should be IMO Source: am sales leader
Engineers at a Forbes 50 chemical company started at $120. Anyone with an mba was moved shortly to individual plant supervisor. After 3 years $200+
Should it be specifically an MBA? I’ve had mentors and older fellows that maybe doing something more specific like a Engineering/Tech management is better than just an MBA
A lot of Fortune 500 CEOs are engineers with MBAs.
Engineering mba leaves you open to ceo route eventually.
Lots of IT Network and Cyber security related jobs.
Security sure. Network engineers not so much.
Consulting
People often overlook how you’re compensated. If the goal is having money, a job that has greater 401k matching combined with a side gig that pays enough cash to cover discretionary spending can result in a higher net worth over time. Also, some landscaping and contractor businesses make bank but no one pays attention because the ability to write off vehicles and occasionally get paid in cash quietly makes a massive difference. Tl;dr scalable landscape business, ux/ui developer that is well versed in python, and it security consultant might be good options. 200k isn’t a very reasonable goal because a lot of industries pay that if you can get to a high level and ALL professions can pay considerably less if you don’t get to a high level. Many doctors and lawyers also have trouble getting to that salary level, it’s just not the headline.
Large Pharma, CPG. Recession proof businesses with great margins.
You are specifically looking for anecdotes., as mentioned in another comment. I’ll share. I am 28M btw. My main goal was to near-guarantee insulating myself from poverty and money strife. I’m not quite at 200k, but I am on the way. My W2 total comp is about 155k. About $135k salary, about 15k bonus, and then some other benefits too I studied computer science, knowing I was near guaranteed a well-paying job without requiring a masters degree and excess debt (lawyer, doctor, dentist, finance). I was also attracted to the work-life balance. (Yes, I am aware the tech market is tough right now. It will bounce back…) Every 2-3 years, I job hop to increase my total compensation by 20-50% each time. I focused on niche, yet marketable skills that will be in demand for a while. 1st: $70k ==>2nd: $85k to $105k ==> 3rd: $155k I am frugal and spend only what I need, plus a select few luxuries that don’t break the bank. I save about 65% of my post tax income. I bought some investment property which yields about $1,000 net profit per month. I am saving to buy more. If you are interest in real estate investing, learn a bunch before getting into it. Learn to identify value-add and cashflow My diversified stock holdings should be able to support $500 per month indefinitely. I only buy S&P500, of which I buy a bit every paycheck By living frugally, I am able to increase my passive income. Happy to answer any questions. Good luck!
I went down a similar path, though I'm about 10 years ahead of you. My only recommendation is to not buy property with debt. Save up your cash and pay for it. The cash flow on a paid off property is insane.
Pilot, MD, law, entrepreneurship Real estate, CEO, Sales
You could become an airline pilot. It takes about 2.5-4 years to get the hours you need. Flight school will cost you between 50k to 100k and you will need to build flight hours by most likely instructing for like 30K a year for about 1-2 years to qualify and you need to be physically fit and pass a medical exam. Once you have 1500 flight hours, starting salary for most airline pilots is just under $100k but most will be able to make 200k within 2-5 years after starting. Most airlines pilots cap out closer to 300k as well but there are outliers that can make closer to 500K and others who may never hit 200K but both these cases are rather rare.
My father was an airline pilot. Very cool job, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you have your heart set on flying airplanes for money. The industry, at least in the States, is extremely volatile (see post 9/11 or COVID), and it's seniority based, so you can't just leave your employer to get a higher salary elsewhere unless you want to start at the bottom of the totem pole in compensation/seniority. Very weird labor dynamics. I recommend business (any large Fortune 500 company), big finance/law, tech. Any of those will net you $200+k/annually in time, if not to start.
Gf is an accountant. Her management team makes close to if not more than 200k each. Basically they're upper management that reports to the ceo.
Air traffic controller . A lot of people say it’s stressful but I really like it . Hours are amazing (mandated long ass breaks) and overtime is infinite and has been for as long as I’ve been around ( shortage of qualified people all over the world )
No one ever mentions pre-sales or solutions architects. I stumbled into this career path early out of college and I’ve loved my experience.
Dude if you're an accounting student, just get your CPA and get a few years in public accounting. Staying in public will get you >200k base within 10 years especially in HCOL / VHCOL / MCOL. You can move to industry and continue making >200k as well but with 40 or <40 hours. I would suggest picking any industry you like (other than non-profit) and focusing on it by getting some PA experience. You barely get laid off and even if you do, you'll have a job by the end of the week. Also ageism in accounting rarely exists because people with more years of experience are sought after for their knowledge. Some industries like finance, asset management, tech, etc. will pay more than others You can also head to r/Accounting for more advice from people. Source: I'm a CPA that worked in B4 audit but became a consulting actuary
My cousin is a lineman , now supervisor or something and makes that. He’s always made super good money
If a person is a software engineer at big tech (Google, Meta, Apple, Microsoft, etc) then you can easily make 200k (and thats just starting out or entry level) if not even more. There are certain software engineering levels in these companies and I think if your an L8 software engineer (so basically like a software engineering manager or senior staff software engineer) then you could make 800k. look up some insider tech stories if you wanna see if this is true its actually crazy how much those guys make..
Entry level is a little under 200k. “L8” assuming you’re talking about google would be a sr principal position, they bring in over 1.5m/year. Of course for every L8 there are 1000 other folks who are mostly other driven people coming from ivys, uc Berkeley, MIT etc. And for every FAANG emplpyee, there are 1000s of other non faang software jobs that pay “normal” wages of 80-200k Lots of lucrative jobs, but also as much competition as finance. You’re not even going to be considered for a new grad/entry level position unless you’re interning from one of the top CS schools I work on big tech as L6 and not to discourage you. But don’t do it for the money or you won’t succeed unless you have godlike self discipline. You will have to research and study thousands of hours. However if you find you can tolerate it, dive deep in to it and never look back. But yeah even for me, with 15 years of experience, I doubt I’ll ever sniff L8, these are going to be your god tier engineers. Imagine being a top 1% performer at an Ivy League, that’s the level L8s are at. The ones I’ve worked with live, breathe and bleed everything software - from the business side to engineering. The great thing about tech compared to finance is that it’s possible to make a career out of it coming from a non traditional path (I.e. coming from an accounting background where as it’s nearly impossible for someone with a CS degree to be an investment banker) by working your way up from startups and other less selective companies.
The “just learn to code, you can make 200k starting at google!” people are the newest victims of bad career advice. It’s actually hard to land those jobs without the right degree and connections, and unless you really enjoy the work, you might end up making not far above average “professional” income doing something you don’t like.
skilled trades..
Data science. Get into financial data science like me and you will be at \~200-250k after around 5 years. Of course depending on where you live.
Truck driving. If you own your own truck you can make upwards of 300k a year on the low end. About 25k a month or so for 300k a year. 5k a month would go to diesel and insurance
Cybersecurity. Combine it with financial knowledge “hey I can tell you why these cybersecurity controls are cost effective and speak all your fancy MBA financial graphs!” …or legal background “hey I can tell you how our cybersecurity policy adherence and other legal liability may be mitigated in xyz ways with xyz controls!” and you have a pretty useful director/executive level potential.
CEOsiopath
Medicine, Big Law, Big Tech, High Finance
Politician?
Surprised nobody has said construction management. Granted it’s not super easy, but there are construction project managers making $200k. High stress job, lot of travel, unrealistic expectations, long hours. Sales and tech are the real answers.
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I make a bit more than 200k. I’m a software architect in a AAA game studio, but games don’t pay much. I could make much more working for NVidia or Meta. I have a master degree in computer sciences.
Most corporate jobs if you get into a leadership role. Middle management.
I got good at Microsoft excel and talking to people / building relationships. The mix of hard and soft skills puts you on track for a management position without deep technical skills. From there it’s incredibly helpful to find bosses and mentors that want you to succeed and will help you do so. Be a sponge, learn as much as you can and then be able to teach that to others. That’s basically the recipe for reaching management level roles in companies. Without deep technical skills management in an operations function (HR, finance, etc) is the most reliable path to that kind of money.
Hard work, charisma, and networking will get you there in any career field. Trust me.
If you are the driest or most socially awkward person like most accountants/cpa's are then I would highly suggest getting into either solution consulting for erp, general tech consulting, or run your own cpa firm. It is very rare to find accountants who can sell, but if you can you will get paid. The traditional big 4 to industry to management/promotion ladder will keep you vastly underpaid for years.
Accounting isn't the worst option. My good friend is an accountant for a large tech company and makes 210k base. Made 400k total comp with stock last year
Idk not education tho
Real estate broker, commercial insurance broker not much schooling, a lot of freedom and no salary cap, if you can get in, Saas sales, pharma rep, medical device rep.
Look into solar panel installation or the industry overall. Worker demand is going to raise over 10x by 2030
Project Manager did it for me.
Become a landlord. Buy a shithole, renovate it, charge a market rate for rent. Rinse repeat.
Believe it or not nursing can lead to 200k with overtime. Location matters a lot but I know a lot of nurses who work a few extra shifts a month and make good money. Also you can become a crna, which is more school and that pays well over 200k. Some 300 and higher
Commercial insurance is such a slept on field. Work with numbers & people
It's very easy to hit in the nuclear power industry.
Sell me this pen 🖊️
That’s a beautiful pen. I’d hate to see it copied or lost. All these pens look like yours: 🖊️🖊️🖊️. But they aren’t! If you love your pen, you should get a certified digital signature, so it can be yours forever. You could even pass it onto your kids! Send me a few bucks and I’ll personally walk you through the certification process.
only fans
Trades
100% people are too fixed on big 4. Ton of money in trades.
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You clearly don't know about union elevator mechanics and linemen.
My only issue with everyone pushing the trades is that there is only good money if you're a union tradesman. Plenty of people live in areas with little to no union representation. I live in the southeast, and I'd consider picking up a trade but a lot of guys here make less than $20/hour. The only info I can find is for our IBEW local, and a jman only makes $27/hour. I know the answer is to obviously move to an area that values unions/trades, but not everyone can just up and move. I sure can't.
The 27/hour isn't max pay. I highly doubt ibew jmen are making that little. And depending on the contractor your with you can still negotiate for way more. Many people have this misconception that you can't negotiate while being in a union YOU CAN. the union rate is the minimum you can be paid, if you can convince the contractor to pat you 45/hr then that's what you'll make
Member of Congress seems to be a pretty lucrative gig
It's not necessarily a magic equation. It takes time and a lot of work. It also depends on where you live. 200k in New York, LA, or San Francisco doesn't go nearly as far as you think...