Career

[jer446]

Hey guys.. i dont really know where to post this, but figure it might be an ok place.. I am in highschool now, and need to start thinking of colleges.. I love computers, and technology and engineering. I would love to become an engineer, but it seems like they barely make any money.
My question is, what is the highest paid engineers? From what i have read, most don't even make 80,000 usd per year. That is not that much nowadays.

Second, who designs the way consumer electronics look? I think I would be good with that type of stuff because I am good at designing aestically pleasing things. (also, what salary can i expect)

Third, does anyone know of any good place to say, i want to make for example, 100,000+, what are some of my career options?

I don't really have a problem getting into any college, and possibly could even go to an ivy league, just would like to know what i want to do.

[jsw]

Well, first of all, you're a half decade or so away from entering the work force as a college grad, so many things can change between now and then.

Second, if money is your primary concern, look into medicine (pharmaceuticals, esp.), law, or business.

If you want to enter a technical field, your best bet at making a good salary is to attend a good school, get good grades, and be active in non-class events.

Generally, liberal arts degrees and classes pay the least, so if money is a big deal, avoid them.

However, you don't want to be 30, 40, 50 years old working in a field you hate and making good money. You want to be in a field you love and making the most money you can in that field.

So my advice is to start with a good, solid couple of years academically - strong math, science, etc. classes - then see what interests you and pursue that. The money should be secondary, and there is absolutely zero guarantee that what is a high paying job now or in five years will continue to be one a decade or two from now. You're much better off doing what you love. Those who reach the top of any profession are well compensated.

[jsw]

And also, since when is $80K per year "not much nowadays"? What is your standard for a sufficient starting salary? $100K?!? Or was that assuming some number of years of experience? Because, really, I can't think of many careers which include $100K+ salaries for people with a 4 year degree.

[jer446]

no i dont mean over 100k right out of highschool, and i am definetly willing to do more than 4 years of college. What i mean by isnt that good nowadays, i mean 80 grand to raise a family isnt to good..

[maya]

no i dont mean over 100k right out of highschool, and i am definetly willing to do more than 4 years of college. What i mean by isnt that good nowadays, i mean 80 grand to raise a family isnt to good..

You need 80K a year for a family, where do you live? :p

All I have to say is those people making less than 80K a year are now considered POOR :: sarcastic remark :: :)

[maya]

And also, since when is $80K per year "not much nowadays"? What is your standard for a sufficient starting salary? $100K?!? Or was that assuming some number of years of experience? Because, really, I can't think of many careers which include $100K+ salaries for people with a 4 year degree.

I believe these are high school dreams of making 100K a year. :rolleyes:

It is obvious this person has no clue as to what the real world is. :)

20K is low income
40K is mid income
60K is high income

^^that is realistic not 100K. :)

[jer446]

i understand 80k is a lot, but it all depends on your lifestyle. For my town, 80k a year is poverty lol. 150k is low, 200k is ok, and 300k is a little above avg.. thats why my standards are so high.

[jsw]

i understand 80k is a lot, but it all depends on your lifestyle. For my town, 80k a year is poverty lol. 150k is low, 200k is ok, and 300k is a little above avg.. thats why my standards are so high.
Then you'll need to rely on inheritance or assistance from relatives. No career you can learn in college in four years is going to earn you anything even vaguely close to what you consider to be acceptable, right off the bat.

And the ones that get there eventually are medicine, law, and business. Sometimes.

[maya]

i understand 80k is a lot, but it all depends on your lifestyle. For my town, 80k a year is poverty lol. 150k is low, 200k is ok, and 300k is a little above avg.. thats why my standards are so high.

Where do you reside Hollywood? :rolleyes:

[maya]

Then you'll need to rely on inheritance or assistance from relatives. No career you can learn in college in four years is going to earn you anything even vaguely close to what you consider to be acceptable, right off the bat.

And the ones that get there eventually are medicine, law, and business. Sometimes.


medicine, law take at least 4 years since experience is what counts.

business, well if you want to play risky on the stock market go for it. :)

Even starting your own business it will take 4+ years to be well off. :)

[jer446]

i think you might of missed a part of my post.. i said i know theres no way of making that out of college, after about 10 or 15 years maybe.. out of college maybe 60-100 is ok. And i also said i would want to do more than four years of college/

[maya]

i think you might of missed a part of my post.. i said i know theres no way of making that out of college, after about 10 or 15 years maybe.. out of college maybe 60-100 is ok. And i also said i would want to do more than four years of college/

Salaries for jobs, positions always fluctuate from year to year, just because a certain position pays well now does not mean it will pay well in 5-10 years. It always doesn't mean that a positions pay will stay the same and might drop or increase many folds as needed.

It all depends on demand and supply. :)

[Hoef]

Seems that $$$ is important for you ... go do economics at respectable college and become an investment banker. 120 Hrs a week but 100k/yr is easy.

[jer446]

Ok I understand.. By the way, this is my town http://money.cnn.com/best/bplive/details/3442990.html

[maya]

Ok I understand.. By the way, this is my town http://money.cnn.com/best/bplive/details/3442990.html

The site states:

Median household income
(per year)*
$91,245

So where are you getting 100K. This also does not state if its a dual or single income.

I believe your facts are jaded. :rolleyes:

If worse comes to worse MOVE. There are other places that are beautiful. :)

[maya]

Seems that $$$ is important for you ... go do economics at respectable college and become an investment banker. 120 Hrs a week but 100k/yr is easy.

Still not realistic, are we forgetting the educational studies cost and unless this person is obtaining grants and has saved up I see no where that this person will take in even 40K after graduation. :)

[silentrage]

Check out the Bureau of Labor Statistics (http://www.bls.gov/) to investigate the average salaries of various jobs.

[shecky]

* /me votes this world's most idiotic thread.

[jsw]

The site states:

Median household income
(per year)*
$91,245

So where are you getting 100K. This also does not state if its a dual or single income.

Yeah - that's lower than where I live, IIRC. And that's median _household_ income. Meaning <$100K average, even for dual-income families.

It's great to strive for success, but, if money's all you care about, life loses most of what makes it actually enjoyable. And it's a horrible basis for comparison with others.

But I don't think it's bad at all to see what relative salaries are like. I just still stick with my original advice that you should pick something you love. And, if you're good at it, you'll make the money.

[jsw]

* /me votes this world's most idiotic thread.
You must have missed the edesign stalker thread....

[Kwyjibo]

Ok I understand.. By the way, this is my town http://money.cnn.com/best/bplive/details/3442990.html

with Anal High School?

[snkTab]

Dayton, OH (my location) ranks 30k. However, this includes lots of low income housing areas. Whereas if you pick a place in the suburbs you will get a lot of multi-earning households with decent paychecks. 80k is normal for a family.

IMO, if you get 40k right out of college you are doing great.

Anyway, if anyone in/around Dayton, OH knows of any finance positions open I would love to talk to whoever you can connect me to. Dayton is not doing good job wise and finance is a sector that is currently dumping employees out of companies and back into the workforce. Help a fellow macrumors guy out.

Also: how is this General Apple and Tech Discussion???

[nerd]

i think you might of missed a part of my post..

Steps to making 100k+ per year:

1. Learn that even though it sounds like "of", it's actually "have"
2. ???
3. Profit!


:)

[sigamy]

Why are you all jumping on this kid and telling him he doesn't have a clue?

Seems to me that he has a pretty good clue. In his OP he mentions his interests and dream job, then he asks if he can make enough money to raise a family doing those jobs. He has his priorities in place. He wasn't asking how he could get rich quick. He didn't say he wanted to buy a Benz or something.

And his income numbers are realistic for his area. I live not too far from him and a 1,000 square foot starter home with 3BR and 1 bath costs around $350,000. Taxes on that house will be over $6,000/year.

That being said...you all are right about finding what you love. You need to be happy at work because you will be spending a lot of your time there. Will you be happy if you make $100,000 doing a job that you hate?

$40,000 right out of school is good. If you find something in NYC and you are very, very good you could probably get much more.

If you like coding/development/systems analysis you could look into an MIS degree and then an MBA. This makes you a "techno-MBA", someone who can speak both IT and business-speak. If you like to travel you can take a position with one of the bigger consulting firms. While you are young (without a family) you can travel around the US, make very good money and learn. Then you can find the place you'd like to settle down and look for a more permanent position.

The industrial design that you are interested in is probably a much smaller field but again, if you love it, go for it.

AGAIN, DON'T PICK A FIELD JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN MAKE MONEY IN THAT FIELD. The world changes and that field may no longer be hot. Then you are stuck doing something you don't like.

One last piece of advice for the poster, this is years away for you but once you do land a job make sure that you save at least 10% of your income UP FRONT. Most companies offer a 401k plan which takes money out before taxes. Trust me on this. It is free money. If you start doing this from day one (age 24 or so) you will be able to retire at a decent age and you'll be a millionaire. Save 10% of everything you make. Don't think you can't afford it because you have to pay a bill or something. Do it from day one and you'll never miss the money.

Good luck and have fun.

[mrgreen4242]

Ok, I'm gonna chime in here....

1) Income is relative to where you live. If you want to 'make 100k' and that raw number is all you care about, you're gonna end up screwing yourself over. As you mentioned, the mean income in your are is 90k give or take. If someone offered you 90k to stay there and work, or offered you 50k to go to Iowa and work, you'd be a moron to turn down the Iowa gig. (If it was money that's important to you).

2) Law is a bad thing to AIM for, unless you really REALLY want to be a lawyer. Most law school grads DON'T end up practicing law. Most law schools recommend that you study (as an undergrad) some sort of NON-prelaw program in a field that interests you, and you want to work in proffesionally.

3) By the time you graduate, tech jobs will NOT be high income. They aren't even now, really. In 10 years you will be working in India, Chine, Tiawan, etc, if you want to do tech work. The only things that will be in the US is project managers (fairly non-technical anyways), and technician jobs (low pay).

4) Study something in Medicine, as suggested above. Pharmacuticals, would be my bet. The number of "old" folks is the fastest growning population segment and is already one of the most populous age groups in the country. They are also living longer every year. They like thier pills, and drug companies like to sell them, and everyone feels bad if they don't have them, so someone will pay for it.

5) Whatever you study, it is vital that you hit the English and Communication classes hard. People with degrees are quickly becoming the norm, not the exception. A well written cover letter and an articulate interview are going to win you a lot more points than "I took all these computer language courses in college!!1!!1". (You can teach someone to code, but you can't teach them not to be a moron - even if they just appear to be, an interviewer will assume the worst).

6) Assuming that we don't have an economic upturn like the mid-90's, always remember for that ANY job, especially ones paying well, you will be going up against hundreds, if not THOUSANDS, of applicants. Don't be to discouraged if you have to try for 100 jobs to get 1. Don't be afraid to apply for ones outside your area of study or that you are underqualified for... you never know...

7) Please excuse any typos, etc. in this message. It's late Saturaday night, and I have been drinking since 5 with my mates! :D

Best Wishes,
Rob

[Spizzo]

I know some engineers with a 4 year degree that make 85 G's right out of school.

One catch, you have to go to sea. If you dont mind spending half your year at sea (you get the other 6 months to do what you like), you could probably be making 60 G's a year right out of school.

I also know some people with the same degrees, from the same schools, who graduated and worked for GE designing and troubleshooting Nuc. Power plants. They get paid good, but travel all over most of the year.

[therevolution]

Unless it is your absolute number one criteria for a future career, then forget money. Study and do what you are passionate about. It's okay if you don't know what that is yet - that's what college (and beyond) is for. If you love what you're doing, you're likely to do it well, and the money will usually follow as a result. Sure, you might not end up a multimillionare, but there are other things in life that are important too.

[panphage]

Where do you reside Hollywood? :rolleyes:

Hollywood is actually a pretty lower-class rundown area, nearly always was. I live right next to hollywood in Los Felix (which is a bit more trendy and expensive) quite comfortably on about 40k a year. Not saying it wouldn't be a lot better even to get to 50k, but it's not a hell of a lot more expensive than Ann Arbor, MI, where I lived before moving here.

PS: And, as someone who studied what I love and now work a totally unrelated **** job, I recommend you ignore all the damn hippies in this thread that tell you to follow your dreams. Go to college to learn, yes, take classes that interest you, yes, but make sure your degree qualifies you for a career in investment banking or some other big money proposition. With all that dough, you can either retire early (or start working less as you age) and spend the free time gained pursuing your dreams. Oh, and really, working for money is a sucker's bet. Work to learn, buy real estate or start businesses to make money. Working for pay means you're making profits for someone else. :D

[Agathon]

I wouldn't worry too much if you have any kind of brains.

I teach at a pretty good college as a grad instructor right now. I teach to students in all fields (in the catch-all intro course I teach, not in the specialist stuff).

The truth is that almost all the students aren't particularly bright (and this is a really good university). Many cannot even articulate basic ideas in grammatically correct English.

It seems to be harder to get a first job (because you rely on meaningless paper to differentiate yourself from others), but once you have one, it will be easy to do well if you have any sort of brains at all.

[TrenchMouth]

looking at the link to your town stats its no wonder you want to make so much, that place looks amazingly uncultured. except for zoos, you have about 1/2 the national average of everything else.

know what the cool thing about NJ is? They have one of higher median incomes of any state. Know what means? The average NJ resident can afford to move out of NJ.

hehe. been there twice, liked it both times, just have a lot of fam in NY who feel the need to crack on NJ every now and then

[jer446]

Thanks guys, didnt expect to get such a responce out of this lol. I would become a doctor, but way to much schooling. At least an extra 8 to 12 years of college.. im willing to do up to 8 years of college, because if you go to college that long, when the heck are you going to start a family and establish a life? What type of jobs are there in pharmesuiticals, and what degree do you need? (i have wanted to be an anesthesiologist my whole life but changed my mind once i realized how much schooling was required) It would be good to help people, and do something that i have wanted to do for a long time. Sorry for spelling, im tired :rolleyes:

[jer446]

By the way i dont want anyone hating me after this thread :p

[jeremy.king]

60-100K out of school? Perhaps after medical school. LMAO.

Perhaps you should consider a career in crime. Great upside potential if you don't mind hiding from the law. :rolleyes:

Best of luck to you.

[jer446]

actually during your residency you only get paid minimum wage and work up to 100 hours a week, and only get paid for forty.

[mrgreen4242]

Thanks guys, didnt expect to get such a responce out of this lol. I would become a doctor, but way to much schooling. At least an extra 8 to 12 years of college.. im willing to do up to 8 years of college, because if you go to college that long, when the heck are you going to start a family and establish a life? What type of jobs are there in pharmesuiticals, and what degree do you need? (i have wanted to be an anesthesiologist my whole life but changed my mind once i realized how much schooling was required) It would be good to help people, and do something that i have wanted to do for a long time. Sorry for spelling, im tired :rolleyes:

Pharmacutical sales reps make the big bank. Study to be a pharmacist as an undergrad, and keep on for an MBA. You'll make in the $60's+ starting (likely up to $80k with an MBA), and get up to $100k+ pretty quick. Great benifits, lots of paid travel, conventions, perks, etc.

You basically go to hospitals and pitch new drugs to doctors and administrators and whatnot. You regularly will make more money than the people you are working with at the hospitals. :D Come to think of it, why aren't I doing this? ;-)

Rob

[jer446]

That sounds like a great job. I have close relatives that were pharmacists, but not pharmecutical sales reps. DO you have any more information on their job description, because on salary.com, everythig is low. They are saying their salary is only like 50k and barely a job description.

[absolut_mac]

AGAIN, DON'T PICK A FIELD JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN MAKE MONEY IN THAT FIELD. The world changes and that field may no longer be hot. Then you are stuck doing something you don't like.

Excellent advice.

FWIW there here are a couple of low tech jobs that easily meet your salary requirements.

Electrician $30 - $40 per hour, ditto for a plumber.

And for those posters who said that $80k is good money, you haven't priced housing here in Los Angeles lately, have you?

[jer446]

Exactly what i mean
"And for those posters who said that $80k is good money, you haven't priced housing here in Los Angeles lately, have you?"
I would like to find out more information about pharmesutical sales reps, because salary.com seems to not have accurate information, or doesnt seem to have accurate info.

[absolut_mac]

Exactly what i mean
"And for those posters who said that $80k is good money, you haven't priced housing here in Los Angeles lately, have you?"
I would like to find out more information about pharmesutical sales reps, because salary.com seems to not have accurate information, or doesnt seem to have accurate info.

AFAIK pharmacists do make good money. I'm not sure if pharmaceutical reps make better money or not, but at least if the repping thing doesn't work out, you'll have something to fall back on.

Also, I do have a friend whose uncle was a medical MD but became a pharmaceutical rep because he earned more money with less aggravation that way.

[jer446]

my relative owned the store, so they made good money, but it was about 40 years ago. I would like to find more info about the reps.

[Hodapp]

I work in the business side of the medical field, pharmaceutical reps are given that position as sort of an honor from the company. They're ALL seasoned businessmen who have achieved something within the company and were rewarded with a promotion of making insane amounts of money taking doctors out to lunch. Becoming a rep is all WHO YOU KNOW and WHAT YOU'VE ACCOMPLISHED. You could be the greatest salesman on earth, with an MBA from Harvard, and that wouldn't qualify you for the position. If you walked in to Pfeizer as a slick-dick college grad and asked to interview for a pharmaceutical rep position, you'd be laughed out of the building.

With that being said, the original poster's salary expectations are nothing short of hilarious. I can hire fresh out of college graduates for less than $25k a year at my company, which dozens applicants will show up for the interview and happily take whatever they can get. I know several friends of mine from high school who have been out of college for a few years, with good degrees, from respected schools who work for under $10 hourly at various unrelated jobs like pizza delivery and retail.

Someone needs a serious reality check.

[stevep]

Originally Posted by shecky:

"* /me votes this world's most idiotic thread."

Yes, this is the most ridiculous post I've read for a long time. By the way, what are 'pharmesuiticals' and what is an 'anesthesiologist'.

I'm off to look for a post on 'General Apple and Tech Discussion'.

[hcuar]

Exactly what i mean
"And for those posters who said that $80k is good money, you haven't priced housing here in Los Angeles lately, have you?"
I would like to find out more information about pharmesutical sales reps, because salary.com seems to not have accurate information, or doesnt seem to have accurate info.

:D I was just thinking the same thing. It's a good salary in Iowa... In LA, you get to live out of a cardboard box.