r/financialindependence • u/fidgit86 • 9d ago

What do you do that you earn six figures?

It seems like a lot of people make a lot of money and it seems like I’m missing out on something. So those of you that do, whats your occupation that pays so well?

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723

u/starmastery 9d ago

I have a very niche skill set with a specific software made by a company I used to work for and was hired by a company that uses a completely different software that my previous employer also made. My days consist of one or two meetings where people complain about the software, I validate their feelings by agreeing with them, and they seem satisfied. I have no idea what I am doing and am waiting for the other shoe to drop.

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u/ChaosAside 9d ago

For a second I thought this was going to be the “I have a particular set of skills” monologue from Taken.

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u/natophonic2 9d ago

I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you're looking for year-over-year comparison reports, I can tell you I don't have data older than 90 days... but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my batch job run now, that will be the end of it - I will not look for you, I will not pursue you... but if you don't, I will look for your schema, I will find a user with admin role... and I will execute a left outer join across several tables using an unindexed column.

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u/hitagr 9d ago

As a DBA, this really is scary.

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u/nadamuchu 9d ago

as a person who recognizes half of these words, this is scary.

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u/ohshebesoimmortal 5d ago

I was scared when I realized I recognized them. We can huddle together.

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u/mrg1957 18h ago

As a retired performance guy I'm still glad to be gone.

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u/Neofreeocon 8d ago

Try Cartesian products, kills ‘em faster.

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u/WhenSharksCollide 6d ago

Whoa, this started out sounding really close to some software I used to support.

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u/wise_guy_ 9d ago

Me too

He is the Liam Neeson of programmers

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u/starmastery 9d ago

Putting that on my resume

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u/Frunnik469 9d ago

Me too….

2

u/NiccoloMachiavelli33 9d ago

I too was hoping he would say hitman

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u/juliantheguy 9d ago

I too have been waiting for the other shoe to drop at my gig, it’s been a decade. Only the one shoe so far!

37

u/Itsnotjustadream 9d ago

Similar. Tech support for a specific piece of software then I dipped my toe in their consulting team putting out tech support fires and then got the o'l layoff. Last place I consulted for needed a full time admin of that software so they hired me after hearing I got let go. They hired me as a software developer to meet my salary requirements ( I drastically increased that number to see what happened ). Been a software developer for almost 13 years now and I still have NO idea what I'm doing. I don't even work on that product anymore..

Current salary is just over 120k a year. No college education. Imposter Syndrome is real and I can't wait to get the hell out of here.

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u/lotharzbt 9d ago

Dude. Just get the degree on the side of take some classes. You have the money and your not too stressed to handle it.

Likely you're next job will be in that field since it's most of your resume

9

u/Itsnotjustadream 9d ago

Big Tech is toxic and it's not something I'm feeling anymore. I'm more or less on target to downgrade my income and coastFI or just early retire so.. I'll be looking to take some other hobby type classes soon. Aside from that at this point in my career a degree means VERY little and wouldn't help me in anyway.

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u/A-A-RONS7 8d ago

Dang, it’s kinda crazy that impostor syndrome hits at all levels. I’m a recent college grad, currently looking for work, and I honestly feel like I know nothing. Sure I graduated with a degree in computer science, but I know for a fact that the coding interviews for the jobs I wanna get into (not to mention the actual jobs themselves) will be so much different that what I learned in the classroom.

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u/Itsnotjustadream 5d ago

A piece of advice.. Interviews are 25% skills check and 75% will you fit in with the team and company. Be positive. Be friendly but professional. Be chill. EVERYONE feels the way we do and when we interview we do look for capability in the job but we also look for fit on our teams. We WANT to be surrounded by people we'll get along with and will make our daily grind just a tiny bit better.

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u/A-A-RONS7 5d ago edited 5d ago

That’s a really good bit of practical advice. That makes a lot of sense too, considering software development requires solid cross-discipline teamwork. That eases the anxiety a ton. Thanks!

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u/tihlo 5d ago

Bro, are you me? In exact same situation

1

u/A-A-RONS7 5d ago

Issa vibe. Tho not a good one lol.

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u/jpat184 9d ago edited 9d ago

Holy crap. Me too! I worked for a fintech startup in London. Which did really well. Now a global company with 700 employees. We created a specific banking software product and our clients are tier 1 banks e.g. the BIG ones.

My meetings consist of going to our clients and making sure they are happy with the product and if not I make them feeling better by saying yes "we'll consider it and I'll take it to our head of engineering" to make them feel validated and heard then delegate to other teams to fix shit. BUT never actually promising anything to the client.

My company can't afford to let me go because I know the product inside and out and have built relationships with the client that they love me. It would also take a new person a good 9 months to learn the product/platform and then the client side infrastructure.

I basically get paid to talk to client and pat their back when they get a bit angsty lol

Also waiting for the wtf shoe drop cause my pay is ridic.

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u/breakfastduck 9d ago

Don’t worry, nothing will happen to you. You underestimate how much tech guys DONT want to have to deal with clients and their business crap!

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u/thewonderfulpooper 9d ago

I wish I was you.

6

u/Boomer1717 9d ago

I felt this

5

u/Toadsted 9d ago

Reminds me of Office Space, "So...what do you actually do here?"

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u/starmastery 9d ago

I deal with the god damn customers!

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u/preparingtodie 9d ago

I always felt that having too much work to do was way less stressful than having too little work to do.

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u/RetainToManifest 9d ago

Mulesoft/Salesforce/Jira/workday I'm guessing

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u/big-blue-balls 9d ago

I don’t think I’d really say they are “very niche”?

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u/starmastery 9d ago

No but I do use some of those sometimes.

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u/UrLate4Tea 9d ago

Is your company hiring? I'm good at empathy and validating feelings. Can definitely do so for 6 figures a year.

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u/DogsAreOurFriends 9d ago

Just be super friendly to everyone, make them look smart, and you will be employed for life.

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u/ohshebesoimmortal 5d ago

Best. Advice. Ever. It took me 25 years to learn this.

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u/pigpeyn 9d ago

Have you read David Graeber's "Bullshit Jobs"? This sounds like one of the responses he received.

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u/Help_3r 9d ago

I too feel overpaid for doing a job I make up as I go along.

3

u/sidhescreams 9d ago

My husband worked for a company using software developed by someone who left, and that dude made a shit ton of money every time they had to consult him on something related to their software. He lived in France, having moved there after leaving the company, and occasionally was flown back to San Francisco by them for shit, then there was the telephone consulting.

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u/Ertuu1985 9d ago

This a case of Imposter syndrome? It's huge in IT

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u/AlfredSwahn 9d ago

How’d you get into it in the first place?

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u/starmastery 9d ago

They saw my previous employer on my resume and were like "oh wow they made the thing we use!" I have never used the thing they use before in my life.

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u/cankle_sores 9d ago

Dear lord this sounds like a movie script for a movie I’d watch.

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u/starmastery 8d ago

I'd be willing to sell the movie rights. Hit me up, Hollywood producers.

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u/libertetoujours 8d ago

Your whole situation is cracking me up but I’m sorry if it’s stressful to always wonder when the jig is up

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u/ohshebesoimmortal 5d ago

Been there, learned that.

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u/chanical 9d ago

Salesforce?

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u/MontysRevenge1 9d ago

Use a lifeline- Call a friend for help

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u/ZipTie_Guy 9d ago

I think we work together.

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u/Primemime 9d ago

Also have a job that I am woefully unqualified for. Pretending to be important after a while sure is tiring.

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u/RichieRicch 28M | California | 25% Coast 9d ago

So what would you say… you do here?

2

u/FibonacciFive 9d ago

Sounds like being a Business Analyst at FIS.

2

u/Blackout_STi 9d ago

I don't know you- but I know you. Know what I mean?

2

u/thornangdol 9d ago

This is awesome "i have no clue what I'm doing" hahahahh

2

u/jack_tukis 9d ago

So you're this guy: https://sites.google.com/site/forgottenemployee/

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u/starmastery 9d ago

I wish. That guy is my hero.

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u/jack_tukis 9d ago

I read that post every few years and laugh every time.

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u/passingthroughcbus 9d ago

My stepmother also has something like this - VP for a specific niche software managed by a large tech company (edit: the large company bought the software and she’s the only person who knows anything about it, hence the VP title) They have no idea what she does and she does her own thing. Clients are happy tho, which keeps her job secure. She WFH four days a week, goes to India twice yearly for a month each time, generally runs 40 hours a week except annual upgrades and she works 14-16 hour days. She worked damn hard to get there tho, and she’s proud of herself.

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u/[deleted] 5d ago

[deleted]

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u/passingthroughcbus 5d ago

Nope, American. A lot of her team is Indian and based there, so she works a lot of remote.

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u/aLoafOfBrett 9d ago

Lol too funny.

2

u/dasko1086 9d ago

dude i wish i was the fly on the wall when that other shoe drops lol

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u/Beyondtaijiquan 9d ago

Fix the software. Otherwise see David Graeber

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u/UrLate4Tea 9d ago

I smell Salesforce

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u/RetainToManifest 9d ago

Me thinks mulesoft

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u/big-blue-balls 9d ago

No way Salesforce is “very niche”

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u/UrLate4Tea 9d ago

You may be surprised. In some industries, they are just now starting Salesforce implementation.

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u/big-blue-balls 9d ago

So it’s becoming more common and not niche..

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u/UrLate4Tea 9d ago

I guess my point was it is super niche in industries that haven't ever used it. A former (recent) company I worked for had never even seen it before. I still talk to old co-workers and the company decided to buy the software but are paying tons of money for these "Salesforce niche experts" (trainers) to walk them through it, then they pay a certain amount for ongoing support and training after the fact, which is like 18 months or so. Basically the support is just listening to people complain or pointing out how someone is doing something wrong.

But overall, more common. Sure. I guess "super niche" depends on that definition and industry.

Edit: typos

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u/AutoimmuneDisaster 9d ago

Why do I feel like this is Jira or Salesforce?

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u/big-blue-balls 9d ago

Neither of those are “very niche”

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u/AutoimmuneDisaster 9d ago

Jira is extremely powerful. If you’re using Jira server and not cloud, good Jira engineers are hard to come by. They can unlock powerful features that most people don’t even know exist.

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u/big-blue-balls 9d ago

It’s a tomcat server. It’s not rocket science.

I’m very aware of all the automation that can be baked in. It can be an extremely powerful tool in your DevOps stack. But any half decent dev can do it.

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u/MrDude_1 9d ago

This imposter syndrome feeling is common with software engineering. Everyone is faking everything.