r/financialindependence • u/fidgit86 • Aug 13 '21

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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u/FatFiredProgrammer Aug 13 '21

Software development. We're all software developers here. True story.

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u/calmfitterhealthier Aug 13 '21

Not true. I’m in management .. of software developers.

My spouse is in finance.

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u/am_lady_can_confirm Aug 13 '21

Also curious if you were a dev at one point. I am at the moment and I like it but I don’t love it. Thinking of what to do next.

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u/chapia Aug 13 '21

An unsolicited opinion from an internet stranger...don't go into people management for the money (even if it does get you a raise!). Many amazing devs are "promoted" to people management because they are amazing devs and then absolutely suck at it (as rated by their ex-peers/now-reports and often honest self-evaluation). Many companies seem to ignore this recurring event and keep doing it. If you are not intrinsically motivated by, and excited about, helping others with their careers and translating business strategy into tactical execution via your team, you, again imo, are not likely to be happy with a management role (in tech, not sure about other industries).

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u/BcILoveHer11 Aug 13 '21

As someone who got promoted into people management even after voicing I didn’t want it, this is 100% true. I HATED it. And worse, the pay was lower than I expected and even after asking twice for a higher salary, it never happened. Learned the hard way, ask before accepting.

Thankfully, another team poached me after not too long in the management role. It was a massive blessing. No amount of money would’ve kept me in people management much longer.

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u/homogenousmoss Aug 13 '21

I used to drink a couple of beers during lunch. It helped enormously to endure the tedium of building gigantic 6 months plans, developping contingecies, etc. Now its all good, I’m dead inside and I dont care anymore, just make sure you dont close all your fucking jira the last day of the sprint you little shit, gotta keep that velocity curve looking good for upper management.

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u/Careless_String77 Aug 13 '21

Counterpoint: I pushed back on being promoted (read: given a title) into people management unit it was pointed out to me that I was effectively already informally managing four teams just not getting paid to do so.

Not all heroes wear capes and not all managers know they are managing.

Getting the title just added some random light admin work and some pay. My job hardly changed: I still help people get shit done.

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u/ptypitti Aug 13 '21

Lol. Same here, i don't enjoy it much. Responsible for all the shit that goes wrong and also have to serve as a therapist. I get complains every day about who did this, who did not...i was much happier when i was just coding in my cube without talking to people. Buuuut, i do see that getting out of my comfort zone has made me discover or develop other skills such as negotiating and selling, had to read a bunch of books tho.

And i still don't have to talk to people all day, so that's a big plus. I consider anyone in the customer service industry a saint.

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u/rebeltrillionaire Aug 13 '21

Would you consider Product Managers people managers?

I feel like my relationship to Jason is telling him what needs to be built (in as much detail as I can, with pictures and stories), when to build it, and inform of any constraints.

I never manage the person, they are responsible for themselves. Only what they produce.

I imagine a lot of Devs that are good at the less technical aspect of their jobs would be happy to move into that kind of management.

Also I’m not sure how many of those other middle manager kind of even exist anymore. It’s like the secretary. Just a role that keeps getting split up or rolled up.

I feel like it’s kinda like the tech equivalent of a creative director.

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u/Deep-Arrival-217 Aug 13 '21

No, because most PMs manage a goddamn shitty PRODUCT, not goddamn shitty people. If you don't hire/fire, write reviews, deal with stupid bullshit that your idiot reports do, force your group of dimwits to take the next retarded corporate training on time, and adjust comp, then you're not a people manager.

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u/rebeltrillionaire Aug 13 '21

Aggro AF but understood. But it’s funny, I definitely could be assed to do that stuff too.

I mostly work with older folks who know the drill already and senior managers who don’t care about most HR things. Pay is essentially baked in and transparent. We hire people as a team.

Probably totally different in some place that’s run by 20s and 30 somethings. And there’s no formal process for anything (we have a process for everything)

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u/Deep-Arrival-217 Aug 13 '21

I never thought I could absolutely hate making 800k as much as I do.

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u/driftw00d Aug 13 '21

Until you take a lap in your Olympic-sized money pool, right?

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u/BcILoveHer11 Aug 13 '21

If I made 800k, I’d be miserable but would’ve sucked it up. This was a job for 1/10th that. Also in a company where people were directors over 2 people but my job over 15 wasn’t worth the extra 5k I asked for. Not worth it