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/techmagenta Aug 13 '21

I just broke 200k total comp with 2 years of experience. My parents aren’t American and I don’t even think they believe me. The field is stupid lucrative right now.

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u/BimboBuggins Aug 13 '21

Yup, just got my first job out of college and am making 190k total comp. Feels kinda dirty given everyone else I know in college who didn't do CS is struggling like mad to find any relevant job, let alone one that pays decently.

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u/zong96 Aug 13 '21

Dang and I thought I was doing good at 130 2 years out of college. I'm specifically Cyber Sec, and in my field you don't even need a degree just go get some certs, and get an entry level job with engineer in the title (still 65-80k) and work your way up. And if there's no vertical growth where you're at find a new company and negotiate a higher salary.

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u/EarnestQuestion Aug 13 '21

Any recommendations on which certs to look into?

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u/sugarGlide Aug 13 '21

This page has the chart for certs we require. Good ones that are needed are the Comptia Sec+, CEH E|H, and (ICS)2 CISSP, to be an IAT Level III.

As a contractor you can easily make over six figures. Most contractors do not even have college degrees.

https://blog.learningtree.com/choose-cybersecurity-certification/

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u/zong96 29d ago

It would depend on what you already know and have experience with. So if you are just breaking into tech, then look at the network+ (unless you want to work in a data center dont bother with A+). But if you already understand the basics of networking, and common network devices; I'd reccomend jumping right into a more security centric cert like the Security+ and work your way up. Also nowadays, getting a AWS certification would definitely give you an edge. If you can throw some money into a homelab that's really the best way to learn imo. I got an old enterprise server for free from Craigslist, and put 100$ into upgraded cpus and some more ram. And now I have 24 cores, and 48GB of ram to learn about esxi and pretty much any software stack i can find for free.