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/jrkridichch Aug 13 '21

It does get easier thankfully. It’s important to find good mentors and an environment that cares about your quality of work. But it’s also not for everyone. I used to recommend it to everyone but after seeing so many people get stuck I realize it just doesn’t always click.

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u/aluramen Aug 13 '21

Definitely not for everyone. I've had developer colleagues who stuggle daily and honestly aren't very good, and will never get very good. They can implement some familiar patterns but nothing original, and most debugging just flies over their heads.

It's not an enviable position, hard to change careers and anything else they'd find def would pay less. But they don't like the work and are of course stressed about not performing.

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u/CYPJuicy9 Aug 13 '21

As someone who is interested in switching careers into this field, what qualifies someone as being "good" at software engineering? What separates the good ones from the ones who are "not that good"?

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u/aspz Aug 13 '21

To add to what others have already said: you need a lot of patience and determination. I have seen people simply give up when faced with a technical problem they couldn't solve. The fact is that every technical problem has a solution (even if that solution is "there's nothing we can do") and you need to believe that you will find it.

This is not meant to be discouraging. Getting stuck on a problem is normal, you just have to figure out how to break it down into a problem that you know how to solve. Coding and engineering in general is a process of constant problem solving. Nobody likes the feeling of being stuck on a problem they cannot solve but there are tools and techniques that can help (hint: Google). You just have to believe you can do it. And of course when you find a particularly elegant solution to a problem it can be very rewarding.