Anyone w/ Salary of $90,000 to $100,000, Current Certifications Held ?

iBrokeIT

Cyberscum wrote: »

The crazy thing is that when I made only 50k I felt like I had more money than I do now at twice that salary.

Sounds like lifestyle expenses are now being taken for granted

fuz1on

I make an average salary for my area but it's Silicon Valley - everyone (engineers) makes over 100k - almost.

I wouldn't say any of my certs got me there but these are the two things I know that helped me:

1. The time it took for me to attain my certs so far
2. Being an evangelist and working with any technology in IT

Food for thought:

$100,000 income: No big deal anymore
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/personal-finance/100-000-income-no-big-deal-anymore-1.aspx

Why A 6-Figure Salary Won't Make You Rich
http://www.businessinsider.com/why-a-6-figure-salary-wont-make-you-rich-2015-1

Why A Six-Figure Salary No Longer Means You’re Rich
https://blog.personalcapital.com/investing/six-figure-salary/

You Need A $150,000 Income To Lead A Good Life In America
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-basic-annual-income-every-american-would-need-is-150000-2012-3

olaHalo

Good read guys.
I have nothing to add. Just liked reading through this thread
Very motivating

bgold87

Close to $90k and fully expect to be above $100 with my next job hunt. You've got to WANT it not just think "oh that would be cool."

I've spent time away from family, missed social functions, job hopped, moved, slept little and studied a lot, networked etc...

The thing is though it's been hard work, but I truly love technology and can't imagine another path, so the climb has been fun. The common theme you will find when people ask this question is become great at a technology you love and the money will follow. When I first started I don't remember focusing on the money, but the job I wanted. I wanted to be SUCCESSFUL, once you figure that out you're bank account will fall in line. One thing for sure is your personality and people skills, this is a very important factor. How to play well with others in the office, when to tout your accomplishments and when not to, etc.

There's a video on YouTube where a guy asks a rich guy how he became so successful, he held the guys head under water for a minute and basically said if you want something as bad as you want to breathe, you'll have it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsSC2vx7zFQ

NetworkNewb

I think bgold87 nailed it on the head!

--chris--

fuz1on wrote: »

150k+ but it's Silicon Valley - everyone (engineers) makes over 100k - almost.

I wouldn't say any of my certs got me there but these are the two things I know that helped me:

1. The time it took for me to attain my certs so far
2. Being an evangelist and working with any technology in IT

Food for thought:

$100,000 income: No big deal anymore
Why Is a $100,000 Income No Big Deal Anymore? | Bankrate.com

Why A 6-Figure Salary Won't Make You Rich
Why A 6-Figure Salary Won't Make You Rich - Business Insider

Why A Six-Figure Salary No Longer Means You’re Rich
https://blog.personalcapital.com/investing/six-figure-salary/

You Need A $150,000 Income To Lead A Good Life In America
You Need A $150,000 Income To Lead A Good Life In America - Business Insider

Rebuttal to your food (is that vomit?):

These all pretty much say the same thing: your lifestyle (single, married w/children, married w/o children) and your geographic location determine (Houston vs Boston vs Kansas City vs NoVA) whether or not 6 figure incomes are really what that "great".

I can tell you 6 figures here in Metro Detroit will put you into a nice area with plenty to spare. I know 6 figures in Sarasota where my uncle (and his Dr. Wife) live gets them an average house and two older cars comfortably.

This is nothing new.

fuz1on

--chris--: I was born and raised in the SF Bay Area so my viewpoint is skewed. That's all. I'm sure Detroit/Sarasota is nice and all but it's not my cup of tea. The last 10 years has been particularly trying on my family and I so I've been on a mission to give them the life they deserve. The Gini coefficient here in SF rivals 3rd world economies like Rwanda and Guatemala.

It's hard out here for a ProHacker.Co...

Dakinggamer87

My point of view is very similar to what has been echoed throughout the thread. I believe having a combination of the following will help you succeed in IT and open as many doors as possible: certs, degrees, and most of all experience. I have seen in my career that certs have helped me out early on in my journey but now my experience is getting more noticed along with my degrees and taking more of an impacting presence with potential employers.

I currently make over 100k+ and I live pretty comfortably in the Silicon Valley. The money is nice but I also live a very simple lifestyle and don't need to live in excess and if I make more money I would rather donate it to those who need it such as my church most of all or other charities. I just need enough to live and make great experiences traveling.

The certs I have acquired over my career are listed in my signature or on LinkedIn and if I have any that helped me it would likely be the CCNA, VCP, and MCSA.

Robertf969

Cyberscum wrote: »

The crazy thing is that when I made only 50k I felt like I had more money than I do now at twice that salary.

Uncle Sam gets his cut.

networker050184

Mo money mo problems.

Robertf969

Mo money mo debt. The more money I make the more I increase my standard of living, man oh man if only I still had a paid off car and motorcycle.

Dakinggamer87

networker050184 wrote: »

Mo money mo problems.

Very true depending on your lifestyle.

Danielm7

So much of this really depends on how your company values certs. I work with a few people who make 150K+, neither of them have any active certs, maybe an MCP, and no degree. I have a whole pile of certs and a BS degree in my field and make less, sometimes it's not just certs that determine value.

hurricane1091

I don't make 100k. But I do think once I get my CCNP and a couple of years under my belt, I could make 90-100k. But it's two-fold. The CCNP will teach me concepts, those concepts I can apply at my current job, and those two things I could use to get an interview for a senior job, and there I could showcase my knowledge.

I could get the CCNP tomorrow but with 2 years in the field and only 6 months as a network engineer, no one is going to pay me 90-100k (rightfully so, as I don't know anything yet) so when people preach experience, I believe it.


I feel like anyone can get to 100k but it isn't easy (and who knows if I ever will) but I mean go look at the jobs that are out there. It just takes experience, some good fortune, a lot of work, etc. Personally, I feel like if I want to make 100k while I'm in my late 20's, I most definitely can. This is due to the fact that my boss is an extremely good engineer, and our environment is more complex than your average network. That's just good luck, and I'm grateful I ended up where I am - but my real point here is that you catching appropriate breaks can make a big deal in life. I happened to get a raw deal before this as a desktop person for a financial company, but because I worked at that a company, it was bonus points and helped me get into a much larger one.

You just gotta believe OP. I really do think it's out there for me (and for anyone else here who wants it), just look at the people here and they'll tell you.

Oh, and they just hired a Sr. Server guy here for over 100k which is more than they wanted to pay, because he wanted that much and they decided he was worth it. So there's that.

datacomboss

dave330i wrote: »

How to make 6 figures in 3 easy steps:

1. Find a high demand technology you enjoy.
2. Become an expert in said technology (usually involves reading a lot of white papers, getting certified, etc).
3. Crush the 6 figure job interview (Companies are willing to take a chance on inexperienced candidate, since not enough supply).

This is what I did when I was a mechanical engineer. I did the same thing when I switch to IT. It took 3.5 years to land the $100k job as ME. 1.5 years in IT.

True.

It won't be easy but it is really simple.

You actually have to have a plan and be consistent.

I would suggest seeking out a mentor who is or has been where you want to go.

When I was struggling in my 20s, I e-mailed a famous former athlete from my neighborhood who later became a professor at a very prestigious university about career advise and surprisingly he not only responded, but became a mentor. You may not have as easy a time as I did, but nothing beats a failure but a try.

blargoe

I have been in IT for 15 years. I have a degree and certs, but at this point the experience trumps it all by far. Certs barely get discussed when I interview.

I live in podunk NC (not RTP or Charlotte) and will make about $115K as a systems engineer this year. I do think this is about the max I can expect for this type role in this market. If I want another increase other than the 2-3% merit raises, I will have to continue to develop skills to future proof myself, and that means finding more personal time and $$$ for professional development. Or I will have to move and/or transition into a traveling/consulting role, which I really don't to do while the kids are still younger. Not that I'm unhappy with what I'm making, it is a very, very strong salary for where I live.

I have certs, but I have not been keeping them current... I never updated my Windows certs past 2003, I let my CCNA lapse in 2004. VMware is the only one that I am maintaining, because that is probably the most obvious "marketable" skill I current hold, and the certification expires now, so what little time I have spent on certs over the past 5 years has been VMware. I have been riding on experience for a while. My current role has gotten stagnant for reasons I won't discuss in this thread, though, and I am picking up some steam on re-training in Linux at home and focusing on automation and orchestration as much as time allows at my job (which isn't much). Being an all around systems, storage, and virtualization guy probably won't be enough in 5 years.

si20

Some of you guys are making absolutely massive amounts of money.... If this is how well they pay in the USA, sign me up!!

qcomer

100k here + bonuses. Northern California above Sacramento so cost of living is low.

Senior Systems Engineer. 27. Two MCP Certs - 70-410, 70-411. All based on experience.

zcarenow

I've been a contractor for the past 5 yrs with the past 3 years earning $60-65/hour. Personally, i'd rather have a perm position earning less though.

OctalDump

si20 wrote: »

Some of you guys are making absolutely massive amounts of money.... If this is how well they pay in the USA, sign me up!!

You have to consider that the social safety net isn't as developed in the US as the UK, and labour law isn't necessarily as good at protecting workers. So, 100k+ is great until something goes wrong (major illness, unexpected redundancy, fired for fraud, hit a deer on your way home from work, get arrested for hookers and coke). The cost of living also varies enormously across the US. 100k in SanFran or NYC isn't the same as 100k in Topeka, KA. And where the work is, isn't always where you'd want to live. You need to consider the total package before shifting countries.

I'm curious, though, what the equivalent to US 100k is in various other places, realising that it isn't a simple conversion.

zcarenow

dave330i wrote: »

How to make 6 figures in 3 easy steps:

1. Find a high demand technology you enjoy.
2. Become an expert in said technology (usually involves reading a lot of white papers, getting certified, etc).
3. Crush the 6 figure job interview (Companies are willing to take a chance on inexperienced candidate, since not enough supply).

This is what I did when I was a mechanical engineer. I did the same thing when I switch to IT. It took 3.5 years to land the $100k job as ME. 1.5 years in IT.

Most of my friends are engineers(Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical) and they make a ton of money. They've been making 200k/yr for the past 5-6 yrs. Not sure why you switched, but if IT makes you happy, then cool.

OctalDump

zcarenow wrote: »

Most of my friends are engineers(Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical) and they make a ton of money. They've been making 200k/yr for the past 5-6 yrs. Not sure why you switched, but if IT makes you happy, then cool.

I'm going to take a guess at two reason: a lot of engineering jobs tend to be cyclical since they are tied to more cyclical industries like construction and mining. This means the wages tend to be cyclical, even in industries that aren't as cyclical, since they can compete for the same workers.The other thing is that beyond a certain level of income, for a lot of people it becomes much more about other factors like work/life balance and enjoyment of the work, personal development etc.That last thing is relevant also in IT. High paying jobs that are also demanding and squeeze out other areas of your life can be less attractive than lower paying but more balanced jobs. Some of that pointy end IT stuff can require lots of on call, project deadlines, living in very expensive areas, long commutes etc. And sometimes the work just isn't very satisfying. If you've got enough money to be comfortable, then the work should be offering something more. Too easy to forget when chasing the $$$

JoJoCal19

Wrong. You can go ahead and stay with the same company for a decade or two, getting those 1-2% avg yearly raises. I've been there, done that, wasted 8 years with the same company and after the final slap in the face with a 1.2% raise after busting my rear and being one of the top two performing people on my team, I said enough and left for greener pastures. Immediately got a 25.4% increase in salary. I was still underpaid for the work I was doing and the position I was in so I left there and got another 15% increase in pay. Still not quite where I want to be and it's getting harder to keep turning people away when they approach me with opportunities over six figures, but one thing I know, I will not sit still in the same company and be the "good little employee" anymore.

And as for your comment of doing your career harm, I've actually increased my responsibilities each time and have gained new skills that I can leverage in future positions. No lying or fluffing of the resume needed. It's called hard work and continual self improvement (the reason most of us are here). I've kept pursuing schooling, knowledge, skills, and certifications to keep building my resume and skillset.

zxbane

Great post JoJo, the days of being a loyal employee to one organization long term are generally behind us.. You have to do what's best for you, because the company is ultimately looking out for their best interest as well.

dave330i

zcarenow wrote: »

Most of my friends are engineers(Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical) and they make a ton of money. They've been making 200k/yr for the past 5-6 yrs. Not sure why you switched, but if IT makes you happy, then cool.

Simple supply and demand. Area I wanted to live had high demand for IT position and low demand for engineers.

vCole

With my bonus, I make about $102K/year as a generalist sysadmin in Massachusetts. I have no degree or recent certifications, and almost 8 years of experience.

danny069

Just remember guys and girls, the more money you make, the more the IRS will take.

zcarenow

It is all about the demand for a particular skill. Linux/Unix people, Oracle/SQL database, and developers make buckoo $$ along with your personality.

zcarenow

Robertf969 wrote: »

Uncle Sam gets his cut.

and the increasing cost of healthcare...yikes

zcarenow

OctalDump wrote: »

I'm going to take a guess at two reason: a lot of engineering jobs tend to be cyclical since they are tied to more cyclical industries like construction and mining. This means the wages tend to be cyclical, even in industries that aren't as cyclical, since they can compete for the same workers.The other thing is that beyond a certain level of income, for a lot of people it becomes much more about other factors like work/life balance and enjoyment of the work, personal development etc.That last thing is relevant also in IT. High paying jobs that are also demanding and squeeze out other areas of your life can be less attractive than lower paying but more balanced jobs. Some of that pointy end IT stuff can require lots of on call, project deadlines, living in very expensive areas, long commutes etc. And sometimes the work just isn't very satisfying. If you've got enough money to be comfortable, then the work should be offering something more. Too easy to forget when chasing the $$$

They graduated with bachelors degree in 2001 and have never been unemployed, so i think Engineering is pretty stable at least where i live.