What IT Jobs(Non Management) pay 200k a year?

techie2018

So the question is what's asked in the title? What special skillset is needed to crack $200k? I mentioned $200k since $200k is basically what a $100k was 10 or 15 years ago. $200k plus is now what the elite talent is making in IT or so I've been told.

cyberguypr

What's the goal here? Pursue a role that fits the description solely on money?

NetworkNewb

Whatever skill set you are extremely good at, that is in demand, and that you can stand out from the crowd with. Ton of different skill sets that can do it... just have be extremely good at them. Wouldn’t pigeon hole myself in thinking only certain skill sets can do it.

LittleBIT

DoD overseas contractor.

techie2018

NetworkNewb wrote: »

Whatever skill set you are extremely good at, that is in demand, and that you can stand out from the crowd with. Ton of different skill sets that can do it... just have be extremely good at them. Wouldn’t pigeon hole myself in thinking only certain skill sets can do it.

Yeah that makes sense. What are some ways you seen this done? I've seen guys publish books and get patent to try to stand out. I've seen guys work on open source project.

techie2018

cyberguypr wrote: »

What's the goal here? Pursue a role that fits the description solely on money?

Silly post. I don't think anyone is doing this for free. Would you ask a business owner if he is doing it for money?

dehgrah

From what I see Senior level Developer DOD Contractor roles both in the states and overseas. Also specialization skills like consulting for the DOD or even consulting for companies like Lockheed Martin and Boeing. If we want to crack that $200K threshold specialize in a database application or other technology and apply for a cosulting job at a major company and you have now cracked $200K just with 6mos training in a specialized technology in demand.

Danielm7

You're picking a number based on almost nothing and excluding some of the most important factors like what are you good at and where are you located. 200K in the Bay Area or NYC vs the middle of the country are completely different things. I'd look up real numbers vs "200k for elite talent is what I've been told".

You could be a pretty good dev in an average cost of living area and make 90K, you could do the same job in a high COL area and make 160, but it'll feel like less. And, as I stated earlier, are you even capable of doing it? It's not even a question of brainpower but the very top people push themselves hard, not just for the money as you thought that other post was silly anyway, but because it's part of their personality, they have a passion for something and they want to be better than everyone else. Just asking what pays the most money doesn't really point to a person who has a strong passion for anything they want to accel in. e

shodown

If you can get in at a small consulting firm you can get close to that salary and crack it with bonus. The other way to get there is to move to presales at one of the vendors like Cisco, Microsoft and so on. Halfway decent presales engineers can crack 200k and really good ones can crack 400k with bonus from time to time.

The other way is to specialize in something and becoming a consultant offering the same specialized services to clients. That's the route I took. I specialize in IPT deployments in Cisco, and I can even help customers choose a SKYPE or Avaya system if that fits them based on the needs they give me. There is more too it but this should help

NOC-Ninja

Definitely pre-sales and deployment engineers/architect.
Pre-sales you work from home but most of the time in the road. Probably 50-60% traveling. They have a base salary plus bonus (they take a percentage from the account they sell). I remember 1 guy telling me he gets 2%-3% of the sale. 1 account are sometimes 1 million.

1 of the stealthwatch pre sales engineer told me he only went home December. Its that bad but he has no trouble with money.

Ive seen deployment engineers break 200k staying at home and helping deploy cut over at night. There was this 1 guy stays at santa barbara. Got every lab set up at home. All he does is take a call and tell people how to design and point them the right way.

The more money you make, the more work you will do. The gov will take out half of your check.

scaredoftests

pre/post sales systems engineer.

jamesleecoleman

techie2018 wrote: »

Silly post. I don't think anyone is doing this for free. Would you ask a business owner if he is doing it for money?

What cyberguypr posted isnt' silly, its a legit question. Plus if someone is in it only for money, they don't need to be in IT for real.
I do some IT work for free. Shoot, I've been asking my buddy if he needs help with work or if I could help so I can get infosec experience.

cyberguypr

Jesus the density! My question was very clear. Are you setting a goal of $200k just because it's some arbitrary number that you think will make you happy? Whatever you choose, what guarantee do you have that you will enjoy the work? I though exactly what Danielm7 said. You provide no driving factors or any other rationale to your number so it seems you are just following the dough. Not that it's bad per se, but it makes you sound like you just don't care about anything else.

I've been around for a while and see people ask this all the time for the wrong reasons. I personally rather pursue what I like and let the money follow, than thinking about a specific sum. Maybe I'm biased because I'm just as happy now as I was when I was making $100k. I just do what I love and the extra money becomes secondary.

But to answer your question I know the following making this amount:
- System engineers
- Network engineers
- Cloud architects
- Infosec engineers
- Pen testers
- GRC
- Sales/pre-sales
- Managers in all sort of areas

The takeaway is that there is no one definitive path. The same way I know people making tons of money I know guys in the same roles making peanuts.

TechGromit

techie2018 wrote: »

I mentioned $200k since $200k is basically what a $100k was 10 or 15 years ago. $

Actually 100k 15 years ago is equivalent to $139,2367.12 using a CPI Inflation Calculator, not 200k.

LittleBIT wrote: »

DoD overseas contractor.

I concur, it's possible to make 200k+ a year as a consultant, but you have to be on top of your game. Basically some have the talent, and others don't, and it's not always a matter of working hard and educating yourself. It's just like singing, you either have a singing voice or you don't, no amount of vocal coaching is going to magically give you singing talent.

stryder144

TechGromit wrote: »

It's just like singing, you either have a singing voice or you don't, no amount of vocal coaching is going to magically give you singing talent.

Dang it! I guess I'll scratch that off my list of things to do.

TechGromit

stryder144 wrote: »

Dang it! I guess I'll scratch that off my list of things to do.

Sorry to ruin your dreams, but people need to be honest with themselves, just because they want it bad enough doesn't always mean they will get it. They can stay in school, get's A on every exam, work hard, make contacts with the right kind of people, etc. The simple fact is we are not all created equal, no matter what lies they tell you. Some are better at singing, acting, picking up girls, writing code, with social engineering. Yes, you can teach almost anyone but some will have a real talent and others will never be more than mediocre, no matter how hard they try.

stryder144

@TechGromit...I agree wholeheartedly! Many of the posts here today mirror what I tell my students. Talent is great, education is great, experience is great...but nothing is certain and you may be the best 25 year Tier 1 tech out there. That doesn't mean you will become rich and famous in the IT world. Heck, dumb luck plays a part, as well.

NetworkNewb

Right, aim low cause you probably won’t be good anyways... Anymore inspirational advice?

E Double U

techie2018 wrote: »

What special skillset is needed to crack $200k?

I've seen many people get far doing the following:

- Backstabbing
- Butt kissing / boot licking
- Blackmail
- Soul selling
- Lying / cheating

These things are not limited to IT by the way.

dave330i

NetworkNewb wrote: »

Right, aim low cause you probably won’t be good anyways... Anymore inspirational advice?

"A man's got to know his limitations." Something society seems unwilling to teach kids these days.

dave330i

scaredoftests wrote: »

pre/post sales systems engineer.

Difficult to break $200k as post sales, since most post sales don't get sales commission.

packetx

TechGromit wrote: »

Actually 100k 15 years ago is equivalent to $139,2367.12 using a CPI Inflation Calculator, not 200k.



I concur, it's possible to make 200k+ a year as a consultant, but you have to be on top of your game. Basically some have the talent, and others don't, and it's not always a matter of working hard and educating yourself. It's just like singing, you either have a singing voice or you don't, no amount of vocal coaching is going to magically give you singing talent.

I think a very very small percentage of people, have a "special talent " at something, and there you right they understand, learn, things faster.
But for most of us, we don't really have that "special talent" and have to work really hard, and really smart, depending on the position we want to be.

Breaking the 200K/y is not something reserved to people with that special talent, most of us who are passionate, dedicated, and ready to put a big amount of hours on learning the stuff, (also networking with right people) can reach that goal.


The "special talent" people's can do much much more money in a year, and usually they don't work for someone else, they start their own company.

dave330i

packetx wrote: »

The "special talent" people's can do much much more money in a year, and usually they don't work for someone else, they start their own company.

Salieri was talented. Just not as talented as Mozart.

NetworkNewb

dave330i wrote: »

"A man's got to know his limitations." Something society seems unwilling to teach kids these days.

Right, don’t try things if people don’t think it they aren’t possible. Stay within everyone’s comfort zone

Blucodex

This is a pretty poor question. There is no solid answer or everyone would be making 200k.

stryder144

The best advise I've ever heard, which I believe came from Tony Robbins, is that success leaves clues. As such, find the person making $200k+ a year and find out how s/he did it. Then, try to emulate what that person did.

sillymcnasty

You don't have to be exceptional, just work harder than everyone. ET The Hip Hop Preacher is life.

mbarrett

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/22/technology/artificial-intelligence-experts-salaries.html?_r=0

stryder144

sillymcnasty wrote: »

You don't have to be exceptional, just work harder than everyone. ET The Hip Hop Preacher is life.

Good point. In some ways, though, working harder is being exceptional.

sillymcnasty

stryder144 wrote: »

Good point. In some ways, though, working harder is being exceptional.

Dude, you have no idea how much that applies to a conversation I had. I was basically poor up until a year ago, and studied my way to making decent money. I tried telling people that it is up to them to do that. I've had responses: "not everyone is as dedicated as you" .. that boiled my blood so much lol.

Also: ET the Hip Hop Preacher, everyone should listen to this speech.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vuetQSwFW8

networker050184

sillymcnasty wrote: »

You don't have to be exceptional, just work harder than everyone. ET The Hip Hop Preacher is life.

I agree with this to some degree, but at some point you have to have a certain skill set to continue up the chain. Sometimes you don't have the chance to take something back and put a lot of work into it.