100k in <3 years - goal accomplished

A couple years ago I set a goal of making $100k in 3 years. Yesterday I officially accomplished this and bypassed it. Here is the progression for anyone interested.

Title: Helpdesk
Duration: 8 months
Salary: $20/hr
Certs: A+ Net+

Title: System Administrator
Duration: 1 year 9 months
Total comp: $90,000-96,000
Certs: RHCSA

Title: DevOps Engineer
Duration: Just promoted
Total comp: $130,000-147,000 (bottom range is no on call pay, top is with what I believe on call pay is)

Needless to say I've benefited from being in the right place at the right time, as well as living near a tech hub in Boston. When I purchased my A+ book to start my career change in July 2013, I could never imagine that I would increase my salary 4-5 fold.

I hope this shows people new to the field that you can move up quickly if you're looking for the opportunities.

My takeaways for what has worked:
1. Take opportunities that make you uncomfortable
2. Learn on your own time - cert related or not - no surprise for this forum
3. Be ready to ask for opportunities
4. Being likable goes a long way.
5. Learning to script/program makes you stand out.
6. Don't be the first one out of the office everyday, but also maintain work/life balance.
7. If you find a company that gives you opportunities to grow, then try your best to stay and grow in the organization. You never know when the next job req might pop up.
8. Look for new responsibilities to take on, don't wait for them to be shoveled onto you.

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Comments

technogoat

I'm just stuck in helpdesk down

I turned down an opportunity that could of been good

Now, I'm studying for certs and getting ready to expand my horizons

JoJoCal19

Iristheangel wrote: »

I could be wrong but he doesn't sound like some of the folks we've seen before that claimed they were offered CTO jobs while at lunch because they wore a VMware shirt or some other sort of ridiculousness.

Ouch lol

Iristheangel

hahahahahh You KNOW what I'm talking about.

I prefer to give srj the benefit of the doubt.

JoJoCal19

Lol. I saw your post and then I realized I haven't seen folk post around here in a while. Iristheenforcer, keeping this a BS free zone

geeksquad09

Hate to bring up a old thread, However this post is even more motivation for me.

technogoat

geeksquad09 wrote: »

Hate to bring up a old thread, However this post is even more motivation for me.

makes me want to bang my head on the desk at my current job

H-bomb

Inspirational! If you want something bad enough, you can make it happen. No excuses.

srj

sj4088 wrote: »

Well played sir. Well played. I look forward to your next update next April when you be at 200k or pretty close to it after only 4+ years in IT.

I'm a little bit late on the post, but it came true. Had my review a couple months backand my estimated total compensation for this year was projected at $210k+ (base is $135k). Probably a bit higher now because the stock is doing well (maybe $230k).

Some of the stuff that I've been generally doing inside and outside of work is:

more development in AWS (and working on SA cert in my free time)
more software development in general (Python and I'm trying to expand my Javascript knowledge)
driving best practices on the team (code reviews, unit testing, etc)
more mentoring of team members (interns to even people at my level)

One of my major concerns going forward is that my role is pretty wide in terms of the skills required. It is increasingly becoming a true "full stack" role in that I can be working on anything from: OS configurations, CLI scripts, backend APIs, and even beginner/intermediate front-end web development (basic Javascript, JQuery, and starting to get into React in my free time).

I think I will probably benefit from specializing more at some point in the future. I'm always looking at other positions out there to make sure my skills are in demand. Most of them would prefer that I have deeper knowledge in one or two areas. That being said, I have noticed that many of the most successful people that I know (architects/principals) are not deficient in any area. I'm also very interested in pursuing a job in InfoSec in the future. This seems to be an area that values those who have engineering/development experience in a number of different areas.

I have certainly benefited from being at a large tech company in a booming economy. That being said, like many of us, I receive messages from recruiters multiple times per week for $100,000+ jobs. I don't know that this level of compensation will last forever, but I'm riding it out while I can.

I still firmly believe that there are many opportunities out there for those who are willing to put in the work. We have trouble filling positions because we can't find people with skills. Those without the skills we need are rarely working towards developing them.

josephandre

oh and congrats. that's an insane progression and has to feel incredible.

unrelated but it just had me thinking about a conversation I had with a manager at a previous job. I wasn't actively looking for another job, but was solicited with a really nice opportunity that was a significant pay bump. My current job at the time matched the offer, but my direct manager pulled me aside and told me that if I accepted the counter offer I probably wouldn't get a raise the following year. And it wasn't as a courtesy, or advice to take the other job, it was some weird rationalization that I should probably accept less to stay so that I could continue getting raises. Why would anyone forego money now to potentially make the same money later? Still one of the stranger pitches I've ever gotten.

johndoee

srj wrote: »

I'm a little bit late on the post, but it came true. Had my review a couple months backand my estimated total compensation for this year was projected at $210k+ (base is $135k). Probably a bit higher now because the stock is doing well (maybe $230k).

Some of the stuff that I've been generally doing inside and outside of work is:
more development in AWS (and working on SA cert in my free time)

more software development in general (Python and I'm trying to expand my Javascript knowledge)

driving best practices on the team (code reviews, unit testing, etc)

more mentoring of team members (interns to even people at my level)

One of my major concerns going forward is that my role is pretty wide in terms of the skills required. It is increasingly becoming a true "full stack" role in that I can be working on anything from: OS configurations, CLI scripts, backend APIs, and even beginner/intermediate front-end web development (basic Javascript, JQuery, and starting to get into React in my free time).

I think I will probably benefit from specializing more at some point in the future. I'm always looking at other positions out there to make sure my skills are in demand. Most of them would prefer that I have deeper knowledge in one or two areas. That being said, I have noticed that many of the most successful people that I know (architects/principals) are not deficient in any area. I'm also very interested in pursuing a job in InfoSec in the future. This seems to be an area that values those who have engineering/development experience in a number of different areas.

I have certainly benefited from being at a large tech company in a booming economy. That being said, like many of us, I receive messages from recruiters multiple times per week for $100,000+ jobs. I don't know that this level of compensation will last forever, but I'm riding it out while I can.

I still firmly believe that there are many opportunities out there for those who are willing to put in the work. We have trouble filling positions because we can't find people with skills. Those without the skills we need are rarely working towards developing them.

Remember this post:

Next year you are going to say you made $300k. It should be a million around the year 2026

srj

johndoee wrote: »

Remember this post:

Next year you are going to say you made $300k. It should be a million around the year 2026

One can only hope.

On a serious note, I am starting to run up against the limits of what an individual contributor can make at this level. Realistically, I’m 1.5-3 years from my next promotion. Even then, it’d take the economy continuing to boom and the company stock to go crazy to approach $300k.

I really need to make a 10 year plan and get back to writing down some goals. I’m thinking my plan is going to focus on diversifying my income. I’d really like to start a side business that will aid in developing marketable skills that I don’t use all the time at work. I am also looking at real estate investment as well if it ever makes sense (prices are crazy right now). I’ll still be continuing to develop my skills to stay current and try for the next promotion.

lumo2014

This is awesome! Thank you so much for sharing the success of this inspirational goal!