Straight to the Point Question

hell911 · March 2014

Goal: I want to earn 6 figures

Education: BS degree in Information Systems. Currently in Networking Program (1 year left).

Experience: None

Certifications: None, planning to earn atleast 3 certifications before I graduate.

So, what is the shortest way to earn 6 figures? I know there are different paths down the road of Networking, but I am not really sure what are those different paths and how much a typical person can make.

Please go easy on me.

RouteMyPacket · March 2014

hell911 wrote: »

Goal: I want to earn 6 figures

Education: BS degree in Information Systems. Currently in Networking Program (1 year left).

Experience: None

Certifications: None, planning to earn atleast 3 certifications before I graduate.

So, what is the shortest way to earn 6 figures? I know there are different paths down the road of Networking, but I am not really sure what are those different paths and how much a typical person can make.

Please go easy on me.

I want to earn 7 figures, what's the easiest way for me to do that?

You will "earn" 6 figures the day you can either perform the functions of a job that pays that or you can BS and convince someone to hire you on for that much.

Money comes with time and experience, if I were you I would focus on learning as much as possible and getting my foot in the door somewhere to get started. If you focus on being a competent Engineer who will put in the extra effort (i.e. Study, Lab, be humble, keep ears open) you will be surprised how fast you can excel in the field

emerald_octane · March 2014

time+experience+certs+location+degree+demand * luck[FONT=arial, sans-serif] [/FONT]÷ unforeseen consequences = 1 < $x < ∞

Get experience. Make things work better while being cheaper.

Dieg0M · March 2014

6 figures is a lot in some locations and is very low in others. If you want to get there, get any expert certification + 5-10 years of experience.

rht · March 2014

Its good that you have set a goal for yourself, you are aiming very high and you are willing to work hard to get there. You should use this to your advantage and with enough motivation, determination, good life and career decisions and maybe some luck you will get close. If you are able to keep this up a long time at least you will be in a very good situation, so all i can say is good luck!

lsud00d · March 2014

As @Dieg0M pointed out, 6 figures varies WILDLY depending on where you live.

$100k in DC is ~$69k and San Fran is ~$60k where I live, respectively.

My goal isn't 6 figures--my goal is to be the best at what I do. The money will follow that.

Essendon · March 2014

Chase success and the money will just follow. Become really good at what you do, I mean reaaaaally good. A mate of mine is a hire car driver, you may think - hire car driver, bah! wouldnt be making a lot of money. Wrong - He RAKES it in. He's really good with customers, at establishing relationships with them, at finding new business and at retaining existing customers. He clears in range of $250,000 a year and works like 6-7 hours a day 5 days a week, chooses his hours and leads a comfortable life. The point is - be better at something than the competition.

hell911 · March 2014

Thanks for the replies.

I know that I should not think of money but chase excellence. Problem is I am not yet working; I don't know what kind of jobs are indemand, what is the pay range and how well certain positions really do in industry. There are many websites which show the pay range of networking positions, I know, but I am not convinced if those are really correct. Not all websites agree on certain range of salary.

So what I have in mind was I should target a certain high paying job (position) as a goal right now so that I can start working on it. I do not want to waste time doing unnecessary stuff if it is not even going to cross the path on which I am going on.

bryguy · March 2014

I'd like to give my typical zen-like advice, and say, "Strive to be the best at what you do, and the money will follow." but if all you're interested in is money, then here is the formula.

Opportunity + skill = $

If you want to make six figures, you've got to go where the opportunities are. You're not going to make big bucks working in rural Kentucky working for a school district no matter how good you are at what you do. In addition, you also need the skills to set you apart from the herd. Last I heard there were over a million CCNA's in the world. Number of CCIE's worldwide, maybe 15,000? Guess which group is earning the six figure salary? If you can combine those two variables, then you're "golden."

That being said, the guy who is working for the rural Kentucky school district might be a lot happier, because he's not commuting 90 minutes in rush hour traffic everyday, and he has his summers off to spend with his family. Here's another equation.

$ != happiness.

paul78 · March 2014

There's nothing wrong with thinking about the money. I may be in the minority but work is just that.. work... And if you have a goal and dream - chase it.

As for how you reach 100K - that's all about hard work, perseverance, and a bit of luck.

DoubleNNs · March 2014

I think you're in a position that a lot of people starting out their careers struggle with. Everyone says to be good at what you do to make money - but you haven't yet done anything, so don't know exactly what it is you enjoy doing.

Have you had any tech classes you particularly liked more than others? Had any experiences that you found interesting so far? Ignoring the monetary compensation, do you have the faintest idea about what you might want to do post-graduation?

RouteMyPacket · March 2014

What are you going to do "hell911" when you reach $100k and realize it's overrated? ha

Stay single and have no kids and $100k will be nice...heed my words. lol

paul78 · March 2014

Great point. But I've always been of the opinion that career goals are stepping stones. To your original post - my goal is 7 figures

Polynomial · March 2014

RouteMyPacket wrote: »

Stay single and have no kids and $100k will be nice...heed my words. lol

THIS x100000000

White Wizard · March 2014

IMO, in order to get to that level of pay you have to bring a lot to the table, you would be considered a "valuable employee" as you would contribute substantially to either the companys success or operations.

There are exceptions of course, if you went to MIT or Harvard then I think its fair to expect that kind of salary straight out of college.

Honestly, coming straight out of college I would not have that kind of salary expectation or goal. Your primary focus should be to learn as much as you can which would make you a valuable and knowledgeable IT prospect which would lead to a better paying job eventually.

If money is the priority, learn to code and create the next "hot" app, start a business, invent something, or win the lottery.

White Wizard · March 2014

lsud00d wrote: »

My goal isn't 6 figures--my goal is to be the best at what I do. The money will follow that.

This.

Betrayal · March 2014

@OP; Your main focus shouldn't be the money, it should be finding out what you are passionate about in life. If you are only doing IT for the money, you won't be as successful as if you were doing it out of passion for IT. With that said, good luck.

Xyro · March 2014

RouteMyPacket wrote: »

Money comes with time and experience, if I were you I would focus on learning as much as possible and getting my foot in the door somewhere to get started. If you focus on being a competent Engineer who will put in the extra effort (i.e. Study, Lab, be humble, keep ears open) you will be surprised how fast you can excel in the field

This is golden!

stryder144 · March 2014

The simplest thing you can do to figure out where the big bucks are is to do this:

1. Go to google.com and type in highest paid IT certifications (or job). For this exercise, let us focus on CISSP. The national "average" is $114k/yr.
2. Remaining on google, type in CISSP, your location, and salary. I live in Denver, so when I searched CISSP Denver Salary, indeed pops up with $87k.
3. In monster, indeed, dice, etc, type in CISSP and your area and look at what experience, education, certs, etc they are looking for. AT&T has an opening for Professional Technology Security in Denver. 5-7 years of IT security experience, BS in CS/CE, CISSP.

As others have said, though, if you aren't passionate about the technology, you will burn out fast and it won't be a good fit for you. So, make sure you absolutely love the technology you are working with. You will excel at it and then the dollar signs will appear in abundance. Try to steer your career toward whatever goal you have, whether that is pursuing education, certs, or experience. There is no true shortcut but you can make the journey shorter and more enjoyable if you plan it out.

Cheers

Straight to the Point Question

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