6 ms·

Soon-to-be a freshman in college. If you don't mind me asking, what career path do you wish you took?

existencebox 10y ago
Hahaha. I'm sorry if I was unclear, the statement was _slightly_ tongue in cheek. I'm not sure I could have made it in any field other than dev and I do mostly like that I chose it. Bio-engineering maybe? PERHAPS finance, but I don't play too well in that sandbox. The gist I was going for was more that even in a dev's greatest successes, they will likely never see most of the returns they generate for others without taking on some sort of "other" role (founder, CTO, etc), while to the other side of that coin, we do often get hit by the fallout of a failure (slipping a deadline, etc) and certainly don't get a payout that I would consider MASSIVE. I've heard many arguments that this is aligned with the respective risk we take, but as my original statement, I'd take a hell of a lot more risk if it meant never working again a day in my life, but that's not even a choice us normal schmucks can really make :) (I'm also not convinced the risk argument is even sound, as that one MONTH's pay at a top exec salary essentially frees me from financial risk for the rest of my life, whereas I'll be working for decades even at a top eng salary to achieve the same)
- gregpilling 10y ago
  its a choice. Create your own startup, get lucky, sell your company for big money. Easy.
  - pikzen 10y ago
    Getting lucky is a one in a million occurrence. And those who do get lucky had to have at least some base funds to make their startup. So getting lucky isn't available for everyone. Also getting lucky is on another level than Mayer who simply got a job in the early Google years and surfed on that reputation ever since. So: Live in the right place, have money, preferrably get out of a very well known school such as Stanford or MIT, get lucky. Yeah, that's not an option for 99.99% of people.
- slg 10y ago
  On the flip side, what percentage of people who go down the management route actually end up as CEO of a company that can pay hundreds of millions? Is that number larger than the percentage of developers who strike it big by being one of the first devs at a unicorn? I don't know the answer to these questions, but I do know that both percentages are small enough to be virtually zero in the terms of a single life. Considering that, I am happy to be doing work that I like for a wage that something like 95% of people in this country would envy.
SeanDav 10y ago
I believe he was being a being slightly tongue in cheek. In reply to your question though - never follow the money, follow the path where your interests lie and where your strengths lie. Biggest career mistake I ever made was to move from a job I really enjoyed to another because they offered to more than double my salary.
- speeder 10y ago
  But you still get to eat right? I followed my interests, and now can't afford food, literally. I should have went for a job a hate but that paid well.
  - SeanDav 10y ago
    It is a guideline, and like every guideline, there are exceptions. If your interests and strengths are comic reading, you are not likely to get a job making money in that direction. However if you really enjoy teaching but think accountants would make more money - rather do teaching. You will earn less money, but you will be way happier and more fulfilled.
  - ryanmarsh 10y ago
    This. I hate my job but tell me some other way I can make $300k (I'm basically doing management consulting). I'm 38 with 3 kids and my wife doesn't earn an income (she homeschools the kids). I suck it up so they're well provided for.
    - evmar 10y ago
      300k is nearly 6 times the median US income, and even the median US income is double that of high-quality-of-life places like Germany. Literally most of the planet has happy families with significantly less money than that. It's facile of me to diagnose your life over the internet but I often think of the deathbed quote: "I wish I had earned more money and spent less time with my family" -- no one ever
      - 10y ago
xapata 10y ago
Any specific answer to that question will be useless. Collect data, not anecdotes.

Hahaha. I'm sorry if I was unclear, the statement was _slightly_ tongue in cheek. I'm not sure I could have made it in any field other than dev and I do mostly like that I chose it. Bio-engineering maybe? PERHAPS finance, but I don't play too well in that sandbox. The gist I was going for was more that even in a dev's greatest successes, they will likely never see most of the returns they generate for others without taking on some sort of "other" role (founder, CTO, etc), while to the other side of that coin, we do often get hit by the fallout of a failure (slipping a deadline, etc) and certainly don't get a payout that I would consider MASSIVE. I've heard many arguments that this is aligned with the respective risk we take, but as my original statement, I'd take a hell of a lot more risk if it meant never working again a day in my life, but that's not even a choice us normal schmucks can really make :) (I'm also not convinced the risk argument is even sound, as that one MONTH's pay at a top exec salary essentially frees me from financial risk for the rest of my life, whereas I'll be working for decades even at a top eng salary to achieve the same)

gregpilling 10y ago
its a choice. Create your own startup, get lucky, sell your company for big money. Easy.
- pikzen 10y ago
  Getting lucky is a one in a million occurrence. And those who do get lucky had to have at least some base funds to make their startup. So getting lucky isn't available for everyone. Also getting lucky is on another level than Mayer who simply got a job in the early Google years and surfed on that reputation ever since. So: Live in the right place, have money, preferrably get out of a very well known school such as Stanford or MIT, get lucky. Yeah, that's not an option for 99.99% of people.
slg 10y ago
On the flip side, what percentage of people who go down the management route actually end up as CEO of a company that can pay hundreds of millions? Is that number larger than the percentage of developers who strike it big by being one of the first devs at a unicorn? I don't know the answer to these questions, but I do know that both percentages are small enough to be virtually zero in the terms of a single life. Considering that, I am happy to be doing work that I like for a wage that something like 95% of people in this country would envy.

SeanDav 10y ago

I believe he was being a being slightly tongue in cheek. In reply to your question though - never follow the money, follow the path where your interests lie and where your strengths lie. Biggest career mistake I ever made was to move from a job I really enjoyed to another because they offered to more than double my salary.

speeder 10y ago
But you still get to eat right? I followed my interests, and now can't afford food, literally. I should have went for a job a hate but that paid well.
- SeanDav 10y ago
  It is a guideline, and like every guideline, there are exceptions. If your interests and strengths are comic reading, you are not likely to get a job making money in that direction. However if you really enjoy teaching but think accountants would make more money - rather do teaching. You will earn less money, but you will be way happier and more fulfilled.
- ryanmarsh 10y ago
  This. I hate my job but tell me some other way I can make $300k (I'm basically doing management consulting). I'm 38 with 3 kids and my wife doesn't earn an income (she homeschools the kids). I suck it up so they're well provided for.
  - evmar 10y ago
    300k is nearly 6 times the median US income, and even the median US income is double that of high-quality-of-life places like Germany. Literally most of the planet has happy families with significantly less money than that. It's facile of me to diagnose your life over the internet but I often think of the deathbed quote: "I wish I had earned more money and spent less time with my family" -- no one ever
    - 10y ago

xapata 10y ago

Any specific answer to that question will be useless. Collect data, not anecdotes.