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I started working as help desk at 23 for $28k a year. I switched jobs to software development at 30 to go from $34k to 45k (note that I made a bigger jump at 3
by mathgeek 12y ago
I started working as help desk at 23 for $28k a year.
I switched jobs to software development at 30 to go from $34k to 45k (note that I made a bigger jump at 30 than in all of my twenties.
I'm in the process of switching to a job that pays $115k, two years later.
Do I wish I'd done this a decade ago? Certainly. But if you're sitting there thinking "my twenties are over, I'm done," think again and go learn something new.
- 72deluxe 12y agoGood leaps - do you find the pay only jumps if you move outside an organisation? What are you doing in your new job, out of interest?
- mathgeek 12y agoI did have to switch companies in both cases, yes. I'm just doing pretty standard full-stack work with a background in iOS and Ruby.
- 72deluxe 12y agoThanks for replying. Very informative. I find it a shame to have to leave a company to get a pay increase. And out of interest, where are you based?
- mathgeek 12y agoI'll be relocating from a mid-size city to a larger one, likeky NYC. That does explain a bit of the pay difference, but even after cost of living it's still a nice doubling of take home (after 401k, etc.).
- checksum404 12y agoI had a similar experience. 26-28: At a call center for $7.25 CAD per hour. 28-31: Part of a startup making $3,500/month. 31-34: Product dev at $70k. 35 now: Software dev making 98k.
- tinkerdol 12y agoExactly. I now make more than double of the highest-grossing year from my 20's. This article is just fear mongering. If you belong to the group of people reading comments on HN, you are able to drop in and out of the work force as you wish and do whatever you want with your life. If you want to maximize income in your 20's and reap the rewards of early investment, fine. If you want to travel the world now and jump in the game later, that's also fine.
- id 12y agoWhy does everyone seem to assume all HN readers are smart, highly motivated and undoubtedly will be successful?
- aragot 12y agoCorrect, we all are in startups with 90% chance of failure ;) More seriously, I laugh when former colleagues think of me as successful. It's correct that I've launched a successful product, but money is so random that I rather consider myself as "having fun and learning to launch a product" than "being successful".
- dongchongyubing 12y agowell , also a help desk. Tried to learn to code, failed so many times.