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There's a lot more, and consulting is very broad. You could be in finance and never have any idea that you could be consulting and making even more.
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I know a few people that told they make more than 60k, but it is unlikely.
This includes:
Accounts payable clerk - Claims to make $60K
Java development lead - Claims to make $125k
I know it is possible and plausible, but it is unlikely. They would have to be in the top 1% of earners in their profession. I also take into consideration that people like to BS and lie about things that make them look good and feel good. I asked them to show me a pay stub or their tax return, and of course they didn't. I told them if they have nothing to hide, they will just show it to me, but they wouldn't.
Honestly, I think you're bitter. As far as the Accounts payable clerk, I can't speak for that, but I can speak for the Java development lead and that kind of salary is not out of the ordinary at all. This is essentially my profession, so I know what I'm talking about with this.
Software development and computer science on average pays very high relative to many other areas. In major metro areas, again, these days it's not unusual for a person to be making at least $55K right out of college if not higher like around $65K
Look at the above and you'll see that the national average pay for a grad just a few years ago with a degree in Computer Science was $63K/year. I have a friend who switched companies to a small financial software company when he was 27 here in Chicago and he got around $125K. I have also been contacted about certain consulting positions dealing with development at that age that were offering 6 figures.
Really, I wouldn't think it's that uncommon. It's common to make under it at that age, but it's really not that uncommon as you think to be making above that at that age.
I did not include doctor, because you will likely still be in med school or just in your residency at age 26.
I know a few people that told they make more than 60k, but it is unlikely.
This includes:
Accounts payable clerk - Claims to make $60K
Java development lead - Claims to make $125k
I know it is possible and plausible, but it is unlikely. They would have to be in the top 1% of earners in their profession. I also take into consideration that people like to BS and lie about things that make them look good and feel good. I asked them to show me a pay stub or their tax return, and of course they didn't. I told them if they have nothing to hide, they will just show it to me, but they wouldn't.
When I was 26, it was the year 2000 and I was salaried at $75,000/year which, adjusted for inflation, is the equivalent of just over $100,000/year today. And that was only salary. In 2001, I earned $98,000 salary and bonus combined in 2001 dollars, which would be the equivalent of about $133,000 in 2013 dollars after adjusting for inflation. Most of the people I worked with at that time were about my age (mid-20s to mid-30s) and earned reasonably close to what I did - some a little more, some a little less. That was at an online startup.
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Originally Posted by Chicago87
May you please elaborate on this? What do they do? Where do they work? What special qualifications do they have? What special connections did they have?
I had sort of the equivalent of a computer science degree and my *average* work week in 2001 was probably 75 hours, with some weeks pushing 100 hours. Most of my coworkers had either BS degrees in Computer Science, 4+ years of technical experience, or a masters degree in business or a technical field. I had tech experience in the trading industry, many of my coworkers came from web or business consulting. I got that role through an ordinary recruiter - no special connections at all.
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Originally Posted by marothisu
I know a bunch of people your age making over $60K. Trust me, it's not that uncommon, but $60K is still a good/decent salary for that age.
In technology, a lot of people in the 20s are earning $60k/year, and the closer they get to 30, the more there are who can earn $80k-$100k/year. It's completely plausible that a good Java developer in his late 20s could be a team lead and pull down $125k/year. $125k/year for a Java team lead is maybe in the top 25%, but it certainly isn't the top 1%.
When I say "in technology," though, I don't mean basic support roles, I mean people who are creating new things or doing advanced support activities that require deep understanding of theoretical concepts and the ability to quickly adapt to changes. We have two support guys here - one guy is about 50 and the other guy is about 25. I don't know their salaries, but I'm guessing the 25-year-old earns more because his role requires a lot more adaptability. The other guy's role is basically to only repeat exactly the steps he's been given. They're both technical roles, but one requires a lot more thought, knowledge, and adaptability. For what it's worth, even the 50-year-old guy has a degree from the University of Chicago.
When I last rented in Chicago near the turn of the millennium, it was pretty easy to find a decent one-bedroom apartment on the North Side for $800. Rents have been going up like crazy.
When I last rented in Chicago near the turn of the millennium, it was pretty easy to find a decent one-bedroom apartment on the North Side for $800. Rents have been going up like crazy.
Rents have gone up but I think the character of the rental properties available has changed with an increase in units with higher end features and less more commodity units which haven't seen the same price increases but just aren't as common. Dumps and basements are still dumps and basements.
In technology, a lot of people in the 20s are earning $60k/year, and the closer they get to 30, the more there are who can earn $80k-$100k/year. It's completely plausible that a good Java developer in his late 20s could be a team lead and pull down $125k/year. $125k/year for a Java team lead is maybe in the top 25%, but it certainly isn't the top 1%.
Yep that's what I mean. I'm a computer scientist/consultant so I know very well this. The starting salary these days for a college grad in Chicago for someone who has a degree in something like this is on average probably above $60K/year - consultant or not. Not to toot my own horn, but in most colleges, Computer Science is typically one of the hardest degrees to attain. Companies pay bigger money for people with the degree (or something similar like Software Engineering). You have to be very, very smart to do high level programming at a good level and companies know this which is why this (along with other types of engineering) pay well right away.
Yep that's what I mean. I'm a computer scientist/consultant so I know very well this. The starting salary these days for a college grad in Chicago for someone who has a degree in something like this is on average probably above $60K/year - consultant or not. Not to toot my own horn, but in most colleges, Computer Science is typically one of the hardest degrees to attain. Companies pay bigger money for people with the degree (or something similar like Software Engineering). You have to be very, very smart to do high level programming at a good level and companies know this which is why this (along with other types of engineering) pay well right away.
Yeah. Getting to $80k in technology by the time you're 30 isn't terribly hard. Getting to $100k is something most qualified people can do if they want to. Getting to $120k is a little harder and requires either sacrifice of time, specific skills, or being quite sharp. The further over $120k you get, the more often your role would require all three - sacrifice of time, specific skills and being quite sharp. Getting over $200k in tech in Chicago is fairly unusual - if that was your goal, you'd probably do best to start your own company or move to California or the East Coast (in my experience), although there are a few ways to do that here in Chicago.
There's a lot more, and consulting is very broad. You could be in finance and never have any idea that you could be consulting and making even more.
Honestly, I think you're bitter. As far as the Accounts payable clerk, I can't speak for that, but I can speak for the Java development lead and that kind of salary is not out of the ordinary at all. This is essentially my profession, so I know what I'm talking about with this.
Software development and computer science on average pays very high relative to many other areas. In major metro areas, again, these days it's not unusual for a person to be making at least $55K right out of college if not higher like around $65K
Look at the above and you'll see that the national average pay for a grad just a few years ago with a degree in Computer Science was $63K/year. I have a friend who switched companies to a small financial software company when he was 27 here in Chicago and he got around $125K. I have also been contacted about certain consulting positions dealing with development at that age that were offering 6 figures.
Really, I wouldn't think it's that uncommon. It's common to make under it at that age, but it's really not that uncommon as you think to be making above that at that age.
Whoa, that is quite the assumption you are making there buddy. I work in the loop and I know I am surrounded by professionals that make $100k+, you think I am bitter against all of them? My issue is that I do not like liars and BSers. I have no problems with someone that makes more than me, as matter of fact, I am quite happy for them.
I am well aware of engineers, programmers, and other professionals easily making $60k or more at age 26, but they are in the minority. Those majors require a lot of skills in math and science which a majority of people are not good at.
Personally, I have only really seen 3 types of people earning more than $60k at at 26.
1.) Those with an actual in demand skill set such as engineers, programmers, lawyers, consultants, etc.
2.) Those that have a special connection that got in because they knew someone, but have no idea as to what they are doing.
3.) Those that have really good BSing skills and make themselves seem a lot more experience and qualified than they really are.
When I talk to the professionals in group one, I realize that almost all of them come from privileged backgrounds. They had money to hire private tutors, take test prep course which cost thousands of dollars, and didn't have to worry about money in college due to their parents funding them.
My background was entirely different. I got to where I am on my own. Per salary.com, I am actually underpaid by quite a bit which is why I will ask for a significant raise when it is review time. In case anyone is wondering, I am one of those "business professionals", albeit an underpaid one.
If you are making $60k or more at age 26, good for you. But the honest truth is that it is hard to get someone to pay you $60k or more at age 26 unless you are one of the above.
Personally, I have only really seen 3 types of people earning more than $60k at at 26.
1.) Those with an actual in demand skill set such as engineers, programmers, lawyers, consultants, etc.
Again, you're leaving out nurses, teachers, accountants, sales people, and so on.
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Originally Posted by Chicago87
When I talk to the professionals in group one, I realize that almost all of them come from privileged backgrounds.
Hardly.
I mean, yes, by global standards it would be considered privileged to be able to attend an average or above American university (which is really all it takes to make that much if you major in one of the above fields, get decent grades, and interview well), but by American standards very few of the people I hang out with who make that much in their 20's came from anything above a typical middle class family. Many came from working class or lower families (i.e. their parents didn't go to college). They paid for college either with loans or by working their asses off for scholarships. Some had parents who scrimped and saved to send them to a state school with in-state tuition for a few thousand a year. Nearly all went to public high schools.
I realize privilege is relative, but people from truly privileged backgrounds in the U.S. go to Ivy League and equivalent law schools and MBA programs, and get jobs through their family's friends making way the hell more than $60K per year.
Whoa, that is quite the assumption you are making there buddy. I work in the loop and I know I am surrounded by professionals that make $100k+, you think I am bitter against all of them? My issue is that I do not like liars and BSers. I have no problems with someone that makes more than me, as matter of fact, I am quite happy for them.
I am well aware of engineers, programmers, and other professionals easily making $60k or more at age 26, but they are in the minority. Those majors require a lot of skills in math and science which a majority of people are not good at.
Personally, I have only really seen 3 types of people earning more than $60k at at 26.
1.) Those with an actual in demand skill set such as engineers, programmers, lawyers, consultants, etc.
2.) Those that have a special connection that got in because they knew someone, but have no idea as to what they are doing.
3.) Those that have really good BSing skills and make themselves seem a lot more experience and qualified than they really are.
When I talk to the professionals in group one, I realize that almost all of them come from privileged backgrounds. They had money to hire private tutors, take test prep course which cost thousands of dollars, and didn't have to worry about money in college due to their parents funding them.
My background was entirely different. I got to where I am on my own. Per salary.com, I am actually underpaid by quite a bit which is why I will ask for a significant raise when it is review time. In case anyone is wondering, I am one of those "business professionals", albeit an underpaid one.
If you are making $60k or more at age 26, good for you. But the honest truth is that it is hard to get someone to pay you $60k or more at age 26 unless you are one of the above.
Perhaps I'm a little out of touch, but is 60k really that hard to earn for a 26 yr old? I run a sales team at an enterprise software company, and the entry level biz dev guys make 70k at plan, field reps make 220k at plan (with base salary anywhere from 85-110k), many of the guys are late 20s-early30s, it's not all that unusual. For top reps to male 400k+, I have 2 reps both under 30 pulling in 400k. Perhaps tech industry (specifically tech sales) is the exception, but seems there are many many people in tech.
Earlier you said they were in "the top 1% of earners in their field," which your own data is now contradicting. Stick to facts and you'll do better.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chicago87
I am well aware of engineers, programmers, and other professionals easily making $60k or more at age 26, but they are in the minority. Those majors require a lot of skills in math and science which a majority of people are not good at. ...
A majority of people are not willing to do the work required to become good at them. Not all people are naturally gifted at math, but the majority of people can learn it. Math is all logic, and logic is not an unusual skill. Americans are, as a rule, academically lazy. There are reasons for that, but personally I'm tired of making excuses for the average American. Almost no one is born knowing math, and almost everyone (I'd venture at least 65% of people, maybe as many as 75%) can learn it well enough to get a job that requires it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chicago87
1.) Those with an actual in demand skill set such as engineers, programmers, lawyers, consultants, etc.
The majority.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chicago87
2.) Those that have a special connection that got in because they knew someone, but have no idea as to what they are doing.
This will also include a significant number of people from group 1.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chicago87
3.) Those that have really good BSing skills and make themselves seem a lot more experience and qualified than they really are.
People can only do this so many times before it catches up to them. Most places that pay the best are pretty good at weeding out BS artists. Where I work, we actually make people do what they say they can do as part of the interview process whenever possible.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chicago87
When I talk to the professionals in group one, I realize that almost all of them come from privileged backgrounds. They had money to hire private tutors, take test prep course which cost thousands of dollars, and didn't have to worry about money in college due to their parents funding them.
*****, please. In 1995 I was an undergraduate intern in Chicago earning more per month than my father. My father lost his job the week before I left for college in 1992, and he was earning 20% less than the median family income that year. I only applied to one university because we didn't have enough money to pay multiple application fees. You really think we paid anything at all for tutors or prep courses? I spent my summers working full time every year since I was 12, the youngest you can work in Oregon, just to pay for basic school supplies and clothes. My parents managed to pay for my travel expenses to college for summers and Christmas and maybe a few meals during the rest of the holidays when I couldn't come home because we couldn't afford the travel expenses, but I borrowed every other expense and paid it off myself.
I received multiple offers when I graduated, all of which paid more than that internship, and I've had fairly stead increases in come ever since, with a few times my income has jumped quickly and I've managed to maintain those jumps. Most of my coworkers are currently naturalized Americans - they are either immigrants or the children of immigrants, immigrants who value hard work and studying hard and who were often in the same financial condition as my parents when they first came to the U.S. I'm not talking about H1B holders who are virtually indentured servants, I'm talking about people with US passports or at least Green Cards who can work anywhere and so have the same leverage any native-born American has when it comes to commanding salary. Why are so many of my coworkers immigrants? Because, as I said above, native-born Americans (of which I am one) are LAZY and don't appreciate or take advantage of the opportunities they have.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chicago87
My background was entirely different. I got to where I am on my own. Per salary.com, I am actually underpaid by quite a bit which is why I will ask for a significant raise when it is review time. In case anyone is wondering, I am one of those "business professionals", albeit an underpaid one.
I don't know what a "business professional" is.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chicago87
If you are making $60k or more at age 26, good for you. But the honest truth is that it is hard to get someone to pay you $60k or more at age 26 unless you are one of the above.
It's not hard if you're in group 1, and getting into group 1 does require planning and hard work, but it's much more within reach than you seem to think it is.
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