People Who Earn More Than 100K A Year Explain What They Do For A Living
Money makes the world go round. It isn't everything but it is important.
So when we work hard we want to be compensated with as much financial gain as possible.
But so many of us seem to be stuck in careers and positions that keep us struggling with earning the most coin.
So that leaves you wondering... what do I have to do to score a job that can net me three figures a year?
Redditor Iamyes_okwanted to hear from all the people whose jobs put them in a tax bracket a lot of us strive to be in, they asked:
"People who make 100k+ a year, how did you do it?"
Let me get a pen and paper because I need some wisdom on this.
There has got to be a way for a struggling artist to get financial security.
Drive
"Uber driver in NYC. 50 hrs driving is tough in city but at least they’re paying good, also it depends what type of car you drive, regular car (UberX) can’t make that much. And WAV cars which is only in NYC and pays 30% more for even UberX trips, if you got Wheelchair rider $15 bonus per trip. In addition there is Uber black, SUV and they make good money also but u need a luxury car." ~ scheduleIT
Hunkering Down
"8 years after college. Security Engineer." ~ prtekonik
"Similar, got a PhD and hunkered down for a few years to gain expertise in a well paying field. Sacrifice your time and social life to gain a valuable skill. And market yourself. You are a commodity. I sacrificed a few years to focus on school, but after that I’ve had a better than normal life."
"In fact, I have tons of time now and a high paying career. I was trying to say invest in yourself. And build a reputation as the best in your field. I can see where that last part might sound too capitalistic. But just have a reputation and skill set to move jobs as you like—and that require skills but branding yourself into someone companies want to hire can add to your flexibility and pay." ~ Regular-Violinist-71
Computer Science
"Electrical engineering undergrad, went back for a computer science Masters because the company I was working for was willing to pay for it. If all you're looking for is to cross the 100k threshold, just do well with an undergrad CS degree. Kids are hitting that straight out of college these days." ~ Mikeavelli
10 Years
"10 years in the Navy, working on electronics/RADAR. Now a DOD contractor. Still no degree, but I'm a little over half-way done." ~ T0BYs_Grundle
All interesting ideas.
I couldn't be an electrician though.
I'd be burning down city blocks, not a good idea.
Finished Elsewhere...
"I was a journalist for a few years, making 55k at my last job. Then, I quit and did a three month software engineering boot camp. Took 10 months to get a job offer after that, because of the pandemic economy, but that first job in tech paid 100k." ~ mfuechec
Work Away
"I wrote a buttload at first, but it really boils down to having a set of skills and knowledge that is both in demand and hard for others to obtain. Never stop growing and always find peers at your level and above your level to absorb knowledge, skills, and strategies from. I work in healthcare data, specifically the value-based care reform part of it. There are plenty of analysts I've worked with that are happy to cruise at 60-90k for 10 years because it isn't stressful."
"And there are others who are more ambitious and are hitting 200k+ before 10 years (by becoming leads or managers or principle analysts). Hit 100k after my 4th year and 4th job. Especially if you are young, there is no point in company loyalty if you're letting them gape your anus. Do what's good for you." ~ ST_POST_ACOLYTE
Top 10%
"I don't make $100K by my sister and BIL do."
"Sister: Director of Accounting and Finance at a multi billion dollar company. $160,000."
"BL: Partner at a large firm: $190,000. Once he becomes equity partner since he was promoted young his salary will be $300,000-$1M."
"Both graduated top 10% of their class and received highest honors in their masters." ~ CanadianCrownCorp
Be Competent
"I don’t make six figures but know a lot of people that do and one of the most common things I’ve noticed is when they meet someone that is more successful or more skilled than them they don’t see them as a threat or challenge. Instead of trying to compete and seem better they learn from them and don’t want to be better than they are right now, but want to be better than they are in the future." ~ Pristine-Ad-469
These Low Effort Jobs Have Surprisingly High Salaries | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
Have you ever worked one of those jobs that paid you to kinda sit there? If you have, you know the joy that comes with watching the entirety of Breaking Bad ...Privilege
"I’m 28. I could say it’s because of my degree, but really? My degree isn’t remotely worth 6 figures and the reality is because of my parents. Both my parents work in the entertainment/media industry and have for over 30+ years now. When I was applying for jobs out of college."
"My dad said he could simply get me a job (at a large, well known production company) because he’s very close with several people there. And he wasn’t lying. I did still do an interview, but in all reality that was really just a formality. They ended up training me for what I had to do anyway."
"I want to say I’m aware of the privilege I’ve had my entire life. I’m also aware that it isn’t this easy for most people. My parents haven’t always helped me out with EVERYTHING but I would be straight up lying if I didn’t admit that they’ve helped me with most things including where I work." ~ itsniceinpottsfield
"One month on and one month off, year-round. Good money and paid travel. Started out as a deckhand and worked my way up. Mostly on-the-job training and a few classes that I had to pay for along the way. Each class lead a raise in pay. My college degree in Forestry is largely irrelevant." ~ northstar42
Degrees Needed
"PhD in anthropology and moved into the field of UX (user experience, in the tech industry), getting a job as a UX designer (and now researcher) for a software company. I initially started grad school thinking I wanted an academic career, but as I was finishing I realized I needed a break from academia and learned about the booming field of UX."
"Was able to take a human-centered design course in my last possible semester of grad school, which allowed me to get some projects under my belt, learn some new methods and techniques, and pick up the lingo of the field. I went to a tech career fair on campus and got a callback from one of the companies I talked to, and the rest is history."
"Despite the memes about humanities and social sciences degrees being worthless, they're actually becoming quite valuable in the tech and design industries." ~ ThatNeonZebraAgain
Give & Take
"By giving a ton of crap about what I am doing. And taking a lot of crap and dealing with it." ~ blowafuse
"Yeah it is true that hard work and being good at your job is not a guarantee for success by any means, but it certainly helps." ~ redsfan23butnew
Doing Extra
"Overtime lots of overtime. With my high school diploma I’m currently welding on some of the baddest vehicles on the planet." ~ Various_Mind_5467
Bulletproof
"Be right. Take the time to become an expert. Care about your work, and the people you work with. If you become stagnant, leave. Help yourself, and your employer all the time. Become un-fireable." ~ gehuffman
Just did them to do them really?
"Honestly some times it’s just pure luck. A lot of people on here giving the 'worked my butt off, studied hard' etc. and that’s all well and good, but sometimes it’s luck as well and making the right moves. Sure, I have a masters degree but honestly I don’t feel like I worked all that hard on either of them. Just did them to do them really? (Paying for it now though with loans)."
"In the end I just figured out every weird job I had was basically sales at the end of the day. Then I parlayed that I to sales type work. And applied to industry that pay well (pharma, med device) got completely lucky to get into that and just keep working when I’m there. I honestly feel like I’ve gotten lucky along the way and ended up here… that may be a crappy answer to some, but it’s honest." ~ BraveCat45
Bottoms Up
"I can't speak for myself but my fiancé. No college degree but he worked his butt off and slowly moved up. Started at the bottom entry level of his industry and learned everything he could, got promoted, did the same again and again and again and ten years later became a director of operations. Hard work does not always pay off but his did and he is still working his ass off to learn as much as his can." ~ Not_Quite_B
Get Ready
"Be prepared. I'm going to sound like a tight a**, but when I worked a laborer job, I took any course offered. I did my job, didn't complain and was prepared. Every promotion I got, I could outline what I had learned. I worked hard, but had work life balance. But nothing was beneath me. Some jobs were pretty gross, but I did them with a cheerful heart and just kept getting promoted. But I learned money isn't everything. I have enough. Now it's about family and positive experiences." ~ cisco54
I'm Crafted
"Discovered a passion for technology in the late 70s/early 80s. Threw myself into it and kept learning. It's been my craft for almost 40 years and has served me well. I don't do it for money. I do it because I genuinely love building systems and automating processes. The money comes because I love what I do." ~ barrywalker71
Women Roar
"Graduate degree in the sciences. Being a female in a traditionally male industry. Working hard. Tolerating bureaucracy and bullsh**. Not being thin skinned. Knowing which fights to pick. Learning the office politics and using them." ~ Raggmommy
Say Hello...
"Started as a customer service rep taking phone calls. Figured out how to get top performing and focus on the metrics that leadership thought mattered. Played the corporate game, climbed the ladder. Took about 10 years to make it to a Sr Analyst/Consultant level and have my first $100k year."
"The best part is, I have no student loans and maybe $10k in debt not including my home loan. Not sure how realistic that is anymore since so many entry level positions are being outsourced, but for me hard work and perseverance has paid off." ~ Beholder84
Get It...
"Lots of college and hard work. I didn’t have as much fun as a lot of my friends and put my life on hold about 8-10 years longer than they did (for marriage/kids/house). I also moved to cities where I didn’t know anyone to take the best offers." ~ mtaa4
All plausible ways to gain some pennies.
Let's see what we can accomplish.
Money, money, money... it's a rich man's world.
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When looking at a resume, it's easy to understand how prospective employers will assume someone is very intelligent based on their education and past experience.
But one shouldn't only assume someone's intelligence based on what they read.
More often than not, one can tell rather quickly that someone possesses above-average intelligence, based on how they speak, how they behave, or other telling details.
Redditor PadWanKenobi was curious to hear what people felt were the tell tale signs they were in the company of a possible genius, leading them to ask:
"What’s a sign of extremely high intelligence?"
Instant adapability
"Ability to intuitively and quickly understand complex systems and how lots of parts relate in a coherent whole."
"Like I work with some people who just keep tons of concepts in their head and easily integrate new information into their understanding of those concepts."
"They immediately know what questions they should be asking to better understand."
"And these are things they're currently working on, not like things they spent time studying in school over years."
"They just have a very strong ability to synthesize new information into their understanding."
"I sit in meetings distracted and confused having forgotten what we talked about in the previous meetings, and these folks just consistently have a solid handle on everything."- Ok-Control-787
Innate Problem Solvers
"They know when not to solve a problem."
"This took me a while to understand but the smartest people I know do this."
"It could be a really simple thing like ignoring emails from people asking for help."
"The supervisor or boss might have a quick and easy solution for the situation but instead of just handing it to the person that asked they let them figure it out on their own."
"They know who they can do this with and when to do it."
"If they did that with all of their underlings it would just create a mess."
"Another example that I can think of is planned chaos."
"Some people can predict exactly where things will go wrong and they could fix it before it creates a problem."
"They don't because nobody ever notices what's going on in the background when things are working perfectly."
"Once things fails then everybody notices and if you are the one person that fixed it you become the hero."
"They can also use then chaos to reach a goal they couldn't get before if things were working correctly."
"There's many examples of this in every day life that I didn't see before until I realized what was happening."- atapes
You know what they say about people with small hands
"If your hand is smaller than your face."- FallofTheKnight
The all knowing glow.
"When someone asks you a question and you push your glasses up while light comes out of it and covers your eyes for some reason."- JonEregor
Those giveaway behavioral quirks
"Wearing glasses and saying things like 'ah yes', and 'I see' while you pensively rub your chin."- iuytrefdgh436yujhe2
Encouraging others
"When they explain something they make the people around them feel smarter, not dumber."- redkat85
Being one step ahead.
"The capacity to understand complex things, see patterns where regular people don't."- Ostepop234
"They have this tendency to make you go 'Ohhh, why didn't I think of that?' when listening to them talk."- did_it_forthelulz
An endless love of learning
"A passion for knowledge and expanding understanding of complex concepts."
"The plumber can be just as insightful as the scholar."- KatatoniK94
Of course, one shouldn't always be fooled by what they see.
As many people are masters at appearing much smarter than they are.
In fact, one important sign of super intelligence is being able to separate those who appear smart, from those who actually are.
With each passing year of a marriage, couples will often discover that while they don't love each other any less than they once did, that spark their relationship used to carry has faded.
This will often lead these couples to look for ways to spice things up a bit.
Among the more popular experiments is inviting a third member to their bedroom.
Enticing as this prospect is, however, it's also easy to be intimidated by the reality of it, or even the mere suggestion of it.
"Men, what advice do you have for men whose wives want to bring a third into the bedroom?"
Make sure you want to do it.
"You need to be completely honest with yourself, ask if this is something you want and could live with."- Dame87
Proceed with caution
"It’s like frolicking in a mine field."
"You both better be SUPER into the idea, you can’t have one person who’s reluctantly agreed to go along with it."
"And established rules."
"A threesome sounds like fun and games until you’re watching your partner make faces and sounds that you only thought were for you in your most intimate moments together, and a burning jealousy comes out of nowhere and breaks your heart."
"I’m not saying it’s automatically a bad idea and I know people do polyamory successfully, but dear god be careful."- coleosis1414
Make sure you're an active participant
"I had an ex that was adamant that she wanted to be a swinger or whatever."
"The one time I decided to roll with it, I hit it off immediately with the other dude's girlfriend and had a blast hanging out with her all night."
"The other dude was a total creep, though."
"Also, my ex could not handle the fact that someone else was giving me the slightest bit of attention."
"So, needless to say, that didn't go anywhere."
"Turns out she didn't want to be a swinger, she just wanted to have sex with other people behind my back, which she had no problems whatsoever with."- Ted_Denslow
Look out for ulterior motives
"Just remember that if you bring this up and your husband is against it, that could be the beginning of the end of your marriage."
"For a lot of people their partner saying 'I am seriously considering having sex with other people and I'm checking with you if it is ok', is a deal breaker."- gamerplays
Consider a test run?
"Go to a bar together separately."
"Watch them flirt/interact with someone else."
"If you get jealous, it's probably a bad idea to bring in a third."
"If it turns you on, go for it."- SinSlayer
Query people with experience.
"It’s something my wife and I have talked about."
"We both agreed that opening the Pandora’s box is not the way we want our relationship to go."
"While it sounds fun, we have seen way to many relationships derailed because of it."- DarthDujo
Consider going whole hog.
"Bring a 4th."- xxemrgmi
Evaluate your relationship first.
"Make sure you and your partner are secure in your own relationship before having another person join."
"Have boundaries, and no secrets."
"From my experience it doesn't usually work out in the end."- Thick-Procedure455
Just don't!
"Don't do it."
"For a long time, my ex harbored a fantasy of watching me have sex with another woman."
"Hey, who knows why any of us are wired the way we are?"
"After contemplating the idea together for a while, we decided to approach one of her more attractive co-workers, who had made a series of flattering comments along the lines of "you're so lucky" and "he's so good-looking'."
"She enthusiastically agreed."
"Our first meet-up was of course awkward, but the second, third and following were pretty good."
"In fact they got progressively hotter, as we all got more comfortable with each other's boundaries, erotic likes and dislikes."
"However, over a few months these occasional kinky weekends transitioned into the co-worker asking more frequently and aggressively to be invited over."
"We tried to explain that we had intended these threesomes to be rare and exotic highlights in our sex life, not regular occurrences, but she didn't take the message to heart and instead became increasingly insistent, bordering on smothering."
"After being turned down one Friday, that night she unexpectedly showed up at our door anyway, carrying a weekend bag and wearing nothing but a raincoat, stay-ups and heels."
"While that was quite a sight, it definitely creeped us out, as it made us finally realize the whole arrangement was descending into 'play Misty for me' territory."
"My ex and I agreed that her unexpected and unwelcome appearance signaled the end of future three-ways, at least until we were able to cool our own selves down, reassess, and perhaps later find a less demanding and insistent third."
"Things subsequently got very sticky at work for my wife, as her co-worker, with whom she had to interact closely, strongly resented being permabanned, and kept demanding to know 'what she'd done that was so awful'."
"Coworker eventually asked to be transferred to another office, but by the time that process was over and done, the discomfort / guilt / pressure / confusion my ex was suffering both at home and at work had begun to take its psychological toll."
"I must confess it didn't help that our own sex life was simultaneously going through a rough patch."
"Long story short, we ended our decade-long relationship less than a year after breaking off the threesomes, chiefly due to trust issues and growing sexual incompatibility, both perhaps triggered by our experimentation."
"Ever since, I've regretted agreeing to that first three-way."
"If I hadn't been so damned eager to take a bite of forbidden fruit, we might have kept our relationship intact."
"But I guess this can also be put down as what sometimes happens when you ignore that old advice, 'don't sh*t where you sleep'."- theartfulcodger
When venturing into the unknown, it's always wise to gain some first hand experience, to hear a variety of pros and cons of what you're possibly getting yourself into.
That way, deciding whether or not it's for you will become increasingly clear.
It's also important to remember, that it is always ok to say "no".
People Share Their Best 'You Either Die The Hero Or Live Long Enough To Become The Villain' Experiences
"You either die the hero or live long enough to become the villain."
Though not necessarily a universal truth, all of us have witnessed unfortunate moments in our lives where we've seen this saying become a reality.
Be it seeing our favorite public figures take a serious fall from grace, someone we know and admire eventually disappointing us in a devastating manner, or even seeing ourselves turn into someone we promised we'd never become.
One Redditor was curious to hear people's examples of this saying coming to light, either from a personal experience or seeing it happen to a well-known, public figure, leading them to ask:
"Who is your example of 'you either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain'?"
Jim Jones
"Jim Jones."
"He originally stood up for civil rights when it was really unpopular."
"Was hospitalized and accidentally placed in the black ward."
"When the doctors found out, they tried to move him, but he refused."
"Then he became a cult leader and used his power and influence to end the lives of a thousand people."- Crvsby
Earning a position of power
"Working in restaurant kitchens."
"You either burn out young, or become the boss that everyone hates."
"There's exceptions, but that's the rule."- grandpas_old_crow
Henry Heimlich
"Henry Heimlich, inventor of the Heimlich Maneuver."
"Made up a bunch of untested uses for it, treating people having asthma attacks, and drowning victims were the two I remember that he publicly talked up."
"Later, he funded an experiment that involved injecting people with Malaria to see if it would treat other conditions.
"The experiment was found to be unethical by American review boards, so he conducted them in Ethiopia." - User Deleted
Philippe Petain
"Philippe Petain."
"In WW1 he led the French to victory at Verdun, one of the worst battles in human history."
"In WW2, after France was beaten, Petain was the head of state of Vichy France."
"Guy went from the Lion of Verdun to the biggest Nazi collaborator in France."- arthuranymoredonuts
Our bodies
"Every organ until it gets cancer."- SuperBaconjam
Conor McGregor
"Conor McGregor."
"He had the whole country behind him here in Ireland at one point bar people who thought combat sport is grotesque."
"He was witty, original, backing himself up and having a Hollywood like rise to stardom."
"Now he's someone who the whole country is ashamed of, goes punching old men, clearly sleeps around on his wife while she's at home with the kids, just a walking caricature of himself."
"He didn't listen to his own advice."
"Get in."
"Get rich."
"Get out."- StephenPigot2020
Turning into our parents
"My dad used to annoy me by calling my Pokemon cards 'Pokey-Mans'."
"Now my kids have them and I do the same thing and it annoys the sh*t out of them."
"Thanks for the (Pokeyman) gold!"- rumpel4skinOU
Benedict Arnold
"Benedict Arnold."
"Almost died during the revolutionary way, if I recall correctly, and if he had he would have been remembered a huge hero, and a martyr."
"Instead he lived and changed sides, and is remembered only for his being a traitor."- uniqueperson22
Be it someone we knew quite intimately, or someone we admired from a far, it is always heartbreaking to see someone evolve from someone we love, to someone we utterly hate.
Sometimes we do things that have to be done.
And some of those things live in life's gray area of right and wrong.
What comes as a surprise to some is when we don't care if we're wrong.
We may still technically be in the right.
But morally and ethically, there may be some issues.
But still, many people don't care.
Redditor BirdyPizzawanted to see who would fess up about some of the worst things we're responsible for but have no shame.
"What is the darkest thing you have ever done and don’t regret?"
I've stolen from department stores that overcharged. I was arrested. I didn't care. So there...
The Grief
"Five years ago my dad suffered a catastrophic stroke. Left paralyzed and robbed of his speech and ability to communicate he was a shell of the once vibrant, charismatic man he once was. He was moved into skilled nursing where he lived for nearly two years, he was miserable."
"On my last visit I told him it was okay if he wanted to leave us, that we would miss him but he should go. A week later I received the call that he had passed. Instead of immediate grief I felt relief. Relief that he was finally free. The grief came later and I still miss him every single day."
theroadtoeverywhere
Things Missing
"Got into a car accident and had to stay with my mom for a couple days to figure out what to do. Went back to my apartment (I had two roommates) and everything was missing from my room. Long story short one of my roommates had everything hidden in her room."
"I called and told her the things were missing from my room and she came up with a lie that a couple girls came to look at my room (I was moving out bc of the accident, long story) and that they must have taken my things. She had everything I owned. Including my grandmothers perfume bottles, stuffed to the back of her closet, under her bed, behind her dresser etc."
"So I packed all of my stuff up. Then took a giant black garbage bag and stuffed as much of her closet in it as I could. Took it to the middle of nowhere, dug a hole and burnt it. She called screaming at me that her stuff was missing. I told her the two girls must have come by and taken her stuff too."
udntsay
Violence
"I hit my uncle left right and center when he was trying to choke my father to death. I was 16 years old at that time, a very skinny girl. I beat his face neck and every part of him that I could target with so much intensity that my knuckles turned blue the next day. I had an animalistic rage that day trying to help my father get away from his death grip. I hate my uncle even today."
"I got anger issues because of growing up around him. And I don't regret beating him that day at all. He was physically abusive to his wife as well. One fine day, his wife retaliated by beating him blue with a stick. And he stopped being physically violent towards her post that."
avadakebakra
Danger
"A neighbor like 10 years ago was neglecting their dog badly in the heat. The dog escaped often and ended up at the shelter a lot. One day she jumped the fence and got her tie-out cable stuck on the fence. (She was not in danger of choking.) Neighbor put her on a 3-foot-long cable tied to a doorknob, no water, 90 degree day. I let some kind folks steal her, watched the whole thing and said nothing to stop them."
Oh-Oh-Ophelia
Goodbye
"When my father was dying and in pain I was the one who told the doctors he had been through enough and we couldn't see him suffer anymore. Doctor injected him with something, I assume a morphine mega dose and he passed peacefully moments after. Euthanasia may not be legal in UK but compassionate doctors know what's what. I don't regret it because my pa made me promise I would have his back when he got sick or old. I'm sad he got sick and never got to get old."
Express_Evidence_23
That is a lot of mess. But sometimes we have to do what we have to do.
Toxic
"One of my ex best friends in high school was a real narcissistic lunatic. Had so many egotistical fantasies about what he deserved but I remained his friend because we met through my close friend (his girlfriend). As I started realizing what a terrible person he was I convinced him to go after his fantasy of a harem by asking to add a 3rd to their relationship, that led to a fight between his gf."
"I called her about it and asked how she felt about him adding someone to their relationship and about him sleeping with her. She said she knew nothing about that and started crying because he cheated on her. I basically helped orchestrate their breakup and have no regrets. She is happy with her first child now and he is in a toxic af relationship with 3 kids, 2 of which aren't his and his partner is 8 years older than him."
skijeng
My Buddy
"Had to make the choice to take my dad off of life support after he got Covid this year. He was sedated for a couple of weeks and one of his lungs collapsed and I couldn't watch him fall apart anymore. My dad was a bulky dude. Constantly did a lot of outdoor work and to see him bone skinny and have no muscle left killed me and I knew even if he somehow got through it, he would have been so miserable and depressed in that state he was in. I don’t regret it. I think it was the right thing to do by him. I’ll never not miss him though. That was my buddy."
CarterS20884
The Ruin
"Turned a close friend into the fish and game. He would poach mountain lions and bears. His whole family would literally shoot them and leave them. He would brag about it. I couldn’t stand it and felt that I needed to stop him. He’s in prison and so is his uncle. I know I ruined his life but he was literally killing so many mountain lions and bears."
Donkey-Puncherr
School Daze
"In middle school, there was this group of boys that would corner me in the hallway and try to scare me. I was the perfect target for these little b**tards. I was short, skinny, and had (and still have) and anxiety disorder. One day I just had enough, and asked a friend if I could have an extra pencil, sharpened it as much as I could, and when I saw one of them in the hallway, I stabbed the hell out of his leg. Sh**head got what he deserved."
leserolith3
Wow... we really are a dark and secretive people.