What do you do, how much do you make, and how'd you get there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1) Fed/analyst
2) 167k
3) associates degree (grit, tenacity; worked my way up from the bottom)

Wow! You only have an associates degree or did you end up getting more formal education?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1) environmental policy, now a supervisor
2) GS-15, $191K
3) MS degree then straight into a fed government job as a GS-9. Worked my way up to GS15 over 20+ years. Absolutely love my job, my coworkers, and my Agency's mission.

What is your MS degree in?

[Anonymous]

1. Big law partner
2. 6.4 in 2023
3. Law school, clerkship, then a tremendous amount of hard work. I now manage a large team. But I work harder than everyone on my team. 2023 was more than 3500 hours.

[Anonymous]

1. Corporate Controller
2. $210K
3. Have an MBA and CPA. Favorite part of the job is building a team.

If I had ny druthers, dream job is Admissions Director for a top 20 MBA program. Like the idea of helping people make life decisions. But too old now for that to happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1) environmental policy, now a supervisor
2) GS-15, $191K
3) MS degree then straight into a fed government job as a GS-9. Worked my way up to GS15 over 20+ years. Absolutely love my job, my coworkers, and my Agency's mission.

What is your MS degree in?

Geography. It's more common for people in my job to have policy degrees though.

[Anonymous]

1) marketing research director
2) $175k
3) undergrad in Business/marketing+ stats minor. Got a job at a research consulting firm out of college. After about five years there switched to client-side roles for better work/life balance and have done that ever since, few different companies and took an 8-year break when my kids were little. I could make more if I switched back to consulting but I like my team, lots of flexibility, mostly work at home, and right now able to do my job in only about 30 hrs/week

[Anonymous]

1. Vice President at a mid-size public company
2. $350K in 2023, but was new and didn’t have any stock vesting (goes up to $450K year once stock is vesting)
3. Top 10 undergrad and MBA. No mommy tracking but spouse out earns me in a higher stress job, so I’m the default parent for all kid things.

[Anonymous]

Director at a fintech
Last year my total comp was $750–$230 base the rest RSUs
Went to a good, not Ivy level undergrad, then did my best to hook into the biggest name company I could. Got an assistant job at that company. Parlayed that to an Ivy grad program. Ended up loving a niche topic (risk) and got a risk manager job at a finance company. Rode the fintech wave—a lot of “land of the blind/one eyed man is king” when it comes to regulatory engagement. Now head of a whole team and make a dumb amount of money. Moving from the hustle/grind to the rest and vest and mentor. But I’m only 38 so probably need a longer term energy/plan.

Helps my husband makes good money (200k) and is in a vvv secure job so I can swing hard into start up/IPO life and feel like it’s “ok” if I am part of the major layoffs in this world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1) Fed/analyst
2) 167k
3) associates degree (grit, tenacity; worked my way up from the bottom)

Wow! You only have an associates degree or did you end up getting more formal education?

Nope. Only an associates.

[Anonymous]

1. I buy/sell stocks. I don't work for anyone.
2. About $100k a year the last 4 years.
3. Degree in Finance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1. Big law partner
2. 6.4 in 2023
3. Law school, clerkship, then a tremendous amount of hard work. I now manage a large team. But I work harder than everyone on my team. 2023 was more than 3500 hours.

Here we see the concept of value-billing in action; that is, charging the client as much as you think they'll pay.

It is not plausible you worked 70 hours a week, every single week; 10 hours a day every single day, seven days a week, 30 days a month. Bullshit.

It's totally believable you billed that amount, and if your clients paid the firm, good on you, you deserve your cut. Not a criticism.

Clients should wise up, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. Big law partner
2. 6.4 in 2023
3. Law school, clerkship, then a tremendous amount of hard work. I now manage a large team. But I work harder than everyone on my team. 2023 was more than 3500 hours.

Here we see the concept of value-billing in action; that is, charging the client as much as you think they'll pay.

It is not plausible you worked 70 hours a week, every single week; 10 hours a day every single day, seven days a week, 30 days a month. Bullshit.

It's totally believable you billed that amount, and if your clients paid the firm, good on you, you deserve your cut. Not a criticism.

Clients should wise up, though.

To be clear, I did not say I billed clients 3500 hours. My 2023 was about 2300 billable hours. 1200 hours were spent on everything else that makes my practice run, as well as firm management, etc. And in terms of working, on average, 70 hours per week... well, I don't know what to tell you. Yes, I worked 70 hours a week on average. My usual routine is 40 to 45 hours Mon to Weds; 18 to 22 hours Thurs/Friday; and 5 to 10 hours on the weekend. Varies based on workload and what is going on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1. I buy/sell stocks. I don't work for anyone.
2. About $100k a year the last 4 years.
3. Degree in Finance.

You have clients or you mean you buy/sell using your own money?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. Big law partner
2. 6.4 in 2023
3. Law school, clerkship, then a tremendous amount of hard work. I now manage a large team. But I work harder than everyone on my team. 2023 was more than 3500 hours.

Here we see the concept of value-billing in action; that is, charging the client as much as you think they'll pay.

It is not plausible you worked 70 hours a week, every single week; 10 hours a day every single day, seven days a week, 30 days a month. Bullshit.

It's totally believable you billed that amount, and if your clients paid the firm, good on you, you deserve your cut. Not a criticism.

Clients should wise up, though.

To be clear, I did not say I billed clients 3500 hours. My 2023 was about 2300 billable hours. 1200 hours were spent on everything else that makes my practice run, as well as firm management, etc. And in terms of working, on average, 70 hours per week... well, I don't know what to tell you. Yes, I worked 70 hours a week on average. My usual routine is 40 to 45 hours Mon to Weds; 18 to 22 hours Thurs/Friday; and 5 to 10 hours on the weekend. Varies based on workload and what is going on.

That all makes sense. It read like you billed 3500.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Clearly the DCUM middle class making $400k+ are shy to reveal their path to success. Thanks to the 1M lawyer

1) NASA engineer
2) $190k
3) excelled in high school, elite engineering degree and masters, hooked up with a NASA mission I believed in and thought would make world better place. Regret not following the money into tech or defense, mommy tracked last decade and reluctant to take a risk because of DH more demanding and better paying job which disrupt our working parent juggle mid air.

1) NASA scientist
2) $190k
3) excelled in high school, elite science degree and top Ph.D., joined NASA to do great things and love it, but took 15 years post-Ph.D. to get to a GS15 and there’s no promotion from here.