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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1. Technology sales
2. $325k 2023
3. Law school, hard work, got burned out, network, highlight transferable skills,good timing and some luck

Would you mind sharing where you work? I feel like I’m being vastly underpaid…

[Anonymous]

1. Health Administration
2. $235K mommy track and WFH
3. State flagship. Masters from different state school that employer paid for. High EQ. Faith.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Surprised by how low these salaries are. I’m in a bubble!

No, you're just being a jerk.

[Anonymous]

1. Executive assistant
2. $130,000
3. Worked my ass off working for lawyers plus a great deal of luck and demand for my profession in the area

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Serious question. Why do you work so much when it’s likely you already have plenty of money?

I’m assuming you really enjoy the work?

1. I've only reached the comp level where I am relatively recently, so I still have some work getting to exactly where I'd like for long term financial security. But yes, I've done well.

2. The work is intellectually stimulating.

3. Apologies to be immodest, but I'm really good at what I do. I sucked at sports when I was younger. I don't have any hobbies where I'm especially talented. This is one thing at which I can perform well, and I enjoy that greatly.

4. I'm a workaholic. It was ingrained in me to succeed when I was a child, and I have likely deep-seated fears of failure, which drive me to work insanely hard.

5. I have a large team that depends on me to bring in work to keep things moving. They have great jobs, and I am driven to keep things going so that the team can continue to have high-paying jobs. I am trying to develop successors so, down the road, I can turn the practice over to my current deputies. But that is several years in the making.

I was the pp who asked. Thanks so much for your answer. Very refreshing and completely relatable too! Good luck!

[Anonymous]

1. Technology sales
2. 350K
3. Started in lower level jobs - tech writing, editing, project assistant, etc and gradually learned the skills of people around me, constantly took on side projects demonstrating my ability to do the jobs above me, used this approach several times to get a series of promotions and raises that have quadrupled my pay in about 7years. I worked very hard but was also lucky to work at companies where the growth was possible and supported. I did not necessarily want to work in sales but as I had my kids I realized I needed much more money and I focused on that goal and it led me to sales. But - I enjoy it!

[Anonymous]

1. Teacher
2. $125,000
3. BA in unrelated field, immediately went to grad school for an MA in teaching. Been teaching 16 years.

[Anonymous]

1. Federal HR GS-13
2. $153,500
3. Some college; no degree. Worked my way up from the bottom (GS-2).

[Anonymous]

1. Research director at non-profit
2. $205k
3. PhD. After school worked for a few years at a fed agency and then moved to a research role at my current org. My boss retired and I moved up.

[Anonymous]

1. Public school teacher
2. $83k, I'm in my 11th year of teaching
3. Couldn't make up my mind about teaching in college, went to grad school for education and student teaching

[Anonymous]

1. regulatory lawyer
2. 320k with bonus in 2023
3. Top 5 law school, clerkship, DOJ Honors

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1. Nothing, I’m retired but do a lot of non profit work.
2. Over $1 million from passive income, not including investment gains.
3. MBA, worked my butt off, bet on myself and generated great returns.

Thanks for vagueposting, it was very insightful.

[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.

Nearly all of us sell a portion of our life for money, but working consistent 70 hour weeks for more than a few years has to be brutal, especially past your 20s and 30s.

At that income level, I suspect you've been a partner for ~10+ years. Do you have kids? A spouse? At what net worth would you feel comfortable stepping down to something with a 40 hour week -- or retiring altogether?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1. Health Administration
2. $235K mommy track and WFH
3. State flagship. Masters from different state school that employer paid for. High EQ. Faith.

Can you share more details about what you do or where you work? I am trying to enter this field but am unsure what types of jobs are WFH friendly and what types of orgs to target. I have an mph.

[Anonymous]

1. USG/Analyst/Manager
2. 191K (GS-15)
3. Went to undergrad and grad at a top school for international affairs, worked very hard and now in 20+ years... although I have young kids, looking to make some possible changes to private to make more money. Undecided but weighing the benefits and costs of a potential career pivot for a short amount of time to increase earnings. Husband is a lawyer at a small firm making just shy of 200K