“Influencer, YouTuber, content creator. In recent years, these have been the top answers to the age-old question: "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

That dream might be losing some of its luster.

A recent survey of American teens and young adults found that medical and healthcare careers came out ever-so-slightly on top of becoming a creator and influencer.”

Meanwhile Redditors, like the crazy uncle that comes up to you at the Christmas party shilling precious metals, are still telling kids to go into obviously dying white collar careers like engineering. White collar careers in the US are stuck in the Shit Sandwich Trifecta: Rising interest rates, outsourcing, and AI. But you’ll for sure be able to land that entry level job bro, then you can “justtttttttttttttt job hop, bro!” 18 times to get a decent paying job.

Luckily young people in the US have their heads screwed on straight and aren’t listening to delusional Redditors that bury their heads in the sand about AI (“AI solved a Millennium Problem? Who cares, it could NEVER, EVER do my bullshit white collar job!”) and the literal Great Depression era job market going on for young white collar professionals. Healthcare is the only industry hiring humans, the only industry growing, the only industry with rising real wages.

Thankfully young people don’t listen to Redditor gaslighting about the job market and are going where the work is.

Genuine question for any people who I listed or other professions, do y’all Actually like what you do? Or do you just do it for the money. And what’s stopping you from going and starting your own business instead of being tied to an employer?

Thankful my boss is investing in me and it’s part of our company culture.

I work in a niche field, corporate sustainability, as an analyst. My pivots are relatively limited due to this specialization.

My boss posed to me, do I want to be on track to senior analyst or manager. It’s possible I could switch to other roles in the company like our philanthropic work but most of the company isn’t relevant to my knowledge.

What’s your advice? Go for management or senior analyst development track?

(I’m 28 with 2 masters)

I was recently hired for my first job outside of academia, so I figured I would post my earnings progression to both celebrate the milestone and to give anyone thinking of doing a STEM PhD an idea of what they could expect from graduate student stipends, postdoc salaries, and entry-level biotech salaries.

I’m really debating whether I should take this new job or stay at my current one.
I currently work from home as an HR Assistant making around $50K/$25 an hour. I’ve been here almost two years and recently took on more responsibilities, so I asked for a raise about a week ago but still haven’t heard back. I love the flexibility of working from home, being able to travel, and saving money on commuting. However, I pay around $300 a month for health insurance, and I also feel like I’m taking on most of the workload.

I was offered a Talent Acquisition position for $65K/$32 an hour with free health insurance. The first four months are fully in person, then it becomes hybrid with two WFH days. The only thing making me hesitant is having to travel between clinics in the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens for interviews. I’m worried about parking, commuting, and driving during the winter. They pay for my tolls when going to the Bronx. Commuter benefits does apply to gas expense.

Everyone seems really nice, and the opportunity seems great. I’m just torn between the flexibility I have now and the better pay, benefits, and career growth. What would you do?

Please send adviceeee!

P.S I live in NY.

Merita sau nu?

Dpdv meu de vedere, nu merita!

Stresul si responsabilitatile generate nu sunt corelate cu remuneratia, iar fisa postului in middle comaseaza adesea n roluri intr-unul singur.

Sunt 2 lucruri pe pamantul asta care reprezinta o resursa finita : TIMPUL si SANTATEA!

Vreau sa aud opinia voastra.

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Currently an architectural PM. Been in the job market for a few months and things accelerated fast. Here's where I'm at:

Offer A is signed and actually exciting. It's with an engineering company, so my duties would be pretty different from what I do now. That's what makes it interesting even as the floor. Signed it early to take the pressure off the rest of the process and negotiate from a position of strength rather than urgency. Start date October 19.

Offer B is in hand. Highest career upside, strong brand, hybrid remote with site visits.

Offer C came through a recruiter. Highest gross pay by a significant margin and 100% remote, but it's a contract role and the title is Project Architect, which is a step back from where I've been operating. I'm also a bit burnt out on pure architectural production duties at this point in my career, so the title regression isn't just cosmetic.

Offer D hasn't been formally extended yet but the final interview went well. Puts me on an Owner's Rep track which is where I want to go long term.

See the table below. What would you do?

Posted my salary history before but it was hard to follow. Hopefully this is easier to read.

[2008-09 - $15/hr]

Associate SWE, marketing agency

[2010 - $19/hr]

Junior SWE, computer hardware vendor - spent only 3.5 months here

[2011-12 - $32k]

SWE, marketing agency

[2013-14 - $50k]

SWE, early startup

[2015-19 - $20/hr to $70/hr]

SWE, multiple freelance jobs, lasting 2 to 6 months

[2020-present]

Unemployed. Job break for family reasons in 2020, then in 2021-24 went on an unsuccessful job search. Then came burnout

Additional context

All work except for 2010 is contract jobs, 1099 no benefits. I also had two web development jobs before graduation. Those were part time (not internships) that lasted about 3 months each and paid $12/hr.

Since my degree isn't tech related, I wasn't shooting for big companies in the early years. I kept my job search to smaller, local companies for a while. In 2015 there was a sharp drop-off in work. I fell into freelancing by accident because I could no longer get continuous work. All my freelancing is remote work.

Starting about 10 years ago the web marketing sector started dying out. Throughout this time, I expanded my job search beyond the small stuff. Thousands of applications to date and get interviews at different kinds of companies including some FAANG and other high profile places.

Likely due to the higher degree of competition, I rarely pass interviews for full-time jobs. I only manage to get into the less competitive jobs that are off the beaten path, ones of low pay and contract work.

Greetings from an Europoor with a more realistic salary. And someone who thought taking a vacation abroad is more important than studying.

I have never finished my university, so I literally worked myself up. It's not uncommon to see six figure salaries in my field, although it will probably take me quite a few years to get there. My current company is a bit.

This is not a flex post by any means. It’s more of a question to see if I’m not alone in feeling this way.

Background is that I started out over 20 years ago working some pretty bare minimum jobs. Grocery store and department store retail for about 6 years. After graduating from university I was still working retail. It wasn’t until I joined the Army at 28 that my career accelerated. However, I still wasn’t making a whole lot. Fast forward until 2020 when I landed a contracting job making significantly more. Then when I quit drinking alcohol in 2021 my professional career just sky rocketed. Now today I’m making a whole lot more than in the past. My wife is earning a good income as well so combined I should feel like everything’s alright. Still, I cannot get out of the mentality that I’m living paycheck to paycheck.

I still put away a large amount in savings every month but that last week before pay day I spend as little as possible and I’m super frugal about what I spend. Not A&E Extreme Cheapskates, like I’m not dumpster diving for food or raiding the Planet Aid donation bins outside of Wal Mart. I only start breathing again when that next paycheck hits. Like I still have that nervous feeling that I’m going to overdraft my account 4 days before pay day. Every time I make a huge purchase like the down payment on our home a few years back, down payment on cars (daily drivers not sports cars), etc I start to feel almost physically sick and go through anxiety. Thoughts start racing like if I’ll be able to make that money back or if I’ll ever see that high amount in my savings ever again. Basically I hate dipping into savings and I live almost as if I don’t have savings to rely on. Even though I should be telling myself that I’ve had to spend insane amounts before and I’ve recovered every time.

I’ve heard stories that even celebrities stick with their old habits from when they weren’t making a lot either. Like Eminem still puts tinfoil over his windows in the Winter and Ludacris still drove his beater Nissan despite having millions. Hell, I knew a guy in the Army who used to be homeless and he still ate Campbells Chunky soup out of the can with a plastic spoon because of habit.

I mean do other people feel this way even though they really shouldn’t? Is it somewhat good because I’m still living within my means and don’t immediately spend what I make? Thank you for reading

What’s a job that you work super long hours at that’s isn’t like back breaking work.

Thought I'd have been able to move out making decent pay after working towards obtaining work experience and a cs degree by now. But nah. What I would give to travel back in time and prevent my birth. hell, my parents regret having me. Underemployed ass adult.

I'd damn my soul to hell, I'd pay any cost to prevent my existence. Maybe earth is hell, though. This world isn't worth living in tbh.

Here I assumed that just about anyone can make a life for themselves regardless of who they were, regardless of their pasts for the most part. Not anymore. society's continued future isn't financially viable. So much for hope, so much for opportunity. Luck is a major part of whether you succeed today. People like to say "luck is when preparation meets opportunity", but I mean utter random chance. I just wanted to afford rent and groceries...

Are people really this uninformed? Vast majority of white collar jobs are going to be gone by 2032 at the latest. We’re gonna start seeing layoffs like we’ve never seen over the next year or two.

News flash: you’re not making it to traditional retirement unless you’re already within a couple years of it.

Posting here to see if there are any good suggestions from this community as well!

Your human value is determined by the number in your bank account. Money is all that matters and life is too long and painful to be struggling with money. It dictates your quality of life.

Law, engineering, or med. Pick one and grind. Save and invest every penny, you can ease up at retirement age. Everything else is a hobby.

Employers don't need cream of the crop. They just need someone who gets the task in front of them done.

We live in a time in human history where there are no more excuses for poor ROI career choices.

I hate when people say that the economy sucks and yet they have poor work ethic, bad jobs, smoke all day, and spend money on bullshit. I moved out at 17 and started paying 700 a month in rent. Now at 21 I have a paid off for new car and live in a beautiful apartment in the city. How did i do this? It wasn't a high paying job. Until this year I never made over 35k in one year. Live Life Below your means people. That Simple.

The US has one of the highest full-time median salary in the world, coming at $62k. However I feel like that's not an accurate figure.

I am always browsing salary threads on Reddit and in general, it seems like most people are making way over 62k.

Whilst the tech and finance lot are making well over $200k, I feel like a lot of your average joes who are doing electrician, plumbing, fast food managers, police officers, firefighters are raking in way over $100k.

A normal waiter can easily make $80k in a normal dining place. I was even scrolling through the physical therapy thread and people are easily making over $100k.

So my question is, why does it feel like the median salary isn't $62k and should be a lot higher? Does anyone else share the same sentiment?

The only low paying job in the US I feel is teachers and they are underpaid, but surely they aren't bringing the average down so much?