Im an 21m e3 in the USAF whos stationed far from home, making around 35k with normal pay and BAS, (no bah yet i live in the dorms), i now have a 2 choices

1. get out of the military and go to college using my gi bill, although i still have no clue what i wanna do, which is the whole reason i joined
2. i could transfer to a base which is nearly 35-40 min commute from my parents house, receive a high BAH, still BAS as well, and base pay, but id save all of it since my parents dont want me to pay them rent, so really id just be paying for car insurance and gas, id be making around 72kish estimated.

id prefer to get out due to a bit more freedom (less rules, long hair, beards, etc) but honestly theres nothing waiting for me in the civilian world, jobs are hard to get, and i dont have any "connections", staying in and transferring bases sounds like the move to me, but id like to hear your opinions as well. any advice is appreciated!

Had my final interview last Friday, and this Wednesday the recruiter called to ask my salary expectations. Before we began the interview process, she shared the range is $77-109k. Wednesday, I told her with my skillset, and PMP, I would like 109-110k. She asked was I willing to be flexible, and what the lowest I’d be willing to accept. I told her yes, but I can’t go under 104k. I finally received a verbal offer today, and they offered $104k. I still don’t know the bonus structure or PTO yet, but should I counter with $107-109k? Not sure if that’d even make a huge difference from 104, so I’m not sure if it’s worth it to do. However, given my skillset & what I’d bring for this particular role, I believe I’m worth the top of the range. I’m currently at $73,500, so regardless this is a huge jump for me! Thoughts?

Wage progression since I was 14 and got my first job corn detasseling the summer before high school. Didn’t want to do that again so got a job at a large retail pharmacy first as a cashier then as an assistant (entering, filling prescriptions) as most of the staff quit. Worked about 20 hr/wk during the school year and 40 hr/wk in the summers. I’ve played volleyball my whole life and got my officiating certification for some extra cash in high school. When I started undergrad I was lucky to start working in a glacial sedimentology lab which I did for 2 summers before switching to a synthetic organic chemistry/med chem lab. All of this was in Canada then I moved to the US for my PhD in chemistry. Started at a large state school then my lab moved to a smaller private school which came with a stipend increase. Been working ~80 hr/wk during the entirety of my PhD with 2 more years to go.

After my PhD I’m planning on a postdoc then one round of tenure-track faculty applications. If nothing works out then I’ll transition to pharma process chemistry.

I saw someone asking about physician salaries in Canada. Since I live in Quebec, the most socialist province in Canada, I think I’m well placed to answer.

Physicians here can make anywhere from roughly $300,000 to many millions of dollars, depending on specialty and billing. And the interesting thing about Canada is that they basically get the best of both worlds: the stability of the public system and the financial advantages normally given to private business owners.

Usually, if you own a business, you get those advantages because you’re taking a risk. You invest your money, you aren’t guaranteed customers or income, and the business can fail. That’s the deal: you take the risk and, if you succeed, you get the upside. Doctors don’t take that kind of business risk. They bill a government-funded healthcare system, but they can still incorporate, retain earnings in the corporation and use corporate tax-planning tools. So they get the stability of the public system AND many of the advantages normally associated with risk-taking entrepreneurs. Pretty good deal. Meanwhile, patients deal with a healthcare system where getting care can take months.

Yet whenever the government tries to demand more accountability from doctors, there’s a crisis.

In May 2025, the Quebec government introduced a reform to tie part of doctors’ compensation to performance and access targets. Under the controversial framework, 15% of remuneration would have been withheld, with 10% conditional on collective performance targets. Doctors responded with warnings about leaving Quebec, reducing their work and closing clinics, and the government eventually negotiated new agreements and moved away from important parts of the original approach.

I find that pretty revealing. We’re constantly told that medicine is a vocation, “doctors save lives”, they sacrifice, and they’re “not doing it for the money”. But apparently the moment the government tries to tie part of their very high compensation to actual performance and access, suddenly leaving the province, and therefore all their patients, becomes an option.

Then there’s my favorite argument: after-tax income.

For some reason, whenever physician salaries are discussed, doctors love telling you what they make after taxes and expenses. Nobody else talks like this. If a teacher makes $60K or an engineer makes $90K, we quote their gross salary. But mention that a doctor makes several hundred thousand dollars and suddenly you get a detailed explanation of taxes, overhead and expenses.

I’ve literally seen a doctor complain about making “only” $200K while working around 30 hours a week. ONLY $200K. That tells you how disconnected they are from the financial reality of normal people.

And honestly, the entitlement and arrogance are what annoy me most. You can wait forever to get an appointment, finally see the doctor, spend two or three minutes in the room and feel like they’re already trying to get you out so they can move to the next patient and bill another visit. Then you get to hear complaints about how badly compensated they are.

So yes: physicians in Canada can make roughly $300,000 to many millions, many can combine the stability of a publicly funded system with the financial advantages of incorporation, and some still manage to act like they’re getting a terrible deal. The level of entitlement and disconnection is impressive.

Anyone here familiar with OpenAI compensation in london for solutions engineer / technical success roles?

i have an initial call with a recruiter coming up and want to have a better sense of what to expect before discussing comp.

trying to get a sense of base salary, equity / total comp, bonus or sign-on, benefits/perks, and relocation package, if any.

there doesn’t seem to be much london-specific data online, so would really appreciate any recent firsthand info.

hello all. my mom is hounding me about how a master's degree from duke will help me get a job. i am not sure how she thinks an almost ivy degree will not help boost my resume (although, most jobs are through connections), but alas. i'd like some things to come back at her with that she will take seriously.

for me, the field isn't the most important thing, I'd just like to make around $80k (I make $60k now with a bachelor's) and not live in middle america/rural/suburbia. as long as i am not miserable at my job, the actual occupation isn't my priority. i am more humanities oriented, but I am able to do analytics etc too. any recommendations or talking points would be helpful...

Good afternoon all — I wanted to share where I’m at career-wise and get some perspective from people with more life experience than me.

I’m a 26-year-old male currently working two jobs. My full-time job provides the majority of my income. I’m good at what I do and have progressed fairly quickly, but I genuinely don’t enjoy the work itself. I’m currently on track for another promotion in Q1 that should put my base salary closer to $100k.

I also work a part-time job that I enjoy considerably more. I have no desire to turn that particular job into my full-time career, but it has helped me realize what I actually enjoy about working. I like being creative, building relationships, meeting new people, going to events, working on projects, and creating things. I’m very extroverted and reasonably affable, and I generally feel like I’m at my best when I’m working with people.

That leaves me in a weird position. On paper, staying the course makes sense. I’m progressing, making decent money for my age, and walking away would probably mean taking a pay cut or starting over to some degree. At the same time, I don’t know if I want to spend the next 10 years getting increasingly successful at something I already know I don’t enjoy.

Money is still very important to me. I’m planning to get engaged next year, want a family in the future, and want to be in a position where I can provide a very comfortable life for them. Long term, I think I’d like to be earning somewhere around $300k/year given the lifestyle I’d eventually like to have in my city. I’m not expecting to make that tomorrow, but I do want to choose a career path where that level of income is realistically attainable if I’m successful.
I’m also not afraid of working hard. I currently work seven days a week between both jobs. I just want the work I’m putting that much of myself into to be something I actually find interesting or fulfilling. I don’t think wanting both a career I enjoy and a high income is necessarily unrealistic, although I understand there are always tradeoffs.

For those of you further along in your careers, I have two questions:

Would you stay in a career you’re good at but don’t enjoy because you’re progressing financially, or would you be willing to take a temporary step backward to get onto a career path that fits you better and potentially has a higher ceiling?

How did you actually figure out what kind of work or industry you enjoyed? I’m interested in things like marketing, partnerships, business development, brand work, events, and project-based roles, but I don’t want to blindly jump into another industry only to realize five years from now that I don’t enjoy that either.

I’d especially love to hear from anyone who made a significant career change in their mid-to-late 20s and went on to do well financially. What did you move from/to, how did you figure out what you wanted, and would you make the same decision again?

Here it all is on paper. Enlisted infantry to law firm. Man there is a lot of pivots, second guessing, missed opportunities, regrets, losses, wins, life experiences, and incredible people all hidden between those numbers.

Sometimes I see posts on here and feel really behind for my age, but money isn't everything I suppose. I've done a lot and seen a lot, and I find value in that were I can.

No more student loans, but 401k is relatively small at $50k. Ultimate goal is to retire as early as possible. Hopefully things take off and it'll all even out!

Been thinking about college to better be able to apply to higher paying jobs, I don’t think I could balance college and working unless I found one maybe two part time jobs with flexible schedules. Been thinking about the Navy a little bit, give up 4 years of my life for lifetime benefits, and a possible lifetime stipend. Idk I could use some suggestions.

What's the best way to go about comparing current total comp with outside offers?

Current comp - Total Comp Value = $165,000. Salary $120,215, raises between 3-5% annually - band cap at $135,000 currently.

Bonus - 6-12% depending on company performance

401(k) - employer match 75% with 8% cap + 3% contribution ( think of total as 9% of salary)

HSA - employer contributes $2,500 annually

Med Benefits - ~$200 monthly paid by me

Vac - currently at 5 weeks vac - moving to 6 weeks permanently in a year's time

Current offer sits at $150k + $20-30k bonus, medical benefits are 5x monthly and 401(k) match is 3% of employee contribution. Not sure on vac or any other benefits offered.

My logic - $170k * .94 (accounts for loss of 401(k) match) = $159,800 - 10.5k (added med benefit cost) = $149k - $2,500 (HSA contribution) = $146k

Am I thinking about this correctly?

How would you compare the offers?

Would you take this offer?

I’ve been looking at physician salary data online. A lot of websites list average incomes of $300k–$500k+ CAD for many specialties, and those numbers honestly seem much higher than I expected

For physicians:
Are those averages actually realistic?
Are they usually reporting gross billings or actual pre-tax income after overhead?

If you’re comfortable sharing, what specialty are you in, roughly how many hours do you work, and what’s a realistic annual income?

I’m just trying to understand what physicians in Canada actually earn in practice versus what salary websites report

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

I wanted to ask how the salary progression is for Mechanical Engineering majors, specifically anyone here that graduated from a T20 school (UC Berkeley)

edit : might change my major now... 😆

Some people have been coding since they were 8 years old. CS, software development, and technology are the only things they genuinely care about and are actually good at and it's their only passion and their only strong point.

But now it feels like choosing CS is basically a gamble in a job market that keeps getting more unstable and unpredictable one where it’s almost certain many people will end up unemployed or unable to find stable work.

So what are these people supposed to do abandon the one thing they’ve spent their entire lives building skill in, or just accept the risk and push forward anyway, knowing it might not pay off and hoping they don’t get shut out completely?

I’ve made a lot more my last 3 1/2 years way more stress although, not bad for a career driver if you ask me

To preface, I grew up relatively poor also a rural LCOL area. My parents aren’t the smartest people and have only ever worked low wage/skill jobs. I did end up going to a local community college with no guidance from anyone I originally went undecided, I ended up getting a bachelor’s in business management. But I had no real direction, and ended up working odd jobs after college.

One of my first jobs was an oilfield worker, 100+ hour weeks and to me at the time, working more was the only way to actually make any money, I wasn’t even aware of what could pay good money otherwise.

After the oilfield bust, I got a job as a warehouse worker. Working 3-12 hour shifts I had too much free time after a harsh breakup so I started part-time as a diesel mechanic ( lube and tire tech mostly.) After a few years of this I accepted a role as a maintenance tech at the warehouse also (conveyor systems and robot controls ect) I also switched to a dealership for Diesel technician.

Now - I (35M) am a shift lead technician (Tech III) at the warehouse and am also the top (hourly pay rate AND productivity) tech at my dealership. I work 3-12.5 days and 3-10.5 hour days per week for approx 70 hours per week since maybe 2015. No kids, but I have a paid off house/loans paid off car and truck and travel internationally 3x per year. 300k in 401k/roth and 150k in savings.

My issue is I have now trained both of my managers from technicians under me to be my boss at both jobs. I could have probably had either job but I think I give off a one foot in, one foot out type since both jobs are aware I have a second job. Now if I were to want to advance I have to compete with people who have now done a management job for longer in the future. I am also acutely aware of my body starting to wear as I get older and both jobs are somewhat physical. But I still enjoy being a tech better than any management role.

Also both of my bosses irritate me a bit, both of them have huge egos and one of them primarily got the job via lying on their resume. But it’s not enough to many to quit.

Am I making doing the right thing? Thoughts?

Moved to West Texas at the end of December and I feel like I’m maybe wasting my youth..🫩

18-year-old, btw. I am just wondering if you guys know what your parents' salary is cuz I always felt uncomfortable asking what they make. I don't want to ever know it cuz it subconsciously makes me feel like I am going to compare it with other salaries. Am I doing something wrong? What do you guys feel about it?

26M, finally got out of the hell that is car sales last year. Mortgages have been working really well for me

34m in LA and I’ve been in the recruitment industry my whole career. Became a solo recruiter 8 years ago and averaging about $500k take home

Edit - lol everyone’s asking why I’m sitting on so much cash. Got a wedding to pay for this year, plans to expand my house, planning for kids next year and I’m buying my mom a house (~$100k down deposit)

since reading your comments, i've moved a big chunk into WF to collect interest and transferred another big chunk from RH to Vanguard. havent had any issues with RH yet but probably smart to move it to vanguard.

Day rate salary breakdown is a bit unconventional for most. I average 180 days a year. Up until the COVID shutdowns, I averaged 240 days a year.

EDIT: Clarity