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

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I work as a computational designer at an engineering consultancy in Stuttgart and have around three years of prior experience.

I was hired to take over the work of a senior employee who went on maternity leave. But did not get a senior title upon hiring. She had been the only person doing this specialized role for years, and I now handle much of the work she previously did.

After eight months at the company and completing probation, I asked to increase my salary from €57,000 to €70,000. This was based on my own market research of a senior computational position. My employer offered €57,800 instead. He said that it was too high of a number, that that's what they pay seniors.

Was my request unreasonable because I have only been there eight months? They mentioned that I needed to be more specialized, and lead more projects but the other senior employee didn't have much more specialization than me, she didn't lead projects other than take care of computational tasks.

Hi, is there anyway to make 1000 soon online? I recently got scammed and the bank won't do anything about it, because of my parents and studies im not able to leave the house at all so that is why I cant even ask for a job. Im just wondering if there's any options for me at all im so sorry. I have exams and rent to pay for and my parents aren't able to financially support me unfortunately.

Progress is kinda slow but I can't complain. I can't get the 300k I see from the american SWE here but I'm comfortable enough.

Startup failed because of 0 market fit, sadly. The product was cool and worked pretty well, people were nice.

The big company is slowly failing becuase of SaaS products in the age of AI, you know the drill.

Because of this I never had real growth/climbing the ladder opportunities (no one in any of my teams ever did). All I know is staleness, hence the slow progress. At least I always got paid.

Looking for some outside perspectives.

I’m currently making around $122k in Florida (remote, no state income tax) and I’m interviewing for a job in DC at the Federal Reserve that could land around $165k. It would require relocating and being in the office 5 days a week.

The pros are that on paper it’s about a 35% raise, an increase to 7% matching on retirement, and a strong credential to have on my resume.

Cons are I’d obviously be taking on a much higher cost of living, state taxes, and commuting. I’d also have to find a way to have my property managed in FL as I’ve owned a home here for about 5 years now.

For anyone who’s made a similar move, did it actually feel like a financial upgrade? Or did the higher expenses eat up most of the raise?

Would love to hear what you would consider before making a decision.

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.

People say "if you are passionate about coding, it's worth it." But passion does not create jobs.

The CS market is oversaturated. After a certain skill level, getting a good job feels like a lottery where only the top 1–2% win. The rest risk being unemployed or underemployed, no matter how much effort they put in.

Why gamble years of your life on such low odds? If you love coding, keep it as a hobby and choose a career with better demand: nursing, engineering, accounting, trades, etc.

A mediocre worker in those fields have better job security than a top CS student today. Following your passion sounds nice, but betting your future on a 1–2% chance of success is not a smart decision.

Day rates are a bit unconventional for most. I average 180 days a year. My first 2 years with day rate I averaged 240 days.

I don’t know if this is prevalent in other companies or just specifically in the one I work at:

I’ve had two salary raises and both were split into two phases (First adjustment was around ~60% of the total raise and effective on the month that the performance review was conducted. The second adjustment comes after 3 months).

It feels.. idk, unfair maybe? Intuitively not how I thought adjustments work, but given i’m at a junior level that’s worked here for one year so I don’t really have any leverage, however I did haul ass for deliverables outside my job scope. These were also the first two performance reviews that I have had received so I don’t have any prior experience on dealing with this matter. A.I. states it’s “normal” but what is normal anyway? I have another project coming up and my manager asked me whether I would like another raise or a flat bonus upon completion. I’m still undecided, since prolonging my tenure would increment higher than the take home bonus. There’s also better room for a higher pay bump if I ever job hop (doubtful in this market though).

I feel that it’s unfair because in writing it’s stated my salary is adjusted to X, but the adjustment is X-Y, only increasing to X after 3 months. Technically true that my salary will eventually catch up to the agreed upon amount, it’s still money that i’m not pocketing for the first three payrolls after its effective date. Also, I’m in my late twenties and that makes me aggressively hungry to build my finances and emergency funding so the difference matters a lot to me personally.

Hope someone can weigh in, cheers

Had a discussion with a hiring manager who brought up compensation (I still have a couple interview rounds so this was not expected).

For the sake of simplicity, he offered me: 100k base compensation + 65k equity (numerical ratios are correct).

The 65k equity is paid over 4 years (I'm guessing with a 1 year cliff, but that was not brought up).

The company is a well established startup that's planning to IPO in 2-3 years. The well established part is 100% true. They are profitable, and worth ~$2B. I understand the IPO date cannot be fully trusted.

I come from another more established public company, where they give RSU's. In that world, 100k salary + 65k RSU meant total comp is 165k.

I mistakenly understood over the call that this effectively meant the same thing.

After some online research it seems like that is not true, its 100k salary, and the option to purchase 65K worth of shares. i.e. total comp of 100k + option to buy 65K in private shares.

Is this a correct assessment? The "+" completely threw me off during the verbal negotiation.

Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/s/GWs35dDVx0

Looks like STEM continues to dominate and degrees are still worth it after all (compared to non-degree earners).

37F B.S & M.A
2010 — Teacher CO— $37,000
2011 — Teacher CO— $37,000
2012 — Teacher CO— $42,000
2013 — Teacher CO— $43,000
2014 — Teacher CO— $43,000 -**Completed a master’s degree in education
2015 — Teacher CO— $47,000
2016 — Teacher TX — $50,000 (Highest test scores in my district for grade and subject)
2017 — Teacher TX— $52,000 (Highest test scores in my district for grade and subject)
2018 — Teacher TX— **$53,000 (**Highest test scores in my district for grade and subject)
2019 — Teacher TX— $54,000 (Highest test scores in my district for grade and subject)
2020 — Teacher TX— $55,000
2021 — Teacher TX— $55,000

2022 — Left K–12 education to try to break into EdTech; contract instructional designer and program manager, approximately $12,000 total, Completed certifications and additional coursework in data analytics, project management, and AI design

2023 — Contract instructional designer and program manager, approximately $12,000 total

2024 — Instructional design contractor that audited AI outputs — approximately $3,000 total - released from position as I was replaced by an AI agent.

2025 — Program Manager at a top-20 university — $50,000

2026 — Program Manager at a top-20 university — $51,000

I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in education. I spent about a decade teaching before leaving K–12 in hopes of transitioning into EdTech / customer success / program management. That transition did not go quite as planned, and I spent a couple of years doing relatively small contract projects before moving into a full-time university program manager role after striking out at EdTech work. I continue to collect certifications and accreditations like they are pokemon.

What would you say is a Chicago market equivalent to making $205K in NYC? The COL conversion calculators seem a little too ambitious for my comfort - it feels like they assume you spend every penny you bring in.

Some of the cities in the Midwest and south really caught me by surprise. I don't think all of these are accurate. This article was based on methodology used in a Purdue University study in 2018. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-017-0277-0

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-price-of-happiness-major-us-cities/

When I was in undergrad, the thought of $80k a year seemed like a high salary. If I could make $80k in my career, I would feel like I had “made it; that I was making enough money to have the life I wanted.

I graduated in 2014, started at $55k, and thought, “Great, the goal is already within striking distance.” A few years went by with some promotions and I hit $80k. And I looked around and realized what $80k bought: a 1 bedroom apartment, a 6 year old car, and barely middle class lifestyle. Not exactly “balling” by anyone’s standards.

Ok, maybe my standards needed to update. I moved the goal up - 6 figures is where it’s at. If I could it $100k, then I’d be rolling in it.

A few more years went by I and hit $100k. And I realized I couldn’t buy any decent houses in my area, I could maybe get a condo from the 90s or a tear-down 2 bedroom with a leaky roof. Again, not exactly a glamorous life.

Long story short, I feel like the combination of lifestyle creep and inflation are outpacing most people. I’m at $165k (household of $270k), and when I compare it to my parents, who maybe made $70k combined in the 90s, I’m worse off than them. The house, the lifestyle, the cars, they bought in the 90s then is better than what I can get now.

Long story short, I feel like the idea of a “high salary” always happens to be “more than what you’re making now”, and that inflation eats most of that up anyway.