I do wonder why you're being downvoted

I've came to the same conclusion:

I'm earning more than my friends, but

I've spend years doing it at work,

I've been learning it for years at college and

I've been doing it for years during my "free" time.

The $ per hour spent ratio doesn't seem to be very good.

When talking just about $/hour spent ratio then there are jobs which pay well and you can start earning decent faster.

Like well drilling, truck driving and I bet countless other

> I do wonder why you're being downvoted

Because it is indeed a shocking conclusion and hard to swallow. Few folks in software engineering are aware of what’s going on in the world around them. People stuck at their desks chasing tickets easily lose touch with their surroundings.

What would you describe as a high paying job?

The 5 Platonic Solids."

Here on HN everybody thinks they are going to be paid half a million a year.

Even if they did get paid half a mil, after tax it’s what a contractor earns in the uk. Probably have to pay private health care too and the cost of living is high. Not that much left.

Citation needed. https://www.itjobswatch.co.uk/contracts/uk/software%20engine...

What do you recommend for someone with a CS degree?

Don’t listen to the guy above. Terrible advice likely colored by an unhappy career just like don’t listen to me because it works be followed by barring generally happy with mine.

> and you have to waste your life away sitting in an office chasing tickets. Nothing engineery about it. It’s modern day assembly line work.

Every job I’ve literally done I’ve set my own direction. Sure, there’s some negotiation because ultimately you have to get the work done of the business. But you make recommendations and figure out what’s compelling to the business and how that intersects with something you might find interesting and want to work on.

That’s quite an assumption about my career. You may be shocked by my statement and in denial but that doesnt change my prediction.

It’s quite a claim to make that software engineering isn’t lucrative. Sure, if you play in local markets it’s not. But then again, no local market job really is. So as far as day-to-day work goes, software engineering at the local level is fine. At the global level, if you think you can compete in the top tech companies, you’re going to probably find a very well-rewarded career. It’s generally very hard to find something that’s paying you the salary of a US doctor or lawyer with just an undergraduate degree. Fears about AI feel overblown.

Sunk cost, so just work in tech ;-)

Not to mention how it destroys your ability to date. Women don't like STEMlords. Watch a girl's face at a bar when she asks you how much you make, and watch as you follow up, say the 6 figure+ amount, and then watch the exact moment that you mention you code. Coding is an "ick" for an awful lot of people.

I don't blame them. I gave up on an awful lot of social skills so that I could escape the worst of capitalist exploitation. I pimp out my mind for my money. Others pimp out their bodies, or souls...

The dating part is like affected by an inability to socialise due to sitting at a machine all day everyday. Also massively harmful to one’s health - a cost often not factored in. It is only natural that not spending time with people will lead to a gradual regression in people skills.

Does this happen often? If your first response to a woman asking that question is a direct answer, you lost already. And if she demands a direct answer you should run away.

lmao