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Comment by giantg2 | Hacker News Reader

I apparently check the right boxes. I just suck at life.

Hey random Internet stranger. Don't feel terrible. I have a CS PhD, work in AI, have a fancy job title and decent resume ..yet, I am not making anywhere close to these crazy numbers. I painted myself into a bad corner and am somehow stuck. I work crazy hours to keep myself up to date so I can get myself unstuck. I think most engineers are not making 300K-500K .. it is a bit like social media .. you just hear about the winners and not the losers. Also, the stock market was up like crazy in the last 2 years .. I think this accounts for some of the insane numbers we are seeing, people retiring, etc. The biggest mistake I made is my job doesn't give me shares/RSUs, etc. It was somewhat obvious that this was a problem but it wasn't terrible until most major tech companies did a x3 in 1 year. This was a 1 time lottery I missed (and I suspect many others did too). Things could have gone the other way too (I graduated from my PhD in 2008 and recall how terrible those days were).

Lottery tickets don't always pay off either.

I make... nowhere near 300k-500k. But I got decently lucky with a startup earlier in my career. And a bit later I got some hefty bonuses at another company.

But that hasn't really happened the last, say, 8 years. If I kept hitting that luck, I could have been around 500k/year average total comp. But I didn't and I'm not in the 300k+ club.

You are just one conversation away from changing it. Either with your current manager or your next one. Have no fear!

this. AI is such a hot market, with a phd you may double your comp in one move, or, absolutely get your current employer to give a significant raise every 6 months to keep you.

You’re being too hard on yourself.

You suck at interviewing, you suck at applying to high-paying jobs, or you don’t live near high-paying jobs.

I got about a 4.5% effective pay cut this year. I'm 10 years in with an MS and I'm only a midlevel making under $100k. I don't think those excuses apply.

None of that has any bearing on what I said. If anything, having an MS and mid-level experience only make it easier for you than most.

But you’ve been complaining about your job for months and you’re still there. And you talk about all other jobs like they’re beneath you.

"And you talk about all other jobs like they’re beneath you."

Source? I haven't said any jobs are beneath me.

"only make it easier for you"

Basically what I'm saying - I don't suck at interviewing etc. There aren't many high paying jobs in my area. I do just generally suck.

Alright, you convinced me.

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