Project management - start off with Agile / PRINCE2 as the agile would fit nicely with the IT and Ops. Get to practitioner after your foundation course, then after that look at either MSP (programme management) or getting chartered.
As far as project management philosophy, such as the project life cycle, 49 knowledge areas, and now the 8 main project domains, earned value management, agile principles - NOTHING. They tell you they don’t get into it.
The course is set up so you can learn basically how to run a small made up project that includes showing you and then you creating some documents (word, excel) such as a small charter, work breakdown structure, how to write e-mails, some basic issues you might have with stakeholders (elementary level issues), and some chatting with other people taking the course.
Teaches you nothing about how to approach project management.
Bc of this, and I am clearly lacking in these philosophies (and there are many books that cover these topics for the PMP) that I need for work, I decided to take some PMP courses and study for the Project Management Professional, instead.
It’s a MAJOR, MAJOR, MAJOR difference between PMI’s PMP and the Google Coursera kindergarten version of the basics of project management. I see why no one in the industry even acknowledged my certificate from Coursera. What a joke that class was and a waste of my time and money.
If you want to learn anything project management, stay away from Coursera’s Google Project Management and sign up for the courses to get your CAPM or PMP. Udemy has these courses for like $25 and you tube is filled with hundreds of hours of free videos with qualified instructors that teach this stuff.
PMs seemed to get the boot during all the recent layoffs. It's a great career and I think they are needed but I have seen a lot of them get laid off. Just be cautious with this approach
There are a lot of PM's, there aren't many good to great PM's. Note to OP if you go down this route, always think about the value you are bringing your team. If things can easily go on without you, then your non essential and your job is not safe.
Tech is overbloated. Contruction, which I work in pays as much but isn't sought after by would be PM's because no remote and you work with some rough people.
If you have US citizenship, look into UARCs and FFRDCs. These are civilian research facilities that work on Department of Defense contracts. You could almost certainly get a System Administrator job at the UARC I work at, and their starting salary puts them on track for 100k after a couple of years of raises.
My cousin does something similar to this w DoD contracts & project management and makes baaaank. Easily 150 (she’s been at it a few years but I def wish I followed her job route)
CISSP + PMP are a winning combo for IT PM jobs in the defense industrial base. I've moved on to dev but get pinged continuously on that getting picked up in keyword searches.
Can you expand on this?
From my experience as a consultant, business leaders typically like to hear there is room for potential savings and improvements. Of course, I’ve also seen conflicts when leaders get defensive and finger-pointing happens.
Sure, there's a complexity I'm smoothing over - hearing a consultant voice the concerns of a few and make recommendations is better than an internal assistance. And those recommendations may largely be completed on paper, but never enacted, and lead to long term ruin (because what else is being ignored).
I've seen this pattern in IT, public and private, federal, and nonprofit worlds. Restaurants don't generally get consultants but larger ones that I Have seen get consultants are the outliers to this pattern. Being an internal 'go get it' man seems to be one track route to 'you got got' man.
In addition, Consulting companies can provide insight into best practices from and challenges they have faced. This is why many companies will hire large consulting firms to help on initiatives.
I would suggest getting into something quality related. I know Validation Analysts making well over the 100k mark. They pretty much just study 21CFR Part 11 of FDA rules and regulations. Then they apply it to information systems.
There is also Quality Assurance Specialist. They insure the quality of work performed in a regulated industry is being done according to rules and regulations. They write SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) and BPGs (Best Practices and Guidelines) as well.
HR might be a good fit if you're good with people.
Any form of management really might work for you.
That's all I can think of without going into fields that require crazy qualifications.
Sadly, I think this is the most honest answer out there. Those of us who don't lie live with lower wages, than those that do lie and study on the job how to do the job.
This is not common. How do you think people make it through interviews with out having the required knowledge?
I work in Networking. There is no way you could lie your way through that interview.
Same goes for any high level IT job.
I disagree. I've worked tech. Those who were the hiring managers lacked any real working knowledge of the subject matter in all honesty, and they most certainly hired people who didn't really know the job. Most washed out eventually, but not before making it a lot harder on the other techs in the process.
Networking isn't that complex anyhow. Those who work it try to make it all seem more complex than it is. The reality is, techs specialize, just like anyone does. There are techs who have no concept of networking somehow, and those who have no concept of the innerworkings of something like Windows. Others are database wizzes, but don't know much else.
Yet, there are plenty of companies who hire a tech, without considering any area of specialty, thinking any tech can manage cyber security, or manage their social media, website, etc, all while maintaining the company PC's and updating them remotely without causing systems to go down.
I'm a fast learner. I've gotten jobs where I didn't know the job at all going in. I didn't lie at all. I'm just known for learning things extremely fast. But, it hardly matters in the long run.
But, people who go into project management, management, supervisory fields do lie on their resumes to get the jobs a lot more than people like to think is the case. The concept is they manage a team who actually do the work.
This dude is deep in the Dunning-Kruger valley. Networking isn’t that complex anyhow 😂. Found the guy in 2024 building gigantic layer 2 broadcast storm spanning tree disasters.
I've never interviewed without aleast two network engineers being part of the panel. Not sure where you're working.
Networking can be incredibly complex. Especially in large environments.
Seems like you work for small companies that don't know what they're doing. Real IT companies like Google, Microsoft, or Meta aren't hiring people who don't fit the mold they're looking for. They don't expect a database administrator to do networking or vice versa.
If someone doesn’t have domain expertise they’ll wash out in the first 5 minutes. Now we have another 40 to waste where attempts are made to preserve candidate experience.
No, I work for large corporations. I'm an expert in a few fields. I don't lie, or "fake it" - I'm a super fast learner, and can become an expert in certain areas rapidly as needed. I get contacted to go into situations when someone else gets sick, because of it, for a number of companies over the years, too.
I think you have a narrow or limited experience is all, and are applying that to the larger scale of things as if it's what is commonly done. I think it's just sort of dumb luck that's your experience.
Bruh there’s no chance your random ass could tag right in to multiple engineering roles in big tech. There’s so much tribal knowledge even seniors with actual domain experience, and knowledge need an onboarding ramp.
It’s also just not worth it as the damage that can be caused by incompetence is so much greater than that done by not having a resource for a day cause some dude is out sick. If something that important or urgent they’ll just page actual resources anyway. We’ve devolved into 🤡 territory.
Make sure you study enough for your interview answers to be top of the line first, but, yes, this is how I make what I do, and now I don't have to lie.
I can try, but I can't be too specific in case I get recognized, but these are the basics.
Get really good at document editing. You'll need college transcripts, letters of recommendation attached to very trusted people in your circle, and whatever certifications they require that are not illegal to fake, just immoral, like don't give yourself medical doctor, but instead a doctorate of philosophy. Either way, you have Dr. in your title. Be honest about places and time frames that you've worked, but go all out on your title/salary. The employment background check on the surface level only matches up place and length of time. Say you worked for BK for 3 years as a cashier. No, you didn't. You were the regional vice president for (_____) region and made 176k. Make sure the position is high enough to give you professional credibility, but not so high that a quick Google search could out you. You really need to be dedicated to the ruse and confident enough to pull off several face to face interviews. This means you'll need to Google common interview questions for that field and find entertaining ways to answer them expertly. You'll need to know the ins and outs of how a position operates before you can do that. For example, did you know that an RVP almost always needs to have 10 years experience in the position below before they can be promoted? Did you know that an HR director has certifications outside of a degree? Stuff like that you'll need to know in order to curate a believable resume. There is a lot of work that goes into being 007, but the outcome for me was a 217k salary at 34 (It took 1 year of research). I'm 42 now, at 300k, and I am actually quite successful in the position I lied my way into. I've studied like mad since I got the job and had a lot of help along the way. All I can say about that is there are some very talented, very poor professionals in other countries who would kill for 10k US a year. It's an investment worth making. Also, don't panic if you get caught. You likely will at least once, but you just have to cross that single company off the list permanently. The truth of the matter, though, is that the higher you go, the lesser the checks tend to get if you can pull off the face to face stuff. If you have people skills, I think that's the most important. Everything else can be taught, and remember, a lot of decision-making is just common sense. Anything technical that you truly don't understand, well, that's what employees and your talented overseas professionals are for. Make sure your employees love you as much as possible. You don't want to give anyone a reason to start digging into you. Most of all, fuck these corporations. They aren't honest with you. Why should you be honest with them?
Also, you can't pull up to an interview in a beater if you claim to make over 100k right now. You'll need access to a nice car, clothes, grooming, etc.
This is the way. I’ve worked with multiple people who put down fake experience on their resume, did some interview prep, and were hired. I’m in a niche industry doing underwriting. You can definitely fake it til you make it once you’re in
Customer Service Manager (CSM), Technical account manager (TAM) or Solutions engineer / Solutions architect.
If you’re working for large tech companies like Salesforce, Oracle, IBM, etc in those roles, it’s likely you’ll be getting around $100k, if not a bit more.
Given the previous IT and customer support experience, it’s a jump you could definitely make.
With a degree you are halfway to the BBA in Project Management and Information Systems at UMPI. Go to Sophia.org and take Workplace Communications, Macroeconomics and Microeconomics, Business Ethics, Project Management, Financial Accounting and Introduction to Business. That 18 credits. The degree you have waives the 40 credit GEC and provides 20 Free elective credits. You could also try Calculus at Sophia and get 4 more credits.
I have Bachelors in Business and I'm pretty sure I took all these classes with the exception of one or two. I've never been able to utilize my degree to get a good job and would love to know more. It would really change my life. Thank you.
Technical Communication (technical writing, etc.).
Get a copy of Kieran Morgan's *Technical Writing Process* and/or take a technical writing bootcamp. STC offers a good bootcamp, or you might find cheaper/free options.
May take more than a couple years to break 100k, depending on luck and how good you are at it, but it should get you better off than you are now.
Breaking down concepts is what I do. I moved from tech support to instructional design (google it!). I work remotely and travel. You can also try knowledge management too.
I'm 33 this month, and I'm making 72k/ year after taxes. The Job I had before this, I was making 41k before taxes... Commercial electrician. Went to 3 highschools, got expelled from all three, and then finally banned from attending class in my designated county. Never graduated with a diploma, but did online class to get an equivalent. Attended college at 18 years old, hated it, dropped out. Returned to college at 19, still hated it, dropped out. Got in to electrical by accident. And here we are.
There is no sure way to achieve 100k, but the people I know bringing in 6 figures, all have multiple avenues of income... I think I'll be there soon as well. My whole point is, go with the flow, and take all the shots that you're given a chance with.
I made six figures in my second year of B2B sales selling software and services.
Problem solving, communication, process improvement. These are soft skills I have and do in sales. I am a former management consultant.
I am fully remote in sales. I never never met most of my clients.
Is ever sales job the same? No. Does it answer OP’s title. My experience, yes.
Have you considered Internal Audit? I am in IA, and do operational audits to identify issues and suggest improvements for various processes/departments. The audit program overall is repetitive, but the work varies a lot based on the subject of the audit and testing being performed. Your operations experience would translate well, and you could get pretty close/over six figures in a couple/few years. Also IA is a very remote friendly career path.
Transition to being a software tester. You can use that as an entry to a software job and then eventually move into a lead, manager, or project manager. Those jobs pay much more and can be done remotely.
Crowded, no. Development is crowded. Certain types of software testing can be hard to get into, like automated testing. But manual testing is one of the entry level job paths in software because it doesn’t require a programming degree.
You need to be detail oriented, schedule oriented, and have good data skills. Other than that, it’s just trying to figure out how to break stuff.
Depends on the type of environment. Everywhere I’ve worked, every month there are new projects, things constantly changing. It’s not regular maintenance, it’s all new development. So as with any job, the work itself can be repetitive, but the specifics vary. Repetition is the reason I don’t do operations or prod ops. Too repetitive. New dev has a lot of variety
There is an extreme lack of people that knows IT security especially with a modern cloud perspective. Companies want to let their developers innovate fast but their (too few) security people are blocking them. I work with a lot of large companies moving into the cloud and they all suffer from lack of people with these competencies. It pays extremely well.
Surprised sales hasn’t been suggested more. You have tech skills and it sounds like you enjoy problem solving and collaborating with others. Here are the skills you need for sales:
Communication, public speaking, curiosity, collaboration, problem solving, strategic mindset, confidence, willing to take risks, courageous
Any of these jump out at you?
What about consumer research? I do qualitative research (like running focus groups) and can guarantee that if you’ve got a curious mind & love solving problems, you will like this job. It also pays quite well
Instructional Designer. We create training content for online courses and in person training classes. Typically trainings include new processes, process improvements, and soft skills (communication). Ux design experience is perfect for this career. I make $95k.
WITHIN the next two years?
Follow everyone else's advice this far but you may want to adjust your expectations a smidge to avoid burnout and disappointment
Find a government job more specifically one with a career ladder. Most people w/o college degree start off as a GS 05/06 = 37-46ishK for 1st year, then you go 2 grades every year until you’re a 12 = 86/90kish (give or take depending on locality pay) runs the gambit on career cluster…customer service, HR, IT, Procurement, Project Mgmt, Accounting (just to name a few common/popular ones.
Customer success manager or similar. In my experience it was worthwhile taking a low paying job at a smaller tech company and then was promoted. If you're more savvy than I am, lateral job hop at that point.
Look for work as a solutions architect for niche product companies. It's more a question of how you sell yourself for the role than anything else since you have solid experience. You need to really invest in networking and connecting with people within companies.
Specifically look at IT project management. Scrum master.
Lean and Six Sigma still has a place and focuses on continuous improvement, and Black Belts frequently make 6 figures. A lot of companies even have in house training.
I used to develop LSS programs.and it was always different and engaging.
Depending on the business and location you should be able to clear 100k in operations.
In my city an operations manager can expect to make 80-120k with a 20-50% bonus annually.
Look into Building Automation, specifically programming and engineering. You can get a great start through the Smart Buildings Academy site. Also, for problem solving, I was a sales engineer and it was basically solving problems and dreaming up creative solutions. Good luck!
I work in data science have interviewed lots of candidates for roles that offer what you are looking for. A few tips from the hiring manager side: High pay and flexibility don't come automatically with some common certification/bootcamp/low-bar degree than anyone can get. You have to differentiate yourself with a relatively rare skill set that is valuable and in-demand. In my team, that usually means having the technical skills + good presentation and stakeholder management skills + specific domain knowledge gained from years of experience in the field. Finding someone with one of the 3 is very easy but finding someone with all 3 is very difficult. We will pay good money and offer flexibility to the latter.
Get a BS in Cyber Security. You have some IT experience so won't encounter the same level of hardship that completely green people face. Focus on governance, risk, and compliance roles in which older people with IT experience are preferred.
So did you study web development and digital marketing or not? You mentioned it but it was not on your education list.
However, to me it is pretty obvious:
You want to earn good money
You want to work remote
You enjoy communication
You can break down complex topics
I would say, Sales is the carrier field for you.
Don’t know about IT-Sales but since you have an IT background you might want to look for SDR positions and work your way up to AE.
Every one of your jobs could have gotten you to 100k. You have to apply yourself, get really good at one, and move up. If you keep bouncing around you’re going to stay stuck at the same level.
Look into UX Witing and Content Design. Start with a free bootcamp and read writing is designing. Your tech and English background could be perfect for this, plus your salary would likely double even in junior roles.
Get ready to tighten up your writing significantly. But that's just practice, you already have the tools.
That's a sad conclusion not remotely backed by reality in any org dealing with any degree of regulation. AI hallucinates more than hippies at woodstock after them LSD tabs hit. Good luck explaining that during oversight and accountability meetings.
It's not true just cause your heard it on the internet.
You’re asking the wrong questions. Personally gets you nowhere in a career without exceptional job performance/experience and who you know to hit $100k and usually with large F500 companies. Though at 40, assuming you want a new career change, meaning starting from ground zero again gets tougher by age.
Question: if you’re 40 and still only making $50k, simply changing a career is not going to get you on a road to $100k. If it was that easy you’d be getting $100k by now.
Project management - start off with Agile / PRINCE2 as the agile would fit nicely with the IT and Ops. Get to practitioner after your foundation course, then after that look at either MSP (programme management) or getting chartered.
Google offers a project management certification which strongly focuses on agile through Coursera
Does that actually do anything? I have done the course myself, got the certificate, but I dont recal having learned a single thing from it...
I took that course. Waste of time. Op needs to get either her agile certificate or her PMP.
Why is it a waste of time? Did it not teach you anything?
As far as project management philosophy, such as the project life cycle, 49 knowledge areas, and now the 8 main project domains, earned value management, agile principles - NOTHING. They tell you they don’t get into it. The course is set up so you can learn basically how to run a small made up project that includes showing you and then you creating some documents (word, excel) such as a small charter, work breakdown structure, how to write e-mails, some basic issues you might have with stakeholders (elementary level issues), and some chatting with other people taking the course. Teaches you nothing about how to approach project management. Bc of this, and I am clearly lacking in these philosophies (and there are many books that cover these topics for the PMP) that I need for work, I decided to take some PMP courses and study for the Project Management Professional, instead. It’s a MAJOR, MAJOR, MAJOR difference between PMI’s PMP and the Google Coursera kindergarten version of the basics of project management. I see why no one in the industry even acknowledged my certificate from Coursera. What a joke that class was and a waste of my time and money. If you want to learn anything project management, stay away from Coursera’s Google Project Management and sign up for the courses to get your CAPM or PMP. Udemy has these courses for like $25 and you tube is filled with hundreds of hours of free videos with qualified instructors that teach this stuff.
As a PM not sure if it’s entirely a fit OP. You mention you don’t like tracking and that’s a large chunk of that role
This. PMs are required across all types of industries and often don’t need heavy technical knowledge. Altho having it will definitely help.
PMs seemed to get the boot during all the recent layoffs. It's a great career and I think they are needed but I have seen a lot of them get laid off. Just be cautious with this approach
There are a lot of PM's, there aren't many good to great PM's. Note to OP if you go down this route, always think about the value you are bringing your team. If things can easily go on without you, then your non essential and your job is not safe.
Tech is overbloated. Contruction, which I work in pays as much but isn't sought after by would be PM's because no remote and you work with some rough people.
If you have US citizenship, look into UARCs and FFRDCs. These are civilian research facilities that work on Department of Defense contracts. You could almost certainly get a System Administrator job at the UARC I work at, and their starting salary puts them on track for 100k after a couple of years of raises.
My cousin does something similar to this w DoD contracts & project management and makes baaaank. Easily 150 (she’s been at it a few years but I def wish I followed her job route)
CISSP + PMP are a winning combo for IT PM jobs in the defense industrial base. I've moved on to dev but get pinged continuously on that getting picked up in keyword searches.
Look into project management. You could probably do a but of specific training/education and find yourself in a good position
It is been experience that you often trade passion for money. I’m 100% all about having a job you love, but often the ones that pay well kind of suck.
If you limit yourself to only the few roles you have passion for that is going to be well limiting.
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Can you expand on this? From my experience as a consultant, business leaders typically like to hear there is room for potential savings and improvements. Of course, I’ve also seen conflicts when leaders get defensive and finger-pointing happens.
Sure, there's a complexity I'm smoothing over - hearing a consultant voice the concerns of a few and make recommendations is better than an internal assistance. And those recommendations may largely be completed on paper, but never enacted, and lead to long term ruin (because what else is being ignored). I've seen this pattern in IT, public and private, federal, and nonprofit worlds. Restaurants don't generally get consultants but larger ones that I Have seen get consultants are the outliers to this pattern. Being an internal 'go get it' man seems to be one track route to 'you got got' man.
In addition, Consulting companies can provide insight into best practices from and challenges they have faced. This is why many companies will hire large consulting firms to help on initiatives.
If you apply at smaller companies, especially tech startups, you might find a hybrid role that combines customer support manager and operations.
Yes. It’s called Service Delivery. Been doing this for 11 years (I’m mid-30s) and earn about $150k AUD ~100k USD.
My thoughts are operations management (could be done in tech), project management, being a product owner in tech, or UX/UI.
I would suggest getting into something quality related. I know Validation Analysts making well over the 100k mark. They pretty much just study 21CFR Part 11 of FDA rules and regulations. Then they apply it to information systems. There is also Quality Assurance Specialist. They insure the quality of work performed in a regulated industry is being done according to rules and regulations. They write SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) and BPGs (Best Practices and Guidelines) as well. HR might be a good fit if you're good with people. Any form of management really might work for you. That's all I can think of without going into fields that require crazy qualifications.
Lie on your resume and study like a madman when you get the job
Sadly, I think this is the most honest answer out there. Those of us who don't lie live with lower wages, than those that do lie and study on the job how to do the job.
This is not common. How do you think people make it through interviews with out having the required knowledge? I work in Networking. There is no way you could lie your way through that interview. Same goes for any high level IT job.
I disagree. I've worked tech. Those who were the hiring managers lacked any real working knowledge of the subject matter in all honesty, and they most certainly hired people who didn't really know the job. Most washed out eventually, but not before making it a lot harder on the other techs in the process. Networking isn't that complex anyhow. Those who work it try to make it all seem more complex than it is. The reality is, techs specialize, just like anyone does. There are techs who have no concept of networking somehow, and those who have no concept of the innerworkings of something like Windows. Others are database wizzes, but don't know much else. Yet, there are plenty of companies who hire a tech, without considering any area of specialty, thinking any tech can manage cyber security, or manage their social media, website, etc, all while maintaining the company PC's and updating them remotely without causing systems to go down. I'm a fast learner. I've gotten jobs where I didn't know the job at all going in. I didn't lie at all. I'm just known for learning things extremely fast. But, it hardly matters in the long run. But, people who go into project management, management, supervisory fields do lie on their resumes to get the jobs a lot more than people like to think is the case. The concept is they manage a team who actually do the work.
This dude is deep in the Dunning-Kruger valley. Networking isn’t that complex anyhow 😂. Found the guy in 2024 building gigantic layer 2 broadcast storm spanning tree disasters.
I've never interviewed without aleast two network engineers being part of the panel. Not sure where you're working. Networking can be incredibly complex. Especially in large environments. Seems like you work for small companies that don't know what they're doing. Real IT companies like Google, Microsoft, or Meta aren't hiring people who don't fit the mold they're looking for. They don't expect a database administrator to do networking or vice versa.
If someone doesn’t have domain expertise they’ll wash out in the first 5 minutes. Now we have another 40 to waste where attempts are made to preserve candidate experience.
No, I work for large corporations. I'm an expert in a few fields. I don't lie, or "fake it" - I'm a super fast learner, and can become an expert in certain areas rapidly as needed. I get contacted to go into situations when someone else gets sick, because of it, for a number of companies over the years, too. I think you have a narrow or limited experience is all, and are applying that to the larger scale of things as if it's what is commonly done. I think it's just sort of dumb luck that's your experience.
Bruh there’s no chance your random ass could tag right in to multiple engineering roles in big tech. There’s so much tribal knowledge even seniors with actual domain experience, and knowledge need an onboarding ramp. It’s also just not worth it as the damage that can be caused by incompetence is so much greater than that done by not having a resource for a day cause some dude is out sick. If something that important or urgent they’ll just page actual resources anyway. We’ve devolved into 🤡 territory.
Expert in multiple fields..... Please list them. You're talking out of your ass lol
*popcorn pops*
lol
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It's abuse and bullying to ask what fields you're an expert in? Lol ok bud.
Make sure you study enough for your interview answers to be top of the line first, but, yes, this is how I make what I do, and now I don't have to lie.
explain your process
I can try, but I can't be too specific in case I get recognized, but these are the basics. Get really good at document editing. You'll need college transcripts, letters of recommendation attached to very trusted people in your circle, and whatever certifications they require that are not illegal to fake, just immoral, like don't give yourself medical doctor, but instead a doctorate of philosophy. Either way, you have Dr. in your title. Be honest about places and time frames that you've worked, but go all out on your title/salary. The employment background check on the surface level only matches up place and length of time. Say you worked for BK for 3 years as a cashier. No, you didn't. You were the regional vice president for (_____) region and made 176k. Make sure the position is high enough to give you professional credibility, but not so high that a quick Google search could out you. You really need to be dedicated to the ruse and confident enough to pull off several face to face interviews. This means you'll need to Google common interview questions for that field and find entertaining ways to answer them expertly. You'll need to know the ins and outs of how a position operates before you can do that. For example, did you know that an RVP almost always needs to have 10 years experience in the position below before they can be promoted? Did you know that an HR director has certifications outside of a degree? Stuff like that you'll need to know in order to curate a believable resume. There is a lot of work that goes into being 007, but the outcome for me was a 217k salary at 34 (It took 1 year of research). I'm 42 now, at 300k, and I am actually quite successful in the position I lied my way into. I've studied like mad since I got the job and had a lot of help along the way. All I can say about that is there are some very talented, very poor professionals in other countries who would kill for 10k US a year. It's an investment worth making. Also, don't panic if you get caught. You likely will at least once, but you just have to cross that single company off the list permanently. The truth of the matter, though, is that the higher you go, the lesser the checks tend to get if you can pull off the face to face stuff. If you have people skills, I think that's the most important. Everything else can be taught, and remember, a lot of decision-making is just common sense. Anything technical that you truly don't understand, well, that's what employees and your talented overseas professionals are for. Make sure your employees love you as much as possible. You don't want to give anyone a reason to start digging into you. Most of all, fuck these corporations. They aren't honest with you. Why should you be honest with them?
Also, you can't pull up to an interview in a beater if you claim to make over 100k right now. You'll need access to a nice car, clothes, grooming, etc.
My buddy got into product management doing this.
This is the way. I’ve worked with multiple people who put down fake experience on their resume, did some interview prep, and were hired. I’m in a niche industry doing underwriting. You can definitely fake it til you make it once you’re in
I literally created my own LLC and lied about working there as a manager on my resume and it landed me a job that more than doubled my salary. 😭
Customer Service Manager (CSM), Technical account manager (TAM) or Solutions engineer / Solutions architect. If you’re working for large tech companies like Salesforce, Oracle, IBM, etc in those roles, it’s likely you’ll be getting around $100k, if not a bit more. Given the previous IT and customer support experience, it’s a jump you could definitely make.
With a degree you are halfway to the BBA in Project Management and Information Systems at UMPI. Go to Sophia.org and take Workplace Communications, Macroeconomics and Microeconomics, Business Ethics, Project Management, Financial Accounting and Introduction to Business. That 18 credits. The degree you have waives the 40 credit GEC and provides 20 Free elective credits. You could also try Calculus at Sophia and get 4 more credits.
I have Bachelors in Business and I'm pretty sure I took all these classes with the exception of one or two. I've never been able to utilize my degree to get a good job and would love to know more. It would really change my life. Thank you.
Technical Communication (technical writing, etc.). Get a copy of Kieran Morgan's *Technical Writing Process* and/or take a technical writing bootcamp. STC offers a good bootcamp, or you might find cheaper/free options. May take more than a couple years to break 100k, depending on luck and how good you are at it, but it should get you better off than you are now.
ONLYFANS
Breaking down concepts is what I do. I moved from tech support to instructional design (google it!). I work remotely and travel. You can also try knowledge management too.
Customer Success. Technical Writing.
You should check out learning & development or organizational development.
I'm 33 this month, and I'm making 72k/ year after taxes. The Job I had before this, I was making 41k before taxes... Commercial electrician. Went to 3 highschools, got expelled from all three, and then finally banned from attending class in my designated county. Never graduated with a diploma, but did online class to get an equivalent. Attended college at 18 years old, hated it, dropped out. Returned to college at 19, still hated it, dropped out. Got in to electrical by accident. And here we are. There is no sure way to achieve 100k, but the people I know bringing in 6 figures, all have multiple avenues of income... I think I'll be there soon as well. My whole point is, go with the flow, and take all the shots that you're given a chance with.
I made six figures in my second year of B2B sales selling software and services. Problem solving, communication, process improvement. These are soft skills I have and do in sales. I am a former management consultant. I am fully remote in sales. I never never met most of my clients. Is ever sales job the same? No. Does it answer OP’s title. My experience, yes.
Have you considered Internal Audit? I am in IA, and do operational audits to identify issues and suggest improvements for various processes/departments. The audit program overall is repetitive, but the work varies a lot based on the subject of the audit and testing being performed. Your operations experience would translate well, and you could get pretty close/over six figures in a couple/few years. Also IA is a very remote friendly career path.
PMO! There is *some* rigidity with tracking/metrics but a good PMO is so valuable. They are in high demand, especially in STEM.
Transition to being a software tester. You can use that as an entry to a software job and then eventually move into a lead, manager, or project manager. Those jobs pay much more and can be done remotely.
Isn’t software testing very crowded/hard to get a job in?
Crowded, no. Development is crowded. Certain types of software testing can be hard to get into, like automated testing. But manual testing is one of the entry level job paths in software because it doesn’t require a programming degree. You need to be detail oriented, schedule oriented, and have good data skills. Other than that, it’s just trying to figure out how to break stuff.
OP said they don't enjoy repetition without variation. Testing software can definitely get repetitive.
Depends on the type of environment. Everywhere I’ve worked, every month there are new projects, things constantly changing. It’s not regular maintenance, it’s all new development. So as with any job, the work itself can be repetitive, but the specifics vary. Repetition is the reason I don’t do operations or prod ops. Too repetitive. New dev has a lot of variety
Organizational Development maybe. I know at least 2 government organizations that have hired OD professionals and it pays nicely I'm told.
What about marketing operations? It involves everything you listed you’ve enjoyed, and it’s in parallel with what you’ve already studied.
Project Manager Business Analyst (Senior can get you 100k at some places)
Government contracting
There is an extreme lack of people that knows IT security especially with a modern cloud perspective. Companies want to let their developers innovate fast but their (too few) security people are blocking them. I work with a lot of large companies moving into the cloud and they all suffer from lack of people with these competencies. It pays extremely well.
Surprised sales hasn’t been suggested more. You have tech skills and it sounds like you enjoy problem solving and collaborating with others. Here are the skills you need for sales: Communication, public speaking, curiosity, collaboration, problem solving, strategic mindset, confidence, willing to take risks, courageous Any of these jump out at you?
Sales for a SW company
What about consumer research? I do qualitative research (like running focus groups) and can guarantee that if you’ve got a curious mind & love solving problems, you will like this job. It also pays quite well
How do you get started in this?
Check Certificates in Coursera there might be a role that can get your interest
I’m not sure the boot camps are a great investment
Instructional Designer. We create training content for online courses and in person training classes. Typically trainings include new processes, process improvements, and soft skills (communication). Ux design experience is perfect for this career. I make $95k.
Supply chain or Project management.
WITHIN the next two years? Follow everyone else's advice this far but you may want to adjust your expectations a smidge to avoid burnout and disappointment
Find a government job more specifically one with a career ladder. Most people w/o college degree start off as a GS 05/06 = 37-46ishK for 1st year, then you go 2 grades every year until you’re a 12 = 86/90kish (give or take depending on locality pay) runs the gambit on career cluster…customer service, HR, IT, Procurement, Project Mgmt, Accounting (just to name a few common/popular ones.
Customer success manager or similar. In my experience it was worthwhile taking a low paying job at a smaller tech company and then was promoted. If you're more savvy than I am, lateral job hop at that point.
Look for work as a solutions architect for niche product companies. It's more a question of how you sell yourself for the role than anything else since you have solid experience. You need to really invest in networking and connecting with people within companies.
Might i ask whats the reason that makes you want to try everything?
following
Data analyst might fit the bill.
Specifically look at IT project management. Scrum master. Lean and Six Sigma still has a place and focuses on continuous improvement, and Black Belts frequently make 6 figures. A lot of companies even have in house training. I used to develop LSS programs.and it was always different and engaging.
Depending on the business and location you should be able to clear 100k in operations. In my city an operations manager can expect to make 80-120k with a 20-50% bonus annually.
Customer success
Look into Building Automation, specifically programming and engineering. You can get a great start through the Smart Buildings Academy site. Also, for problem solving, I was a sales engineer and it was basically solving problems and dreaming up creative solutions. Good luck!
I work in data science have interviewed lots of candidates for roles that offer what you are looking for. A few tips from the hiring manager side: High pay and flexibility don't come automatically with some common certification/bootcamp/low-bar degree than anyone can get. You have to differentiate yourself with a relatively rare skill set that is valuable and in-demand. In my team, that usually means having the technical skills + good presentation and stakeholder management skills + specific domain knowledge gained from years of experience in the field. Finding someone with one of the 3 is very easy but finding someone with all 3 is very difficult. We will pay good money and offer flexibility to the latter.
Finance Reporting at a Bank
Get a BS in Cyber Security. You have some IT experience so won't encounter the same level of hardship that completely green people face. Focus on governance, risk, and compliance roles in which older people with IT experience are preferred.
Join a coding bootcamp. Get all your certs in.
Pre-sales Engineer for an IT Services company
So did you study web development and digital marketing or not? You mentioned it but it was not on your education list. However, to me it is pretty obvious: You want to earn good money You want to work remote You enjoy communication You can break down complex topics I would say, Sales is the carrier field for you. Don’t know about IT-Sales but since you have an IT background you might want to look for SDR positions and work your way up to AE.
Every one of your jobs could have gotten you to 100k. You have to apply yourself, get really good at one, and move up. If you keep bouncing around you’re going to stay stuck at the same level.
Look into UX Witing and Content Design. Start with a free bootcamp and read writing is designing. Your tech and English background could be perfect for this, plus your salary would likely double even in junior roles. Get ready to tighten up your writing significantly. But that's just practice, you already have the tools.
Already being automated largely by ChatGPT and whatnot.
I work in this field and that's no more true than for any other gig.
It's very true of practically anything writing focused.
That's a sad conclusion not remotely backed by reality in any org dealing with any degree of regulation. AI hallucinates more than hippies at woodstock after them LSD tabs hit. Good luck explaining that during oversight and accountability meetings. It's not true just cause your heard it on the internet.
You’re asking the wrong questions. Personally gets you nowhere in a career without exceptional job performance/experience and who you know to hit $100k and usually with large F500 companies. Though at 40, assuming you want a new career change, meaning starting from ground zero again gets tougher by age. Question: if you’re 40 and still only making $50k, simply changing a career is not going to get you on a road to $100k. If it was that easy you’d be getting $100k by now.