Here's how much millennials are earning annually across the US

originally posted by: toysforadults
a reply to: Irishhaf

just finished A+ and Net+ currently studying for the CCENT as my school wants it on the 2 test track not the single CCNA course, I'm ok with that thought because it allows me to dive deeper into the material and Wendell Odom does not mess around.

CCENT is the prerequisite to take the CCNA so regardless you were gonna take it..

The ENT is really layer 2 or switching while the NA is layer 3 or routing..

Just about everyone I know starts with Wendells books..on top of that he is a really friendly guy..ended up sitting across from him at dinner during,the end of CLUS last year..easy to talk to is an understatement..

As for my lab..l3 switches with a mix of 2921 and 3925 and 3925e ISRs as I'm in the Collab track.

originally posted by: nOraKat
a reply to: SR1TX

What sort of business you into?

I own an ISP.

a reply to: SR1TX

You mean like selling internet access?

I thought of something like that - selling internet service in developing countries or far off rural places.

a reply to: opethPA

Oh, are you getting to learn more about hyper convergence?

Cisco has been investing heavily into their intelligent network designs, Cisco live this year was all about virtualization and the cloud. They even have an SD-WAN protocol now. I guess that's old news.

I'm actually going to start picking up Python after the CCNA is complete my goal is to automate local networking and security task.

originally posted by: toysforadults
a reply to: opethPA

Oh, are you getting to learn more about hyper convergence?

Cisco has been investing heavily into their intelligent network designs, Cisco live this year was all about virtualization and the cloud. They even have an SD-WAN protocol now. I guess that's old news.

I'm actually going to start picking up Python after the CCNA is complete my goal is to automate local networking and security task.

My focus in the Cisco world is Collab since I have been a telecom engineer my whole career..if it involves dial tone in North America I have Probably worked on it at some point.

If you plan on going to CLUS this year let me know and I can introduce you to some well known folks from the IT Twitter verse among other places. Will be the 5th in a row for me so I'm glad its the East Coast location this time.

a reply to: AgarthaSeed

okay, enough of the generational warfare bit okay??
first, I am at the tail of baby boomers... and all I can say is there is nothing new under the sun.
opiates and the cia??? yep, that was around in the 70's, then well there was the whole Iran-Contra thing that brought in the coc aine.
and no, there wasn't an overwhelming abundance of good stable jobs and opportunities, matter of fact, it wasn't long after I graduated there was tent cities popping up all over texas. heck, watch the "That 70's Show" and you will get a better idea of just when many of those stable decent jobs went flying away. textiles, automobiles, and on and on... off they went to better pastures with cheaper labor. I ain't saying that the younger generations don't have a tougher time of it, maybe they do, but, it wasn't the boomers that killed the good times for yas...

and, well, as far as the kids not wanting to get their hands dirty, or just being too lazy to work..
well, my older son often times works 12+ hour workdays as a plumber's apprentice, replacing toilets and crawling around under houses... he gets disgustingly dirty!! and my youngest son is holding down three different jobs just to make ends meet. none of them have any interest in marriage, or starting a family, or doing any of those things that have traditionally been life's milestones... more and more aren't moving away from home, they aren't getting married and having kids, they aren't buying their first homes, they're stuck!! and because they are still at home partially dependent on their parents, their parents don't have the excess income to save for their retirement, they can't downsize out of the family home (which they just may be underwater in their mortgage anyways), they're finding that they don't have the funds to be able to retire on, so they aren't leaving the workforce and opening jobs up for the younger generation. and this is just gonna cause further destabilization of the economy...
so what's say we stop blaming each other and start thinking about viable solutions??

otherwise, it looks like we are gonna be heading back towards having extended families all living under one roof...
and it does seem that big houses capable of housing those kinds of numbers are either newer, rather expensive houses, or they older ones that have been scooped up by landlords and converted to multiple family dwellings...

a reply to: dawnstar

I agree. The problem in running into is that everyone thinks the economy isn't doing good because of lazy young people.. Not because of systemic economic issues.

a reply to: opethPA

Nice! Respect to my IT elders!

I am in an odd field that no one wants any part of. I am an Exchange O365 consultant. I have done quite a few migrations in my time.

I work for the biggest financial consultant company in the world currently. We have over 100,000 mailboxes.

Not to mention I am what me and my friends call an OG. No, not original gangster; original geek. I didn't just decide one day that I would get a diploma and become an IT guy. I started working with computers at a very very early age. The guys like us have a huge leg up on the guys that just want to get a diploma and make money.

a reply to: toysforadults

I've been thinking a lot about how trust worthy these types of articles are. Proper financial planning means buying a car that's no more than 1/5 your annual salary. It means buying a home that's no more than 1 years salary. One should be able to fit 4 mortgage payments/month into the 20% they're budgeting towards rent.

When you take all of these things together I'm left with two alternatives. Millennials are either in total financial shambles and cannot afford any of this stuff despite the evidence that people are making adult purchases and buying fancy electronics. Or, what I see where people have homes, cars, and toys, which means they must be making enough to safely afford these goods.

I'm really not sure what to believe. I get a good wage, I make over 6 figures for my first job in my life, and do so while still a student. Before much longer I'll actually be able to start making some of these bigger purchases in life. Yet, I see a bunch of people who only make $10/hour having already made these purchases, because they started earlier in life than me.

It's really made me start to think that perhaps millennials aren't as poor as they think, they just manage budgeting all wrong.

originally posted by: DAVID64
a reply to: toysforadults

The current reality is that millions of skilled jobs are available, without 4 years of college. Jobs that will start putting money in your pocket NOW. I've told my kids all their life "College is fine...but learn a skill". I'm teaching my son to weld and my daughter has also shown an interest. They always helped me in remodeling projects around the house and are both fairly competent in carpentry. I wouldn't let them build a house, but they know the business end of a hammer and how to operate power tools.

Of course, the same old diatribe from someone totally disconnected from the current reality, don't let the data persuade you.

Seriously? I have 3 kids - 29, 19 and 17. I'm smack in the middle of "the current reality".

Teach them the new way to build a house. Become a chemical engineer, formulate an appropriate concrete, 3d model a skeleton for a home, print that concrete into sectionals. Stick some boards in it, truck it to the site, bolt it together, hang drywall.

I know this is an unpopular opinion, but trades are simply too dangerous. You mentioned welding, that's one that requires a lot of PPE. My experience has been that a lot of people (especially those in their 20's and 30's) don't use it all, and therefore seriously mess their bodies up. Same reason so many coal miners have black lung these days... they wanted to be company men, lacked the discipline to use protection properly, and now scare people away.

originally posted by: stormcell
I've seen jobs ads in other states like OH for embedded systems people where the salaries start at $150K.

Embedded systems is weird, it's all over the place in my experience. I started at $120k while still in school, and work part time now (for the part time version of that wage) doing VR/AR development. I know some people that do embedded for $15/hour, then I know others who get $300k. Embedded really comes down to the fact that you need to be making something difficult to reproduce, for a niche market. If you're in embedded for a TV remote, you won't get anything. If you're building the logic board for a key piece of your businesses hardware... you're in a good spot.

And that's in Ohio.

originally posted by: Grambler
That's a huge difference.

Well if people are willing to work with their hands, my area could use young people.

Salaries are generally higher too though. I'm in rural Ohio, similar housing market to you. Within the next 1.5 years I'll buy and fully pay off my first home if things continue according to plan.

If I were to move to a place like Silicon Valley, I could find 1000 jobs that pay what I'm making now, but they would be the 50th percentile jobs. I get a 1% wage where I am now, which means I would need a similar wage there. Which generally involves being paid say $150k in cash and $350k in stock options over a 2-3 year vesting time.

The value of a dollar, and what a job is worth is not uniform, or even close to it across the US. Appalachia has the most depressed prices, while the coasts are the highest.

originally posted by: Irishhaf
How many of these people got a degree in an area that is heavily saturated with degree holders.

I went with Computer Science (and then some others). 80% of CS grads can't find work (because they can't pass hiring tests) despite the fact that there's 5 posted jobs at any given moment for any candidate. Then I took my education further and got into a niche rather than just being a generalist. That worked out well for me.

How many turned up their noses at working with their hands when there are companies willing to train 18 yr olds and pay good wages.

I did. I wanted to learn how stuff worked, and get involved in a field as it first became invented. That's why I will soon have 6 degrees related to my field. Any job worth doing takes time to become competent in. If you can show up fresh out of high school and be trained in days or weeks, you're not learning anything of value. A proper vocational education takes decades.

a reply to: strongfp

If you want to be successful, you can't just do the job. You need to find ways to do it better, and invent new job processes that measurably save money or increase productivity.

originally posted by: seeker11
a reply to: toysforadults

My dad is a senior network analyst, I hope I got that title right. Anyhow, he's mid 50's now but he started out with a 2 year diploma in the 80's from college in electronics. He went on to IT fixing computers but as the industry changed so he had to as well. I'm in my early 30's but I still remember my dad getting home from a long day at work bringing home his giant study books for whatever certificate (fairly certain he has all those you mentioned) was necessary to keep up with the changing industry, while supporting a family of 5 on one income. He worked/works hard to get where he is, and he has a nice paycheck now compared to 25 years ago and paying down the mortgage of his house as quickly as possible before retirement.

My twin brother is in road construction, a foreman, and he never went to college but he makes nice money, he worked his way up from the bottom as well. Though I know they are completely different fields I would say with how much he works and overtime he makes nearly the same amount as my Dad. But at the end of the day even with him and his gf working they are finding it difficult to even buy a modest house/townhouse or anything in their city. And he works hard, but he just won't get the same crack at home ownership as my parents had. Times have changed.

I'm regretting that we sold our house in Nevada 2 years ago, I didn't know the prices would climb so much higher since then, but we didn't have a huge choice due to my SO's place of work shutting down and laying off 500 employees. We have been struggling ever since though this year is looking up as they finally reopened and hired him back on, but he regrettably had to give up his career in power due to the cost of living in California vs cost of living in Nevada and he got a significant enough pay raise over here, though the job is much more labor intensive. Hopefully we made the right choice but California was just...no financial hope for the future. I sure wish we had our affordable house still. Now we don't know whether to try and buy again or wait it out and see if prices come down in the future? There must be an end to it somewhere (rising house prices) because most of the people my age don't have amazing paying jobs. Or maybe we're all just destined to rent forever.

Guessing you're in the Reno/Tahoe area from that description. Housing there has really been going up for the last decade. The city has done a great job in attracting business. I grew up there, and would definitely move back if I found the right job.

Anyways, IT has a lot of certificiations. Advancing your career almost always involves self study at home. It's not much different on the CS side of things... there's always new things to learn. Good employers pay you to learn, but you'll always have homework.

originally posted by: waggz
a reply to: opethPA

Nice! Respect to my IT elders!

I am in an odd field that no one wants any part of. I am an Exchange O365 consultant. I have done quite a few migrations in my time.

I work for the biggest financial consultant company in the world currently. We have over 100,000 mailboxes.

Not to mention I am what me and my friends call an OG. No, not original gangster; original geek. I didn't just decide one day that I would get a diploma and become an IT guy. I started working with computers at a very very early age. The guys like us have a huge leg up on the guys that just want to get a diploma and make money.

I must be an OG then because I working on scripts for MUD games before 13. Doom was a wonderful introduction to 1995 back in the day when I was a kid and those windows 3.0 systems with the AOL disc were hilarious.

But hey, I forgot chasing another passion and decided to get back into later in life.