I thoguht about this for a while, and then realized that for the last 5 years, with the exception of a raise I got at a job I had a few years ago, my overall income has decreased. Mind you, I am now in college pursuing a master's degree and only work as a part time instructor.

But I went from working two jobs in high school (one as a highly paid artist and one at a bar) to only working one of those, to working in the IT field for a short time, to working for pennies partime instructing at my university. Obviously I'm here to get a few degrees and eventuall put those to use earning some bank...

but overall, in the short term, it's really disheartening knowing that I could afford more luxuries in high school (not one, but two Porsches) than I can now.

education (college and on-going study) + hard work + learning to see things from different points of view.

- Marrying the right woman
- Getting into IT in '91
- Taking on side jobs
- Always learning new skills/technologies
- Living within my means

The easiest way I ever got a raise was to stop spending money. No, I'm serious. Take the credit card out of your wallet, dump the cell phone, stay out of the mall, take a sandwich to the office and skip Starbucks for a month, and keep track, you will end up with at least a $500. raise. Most of what we spend is a habitual reaction to our surroundings.

1. Creating a new paradigm that took sales from $100K annually from the day I stepped in the door to $5.3M that year I left.

2. Creating something from nothing and then selling it: FirstTime Dad magazine

Enduring 4 years of hell to go back to college with a wife and kids and get an Aerospace Engineering degree.

#1 Graduating college.

#2 Shortly after taking my current job, my employer decided that the wages for my position were no longer competitive--and gave everyone below a certain threshold a huge bump.

#3 Worked my butt off one year and got my project implemented early with no major problems.

well, long term, I changed from a job to a career. I was bartending and got into IT.

Within IT, 2 things, first thing, way back at the beginning, I got a cert that basically doubled my salary. Second thing, just recently, was going from permanent employee to contract, which again, doubled my salary.

In IT, the most valuable thing is continual education.

Yeah, but it's the only way to go these days. By jumping ship, you get more exp than you usually can staying in the same place. In IT it just doesn't pay to sit someplace forever unless you're complacent with your pay and position.

1. Took a company public
2. Sold a company

Worked my ass off to be able to do both of those.

I really wish my employer would pull their head out and realize that. I honestly don't want to start looking for a new job.

-Got an education.
-Married the right woman
-Didn't have kids
-Working my way up through the ranks

(I know that's four and you asked for one, if I were to pick I'd say the wife part!)

I'm "ex-IT" (outsourced a few months ago, but I was ready to go :)), and I made 4 calculated "jumps" during my career (all w/ Fortune 500s). The last one really paid off, as prior to that I was an AVP for a large bank, yet increased my salary almost 50% by going to work "down the street".

Quit smoking, sad but true :D

I haven't had an increase in income in about a decade. I LOVE automotive :D

This was at the height of the dot-com boom. Our department was losing 400 people a year to greener pastures. Right now, I believe that number is something like 20 people a year.

My employer also likes to keep people around long-term (10 or more years). We've found that projects get done quicker and with much fewer problems when most of the people have worked with the systems for a number of years and have a good handle on what the real business needs are (which we all know do not necessarily correspond to documented requirements). This especially shows itself when we have to accelerate delivery of a project or cut budget on a project: the systems people know where the gold plating is that doesn't provide a lot of benefit to the business and can make suggestions to cut there first.

Long term Marriage 29 years
1 Kid
Live way below means
Invested in income property at the right time and in the right place
No CC debt
no car payments
cut back on racing

Going from hourly wage to owning a small business. Finding a wife that was an asset rather than a liability made a difference also.
Jim

The decision to specialize in an unusual field - and be really good at it!

I specialize in the highway transporation of hazardous materials. This, on top of a strong DOT background, leveraged me out of a stale dead end State job and more than doubled my income.

That makes Steve very happy! ;)

angela

Well I'm glad that you're doing well, but I think that saying that I'm "very happy" is a bit of a stretch. ;)

:D

My wife gave me the kick in the ass required to finish school, so maybe I should give her top billing.:)


Even today I could have my pick of companies to work for, without moving. Engineering is in huge demand right now due to a significant number of retiring workers, and not nearly enough new grads to replace them. My company would like to add something like 90 engineers next year, but to account for the attrition rate will have to find somewhere in the neighborhood of 200. That's retirees and employees moving on to greener pastures, by the way. I'm trying my best to be patient, but it's wearing thin. I'd be required to get 3 major promotions simply to be paid for the work I'm doing today.:(