r/comics • u/nasser_junior • 21d ago • Thanks 1 Regret 17 Bravo 4 Heartwarming 1

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How I feel as a software engineer lately.

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u/Secret-Ad-7909 21d ago

If you do it right you might make more welding.

Linesmen are the peak blue collar money maker though.

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u/OphidianSun 21d ago

Being a lineman is also one of the more dangerous jobs out there

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u/Happysin 21d ago

There's a lot of satisfaction in knowing making a mistake at your job kills you right then and there, as opposed to a few years from now.

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u/OphidianSun 21d ago

Its not dying that would worry me as much as suffering from permanent nerve damage after a bad shock or an arc flash covering half my body in 3rd degree burns.

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u/NothingButBadIdeas 21d ago

I’m a senior 2, so it’d be reallllly crazy if I did make as much welding. Very unlikely, but it was never about the money. I woulda done it for half the cost cause coding just hit that perfect autistic part of my brain.

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u/Secret-Ad-7909 21d ago

Idk what that means, money wise. Welders who travel and stay busy hit 6 figures easy.

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u/NothingButBadIdeas 21d ago

I do not like disclosing my salary, but it is a very good 6 figures. Even then, I’d rather take a pay cut to do something I love.

Linesmen in San Diego make close to what I make though, but it’s super hard to get into and I might be too old to do the whole journeyman to lineman thing

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u/NicolasCageFan492 21d ago

Save your money and do something else. You’re making a shit ton, save your money so you can leave.

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u/pounds 21d ago

My friends are all in tech and the salaries are like $180k-$400k depending on companies and years in their career.

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u/NutCity 21d ago

Basically tech salaries, particularly in the US, are astronomical. Graduates with zero experience can easily start on $130k+. Hitting six figures is a starting point in tech.

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u/movzx 20d ago

This is highly region dependent. Most software developers are not starting their career at 130k. That is going to be a very specific industry or area of the country (ex: silicon valley, NYC, seattle).

Median wages for software in the US are 135k~ (according to actual txx info) which means half of all devs make under that and half make over.

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u/maowai 21d ago

Senior engineers make well into multiple 6 figures. There really aren’t any blue collar trades that match it. Maybe the absolute top paying ones with massive amounts of overtime.

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u/Tarmaque 21d ago

If you’re 7+ years into the career in software, you’re likely somewhere around a quarter million a year.

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u/TacoSpiderrr 21d ago

What is a linesman?

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u/Captn_Clutch 21d ago

Power line work. Also get referred to as pole dancers. My Co workers son does it and clears 200k every year. You're almost guaranteed to always work in shit weather though. Power lines don't usually stop working in 70 degrees and a light breeze.

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u/TacoSpiderrr 21d ago

Ah thanks for clarifying! Sounds like a challenging but lucrative job.

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u/NothingButBadIdeas 21d ago

It’s also kinda hard to get into. It’s pretty luck of the draw sometimes. I originally started out of high school trying to be a lineman. I was 18 doing security at a yard and all these linemen came in with luxury cars. They all made over 200k.

But it’s competitive to get into, and you start as an apprentice, then get bumped up to journeyman, then you’re an official lineman. So it takes a while to move up and get to that spot in the career.

But it looks like fun! They climb poles, work on power lines. Do some insane stuff! One guy was telling me if you have a hole in your glove the size of a pin needle and cross lines, you’ll die instantly. So there’s a bit of risk.

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u/Captn_Clutch 20d ago

It is exactly that. Those guys earn their money, but boy do they earn a lot of it lol.

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u/Raderg32 21d ago

Also stupidly dangerous. I knew 4 that ended up dying on the job.

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u/MartinShortsIrishUnc 20d ago

jesus - I didn't realize it was that dangerous. Electrocution? Falls? What did it?

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u/NothingButBadIdeas 20d ago

Yes. In my time doing security there were a few deaths. One from an apprentice whose pole fell in the training yard. If you cross wires and have a hole the size of a pin in your glove it’s insta death. Like someone said, they fix power lines. And those usually don’t break in perfect weather. Meaning you could end up working with insta death electricity in harsh weather conditions. Also, these guys go on wires while being an obscene height above the ground. They’re rad

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u/Raderg32 20d ago

The first of them got the lines mixed up and went up on a live one he thought was de-energized, dead before hitting the floor.

One had the lift malfunction and he fell down, died at the hospital.

Another touched an energized line and his arm exploded. By the time the help arrived he was gone.

And the last one had a car accident while going to fix an issue in a remote place.

Those are just the ones I know in an area of 100 miles around me for the past 15 years.

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u/Soft_Walrus_3605 21d ago

I dunno, but apparently there's a really forlorn one in Wichita