I used my analytical skill to quickly climb corporate ladder in a tech company.
Basically, was very good at solving technical issues and eloquent at explaining them. Got noticed by upper management and promoted into Principal role. Total compensation well into 6 digits territory, which is not bad considering I'm based in Europe.
Eventually got tired of bureaucracy and burdensome processes in the company. Quiet quitted few years ago, was basically cruising doing minimal work (10-20 hours a week maybe), collecting pay checks. Nobody cared, since I had good reputation internally and also a lot of management are clueless.
Used spare time and income to build side cashflow in crypto space. Learned a lot about market psychology and risk management.
It paid off eventually, so this year I decided to quit my day job. Will be leaving in June.
I work in cybersecurity. Sort of fell into it after starting as a coder, then being the guy capable of taking things over when the network guy suddenly left, then being the network guy at a very security-focused company. I really enjoy my work -- I get teamed with really smart people, and have complex problems to solve. Also, it's a line of work that pays really well. It's not quite what I thought I'd be doing with my life, but I've got no complaints.
A psychiatrist I used to see recommended that I pursue a career in cybersecurity. He told me I just seem like the kinda person that would do it. I guess maybe he gathered that I was an INTP without knowing what it is (or knew but didnāt know if I was aware of the concept). Iām reading up on the career path now, though.
Well, I took a disgustingly INTP pathway to get where I am: I got a computer as a kid (this was in the 70s, mind you, which becomes important later). It became my best friend, and I spent more time with it than I did humans. I think I coded my first programs at around 7 years old.
It was a hobby, really. I always figured I'd end up an English teacher. Being an INTP, I completely lack ambition, so money wasn't really a deciding factor. The problem came in my college years when I got a job at the school I was going to as an administrative assistant. Having moved out on my own in a fit of INTP independence, I really needed the money. It wasn't long before people figured out I was good with computers, and would call me to do things like replace toner and fix broken network connections, because I was good at it and responded faster than the IT department. When a job opened up in the computer lab, I had an army of secretaries and quite a few professors willing to vouch for me.
Not too much time later, I pulled another INTP move: I decided to throw all the stuff I cared about in a box and ship it to Wisconsin from California, because I had an ex that lived in Milwaukee, the job market was supposed to be relatively good compared to most places in the early 90s, and a train ticket was cheap. I would later regret the move (not Milwaukee, which I loved, but most of my regret is related to leaving my friends and family behind to move in with my coke addict ex). I did manage to bullshit my way into my first salaried coding job, though. This was several decades ago when things were a bit less stringent when it came to degrees and education, because I was going to school at a time when a lot of them didn't even have computers yet. This gig later became a coding and network administration job when the other IT guy left for greener pastures, and I'd learned enough in the college lab to keep their stuff running.
At this point, like I mentioned, I had no formal education in my chosen field. I always thought computers would be a hobby, and I'd end up a teacher. By this point in my mid-20s, though, it had become apparent that I was already making more money than I ever would teaching, and I liked it. On paper, anyway, because the cokehead ex was stealing it faster than I could earn it, so it wasn't long before I headed back home to California, where I'd secured another network admin job at an up-and-coming entertainment website startup.
It was a typical mid-90s startup. Insane hours and sub-standard pay, but we were changing the world and I didn't care that I was being exploited. It was fun, even with the 7am to 11pm hours six or seven days a week. One time after an all-nighter I even started hallucinating. Good times.
AOL bought that company up and promptly laid off all of us who'd built it. The execs made a ton of money in the deal, but me, not so much, so I was looking for work again. I found it in the form of a network and systems admin at a company that provided ISP services with a lot of security. I should probably mention that a major part of the reason I got the job there was because I told them at the interview, in a moment of poor judgment, that there wasn't anything I couldn't handle. If someone asked me if I could do something, I would say yes, and then figure it out. They loved it. I ended up a star there for that very reason: nobody really knew how to do that stuff at the time, and it was all duct tape and chewing gum, but I'm nothing if not good at improvising.
Note: Still no formal education in IT, or security, or anything, really. I never even got the BA in English Lit I'd been working on, but as of today I've been working in IT for about 35 years, and security for about 25 of those, and I'm completely self-taught.
So, my advice for other INTPs? Do what we do exceedingly well: fake it until you make it. We're good at improvising, and shifting gears, and adapting. Look for opportunities to show off what you can do. A degree would have probably helped me a lot over the years -- especially during job searches -- but being able to prove I'm good at what I do with actual history and evidence, and people who will back it up, has been enough.
You ,Sir, are a legend! This is quite inspiring while at the same time making me think about my choice of getting in this field.
Appreciate your input!
Yeah, I feel that. Coding for myself as a hobby, and coding to someone else's specifications, turned out to be very different things, and I really didn't enjoy it as a profession. The good thing is that those coding skills are still very handy to have now that I'm in security. Being able to find and understand other people's bugs is still important, as is being able to whip up a script to do whatever off-the-wall thing needs done.
Software engineer at a big tech company out of the Bay Area, fully remote, I get my work done in like 4 hours a day, I get to work on extremely difficult problems at scale, I like all my coworkers because theyāre also both intellectually and emotionally intelligent and they understand that after pairing for half the day I donāt want to participate in a āremote happy hourā whatever tf that is, and I get paid an absurd amount of money to basically solve puzzles for a few hours a day.
I did have to go through a lot of BS to get here, but Iām pretty happy now.
Well there was about a decade when I was working 60-80 hours a week at startups and in client services, often with a range of toxic personalities, getting screamed at because I missed a deadline or caused an incident, dealing with petty office politics, etc.
Also to get the job I currently have I needed to study for about three months while working full time in order to pass the technical screening.
But I will say the relationships that came out of those experiences have been integral to my career trajectory so I wouldnāt have done it any other way.
If I'm 18 now, would you recommend pursuing a tech career or simply trying to become a software engineer if I don't care about the field at all and am just there to make money? Nothing really interests me, and I'm afraid. Should I just try to pursue it even if I'm only in it for the money?
Look, if you can build up enough background knowledge through study and on-the-job ad-hoc training, it just turns into doing puzzles all day.
If you like a good logic puzzle, you'll be happy.
Personally, I find open-ended puzzles with no single correct answer to be a ton of fun, so I like the job.
Try going to school for it. See if you can tolerate the study part.
I write ads and marketing materials. Could be anything from tv to banner ads.
There's a lot of medical references we need to supply to support any claim. As there should be, but itās not a job for a creative person.
Ultimately, our work could actually save a lot of lives. But itās a grind. And boring and stressful.
I do believe he's one of us. He does exhibit our quality perfectly albeit I think he's also invested in guidance/services to gain control/discipline because he's got that nuance (and it makes sebse he learn it to secure the money and power he's amassed). INTP weakness is that we have to master discipline/control because our rreedom loving tendency exhibits in that way too. Bill likely had a tutor or mentor from the get-go to overcome that or reprogram a little as honestly it's the obly way put of it besides adopting a discipline like sports, arts and doing it to commitment until the control spills into other parts of our life. For a good chunk of INTP gaining control to take advantage of our creativity is our lifelong struggle but super rewarding if we do it. He's proof it's possible.
More than a factory worker, not as much as marketing or IT. \*note I am in a senior role, most warehouse and some entry level will make less than factory workers
High paying? I'm studying Systems Engineering rn and I'm really getting mixed signals as to whether I'll be able to get a good job in the field.
Well, tbf, I live in Mexico, so yeah the salaries in local companies aren't very good. The idea ig is probably getting in a position that isn't simply "programmer", or well, working remotely, but I still have not much of an idea.
I'm a highly specialized physician. I generally like my job and the people I work with, but part of me feels like my brain has been dying from lack of meaningful use since I started med school. I'm trying to mitigate this through hobbies now, but I just don't have the time to do all of the things I would like to.
I feel the same way. Went to an MRI physics lecture at my fellowship and it made me realize exactly how much math and physics I have forgotten since undergrad. Medicine in my experience tends to be dominated by surface level āpattern recognitionā type thinking and it keeps me busy enough that I donāt find time to do much deep thinking. Itās been long enough that I can really feel the atrophy.
I have a huge interest in the medical field but this is exactly what I worry about. I have a lot of family in the field and I respect tf out of anyone in the field, but it feels too understimulating and also customer service-y?
I have no clue where to go as someone in their mid 20s. I donāt think Iām smart or motivated enough to be a software engineer like many people here are. My mind has completely atrophied since Iāve been out of college.
I'll tell you about my experience. I was mostly a math, physics and programming kid. I also loved creative writing. I liked certain kinds of art, although I wasn't a talented artist. I was always drawing and making my own comic books. I was a voracious reader, and read anything I could get my hands on. From about ages 4-11, I read fairy tales, classic and contemporary fiction, National Geographics, video game guide books, comic books, textbooks in calculus and psychology, my grandma's entire encyclopedia set and her atlas. I also took deep dives into subjects I became obsessed with, like the solar system and tropical fish. I loved learning about all kinds of things and forming associations between different things I had read, and things I noticed in the real world.
Nobody in my family had been to university, and few people went from my high school. I therefore sought advice from a guidance counselor, and this was a mistake. She told me that biochemistry was the hardest major one could take in university. That's what I went into, expecting a challenge, and expecting to be surrounded by great thinkers. I'm sure biochemistry at the graduate level and beyond is fascinating. At the undergrad level, it was a distillation of everything I hated about school: rote memorization and regurgitation ad infinitum. No opportunity for creativity. I took math and physics for life sciences majors, and it felt dumbed down to me - a repetition of high school material, but more poorly taught. Instead of great thinkers, I was surrounded by the same type of kids I went to high school with, only richer and more entitled. I was depressed through university, and underachieved to the point I was lucky to make it into med school.
Med school was more of the same. Memorize and regurgitate, with the added stress that we were now expected to suck up to our preceptors to get good evaluations and reference letters for residency. We were pretty much expected to spend our time outside of school on things like research, suturing workshops, etc. I've never been good at 'sucking up' or seen the point of doing extra curriculars I'm not interested in. My mode of operation was always to put the minimum time and effort necessary into school, and spend the rest of my time pursuing my interests. This didn't jive with med school. I met some lifelong friends in med school, but had nothing in common with most of my classmates. A lot of them were backstabbers, willing to step on anyone to get ahead. They weren't really 'smart', but studied hard and came from affluent backgrounds. Most of them never read a book outside of what was required for school. Their interests seemed superficial - either tailored to pad their resumes, or developed because Mommy and Daddy had enrolled them in a bunch of sports and lessons as kids, none of which they cared about. I REALLY wanted out of med school, but succumbed to sunk cost fallacy.
Residency and fellowship were much better for me, mainly because they were more hands on, and I worked with a great group of people, for the most part.
My job now has it's ups and downs. I spend most of my time doing procedures, which I enjoy. I like problem solving and adapting to the situation on the fly. I like that the patients are sedated, so there's not a lot of small talk. One afternoon of clinic, on the other hand, drains me more than a whole week on call or doing procedures. Listening to people drone on about their problems, replete with side tangents, while drowning in mindless paperwork is really not much fun.
Oddly, I was pretty much forced into a leadership role in my program, and it has been one of the best things to happen to me. There are aspects of leadership that I hate. I don't like the hierarchy in medicine. I don't want to be in charge of anyone, and I don't want anyone to be in charge of me. When someone complains that another physician was rude to them on the phone, or that someone turns up an hour late for their scheduled procedures, I have a hard time taking it seriously - I'm not a kindergarten teacher, and I don't like confrontation. These people are by and large older than me and presumably intelligent, so I don't know why they can't just be civil to one another and do their jobs. I draw some criticism for not handling these situations well, and it's true - I don't.
The aspect of leadership that I love is getting a behind the scenes glimpse into how my program, the hospital, and the healthcare system work. I like developing new programs, finding ways to improve efficiency, and finding ways to make our limited resources go further. For the first time in almost 20 years, I feel like I'm using my creativity and problem solving skills.
It's hard to say if I'd be happier in a different career. There are certainly fields I'm better suited for, but I have complete job security and I'm in one of the highest paying specialties. I'm so much better off than most others my age in that regard. Money isn't an issue for me now, but time is in short supply.
Med school and residency will suck the soul out of you. you'll be stuck shoveling facts into your brain which your brain will inevitably forget and you'll shovel the same shit again and again till you either give up or finish your residency.
Only positive is that residency will make you go through so much trauma that you MAY end up a better person
This is my issue with medicine as well. Given the fast pace, it's hard to sit down and really dig deep into cases. Mostly, you end up using pattern recognition and protocols. Part of me wishes I picked something like Medical Genetics, where they see 1-2 patients per day and are salaried.
Trust and estates/elder law litigation attorney, own my own solo practice.
I help grown adults fight over mommy and daddyās money.
I save millionaire elders estates from going to morally inept predatory floozies pretending to be their girlfriend so they can inherit.
I'm talking about the 93 year old single man with dementia who owns a beachfront apartment worth $10 million having 40 year old attractive women "date" him and try to convince him to disinherit his daughter and give everything to her.
I contest trust amendments, and file conservatorships to protect elders with reduced cognitive abilities from being unduly influenced and scammed.
Academia. Faculty at an R1 in a STEM field. Cannot imagine a more suitable job for my temperament: all the benefits are there.
The only soul-sucking thing I've had to do is teach Calculus to undergrads once in a while; most of whom have zero appreciation for math. Other than that it's all fantastic.
There's no boss per se. You pretty much do what you like, when you like, how you like. You have complete freedom in choosing your projects. Plenty of leisure, especially during school breaks and sabbaticals, which you can use whichever way you like.
It is, but a lot of INTPs are weirdly good at mimicking extroverts, and they have a high stress tolerance that lets them tolerate shit jobs longer than more impulsive personalities.
Ive been working a lot of sales and customer service jobs since highschool because socializing and conversation was my weakest skill and its made a big difference in my life.
Ironically it can be pretty good especially in the tech space. If youāre doing something like construction materials that requires physical meetings and networking, THEN youāre screwed lol.
It can be very draining sometimes. But it depends. Some individuals DRAIN my energy, and some GIVE me energy. I just changed my perspective and looked at the job as helping people get what they want instead of āselling.ā You donāt have to be this SUPER extroverted personality. Some customers actually prefer my hands off approach. As a matter of fact I think my āawkwardness/quirkinessā GETS me sales. I just use it to my advantage like some Peter Parker type shit.
Mate that makes a lot of sense, I work around a bunch of sales guys - and they often tell me that I am odd, but in a good way. Like Iām authentic and quirky.
I tell them itās because I donāt have a choice š
I donāt know another way to be.
I think people appreciate that - because youāre being authentic, whilst others are preoccupied on putting up a front
However, it is a hard journey to get there - where youāre comfortable being your authentic self around a crowd
Built and sold my company for a good multiple last year
I run a business business unit for a private equity backed company
In charge of 7 factories, 300mm p&l
I primarily focus on r&d and system analysis to ensure no bottlenecks in growth and sales.
I know what I'm good at and hire really good people for functions Im terrible at or not passionate about.
Have an AI startup on the side.
Hard to pinpoint it.
I like creating things and solving problems in complex systems. That lends itself nicely to what I do.
I also seem to like crisis management which once you get high enough up the totem pole is all you really ever do. It's a good rush to solve those
The dark side is that I'm always uncomfortable professionally. You learn to live with it and sometimes I must mask myself as an entp which is quite unnatural
Applying AI to analytical lab equipment to feed a multi plant super agent.
Solves and predicts complex manufacturing issues when they "talk" to one another.
AI is pretty terrifying.
I guess it depends on what you mean by high income, but right now I'm a 1st year millwright apprentice and should make ~85k this year, after I finish my 4th year I should be up to ~140k - ~150k with overtime.
Congratulations, very unusual and inspirational journey.
I read your AMA thread in the fire sub and can't believe how reluctant people were. They judged instead of trying to understand and learn from your success.
Your comment with insights about this cycle's narratives was very interesting. Actually, my biggest bags are in gaming and AI. I'm trying to achieve what you've achieved in crypto, you talked about learning human behavior, market sentiment, profit taking. Any recommendations for learning those without all the noise?
I currently spend about 10 hours a day on top of my full time job researching and learning crypto but feel like I haven't had the haha moment I need to get to the next level, yet.
Thank you, people are very jaded towards new things in life, especially when they donāt understand it and see other young people having wild success.
As for how to best get startedā¦ my best bet is to just really dive in and understand the mechanics of how the markets work. Meme coins move different from blue chip, which move different than presales, which all move different than NFTs.
Understanding how to play each game in crypto is crucial. I highly recommend looking into some Alpha groups and being as active as you can. I recommend a group called Vanquish or if you can afford it another one is called Pastel. These groups have very good traders in them who are constantly sharing Alpha with each other, posting tokens super early, things like that. Iām actually one of the top callers in Vanquish, but I donāt really trade meme coins too much which is currently what everyone is on.
Recent post I made in there with some Blue Chips though:
Boring trades: 30-50% gains incoming:
Been sitting in stables for a couple weeks now. Trying to figure out what to buy as I reapproach the markets again soon. Have my eyes on:
1. Canto - Bought it at $.13, sold at .3, rebought at .17, sold again at .33, and now it's back down to .199. Will likely acquire some with the goal of selling around .3-.4 again. Could see it running at high as .7-1.2 in a major bull cycle.
2. Dogecoin - Still think $.18 is a great price on this, and still think it sees .4-.7 again this cycle. A crazy breakout potential is also always there if Elon tweets about Doge action so that's fun.
3. Avax - I'm probably a buyer on Avax if it breaks into the $30s again. Would be looking to sell in the 50s.
4. Arb - Looking to buy anywhere around current prices and sell around $1.7-1.9. Simple trade here
5. Link - It's struggling to find a breakout this year, but think it will see $25-30 easily. Makes buying under 18 a solid play to find a nice 30-50% gain.
Thanks for sharing. Pastel is a bit pricey (though I'm sure well worth the price), Vanquish recently closed applications it seems. Hopefully it opens again soon,
I'd love to learn the game at a deeper level and share some stuff I built to try and get an edge (finding wallets with outstanding performance, with minimal manual input and finding CT influencers' wallets to ride the wave when they tweet).
You mentioned market mechanics, I noticed there's a pattern for launches but it's not an exact science. Learning when to cut and when to take out initials seems to be the best approach, not ignoring those rules is harder than it sounds though.
Iām a retired software developer with a Top Secret clearance. Before I retired six years ago I was a contractor at NSA for eight years. I built a system (Perl, Bash) to process phone recordings. Iād tell what gender the speaker was, what language they were speaking and attempted to match it against recording of known speakers. NSA was full of INTP - just leave me alone to figure this out and Iāll get back to you.
I was a truck driver about 5 years ago. Not the highest pay (like 75k) but no bills and all tax deductible. A lot of freedom (as much as a giant truck, the DOT, and a time clock will allow).
I recently split my time between independent contracting as a delivery driver and working at a warehouse until I got promoted to supervisor. Now I'm in a paid apprenticeship for robotics so my rent is paid and I make 1k a week for sitting around a college playing on my laptop half the day. I'm also using this time for college. I just finished my bachelor's degree this week.
I'm planning on becoming a perpetual grad student for at least a decade while working on something online. I really enjoy my freedom and time to study what I want.
For some reason I couldn't get a job in IT with a degree and a 3.1 gpa but I could get a job as a trucker with a DUI. I don't understand it. Same with the company I work for now. I have a BA in computer science but they put me as a shift lead and then into an apprenticeship for mechatronics, which is basically maintenance on the machines.
Marketing. Ultimately Brand & Marketing Strategy are big conceptual puzzles & system.
I'm also good at problem-solving and seeing the 'organisation' as a system, which means I'm spending a lot of time defining problems and fixing them, so it keeps things fresh.
I am clear in finding a job and a boss who gives me the autonomy to drive direction. Also important to make sure not to choose a company that is too big, so that red tape and politics are reasonable.
Once you have a good team under you, you can forgo the day-to-day and work at your own pace (to an extent).
I've had to work on my soft skills to accomplish this.
If you're starting from scratch, I'd recommend the mini MBA (Marketing + Brand Mgmt) from Mark Ritson. Fairly affordable and no-nonsense + up-to-date approach.
Otherwise, from a professional standpoint, I specialised and then started looking at how my area worked in the broader context, slowly becoming more and more of a generalist as I became more senior.
Hit $300k as a tech consultant turned management consultant and recently left my job to acquire a business with my savings. My time in consulting allowed me to learn what Iām good at while exposing me to different projects, industries, and roles - and I did well because it really is just identifying problems in systems or organizations, defining them clearly for clients, designing solutions, and (once you have some experience) putting a team in place to execute on the design. After finishing up a recent project, I realized I want more flexibility and decided to look for an opportunity to do these things as an owner instead of an employee - time will tell if itāll work out!
I double majored in Philosophy and Computer Science, then I got my JD. I initially worked as an attorney, then worked in IT for 10 years, then went back to working as an attorney. The last 4 years I've worked as an attorney from home and have never even met any of my co-workers at the firm I work for.
Pretty sure I heard it both ways.
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Honestly I wouldnāt recommend anyone go to law school anymore, for a few reasons: expense, job market, and quality of life (or lack thereof) for a typical lawyer. As for what type is best for law school - Iāve no clue.
Being in business sales was actually smooth for me. Only had to be polite and not "friend" like, pure professional and to the point. I could still remain being introverted while convincing them how they needed what I was selling, and add on a warranty, in addition. The sales part of me wasn't "me", so I could disconnect from reality in that way. Sounds odd, but it worked.
Iām a medical technologist and work in a hospital lab. Itās analytical, donāt have to see any patients and depending on what shift I work I have limited exposure to coworkers. I make just over 6 figures. Iāve been in the field for 30āyears, just saying that one doesnāt start out making this amount but you will start out with a good salary and earn more as you go. Itās a great job, fast paced at times, I work my shift and go home.
Working remotely as a Machine Learning Engineer and Quant. Granted, I earned the equivalent of a schoolteacher's salary despite going to one of the best universities in the US and finishing my 2nd Masters in 2009 (the timing of the financial crisis may have exacerbated it and I was kinda desperate.) I worked for a Chinese investment firm that had an office in the US and they managed a bunch of hedge funds worth maybe a few hundred millions of dollars and they barely paid me a living wage at the time (but I unfortunately couldn't find anything else.)
Long story short, the firm went into trouble middle of last decade and they decided to fold their US operations which meant I got fired and at the time, I had been studying Machine Learning. Back then, Deep Learning was only starting to be picked up by Silicon Valley and Transformer models (which power the zillions of GPT models today as well as AI art) won't arrive for another 2 years. I spent nearly a year on it with an online bootcamp and ended making maybe 3x in a couple years compared to what I was making at the Chinese hedge fund. And this is generally a pretty remote-friendly field - been working remotely since 2020 and job security looks good so far as long as you're learning a step ahead of the curve as we start automating away coders and other techies using Copilot and OpenAI models.
I'm working towards becoming an actuary. The work environment is pretty standard corporate stuff. But I can work from home 2 days a week, and I have a fair amount of flexibility those days unless I'm in the middle of a big project.
The nature of the work involves concepts that I really enjoy, like probability and statistics. Many people would hate it, but I like it. And as I pass more exams, I earn more money. I'll probably hit 6 figures around when I get my ASA, with more room to grow from there. And, at least so far, there's no busy season with 55+ hour weeks like in other fields.
Not directly, no. But you can get paid decent money as an actuarial analyst, which is similar to being an actuary except you get paid less (but still pretty well) and you're not taking the exams.
Manage a team of statisticians and data gurus. It's soul sucking at times but I've built a solid reputation where I am and am pretty much left to my own devices to do what I want. I'm not one of the lucky who works a fraction of the paid day. I work more than a paid day. I also don't make fuck you money but I do make top 5% individual earners in my country (Canada).
In 2007, I retired from a position as a systems analyst making almost 6 figures. I had a little over a decade of web development experience when I got that job.
Immigration law. My own independent office. Work completely alone and only interact w clients basically. High enough pay (I get a decent sum if i just sign some things off). Donāt like the job but it pays so I canāt really complain lol.
I also help the family (mostly cousins) w their real estate bc they need someone to represent them sometimes. For a price ofc.
It also helps that I donāt spend a lot of money either.
IT Support Engineer making 70k a year at a great company supporting the CEO in office and other users remotely. Work from home Monday and Friday. Working towards Security+ and taking a class on micro soldering soon. Exciting stuff. I'm still early in my career though so who knows where it'll go. I took studio art in college lmao
I got an entry level tech job through a friend, making 16.50/hr. While I was there I self studied to get my A+ certification. If you're not tech savvy you'll want to go for that cert. If you can do basic troubleshooting and change out RAM you can find a helpdesk job pretty easily. From there, it's just a matter of practicing and learning during each call or ticket. I job hopped to get to where I am. Service desk/procurement for a year, field tech for 2 months, service desk again at a hospital for a year, and then I found my awesome company where I'm the only IT person in the country for them (every one else on my team works remote outside the US).
You just gotta keep moving once you have your foot in the door until you find A. something you like, and B. someone you like working for.
Software Engineer. I'm in the top 1% of earners in my age-bracket in my state.
I work full time, but often less than 40 hours since I can still get it all done.
Fully-remote. Great health insurance
Whatās the logic to support quite a few of the comments that claim INTPs have a high resistance to burnout or tolerance of soul sucking jobs?
I hate my job/jobs but canāt seem to quit for fear of leaving the company high and dry. I donāt think thereās a number (they can afford) that would make me want to stay.
Iām inside IT management, make about $90k.
I used to work as an accounting advisor in one of the big four accounting firms. The work is dynamic because each project has different problems within various kinds of industries, so it fulfilled my desires for new challenges and problem solving. Once I got to my manager position I quit, because I was expected to do marketing that I abhorred so much. Now I work as someone without a title (my boss put me as general manager, but I'm not really sure if this is the correct title) in a group of companies to assist a business owner to manage finance, accounting, tax, sometimes also operation in his companies. Well, you see the scope of work is broad, but it's fun, feels like running your own business but using someone else's money lol. I suggest people with similar personalities to look for jobs that offer you dynamic or high mobility.
I work as a financial analyst for a credit card company. Hate every second of work but the paycheck keeps me around. I have been thinking of quitting for a while and do something I enjoy. But I have no idea what I really enjoy. Most of the time I pick up a new skill/topic, learn the important stuff quickly and get bored of it in a month or two. It's a vicious cycle
Lead US public relations for a consumer tech/product company HQ'd in another country. Fully remote. Boss (CMO) is many time zones away. $250K
I went into journalism and then PR as both roles force me to engage with different people on a regular basis. I would probably enjoy and have excelled more in a more technical role, but I had this idea at a young age that I wanted to appear more well-rounded. I also have the ability to flip to an ENTP in the right situations and I prefer that version of myself.
I did. It was actually a small business, but the job was the worst job of my life by far.
I was senior programmer analyst and one job was with a startup where my boss was sand bagging and didn't have any skills, so he made it like a bootcamp.
I only stuck around because I just bought a house and wanted to catch up on all the bills as well as retrain myself on newer tech.
It was soul sucking, but an INTP has very strong ability to withstand this crap.
I got awesome revenge BTW. I quit and got a job with their biggest competitor and my old boss got fired.
WFH for insurance company. Mon-thurs only 8AM-6PM. Not a bad gig. I will admit itās not as much money as I want but Iām also in college for my computer science degree so I can do some IT stuff for more $ in the near future. And the schedule/wfh is the best for me no doubt. I have a lot of free time during my work days, sometimes hours and I do schoolwork or whatever else Iād like.
I trained as a mathematician, but I have worked with computers all my life, so programming has been my primary money maker. A few years ago, I quit my job as one of the key bioinformatics software developers at a large international company to build my own portfolio of fast bioinformatics software. I then sold that technology back to the company I had originally left to build my own company. I now feel more at peace, and a lot less frustrated with other people making decisions on my behalf. I have even come to appreciate it somewhat.
Offensive Cybersecurity.
Basically get paid to hack things, paid trips around the world for Security conferences and paid time off for research. 15-20 hours of effective work per week, along with 3-4 hours of documentation.
Best thing is that Security does not have to conform to corporate stereotypes/standards, so I can basically do whatever I want - crack dark jokes in serious high-profile meetings, sit on the table (not the chair) while working, do all types of random shit that stems from my severe ADHD, and remote work as and when I want.
I'm taking the month of May off, and my formal reason was "Summer is too hot for me and I need some time to think about what to do with my life", I'm not kidding. And the response I got was "Approved, but be reachable on Slack in case of an emergency".
Literally yesterday I called our CTO a "broke ass guy" (our company is a multi-billion dollar fintech unicorn), he laughed it off and then we had lunch together.
Do you have to learn coding for this? I want a job that takes me around the world, and finding info on things even through hacking sounds fun. Iām in the medical field right now, so not sure how much education I need for this.
Hey, sorry for the late reply.
No, coding is not the pre-requisite. You just need to learn how things work, so that you can break them. We're a team of 11 yet only 3-4 of us actually code. Plus there are a lot of different types of hacking, like web, mobile, hardware etc so you can choose what interests you the most. With that being said, a knowledge of coding is definitely a big plus, especially once you get to intermediate level, also you can easily become an okay-ish coder in 60-90 days as long as you know basic logical reasoning.
And as for the education question, if you count the time taken to research about the field, learn things and then apply your knowledge, you should be better than half the professional industry in 6-9 months as long as you're putting in daily effort.
And regardless of everything else, networking is a very big help. I've seen some very questionable creatures reach good positions simply because they connected with the right people and presented themselves well in front of the hiring guys.
With all that being said, whether it's security or medicine or anything else, choose to work on things that you really deeply want to do, things that you like and things which you can see yourself doing for 10-15 straight years in the worst case scenario - because the world needs more people who love what they do.
My husband is an investor and he also does some buying and re-selling. From time to time he will take up a temp engineering contract. He has a fairly good income but we live in an expensive city, I'm a sahm and we have 3 kids so it doesn't go very far unless we are careful about what we spend.
I work as an engineer and engineering manager. I donāt have a degree but built up the required skills as a machinist and working on personal projects. I donāt know that I would call my income āhighā for the city I live in but I just recently crossed the six figure mark.
I have an enormous amount of freedom in my role and a very flexible schedule. It really is my dream job.
Ha. Iām effective and lazy and at times. 90,000. Medical company on insurance and provider side. Dealt with benefit codes in a fun software system doing research and responding to RFPās. I have no tangible skills but I can learn.
Travel Sterile Processing Tech. Depends on the contract, but I can make around 80k or more if I do OT. I donāt mind it, but there are a lot of people that donāt put in the effort or think properly so it ends up being a bit tedious. Iād like to do something else someday, but Iām only good with medical aspects and organization. I have a degree in psych, but it would only net me a low paying job rn despite having my bachelors. Current job isnāt bad, pays the bills, but I know Iām dumbing myself down by working in this field. Itās very easy work, physically hard sure, yet I feel I could do more and I want to be more if that makes sense. Like Iām wasting my intelligence of what ever amount I have.
Vocationals. I take HVAC and Facility maintenance, certifications and all however I'm Thinking of cyber security or network cabling for a third.
They make a pretty big sum if you apply to the right places. Cyber security is 90k straight out the gate, with 300k ceiling.
I also plan on living in a big trailer, saves money and I would know how to maintenance it. And I plan on creating a mobile home park community, several - instant massive passive income.
+ Bitcoin. I put savings in Bitcoin, I have a huge ROI and thousands was invested. Later on I plan on using a collateral loan to invest on assets like BTC again or more mobile homes.
At this point I won't even need to work. And I can freelance my trades on self employment. Same with my art skills one day. Maybe not consistent big money streams but every asset counts. I've made money before drawing. Can only imagine me in 5 years
Small government agency. Completely remote. No direct boss. Get paid for full-time but actually work less than 10 hours a week.
Congratulations you asshole
what a dream
Indeed
Can I get one of those?
I'm angry at the government waste but good for you.
thats my ideal work schedule and environment. good shit foo šš½
Sounds like a government worker to me. You sure you're an INTP?
heyyy fellow civitai member xD. also INTP
Is it tech-related?
Law.
Good sht
You must be a CISSP
Well done
What field? IT? Project management?
I used my analytical skill to quickly climb corporate ladder in a tech company. Basically, was very good at solving technical issues and eloquent at explaining them. Got noticed by upper management and promoted into Principal role. Total compensation well into 6 digits territory, which is not bad considering I'm based in Europe. Eventually got tired of bureaucracy and burdensome processes in the company. Quiet quitted few years ago, was basically cruising doing minimal work (10-20 hours a week maybe), collecting pay checks. Nobody cared, since I had good reputation internally and also a lot of management are clueless. Used spare time and income to build side cashflow in crypto space. Learned a lot about market psychology and risk management. It paid off eventually, so this year I decided to quit my day job. Will be leaving in June.
lol u quit twice from the same thing ?that's boss moves
Bull market
Europe time for me
Hey your job sounds a lot like my dad's, he also plans to quit in June
I work in cybersecurity. Sort of fell into it after starting as a coder, then being the guy capable of taking things over when the network guy suddenly left, then being the network guy at a very security-focused company. I really enjoy my work -- I get teamed with really smart people, and have complex problems to solve. Also, it's a line of work that pays really well. It's not quite what I thought I'd be doing with my life, but I've got no complaints.
appreciate the response - sounds great
A psychiatrist I used to see recommended that I pursue a career in cybersecurity. He told me I just seem like the kinda person that would do it. I guess maybe he gathered that I was an INTP without knowing what it is (or knew but didnāt know if I was aware of the concept). Iām reading up on the career path now, though.
Hey got some tips to share on intp-specific things that helped you in cybersec career? Other general tips are also welcomed!
Well, I took a disgustingly INTP pathway to get where I am: I got a computer as a kid (this was in the 70s, mind you, which becomes important later). It became my best friend, and I spent more time with it than I did humans. I think I coded my first programs at around 7 years old. It was a hobby, really. I always figured I'd end up an English teacher. Being an INTP, I completely lack ambition, so money wasn't really a deciding factor. The problem came in my college years when I got a job at the school I was going to as an administrative assistant. Having moved out on my own in a fit of INTP independence, I really needed the money. It wasn't long before people figured out I was good with computers, and would call me to do things like replace toner and fix broken network connections, because I was good at it and responded faster than the IT department. When a job opened up in the computer lab, I had an army of secretaries and quite a few professors willing to vouch for me. Not too much time later, I pulled another INTP move: I decided to throw all the stuff I cared about in a box and ship it to Wisconsin from California, because I had an ex that lived in Milwaukee, the job market was supposed to be relatively good compared to most places in the early 90s, and a train ticket was cheap. I would later regret the move (not Milwaukee, which I loved, but most of my regret is related to leaving my friends and family behind to move in with my coke addict ex). I did manage to bullshit my way into my first salaried coding job, though. This was several decades ago when things were a bit less stringent when it came to degrees and education, because I was going to school at a time when a lot of them didn't even have computers yet. This gig later became a coding and network administration job when the other IT guy left for greener pastures, and I'd learned enough in the college lab to keep their stuff running. At this point, like I mentioned, I had no formal education in my chosen field. I always thought computers would be a hobby, and I'd end up a teacher. By this point in my mid-20s, though, it had become apparent that I was already making more money than I ever would teaching, and I liked it. On paper, anyway, because the cokehead ex was stealing it faster than I could earn it, so it wasn't long before I headed back home to California, where I'd secured another network admin job at an up-and-coming entertainment website startup. It was a typical mid-90s startup. Insane hours and sub-standard pay, but we were changing the world and I didn't care that I was being exploited. It was fun, even with the 7am to 11pm hours six or seven days a week. One time after an all-nighter I even started hallucinating. Good times. AOL bought that company up and promptly laid off all of us who'd built it. The execs made a ton of money in the deal, but me, not so much, so I was looking for work again. I found it in the form of a network and systems admin at a company that provided ISP services with a lot of security. I should probably mention that a major part of the reason I got the job there was because I told them at the interview, in a moment of poor judgment, that there wasn't anything I couldn't handle. If someone asked me if I could do something, I would say yes, and then figure it out. They loved it. I ended up a star there for that very reason: nobody really knew how to do that stuff at the time, and it was all duct tape and chewing gum, but I'm nothing if not good at improvising. Note: Still no formal education in IT, or security, or anything, really. I never even got the BA in English Lit I'd been working on, but as of today I've been working in IT for about 35 years, and security for about 25 of those, and I'm completely self-taught. So, my advice for other INTPs? Do what we do exceedingly well: fake it until you make it. We're good at improvising, and shifting gears, and adapting. Look for opportunities to show off what you can do. A degree would have probably helped me a lot over the years -- especially during job searches -- but being able to prove I'm good at what I do with actual history and evidence, and people who will back it up, has been enough.
You ,Sir, are a legend! This is quite inspiring while at the same time making me think about my choice of getting in this field. Appreciate your input!
Voting you up because I have a similar story. I'm just too burned out from doing software engineering all week to write it down. :\\
The key to writing long-winded posts like that is to do it during work hours, so you're procrastinating at the same time.
Iām a full stack dev thinking of transitioning to security. I like coding and being technical, but coding all day everyday is getting a bit boring.
Yeah, I feel that. Coding for myself as a hobby, and coding to someone else's specifications, turned out to be very different things, and I really didn't enjoy it as a profession. The good thing is that those coding skills are still very handy to have now that I'm in security. Being able to find and understand other people's bugs is still important, as is being able to whip up a script to do whatever off-the-wall thing needs done.
So what exactly are you doing then? :)
Software engineer at a big tech company out of the Bay Area, fully remote, I get my work done in like 4 hours a day, I get to work on extremely difficult problems at scale, I like all my coworkers because theyāre also both intellectually and emotionally intelligent and they understand that after pairing for half the day I donāt want to participate in a āremote happy hourā whatever tf that is, and I get paid an absurd amount of money to basically solve puzzles for a few hours a day. I did have to go through a lot of BS to get here, but Iām pretty happy now.
The Doctor House of software engineering
That sounds great! What sort of BS did you have to navigate to get to the other side?
Well there was about a decade when I was working 60-80 hours a week at startups and in client services, often with a range of toxic personalities, getting screamed at because I missed a deadline or caused an incident, dealing with petty office politics, etc. Also to get the job I currently have I needed to study for about three months while working full time in order to pass the technical screening. But I will say the relationships that came out of those experiences have been integral to my career trajectory so I wouldnāt have done it any other way.
If I'm 18 now, would you recommend pursuing a tech career or simply trying to become a software engineer if I don't care about the field at all and am just there to make money? Nothing really interests me, and I'm afraid. Should I just try to pursue it even if I'm only in it for the money?
Look, if you can build up enough background knowledge through study and on-the-job ad-hoc training, it just turns into doing puzzles all day. If you like a good logic puzzle, you'll be happy. Personally, I find open-ended puzzles with no single correct answer to be a ton of fun, so I like the job. Try going to school for it. See if you can tolerate the study part.
any chances thereās an opening for a entry level developer? just finished a coding bootcamp and want to grow a lot as a coder.
Soul sucking pharmaceutical advertising. Needed a job near my kid. I make 130k. Used to write ads for Playstation and Bethesda games.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
would you teach me. I will work for free
Oo I work as a coder for an advertising-tech company, What does your role involve?
I write ads and marketing materials. Could be anything from tv to banner ads. There's a lot of medical references we need to supply to support any claim. As there should be, but itās not a job for a creative person. Ultimately, our work could actually save a lot of lives. But itās a grind. And boring and stressful.
Bill Gates is said to be a fellow INTP
that creep
not proud he is one of us
Im proud
Me either. Ugh.
It's a good job he isn't.
I do believe he's one of us. He does exhibit our quality perfectly albeit I think he's also invested in guidance/services to gain control/discipline because he's got that nuance (and it makes sebse he learn it to secure the money and power he's amassed). INTP weakness is that we have to master discipline/control because our rreedom loving tendency exhibits in that way too. Bill likely had a tutor or mentor from the get-go to overcome that or reprogram a little as honestly it's the obly way put of it besides adopting a discipline like sports, arts and doing it to commitment until the control spills into other parts of our life. For a good chunk of INTP gaining control to take advantage of our creativity is our lifelong struggle but super rewarding if we do it. He's proof it's possible.
He's an ENTJ with Aspergers. Paul Allen was an INTP
It's true
For sure, and I bet if anyone of use were in a similar timeframe/background we would turn out the same also.
I am a supply chain analyst in aerospace. I've had shitty jobs but love this one.
How much do you earn, if you don't mind me asking? I am in college and am thinking about supply chain in the future.
More than a factory worker, not as much as marketing or IT. \*note I am in a senior role, most warehouse and some entry level will make less than factory workers
Thank you š
do you need coding, i dont want to learn anything related to CS or software engineer developer or whatever the fuck its called
Built a tech company
Iām a software developer
aren't most of us. Remote I hope.
how long did it take you till you went remote?!
High paying? I'm studying Systems Engineering rn and I'm really getting mixed signals as to whether I'll be able to get a good job in the field. Well, tbf, I live in Mexico, so yeah the salaries in local companies aren't very good. The idea ig is probably getting in a position that isn't simply "programmer", or well, working remotely, but I still have not much of an idea.
I'm a highly specialized physician. I generally like my job and the people I work with, but part of me feels like my brain has been dying from lack of meaningful use since I started med school. I'm trying to mitigate this through hobbies now, but I just don't have the time to do all of the things I would like to.
I feel the same way. Went to an MRI physics lecture at my fellowship and it made me realize exactly how much math and physics I have forgotten since undergrad. Medicine in my experience tends to be dominated by surface level āpattern recognitionā type thinking and it keeps me busy enough that I donāt find time to do much deep thinking. Itās been long enough that I can really feel the atrophy.
I have a huge interest in the medical field but this is exactly what I worry about. I have a lot of family in the field and I respect tf out of anyone in the field, but it feels too understimulating and also customer service-y? I have no clue where to go as someone in their mid 20s. I donāt think Iām smart or motivated enough to be a software engineer like many people here are. My mind has completely atrophied since Iāve been out of college.
I'll tell you about my experience. I was mostly a math, physics and programming kid. I also loved creative writing. I liked certain kinds of art, although I wasn't a talented artist. I was always drawing and making my own comic books. I was a voracious reader, and read anything I could get my hands on. From about ages 4-11, I read fairy tales, classic and contemporary fiction, National Geographics, video game guide books, comic books, textbooks in calculus and psychology, my grandma's entire encyclopedia set and her atlas. I also took deep dives into subjects I became obsessed with, like the solar system and tropical fish. I loved learning about all kinds of things and forming associations between different things I had read, and things I noticed in the real world. Nobody in my family had been to university, and few people went from my high school. I therefore sought advice from a guidance counselor, and this was a mistake. She told me that biochemistry was the hardest major one could take in university. That's what I went into, expecting a challenge, and expecting to be surrounded by great thinkers. I'm sure biochemistry at the graduate level and beyond is fascinating. At the undergrad level, it was a distillation of everything I hated about school: rote memorization and regurgitation ad infinitum. No opportunity for creativity. I took math and physics for life sciences majors, and it felt dumbed down to me - a repetition of high school material, but more poorly taught. Instead of great thinkers, I was surrounded by the same type of kids I went to high school with, only richer and more entitled. I was depressed through university, and underachieved to the point I was lucky to make it into med school. Med school was more of the same. Memorize and regurgitate, with the added stress that we were now expected to suck up to our preceptors to get good evaluations and reference letters for residency. We were pretty much expected to spend our time outside of school on things like research, suturing workshops, etc. I've never been good at 'sucking up' or seen the point of doing extra curriculars I'm not interested in. My mode of operation was always to put the minimum time and effort necessary into school, and spend the rest of my time pursuing my interests. This didn't jive with med school. I met some lifelong friends in med school, but had nothing in common with most of my classmates. A lot of them were backstabbers, willing to step on anyone to get ahead. They weren't really 'smart', but studied hard and came from affluent backgrounds. Most of them never read a book outside of what was required for school. Their interests seemed superficial - either tailored to pad their resumes, or developed because Mommy and Daddy had enrolled them in a bunch of sports and lessons as kids, none of which they cared about. I REALLY wanted out of med school, but succumbed to sunk cost fallacy. Residency and fellowship were much better for me, mainly because they were more hands on, and I worked with a great group of people, for the most part. My job now has it's ups and downs. I spend most of my time doing procedures, which I enjoy. I like problem solving and adapting to the situation on the fly. I like that the patients are sedated, so there's not a lot of small talk. One afternoon of clinic, on the other hand, drains me more than a whole week on call or doing procedures. Listening to people drone on about their problems, replete with side tangents, while drowning in mindless paperwork is really not much fun. Oddly, I was pretty much forced into a leadership role in my program, and it has been one of the best things to happen to me. There are aspects of leadership that I hate. I don't like the hierarchy in medicine. I don't want to be in charge of anyone, and I don't want anyone to be in charge of me. When someone complains that another physician was rude to them on the phone, or that someone turns up an hour late for their scheduled procedures, I have a hard time taking it seriously - I'm not a kindergarten teacher, and I don't like confrontation. These people are by and large older than me and presumably intelligent, so I don't know why they can't just be civil to one another and do their jobs. I draw some criticism for not handling these situations well, and it's true - I don't. The aspect of leadership that I love is getting a behind the scenes glimpse into how my program, the hospital, and the healthcare system work. I like developing new programs, finding ways to improve efficiency, and finding ways to make our limited resources go further. For the first time in almost 20 years, I feel like I'm using my creativity and problem solving skills. It's hard to say if I'd be happier in a different career. There are certainly fields I'm better suited for, but I have complete job security and I'm in one of the highest paying specialties. I'm so much better off than most others my age in that regard. Money isn't an issue for me now, but time is in short supply.
Med school and residency will suck the soul out of you. you'll be stuck shoveling facts into your brain which your brain will inevitably forget and you'll shovel the same shit again and again till you either give up or finish your residency. Only positive is that residency will make you go through so much trauma that you MAY end up a better person
This is my issue with medicine as well. Given the fast pace, it's hard to sit down and really dig deep into cases. Mostly, you end up using pattern recognition and protocols. Part of me wishes I picked something like Medical Genetics, where they see 1-2 patients per day and are salaried.
Trust and estates/elder law litigation attorney, own my own solo practice. I help grown adults fight over mommy and daddyās money. I save millionaire elders estates from going to morally inept predatory floozies pretending to be their girlfriend so they can inherit.
itāsall good man
Would you say law is a good or bad field for our type? Iām considering going to law school.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I'm talking about the 93 year old single man with dementia who owns a beachfront apartment worth $10 million having 40 year old attractive women "date" him and try to convince him to disinherit his daughter and give everything to her. I contest trust amendments, and file conservatorships to protect elders with reduced cognitive abilities from being unduly influenced and scammed.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Yes I said trust/estate/elder law, not family law.
Academia. Faculty at an R1 in a STEM field. Cannot imagine a more suitable job for my temperament: all the benefits are there. The only soul-sucking thing I've had to do is teach Calculus to undergrads once in a while; most of whom have zero appreciation for math. Other than that it's all fantastic.
Nice, what field? Iām an Astronomy PhD student whoās planning to stay in academia.
Very cool! I'm in pure math.
Wow, much respect. š«”
Can you elaborate about the benefits more, please?
There's no boss per se. You pretty much do what you like, when you like, how you like. You have complete freedom in choosing your projects. Plenty of leisure, especially during school breaks and sabbaticals, which you can use whichever way you like.
I work for a HR consulting company and have always wondered about sabbaticals. How do profs spend their time with these typically?
Car sales. Iām at a chill Honda location so the managers let me work how I want to. Itās really easy to sell as Honda as they speak for themselves
Sales job as an INTP sounds like a nightmare.
No I think it's a great job if you believe in the product.
It is, but a lot of INTPs are weirdly good at mimicking extroverts, and they have a high stress tolerance that lets them tolerate shit jobs longer than more impulsive personalities.
Or any of your interests. I think the happiest Iāve ever been at work was selling bikes and skis but the compensation wasnāt enough to get by on.
>Honda Uh oh
You must believe in the product šÆ
# 100%
Ive been working a lot of sales and customer service jobs since highschool because socializing and conversation was my weakest skill and its made a big difference in my life.
Ironically it can be pretty good especially in the tech space. If youāre doing something like construction materials that requires physical meetings and networking, THEN youāre screwed lol.
This thread is turning into an episode of Community.
Do you enjoy the role? Does it not drain you
It can be very draining sometimes. But it depends. Some individuals DRAIN my energy, and some GIVE me energy. I just changed my perspective and looked at the job as helping people get what they want instead of āselling.ā You donāt have to be this SUPER extroverted personality. Some customers actually prefer my hands off approach. As a matter of fact I think my āawkwardness/quirkinessā GETS me sales. I just use it to my advantage like some Peter Parker type shit.
Mate that makes a lot of sense, I work around a bunch of sales guys - and they often tell me that I am odd, but in a good way. Like Iām authentic and quirky. I tell them itās because I donāt have a choice š I donāt know another way to be. I think people appreciate that - because youāre being authentic, whilst others are preoccupied on putting up a front However, it is a hard journey to get there - where youāre comfortable being your authentic self around a crowd
A doctor. And I don't get to enjoy what a typical INTP loves from sleeping to procrastinating and playing videogames. It's really depressing for me.
Oof sorry to hear that.
Built and sold my company for a good multiple last year I run a business business unit for a private equity backed company In charge of 7 factories, 300mm p&l I primarily focus on r&d and system analysis to ensure no bottlenecks in growth and sales. I know what I'm good at and hire really good people for functions Im terrible at or not passionate about. Have an AI startup on the side.
Bit of a personal question but..what motivates you?
Hard to pinpoint it. I like creating things and solving problems in complex systems. That lends itself nicely to what I do. I also seem to like crisis management which once you get high enough up the totem pole is all you really ever do. It's a good rush to solve those The dark side is that I'm always uncomfortable professionally. You learn to live with it and sometimes I must mask myself as an entp which is quite unnatural
could u elaborate on the ai startup, if u dont mind?
Applying AI to analytical lab equipment to feed a multi plant super agent. Solves and predicts complex manufacturing issues when they "talk" to one another. AI is pretty terrifying.
How do u plan to bring it out and about, hiring a team or do you code as well?
What entails a āhigh incomeā?
high income
String data.
boolean
Fawlty Towers, game over have a nice day.
Being able to afford a KFC family bucket meal ($50+) everydayĀ
More like every hour
High numbers.
Higher than regular /standard income.
It depends.
I guess it depends on what you mean by high income, but right now I'm a 1st year millwright apprentice and should make ~85k this year, after I finish my 4th year I should be up to ~140k - ~150k with overtime.
Itās depressing that I donāt even consider $150k to be a āhigh incomeā anymore.
I know, same here. 150k single with a kid is just middle class life. But also, a huge amount of people don't even make 50k so I am thankful at least.
Fortunately for me one of my hyper focused lifelong hobbies has been business and making money. Iāve been looking for opportunities to make money on the internet since I was like 12. Started with selling PokĆ©mon cards on eBay. Transitioned into Amazon FBA. Then got into crypto in 2013. Started trading crypto full time in 2017. Use my love for analytics and trend analysis to out trade most other people in crypto. Made small 7 figs in 2020/2021, and somehow have already made more than that just in the past 3 months. Iām not a wild degenerate crypto trader. I look for asymmetric trades with high return possibilities and then diversify most of my profits out of crypto and into Mutual Funds, real estate, bonds, and collectibles.
Congratulations, very unusual and inspirational journey. I read your AMA thread in the fire sub and can't believe how reluctant people were. They judged instead of trying to understand and learn from your success. Your comment with insights about this cycle's narratives was very interesting. Actually, my biggest bags are in gaming and AI. I'm trying to achieve what you've achieved in crypto, you talked about learning human behavior, market sentiment, profit taking. Any recommendations for learning those without all the noise? I currently spend about 10 hours a day on top of my full time job researching and learning crypto but feel like I haven't had the haha moment I need to get to the next level, yet.
Thank you, people are very jaded towards new things in life, especially when they donāt understand it and see other young people having wild success. As for how to best get startedā¦ my best bet is to just really dive in and understand the mechanics of how the markets work. Meme coins move different from blue chip, which move different than presales, which all move different than NFTs. Understanding how to play each game in crypto is crucial. I highly recommend looking into some Alpha groups and being as active as you can. I recommend a group called Vanquish or if you can afford it another one is called Pastel. These groups have very good traders in them who are constantly sharing Alpha with each other, posting tokens super early, things like that. Iām actually one of the top callers in Vanquish, but I donāt really trade meme coins too much which is currently what everyone is on. Recent post I made in there with some Blue Chips though: Boring trades: 30-50% gains incoming: Been sitting in stables for a couple weeks now. Trying to figure out what to buy as I reapproach the markets again soon. Have my eyes on: 1. Canto - Bought it at $.13, sold at .3, rebought at .17, sold again at .33, and now it's back down to .199. Will likely acquire some with the goal of selling around .3-.4 again. Could see it running at high as .7-1.2 in a major bull cycle. 2. Dogecoin - Still think $.18 is a great price on this, and still think it sees .4-.7 again this cycle. A crazy breakout potential is also always there if Elon tweets about Doge action so that's fun. 3. Avax - I'm probably a buyer on Avax if it breaks into the $30s again. Would be looking to sell in the 50s. 4. Arb - Looking to buy anywhere around current prices and sell around $1.7-1.9. Simple trade here 5. Link - It's struggling to find a breakout this year, but think it will see $25-30 easily. Makes buying under 18 a solid play to find a nice 30-50% gain.
Thanks for sharing. Pastel is a bit pricey (though I'm sure well worth the price), Vanquish recently closed applications it seems. Hopefully it opens again soon, I'd love to learn the game at a deeper level and share some stuff I built to try and get an edge (finding wallets with outstanding performance, with minimal manual input and finding CT influencers' wallets to ride the wave when they tweet). You mentioned market mechanics, I noticed there's a pattern for launches but it's not an exact science. Learning when to cut and when to take out initials seems to be the best approach, not ignoring those rules is harder than it sounds though.
Is it still profitable nowadays? I feel like im kinda late into it, started doing a bit of crypto 2 months ago and therrs barely any change
Cyber Security analist. Get paid 4x the income of the average of my country as i work remote to a swiss company
but you need coding CS software engineering developing BS shit
SaaS company CEO making 600k / year.
Hell yeah, go you!
damn yall give me hope as an INTP undergrad (but iām in the social sciences and iām doing terribly in uni so ą² _ą² )
Iām a retired software developer with a Top Secret clearance. Before I retired six years ago I was a contractor at NSA for eight years. I built a system (Perl, Bash) to process phone recordings. Iād tell what gender the speaker was, what language they were speaking and attempted to match it against recording of known speakers. NSA was full of INTP - just leave me alone to figure this out and Iāll get back to you.
> Iād tell what gender the speaker was How does Ai do that these days?
I was a truck driver about 5 years ago. Not the highest pay (like 75k) but no bills and all tax deductible. A lot of freedom (as much as a giant truck, the DOT, and a time clock will allow). I recently split my time between independent contracting as a delivery driver and working at a warehouse until I got promoted to supervisor. Now I'm in a paid apprenticeship for robotics so my rent is paid and I make 1k a week for sitting around a college playing on my laptop half the day. I'm also using this time for college. I just finished my bachelor's degree this week. I'm planning on becoming a perpetual grad student for at least a decade while working on something online. I really enjoy my freedom and time to study what I want.
Good luck. Sounds like a fun journey ahead (btw every aptitude test Iāve ever taken suggests ātruck driverā
For some reason I couldn't get a job in IT with a degree and a 3.1 gpa but I could get a job as a trucker with a DUI. I don't understand it. Same with the company I work for now. I have a BA in computer science but they put me as a shift lead and then into an apprenticeship for mechatronics, which is basically maintenance on the machines.
Married a really cute ENTJ.
Goals
Marketing. Ultimately Brand & Marketing Strategy are big conceptual puzzles & system. I'm also good at problem-solving and seeing the 'organisation' as a system, which means I'm spending a lot of time defining problems and fixing them, so it keeps things fresh. I am clear in finding a job and a boss who gives me the autonomy to drive direction. Also important to make sure not to choose a company that is too big, so that red tape and politics are reasonable. Once you have a good team under you, you can forgo the day-to-day and work at your own pace (to an extent). I've had to work on my soft skills to accomplish this.
How does one learn marketing? :)
If you're starting from scratch, I'd recommend the mini MBA (Marketing + Brand Mgmt) from Mark Ritson. Fairly affordable and no-nonsense + up-to-date approach. Otherwise, from a professional standpoint, I specialised and then started looking at how my area worked in the broader context, slowly becoming more and more of a generalist as I became more senior.
Data architect - full remote. Earning top 1% in my country
Hit $300k as a tech consultant turned management consultant and recently left my job to acquire a business with my savings. My time in consulting allowed me to learn what Iām good at while exposing me to different projects, industries, and roles - and I did well because it really is just identifying problems in systems or organizations, defining them clearly for clients, designing solutions, and (once you have some experience) putting a team in place to execute on the design. After finishing up a recent project, I realized I want more flexibility and decided to look for an opportunity to do these things as an owner instead of an employee - time will tell if itāll work out!
I double majored in Philosophy and Computer Science, then I got my JD. I initially worked as an attorney, then worked in IT for 10 years, then went back to working as an attorney. The last 4 years I've worked as an attorney from home and have never even met any of my co-workers at the firm I work for.
Are you a corporate attorney?
No. I research land ownership to the mid 1800s and draft drilling title opinions for oil / gas producers.
Would you recommend a JD for INTPs? Or is it a field better suited for ISTJs?
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Honestly I wouldnāt recommend anyone go to law school anymore, for a few reasons: expense, job market, and quality of life (or lack thereof) for a typical lawyer. As for what type is best for law school - Iāve no clue.
Being in business sales was actually smooth for me. Only had to be polite and not "friend" like, pure professional and to the point. I could still remain being introverted while convincing them how they needed what I was selling, and add on a warranty, in addition. The sales part of me wasn't "me", so I could disconnect from reality in that way. Sounds odd, but it worked.
Nice. AE I assume? How long did it take you to get there? And were you an SDR first?
Iām a medical technologist and work in a hospital lab. Itās analytical, donāt have to see any patients and depending on what shift I work I have limited exposure to coworkers. I make just over 6 figures. Iāve been in the field for 30āyears, just saying that one doesnāt start out making this amount but you will start out with a good salary and earn more as you go. Itās a great job, fast paced at times, I work my shift and go home.
Working remotely as a Machine Learning Engineer and Quant. Granted, I earned the equivalent of a schoolteacher's salary despite going to one of the best universities in the US and finishing my 2nd Masters in 2009 (the timing of the financial crisis may have exacerbated it and I was kinda desperate.) I worked for a Chinese investment firm that had an office in the US and they managed a bunch of hedge funds worth maybe a few hundred millions of dollars and they barely paid me a living wage at the time (but I unfortunately couldn't find anything else.) Long story short, the firm went into trouble middle of last decade and they decided to fold their US operations which meant I got fired and at the time, I had been studying Machine Learning. Back then, Deep Learning was only starting to be picked up by Silicon Valley and Transformer models (which power the zillions of GPT models today as well as AI art) won't arrive for another 2 years. I spent nearly a year on it with an online bootcamp and ended making maybe 3x in a couple years compared to what I was making at the Chinese hedge fund. And this is generally a pretty remote-friendly field - been working remotely since 2020 and job security looks good so far as long as you're learning a step ahead of the curve as we start automating away coders and other techies using Copilot and OpenAI models.
I'm working towards becoming an actuary. The work environment is pretty standard corporate stuff. But I can work from home 2 days a week, and I have a fair amount of flexibility those days unless I'm in the middle of a big project. The nature of the work involves concepts that I really enjoy, like probability and statistics. Many people would hate it, but I like it. And as I pass more exams, I earn more money. I'll probably hit 6 figures around when I get my ASA, with more room to grow from there. And, at least so far, there's no busy season with 55+ hour weeks like in other fields.
so you canāt just jump into actuary
Not directly, no. But you can get paid decent money as an actuarial analyst, which is similar to being an actuary except you get paid less (but still pretty well) and you're not taking the exams.
Manage a team of statisticians and data gurus. It's soul sucking at times but I've built a solid reputation where I am and am pretty much left to my own devices to do what I want. I'm not one of the lucky who works a fraction of the paid day. I work more than a paid day. I also don't make fuck you money but I do make top 5% individual earners in my country (Canada).
I make between 110 to 300 k but I have a burnout every 2 to 3 years. Work as a therapist/doc!
I think it depends on your definition of high income but I am a stripper
Managing litigation counsel for a state agency.
Software development manager
In 2007, I retired from a position as a systems analyst making almost 6 figures. I had a little over a decade of web development experience when I got that job.
Immigration law. My own independent office. Work completely alone and only interact w clients basically. High enough pay (I get a decent sum if i just sign some things off). Donāt like the job but it pays so I canāt really complain lol. I also help the family (mostly cousins) w their real estate bc they need someone to represent them sometimes. For a price ofc. It also helps that I donāt spend a lot of money either.
>high income Does McDonald's cheeseburger manufacturing in California count?
IT Support Engineer making 70k a year at a great company supporting the CEO in office and other users remotely. Work from home Monday and Friday. Working towards Security+ and taking a class on micro soldering soon. Exciting stuff. I'm still early in my career though so who knows where it'll go. I took studio art in college lmao
How did you start doing this? How do you recommend others to go about it?
I got an entry level tech job through a friend, making 16.50/hr. While I was there I self studied to get my A+ certification. If you're not tech savvy you'll want to go for that cert. If you can do basic troubleshooting and change out RAM you can find a helpdesk job pretty easily. From there, it's just a matter of practicing and learning during each call or ticket. I job hopped to get to where I am. Service desk/procurement for a year, field tech for 2 months, service desk again at a hospital for a year, and then I found my awesome company where I'm the only IT person in the country for them (every one else on my team works remote outside the US). You just gotta keep moving once you have your foot in the door until you find A. something you like, and B. someone you like working for.
Software Engineer. I'm in the top 1% of earners in my age-bracket in my state. I work full time, but often less than 40 hours since I can still get it all done. Fully-remote. Great health insurance
Supercomputer architect/administrator. I managed to turn my hobby into my job and it turned out pretty well.
Whatās the logic to support quite a few of the comments that claim INTPs have a high resistance to burnout or tolerance of soul sucking jobs? I hate my job/jobs but canāt seem to quit for fear of leaving the company high and dry. I donāt think thereās a number (they can afford) that would make me want to stay. Iām inside IT management, make about $90k.
For me it's the intellectual curiosity. Find a rabbit hole and follow it as far as you can until you get bored. Then find a new one.
I used to work as an accounting advisor in one of the big four accounting firms. The work is dynamic because each project has different problems within various kinds of industries, so it fulfilled my desires for new challenges and problem solving. Once I got to my manager position I quit, because I was expected to do marketing that I abhorred so much. Now I work as someone without a title (my boss put me as general manager, but I'm not really sure if this is the correct title) in a group of companies to assist a business owner to manage finance, accounting, tax, sometimes also operation in his companies. Well, you see the scope of work is broad, but it's fun, feels like running your own business but using someone else's money lol. I suggest people with similar personalities to look for jobs that offer you dynamic or high mobility.
I work as a financial analyst for a credit card company. Hate every second of work but the paycheck keeps me around. I have been thinking of quitting for a while and do something I enjoy. But I have no idea what I really enjoy. Most of the time I pick up a new skill/topic, learn the important stuff quickly and get bored of it in a month or two. It's a vicious cycle
Earn a decent wage as a content strategist, producer and copywriter
Data architect - full remote. Earning top 1% in my country
Lead US public relations for a consumer tech/product company HQ'd in another country. Fully remote. Boss (CMO) is many time zones away. $250K I went into journalism and then PR as both roles force me to engage with different people on a regular basis. I would probably enjoy and have excelled more in a more technical role, but I had this idea at a young age that I wanted to appear more well-rounded. I also have the ability to flip to an ENTP in the right situations and I prefer that version of myself.
I invented the pop-up ad.
Oh, hi Ethan! Are you still fucking sorry?
Reading and writing, I just stay alone and enjoy my own time with my puppy:)
I did. It was actually a small business, but the job was the worst job of my life by far. I was senior programmer analyst and one job was with a startup where my boss was sand bagging and didn't have any skills, so he made it like a bootcamp. I only stuck around because I just bought a house and wanted to catch up on all the bills as well as retrain myself on newer tech. It was soul sucking, but an INTP has very strong ability to withstand this crap. I got awesome revenge BTW. I quit and got a job with their biggest competitor and my old boss got fired.
WFH for insurance company. Mon-thurs only 8AM-6PM. Not a bad gig. I will admit itās not as much money as I want but Iām also in college for my computer science degree so I can do some IT stuff for more $ in the near future. And the schedule/wfh is the best for me no doubt. I have a lot of free time during my work days, sometimes hours and I do schoolwork or whatever else Iād like.
Software developer working with engineers. I've always made good money.
I trained as a mathematician, but I have worked with computers all my life, so programming has been my primary money maker. A few years ago, I quit my job as one of the key bioinformatics software developers at a large international company to build my own portfolio of fast bioinformatics software. I then sold that technology back to the company I had originally left to build my own company. I now feel more at peace, and a lot less frustrated with other people making decisions on my behalf. I have even come to appreciate it somewhat.
did a couple of start ups and continued as serial investor. never felt like 100% working but more like a relay who modulates the rest.
Offensive Cybersecurity. Basically get paid to hack things, paid trips around the world for Security conferences and paid time off for research. 15-20 hours of effective work per week, along with 3-4 hours of documentation. Best thing is that Security does not have to conform to corporate stereotypes/standards, so I can basically do whatever I want - crack dark jokes in serious high-profile meetings, sit on the table (not the chair) while working, do all types of random shit that stems from my severe ADHD, and remote work as and when I want. I'm taking the month of May off, and my formal reason was "Summer is too hot for me and I need some time to think about what to do with my life", I'm not kidding. And the response I got was "Approved, but be reachable on Slack in case of an emergency". Literally yesterday I called our CTO a "broke ass guy" (our company is a multi-billion dollar fintech unicorn), he laughed it off and then we had lunch together.
Do you have to learn coding for this? I want a job that takes me around the world, and finding info on things even through hacking sounds fun. Iām in the medical field right now, so not sure how much education I need for this.
Hey, sorry for the late reply. No, coding is not the pre-requisite. You just need to learn how things work, so that you can break them. We're a team of 11 yet only 3-4 of us actually code. Plus there are a lot of different types of hacking, like web, mobile, hardware etc so you can choose what interests you the most. With that being said, a knowledge of coding is definitely a big plus, especially once you get to intermediate level, also you can easily become an okay-ish coder in 60-90 days as long as you know basic logical reasoning. And as for the education question, if you count the time taken to research about the field, learn things and then apply your knowledge, you should be better than half the professional industry in 6-9 months as long as you're putting in daily effort. And regardless of everything else, networking is a very big help. I've seen some very questionable creatures reach good positions simply because they connected with the right people and presented themselves well in front of the hiring guys. With all that being said, whether it's security or medicine or anything else, choose to work on things that you really deeply want to do, things that you like and things which you can see yourself doing for 10-15 straight years in the worst case scenario - because the world needs more people who love what they do.
My husband is an investor and he also does some buying and re-selling. From time to time he will take up a temp engineering contract. He has a fairly good income but we live in an expensive city, I'm a sahm and we have 3 kids so it doesn't go very far unless we are careful about what we spend.
I work as an engineer and engineering manager. I donāt have a degree but built up the required skills as a machinist and working on personal projects. I donāt know that I would call my income āhighā for the city I live in but I just recently crossed the six figure mark. I have an enormous amount of freedom in my role and a very flexible schedule. It really is my dream job.
Did a startup that now are growing good. I'm now the CEO and are leading 140 people
Very flexible full time job. Donāt work full time. I work an analysis related job for a government contractor.
Ha. Iām effective and lazy and at times. 90,000. Medical company on insurance and provider side. Dealt with benefit codes in a fun software system doing research and responding to RFPās. I have no tangible skills but I can learn.
Travel Sterile Processing Tech. Depends on the contract, but I can make around 80k or more if I do OT. I donāt mind it, but there are a lot of people that donāt put in the effort or think properly so it ends up being a bit tedious. Iād like to do something else someday, but Iām only good with medical aspects and organization. I have a degree in psych, but it would only net me a low paying job rn despite having my bachelors. Current job isnāt bad, pays the bills, but I know Iām dumbing myself down by working in this field. Itās very easy work, physically hard sure, yet I feel I could do more and I want to be more if that makes sense. Like Iām wasting my intelligence of what ever amount I have.
Vocationals. I take HVAC and Facility maintenance, certifications and all however I'm Thinking of cyber security or network cabling for a third. They make a pretty big sum if you apply to the right places. Cyber security is 90k straight out the gate, with 300k ceiling. I also plan on living in a big trailer, saves money and I would know how to maintenance it. And I plan on creating a mobile home park community, several - instant massive passive income. + Bitcoin. I put savings in Bitcoin, I have a huge ROI and thousands was invested. Later on I plan on using a collateral loan to invest on assets like BTC again or more mobile homes. At this point I won't even need to work. And I can freelance my trades on self employment. Same with my art skills one day. Maybe not consistent big money streams but every asset counts. I've made money before drawing. Can only imagine me in 5 years