Move to the midwest?

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > Move to the midwest?

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

No Butt Stuff posted:

Go work for a utility in the midwest, assuming you're a senior level individual contributor.

That will be very good money.

Can vouch for this. Can make A VERY good living working for a utility of you're mildly competent. Once you hit leadership levels they just put random bags of money on your desk. You'd think since you have relative stability compared to "market driven" businesses you'd get a haircut on the pay but it's not the case.

The bar is set much lower. Downside is if you are driven you'll end up having to pull more weight than your peers but at least you'll be very well compensated.

# ¿ Jul 5, 2017 03:58

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# ¿ May 21, 2024 11:33

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

oliveoil posted:

How much do they pay? Senior engineers at Facebook etc. can make $300k/yr in major cities. Does it come out similarly after taxes and rent?

Individual contributors do not make that level, no. But as everyone else said, $150K/yr in the Midwest may as well be like $300K/yr in major cities.

Mid-level managers in Utilities can expect to make about $110-140K/year, with 12-17% bonus, 10-20% shares, 10-12% retirement benefits (401k / cash balance pensions). Then it goes up from there as you hit higher levels of leadership.

OP will want to lean HEAVILY on his management of other people though, as I think individual contributors will not see those levels or comp packages.

# ¿ Jul 5, 2017 10:52

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

Bob Morales posted:

I'm going to say there are only a handful of people making 300k/year at Facebook.

Whereas there are a million dumbshits making $120k + at utilities

My ex and her brother both work at the local power company and clear 80k-100k. A friend of ours is a meter reader project manager and he makes 130k. They work quite a bit of overtime. If there's a storm + power outage they can make a bunch of money between call out bonuses, meal per diem, mileage, overtime pay...

Then you have the guys that actually do the work (are out in the field repairing lines and poles). They are union and make $25-$35/hr in the first place and of course they can get tons of OT.

Great benefits package, they were doing pensions up until a few years ago...

In general the people that work there work a lot but they make a very comfortable living, especially in a place where you can get a really nice house for $250,000.

Is this a Michigan utility? You're spot on for the storm duty. Once upon a time I got ridiculous OT as a salaried exempt worker doing big storms. They've curbed that a bit as of late though.

The actual field guys make a killing, but they pay for it. They work their asses off and for probably double the hours an office worker does. They can make over $200k if they structure their OT right.

PM which utility if you don't mind, I'm curious if it's mine. Which there's a 50% chance there is thanks to the monopoly.

# ¿ Jul 5, 2017 18:32

TraderStav: May 19, 2006; It feels like I was standing my entire life and I just sat down

Where'd you end up moving to?

# ¿ Jan 13, 2018 15:02

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > Move to the midwest?