Das not it mane

Tf brah? $60,000 is pretty good for someone with no kids. Especially if you have a gf to split rent with. Do you have an expensive car payment or loans on something? Are you a consumer and love spending money and keeping up with the Jones’s?

This year I sold all of my toys (Harley’s and dirt bikes) and my cars and moved out of a town I hate. I now walk to work and or pedal bike to the gym etc. and am much happier (and leaner) my only bills aside from rent really is a credit card.

I have a coworker at a part time gig I work at and he lives out of his car. No housing and guess what? He complains less than the rich spoiled kids whose daddies pay for their bills and living. He legitimately seems happier and more content than the more wealthier coworkers.

Try to separate yourself from consumerism if That’s your issue. Always good to be trying to advance and level up but not for the purpose of buying more pointless chit. A nicer car or newer truck isn’t gonna make you any happier. As they say we buy chit we don’t need, with money we don’t have, to impress people we don’t like.

All the best brah learn to appreciate what you have instead of always chasing what you don’t. Don’t be after material items I suppose ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

https://www.calcareers.ca.gov/CalHRP...ps.aspx?step=1

Srs, State job is the way to go if you do not plan to move; plenty of IT positions available depending on degree/experience. Also you can always apply as an Information Technology or Office Technician or many other jobs with minimal reqs. Entry level can have good/great pay but the benefits make a huge difference, pension, medical, dental, vision, and a lot of opportunity to promote; some of the IT jobs cap at $9408/mo once you top out.

https://www.calcareers.ca.gov/CalHRP...n%20technology

Office Tech pays less, but it's a more entry level with less reqs to fill, once in you can get training and promote/lateral to better paying jobs while still keeping your seniority for pay increases and time served.

https://www.calcareers.ca.gov/CalHRP...e%20technician

Or just apply for the Department of Corrections, just a GED or HS diploma needed though they do have an education incentive pay ($150/mo IIRC). We've been hiring like crazy lately, the hiring process is a bit sucky and time consuming with tests and backgrounds but nothing too bad.

ProTip: Look for other jobs and tell them you make 10k+ more than what you currently do. I've gotten most of my largest pay increases by switching companies SRS. Try to learn new things to slap on your resume at each job you take. I don't have a degree but am now a BMC/Linux/Solaris/Windows Admin, all of which was taught to me at different positions along the way. Passed 100k before I hit 30 a few years ago

This is the only advice you should listen to.
Comparison is the robber of joy. Too easy to compare to bias sample sizes of salary and lifestyle online and in social media.

Work towards saving more, living more productively, learning and being as useful as you can with your time. Improve yourself both mentally and physically, to the best of your ability each day, and stop comparing.

Dude you need to send your resume out ASAP. 4 years? Dude. Cmon. You KNOW you can demand more.

You may be past the point of no return w/ the degree, but if you are under 25% done with the degree I would get rid of that plan asap. I work at a NOC and not a single damn person minus me and another guy has a degree.

I also see SO MANY PEOPLE on linkedin who have cybersecurity degrees and only that absolutely struggling to get experience with their first job.

I can understand making this mistake if you have 0 experience and you don't know any better, but you are already in the game and you're still getting a degree? Why are you doing this if you dont mind me asking? If its for personal reason, I completely understand that. If its for future prospects, PLEASE do yourself a favor and get rid of the college idea. I have had 4-5 cyber security jobs slide into my DMs at 70k+ (Not in NYC/CA) and I only have 6 months experience. None of the job listings needed a degree.

You are literally the CISSP away from never having to worry about job prospects again. You have 4 years of experience probably doing something which will qualify as the 1/2 domains that the CISSP requires. You get 5 and pass the test and thats the CISSP right there. Or you could get the OSCP and still demand somewhere in the vicinity of 100k given your experience.

There is literally the biggest opportunity to break into cyber security right now. There are so many jobs. There is also so little hiring because everybody who wants to break in is too lazy to do what you have been doing which is getting experience the right way. Cyber Security is rarely an entry level industry in itself. Do yourself a favor and work on your resume while literally applying to 100s of cyber security jobs in the nation. You will get responses.

That is all.

Any updates my guy?