<prompt> Human: I have 4 years experience working in HR and I was offered a job making 75,000 a year. I have gone from 25k to 35k to 60k to 75k in the last few years by expanding my skillset and switching jobs. I now make more than a lot of engineers, new grad lawyers etc and I studied something I enjoyed. It kinda sucks working inside all day every day, but for such decent pay for such a low paying degree Im pretty happy. The first few years are rough when you dont have an engineering degree or other valuable degree. But with hustle and drive, you can make a living Doing almost anything you want.  <response>: so you worked your ass off for a period of years to work up to what would be a pretty average starting starting salary for a decent engineering student fresh out of college? im gonna call BS on the making more than a lot of engineers because i only remember a couple of guys cutting in at under 70k when i got my degree. i guess maybe if you count stuff outside of the big 3 that slap engineering on the title that could be true. either way, the earlier you start making real money the earlier you can retire, and if spending a few extra years working your way up to a decent salary was worth a couple year delay of retirement or a little less money in retirement then youre right, your degree wasnt worthless. it was dicey though, i have friends who sit on their hands years out of college and earn 80k at engineering jobs. as you put it, you had to have hustle and drive to earn your salary. sitting on your hands was not going to get you there, not everyone gets there on that path. and who says stem majors dont enjoy what they study? i didnt even go directly into engineering out of college, i only studied it because i liked it. 