Don't leave out the technical sales reps. I have a friend that sells software to the school system and makes double what I do! Another related field is the application engineer. They are more customer centric, and don't get stuck in their chairs for quite as long as we do. Some companies product engineer's are also ex-software developers (espeically for software products). The product engineer focuses on some of the market trends, and tries to steer their products in the right direction before and during development, and then acts as a liason between sales and marketing and engineering during and after a product is released. Best of Luck! Jeff Weichers Lead Software Engineer Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories

I love the 12-14 hour concept once/twice a week. That allows me to focus and get a lot done, and then stick to 6-8 the rest of the week. I think its much more efficient way for a programmer to work.