Thanks, I understand and agree with what you're saying.
I'm a relatively experienced software engineer (9 years) and I'm not tied to one particular language or one type of work.
My question should have been clearer, more like 'C++ needs a lot of investment of time to be good at, before I sink in that time, what do professional C++ engineers feel about the language and are they trying to run away from it.'
I'm already up and running in C++ (a few projects) and have done C projects at work, but there is a huge jump, IMHO, in taking up a job that requires full time C++ knowledge and understanding from where I stand.
I have thought about this some but I suppose I'm just lost. I don't know where to even begin with a niche. I have not specialized in the web development domain, but I suppose most comments here are addressed within that scope. And perhaps there in lies my answer.
Unfortunately, I have failed to see such jumps in compensation for offers that I received, but I'll admit, I haven't worked with most buzzword technologies (eg: big data).
Sorry for not mentioning what areas I had in mind. I was talking about friends in Dallas, Atlanta, New York and Raleigh among others.
We are talking 5-8 years of experience.
I have seen and tried to follow the advice in this thread and it has not worked out.
Maybe I'm doing something wrong, or I'm just not good enough yet. I get a lot of interview calls, but the salaries offered are nowhere in the ballpark of $150k.
Also, every friend of mine, that I have spoken to, is doing either Java or C#, none that I know mention Python. When they offer me referrals I politely turn them down due to lack of experience in the Java and C# stacks.
I'm not a ninja or a rockstar but I get work done. My current role is one that requires me to learn all sorts of new things and thus my resume is a splattering of all kinds of skills.
I just want to stop worrying about my future and focus on enjoying family, hobbies and hobby projects instead. (But then who doesn't?)
It would also help me greatly if people could mention if the advice being given has worked out for them also.
I don't want to sound mean/ungrateful/rude, I really do appreciate all the help.