In 2014, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported an annual median salary of $38,370 for medical and clinical laboratory technicians. The BLS also predicted 30% employment growth for these technicians from 2012-2022, which is much faster than average.
Software engineers design and guide the development of programs that computers use to make life a little easier for the rest of us. Although self-taught programming skills can land you a job, formal education is the best way to achieve a job with more design responsibilities and higher pay.
When looking at software engineers I see 4 tiers of skills: Luminary, Senior, Mid-Level and Junior. Luminary (10+ years) is one who has mastered a skill and has set about improving their respective discipline. Some examples include: Ted Neward, Uncle Bob Martin, Donald Knuth, Oren Eini, Peter Norvig, Linus Torvalds.