Ask HN: I would like some career insight

Hey everyone, I am a fresh graduate from university at 24, living in Melbourne, Australia. I studied bachelor of Engineering, with a major of product design. Which tends to cause a lot of confusion, but it's essentially mechanical engineering and industrial design.

During my study, I worked at a company in the power industry for 2 years, where I got to invent and design new products- which is unheard of for an intern as they usually get grunt CAD work. Although I didn't enjoy working with the company because of how they did things, I genuinely enjoyed my job, and got to work with my hands, create new things, and solve complex problems. I eventually got distinguished at what I did (generating lots of income and patentable designs) and surpassed some much more experienced co-workers in terms of coming up with new designs.

But this is where the fun ends. Firstly, there aren't many product development jobs in Melbourne, and the ones that exist involve me moving out of the family home to the other side of the city resulting allocating a large portion of my salary to rent. Secondly, these jobs don't pay much. In that specific company I had coworkers with 7 years of experience earning around $90k. So when I look at software jobs, I can find positions that are much less demanding (in job requirements and effort during work) than in my line of work, earning significantly more.

I've always been into tech, I have a home server, know decent python, docker, linux etc. But I'm at a crossroads, should I look into machine learning/other jobs and hopefully enjoy the money? Or continue doing what I love (working on physical products)? I admit I'm naive and don't understand both spaces fully. I understand that money is not everything, but I want to be able to afford a house and live comfortably.

A side question: What tech jobs can I look into? I prefer higher level thinking and planning like strategy, rather than focused development

Thank you, Rocket Lab doesn't have any opportunity in Australia.

Then move. The world is your oyster.

Famous American actress said, "Best advice I can give an aspiring actor? Move to LA."

Have you looked at design companies? Boost Design is an example (Sydney only I think). Products with embedded smarts might be a good fit for your skills and interests.

Hey mate, I have a similar background and broke into tech via mech eng. in Melbourne a few years ago. Slightly different path but ended up okay, currently working at Canva which you may have heard of. I got started working for a startup adjacent to the CAD space, and can give you some advice if you’re up to it. My email’s in my profile. Either way good luck!