Are finance and consulting really high status beyond the pay? Why? In theory it seems like they might be, but most of my peers in these fields are pretty uninspiring
And when in the United States alone the average salary hovers around $75K/yr, a 24 year old being able to command a near $150K base-salary (excluding bonuses) is in the eyes of many absolutely flying high.
Add to that Finance/Consulting/Professional Services eats/live/travels/dresses in a manner that is high status in our society and the jobs quickly becomes a status symbol and attracts those who are willing to sacrifice some amount of passion for status or material wealth.
It also is a field where it confers that wealth and status without Having to Know Someone or Be A Genetic Outlier In Physical Performance/Appearance.
Lastly, survive long enough and climb the ladder high enough and you start gaining Power. That wealth no longer buys you things but rather connections, access, and influence. Finance sits in close proximity to many powerful people in the world, and thus by proxy also gains status.
SWE/IT offers similar levels of wealth but unfortunately lacks that proximity to power (yet) and as a class of professionals seems to espouse cultural values that go against the ostentatious displays of wealth that the average person associates with high status. At the very least, no one is showing up to morning standups in a custom tailored suit.
Source: my social circle growing up mostly consisted of working class immigrant families. Getting into a T20 University and breaking into Wall Street was the very definition of Making It.
>It also is a field where it confers that wealth and status without Having to Know Someone
I wouldn't have thought this. What in your view are those fields?
O, to the contrary, my dear friend. Someone with a lot of wealth has gained by exploiting their wealth to gain more power -- which results in them gaining more wealth.
I would say that the correct equation is Riches!=Power. One can have a vast treasury that, incorrectly deployed, does not gain them power.
If you don't have these things, you're looked down on and people assume you aren't successful/skilled. Just projecting the image is enough to push some people into a promotion.
I'm a fairly senior investment banker (Managing Director, group head), and I drive a 14 year old Honda. None of my co-workers or clients have ever seen my car or been to my house. I don't wear a watch.
Some of my co-workers will wear bespoke clothes and flashy jewelry, but it's not required, and mid-tier conservative suits and shoes are fine.
Faking displays seems hard (status markers are chosen for their difficulty to fake, presumably the easy faking is done by everyone, and I guess high cost if busted and competition to catch others out?)
Can you be so competent that you can ignore the status rules? Presumably difficult, because competence is hard to measure, and competitively it is hard to achieve a significantly higher level of competence than others? A status player can have mistakes forgiven, but betting on competence requires you never make a misstep?
Or do you just optimise for a level of acceptable status, and maximise savings?
What happens to those that bug out?
Stop caring about what 99.9% of other people think about you. Find a few good friends and a romantic partner. That is all you need.
If anything, IT is the outlier in "well-paid office jobs which garner lots of respect".
I used to look at engineers and think I missed out by not going down that road. Fast forward a few years and it turns out most engineers I talk to see the tech industry as being a much better draw (higher salaries, more jobs, etc).
That is a relatively modern thing - I thought IT was relatively unrespected even 20 years ago, although I am not in the US, so maybe different there. I suspect the change was occurring about when Zuckerberg became wealthy, maybe late 00’s?
It is fucking bizarre to me seeing “geek” go mainstream (although commercialised geek is definitely different from traditional geek - maybe even incompatibly so?).