As someone who worked in this industry -- it's peanuts, but they'll tell you its gold. I walked out of my IA job with the boss screeching about how I was "maki

As someone who worked in this industry -- it's peanuts, but they'll tell you its gold. I walked out of my IA job with the boss screeching about how I was "making the biggest mistake of my life", how "nobody can match our prestige"... after a four-year pay freeze. Nearly a 20% pay rise right off the bat, and that was the initial offer. The other thing about IA is there's no career progression for engineers unless someone higher-up quits (which usually triggers a deckchair shuffling or a hiring). If you're good at sales, you can progress into that -- otherwise your only option is likely to be management. If you want to make cool things, IA is not the industry for you. If you're happy making the same thing day-in day-out, just with a different coloured box? You'll fly. If you can play politics and ruthlessly spike your colleagues, you'll get all the way to the boardroom.