Doctors are an interesting comparison, because they also have gatekeeping in terms of how difficult it is to get the credential in the first place. That early f

Doctors are an interesting comparison, because they also have gatekeeping in terms of how difficult it is to get the credential in the first place. That early filter basically guarantees anyone with an MD has a certain level of competence. SW engineering doesn't have anything like that - it's a complete free for all, and the number of inadequate applicants vastly dwarfs the competent ones. Having said that, big tech interviews heavily bias against certain groups of people, especially older candidates and those with families. On the flip side, if you're young and have virtually no experience, you can still get a cushy big tech job simply by studying sets of questions. In that way, it's quite unique that "anyone" can get this great job simply by grinding exam style questions. No other high paying industry is like that.