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I'd respond to the author if I could but the article is from 2007 and comments are closed. The author tends to cite jobs in law and finance as better routes of

I'd respond to the author if I could but the article is from 2007 and comments are closed. The author tends to cite jobs in law and finance as better routes of work. I'd disagree. Only graduated recently (2010) but I went to a T[op]14 school. I've since worked at two small law firms (personal injury and foreclosure) and also abroad as a financial analyst for a real estate division of a conglomerate in Asia. I'll try to be short about my points. 1. While law and finance don't necessarily suffer from the same knowledge turnover rate as programming, they do suffer typecast-inducing problems. Lateral movement among subfields is extremely difficult. This becomes a bigger problem if the first field you land in is meant to be a stepping stone. 2. Prestige is bullshit. I've associated with V5 lawyers and Bulge Bracket bankers. Very few of them are not socially awkward. You may hear rumors about "models and bottles," but rest assured, it's mostly just bottles. 3. Foreignization is a growing concern for law and automation has been a huge concern for finance for a while. There are various work arounds to the rules regarding unauthorized practice of law. As for finance, there are a few small documentaries lamenting the fall of the floor trader. Guess who's been replacing them? 4. Management roles are nearly ubiquitous. That said, you do get escalating responsibilities in law. The problem is, will you last the grind leading up to it? A good friend of mine once messaged me while I was working abroad. It was 2a.m. in NY at the time. He told me his entire week was spent indenting, printing out, and placing into a folder a table of contents for a case. Among my friends, he's at the best law firm out of all of us. 5. Conditions in law and finance are part of the golden handcuffs you graduate with. They're good, no doubt, but they come at the price of lots of hours. Those who work in law are at the mercy of clients. Same could be said about finance in some areas. I responded to this, not to say that a career in computer programming doesn't suck. It might. But the grass is always greener on the other side, and from where I'm standing, my lawn is looking pretty brown. I responded because I disagree with the underlying message: you are better off getting a law or finance job through a law degree or MBA. Degrees aren't measures of success and they aren't golden tickets to it either. There are pros and cons to every career path. Just have to figure out where, for you personally, the former will outweigh the latter. TL;DR: law and finance sucks too. But in the end it all comes down to personal preference.

ryanmolden 15y ago
> But in the end it all comes down to personal preference. Yep, I have always chuckled when I see someone trying to decide what career field to go in to based on how much money they imagine they will make. In any career where there is oppurtunity to make large sums of money there are 10,000(,000,000) other people, as smart or smarter than you, scrambling to do the same thing. If you get into a profession to make money and not due to a passionate interest in the area, you are unlikely to rise to the top no matter how clever you consider yourself to be. It is one of the great paradoxes. Some of the smartest, most talented people I know in the field (and also very likely to be in the top earning bracket) are MUCH more motivated by passion and interest in the area than paycheck. Conversly most of the people I have met that are motivated primarily by paycheck size are, honestly, a lot less talented than they believe themselves to be and not really the 'in-demand' types that would allow them leverage to get the greater paydays they seek.

ryanmolden 15y ago

> But in the end it all comes down to personal preference. Yep, I have always chuckled when I see someone trying to decide what career field to go in to based on how much money they imagine they will make. In any career where there is oppurtunity to make large sums of money there are 10,000(,000,000) other people, as smart or smarter than you, scrambling to do the same thing. If you get into a profession to make money and not due to a passionate interest in the area, you are unlikely to rise to the top no matter how clever you consider yourself to be. It is one of the great paradoxes. Some of the smartest, most talented people I know in the field (and also very likely to be in the top earning bracket) are MUCH more motivated by passion and interest in the area than paycheck. Conversly most of the people I have met that are motivated primarily by paycheck size are, honestly, a lot less talented than they believe themselves to be and not really the 'in-demand' types that would allow them leverage to get the greater paydays they seek.