<p>I can understand the article, if you look at it as perception versus reality, then yes, these could be considered some of the jobs with the highest perception of how well you do versus reality (though to be honest, I don’t recall many people thinking an architect was a high profile job per se, with the exception of the IM Pei’s, Frank Gehrys and so forth, for the most part it is just another upper middle income job…think of Mike Brady more then Frank Gehry)</p>
<p>I also question some of the salary figures. For example, with high level corporate executives what are they including in the mix…does that represent small businesses and large ones? Does it reflect base pay or does it reflect total compensation? If they are talking large corporations, I question those figures. For one thing, CEO’s, CFO’s and the like get most of their compensation from non salary compensation, these days it is mostly stock grants and options (upper level executives don’t get large cash bonuses these days). The median pay of a CEO these days based on total compensation is not a couple of hundred thousand a year, it is in the 8 million dollar range and likewise top level compensation for executives is up there if you are talking mid to large size companies. I wonder if that also includes, for example, CEO’s of non profits and the like, or startups where salaries are low, even for the CEO. The other thing the article leaves out is in this recession, the people who are at the senior executive level are the only ones showing increases in compensation, and it is in the double digits a year…As far as the stress of being a CEO and the long hours, I find that kind of funny, for the very reason that people way away from the CEO level are working long, long hours and stress levels are through the roof because of doing more with less and fears of being laid off, and yet their compensation is declining (ordinary workers), I know more then a few CEO’s, and they generally aren’t putting that much more time in then most workers are in skilled jobs yet their compensation has soared…</p>
<p>As far as pilots go, it is a job that isn’t what it used to be from everything I can tell. It used to be considered something of a glamour job,mostly ex military pilots, and they were well compensated. In the past 40 years or so it has changed, and not for the better. If you are talking regional feeder flights, like the one that crashed near Buffalo, NY not that long ago, they were talking about pilots who had gone to some commercial flight school and were working for like 20k a year, and flying ridiculous hours and so forth, and even in the big leagues compensation has declined and the conditions not so great, basically the airlines are trying to turn the pilots position IMO into the equivalent of a highly skilled bus driver, so I can understand it being treated as “not as it is cracked up to be”. </p>
<p>I also think there are very few jobs these days whose image matches the reality. Some glamorize high tech jobs and talk about Apple Computer and Google as proof of the shining hill of technology jobs (and start ups), but the reality of most start ups is that they fail before ‘cashing in’, and before that, it usually means long hours with pretty low pay. Likewise, tech, in part thanks to the influx of workers from India and other places in China, which means a difficult path for kids lookng for entry level positions and also has meant that other then the top tier of jobs in places like finance and securities, it has become the kind of job the article talks about, relatively high stress, declining compensation and long hours. </p>
<p>Another one that is way, way overrated IMO is investment banking, people see this as the holy grail of jobs, they see the ones who have made a lot of money, they see all the articles about well off bankers, of the kids from Ivies recruited at 150k a year and so forth, and while those have traditionally been true, it is another job that is heading for a reality check. First of all, the burnout rate among starting bankers is quite high, the hours are quite long and the pressure to succeed is equally high, and it burns them out. One of the tricks in banking to survive seems to be either making a fortune young and getting out of it, or if you want to be in it for the long term, move up into ‘management’ which isn’t quite as crazy. The other thing that is happening is banks are being squeezed, M and A activity is sluggish, and in things like proprietary trading that made them fortunes, the banks are feeling the whammy of volatile markets, risky investments coming back to bite them, and more importantly facing strict regulations limiting or shutting down proprietary trading, and all of that is going to make investment banking a lot less sure bet to riches, not only because the number of banking positions will decline, but the business itself is going to face threats as companies find other ways to handle activities and keep the bankers out of it (my opinion, anyway)</p>
<p>I tend to agree with what others have said, in terms of looking for a field of course you want to try and find something that you enjoy doing and hopefully has realistic chances of making a decent living, and these days with any profession the real answer is going to be distinguishing yourself, not being one of the pack, because the ‘pack’ jobs, the middle of the bell curve, is where the real decline is happening. </p>
<p>With music that is especially true, I hear people talking about how expensive it is to go to med school, the debt, etc, and that is very true…but music students often face similar costs in their training, between music schools that are in the 50k a year range, plus grad school, and competition that can’t even be called fierce (too light a term), and the rarity of 6 figure salaries, and I would argue doctors have relatively little, in one sense, to complain about, because most doctors when the graduate can find a job, one that may not make them rich but will pay the bills, which with music far from being guaranteed anything, other then struggling (and this isn’t a slap at doctors, I use that only for comparison reasons). </p>
<p>Selecting a job path for its compensation potential alone is fraught with difficulty, because to achieve high levels of compensation requires someone who is good at it, dedicated, etc, and someone doing it for the money alone often doesn’t do that well because the oomph isn’t there. Even with corporate management, the butt of jokes and protestors, the old boy network that used to pull Georgie Dingbat III into a high paying job someplace is no longer there, and it takes people with a lot more then a good golf game to get ahead these days, and I suspect going down the road that is going to be true, too, so you better like what you are doing.</p>