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Comment by hmmm-i-wonder | Hacker News Reader

In any job, once compensation is no longer significant (i.e. close to retirement, reached savings goals etc) then promotions are meaningless sure. But in most fields, IT included, compensation range is linked to role. For most people that means 50-80% of your career promotions and compensation are linked and meaningful.

But after some stage when life goals are reached and you're in end of career planning, I agree promotions are largely meaningless to many people (outside of those who's self-image is tied up with their role and job).

Ultimately I don't see IT being especially different from any other field here, what is it in IT you see influencing that?

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In large tech companies, you might reach a terminal rank (ic5-6) before you’re 40. Total comp might be 400-500k, which is great but you’ve still got 10-20 years to retirement (Bay Area and Tahoe homes are expensive and if you enjoy your job you might not want to retire at 50).

So there may not be another promotion, and that’s freeing. You can focus on professional development free of concerns for looking good but grow in ways of interest to you.

Is that really unique to IT? Small to medium companies, academic and govt IT jobs will typically never reach those income levels. I think the Avg software dev salary in the US is around 77k, so a lot of the IT field has to make a lot less.

I agree in large tech companies that absolutely exists, but I also see it in legal, medical and some other professions that a subset of them can reach similar income levels. (250k+ by mid to late 30's, 400k+ if in Bay or similar CoL area).

Its a nice reality when you can be ~40 and have the freedom to retire whenever you want, but its not one I see as common for the majority of tech workers.

In the federal government, there are many ranks up to E15. In other industries, you need to move to management to make a decent living.

In large law firms, you’ve got a ~10 year path to partner or you usually move on.

Medicine is more extreme than tech. A few years after you complete your medical training, you’re a doctor with experience and you can just do that for the next 30-40 years.

Jiro dreams of sushi comes to mind.

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