I was a top student in my Software Engineering program. Being intelligent let's you keep going academically where others drop out. And has led me to a very easy and lucrative life as salaries are very good in this field for regular employees. But of a grind and hard to get promoted on just intelligence though, as you have to start dealing with a lot of social people problems and politics but still doable.
It's a double edged sword though. While SE is a great major, I have seen smart people do well in less lucrative majors. They are smart but trapped in a decision they made years ago to get on a career path that doesn't reward them enough.
There are smart people who chose not to go to Uni as well. They have cool stories too like starting companies and such
I know that problem all too well. There's definitely a ceiling in software development if you just want to keep your head down and do technical stuff because you enjoy it. Eventually the only way to advance is to manage other people, which takes a completely different set of skills.
I was a top student in my Software Engineering program. Being intelligent let's you keep going academically where others drop out. And has led me to a very easy and lucrative life as salaries are very good in this field for regular employees. But of a grind and hard to get promoted on just intelligence though, as you have to start dealing with a lot of social people problems and politics but still doable.
It's a double edged sword though. While SE is a great major, I have seen smart people do well in less lucrative majors. They are smart but trapped in a decision they made years ago to get on a career path that doesn't reward them enough.
There are smart people who chose not to go to Uni as well. They have cool stories too like starting companies and such
I know that problem all too well. There's definitely a ceiling in software development if you just want to keep your head down and do technical stuff because you enjoy it. Eventually the only way to advance is to manage other people, which takes a completely different set of skills.