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2.6 GPA, state school, he makes more money than I make

 
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One of my "not-so-intelligent" friends from high school went to a state school (not one of the good ones), graduated with a 2.6 GPA in some lame subject unrelated to banks or money, and now works at a bank, earning $2000 more per year than I earn.

The fun part is that this is a guy who struggled even in his algebra classes and didn't do such a good job in high school (he wasn't an honor roll student, like I). He and his parents looked up to me like I was some sort of genius, and were shocked to learn that I had had such a hard time finding a job out of college. When I dropped the bomb that I had finally found a job, he couldn't believe that I started making $2000/year less than he started making out of college. (On a related note, the guy sort of lost respect for me from that day on and hasn't talked to me ever since.)

I went to a "selective" university, was an honor roll student, graduated with latin honors, majored in a challenging quantitative subject, and ended up with a GPA that wouldn't disqualify me from being interviewed for an entry-level position at one of the bigger software companies. I never partied in school, I never got drunk, I never did anything stupid, and yet I ended up working as a low level QAer, doing a job that I hate, earning less than $40k/year in one of the most expensive cities of the US.

Who ended up better off?
 
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I'm never comfortable quantifying a person's existence down to a single value, but based on salary alone: I'm guessing he did. Do I win something?
 
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Originally posted by D.W. Smith:
Who ended up better off?



It's a no-brainer. He has self-confidence, you do not.

Luke
 
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Hi,
This is not surprising, I guess most of us would have similar experience, I guess the age old phrase 'To compare with ourself than others'
holds true. For an instant I feel what an a**hole I am, but I then I ask mysel f , am I able to meet my 'needs' of my family and myself, are we happy with ourselves? then the bad feeling is lost though I try to get earn better .

regards,
vibhav
 
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There is not necessarily a direct link between your GPA and work-life or performance. There are multiple intelligences & skills (including interpesonal skills and communication skills) and academics test only a few of them.

I am sure there must be lot of co-students with Bill Gates having higher GPA, but they may not be earning higher than him. In fact, I think he's business school drop-out..correct me if I am wrong.

Besides, it is just the begining - you may reach whereever you want depending on how you handle your career and perform in your job. Good luck!

- Manish
 
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There are more programmers than there are jobs. There is a constant influx of new programmers. Programming skills may be more difficult to aquire than many other job skills, but that difficulty has not prevented an overflow of programmers.

It's supply and demand.
 
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I am over 50 years of age.

The starting salary of one's first job is simply a reflection of that person's luck at that particular point of time. Life is very dynamic. Some people who are ahead of you at younger age may lag behind later. Laggers may outpace you at older age. A comparison of yourself with others at any specific point of time in life is meaningless.

I would be very sympathetic if you felt bitter about an entire lifespan comparison at your death bed.
 
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Originally posted by JiaPei Jen:

I would be very sympathetic if you felt bitter about an entire lifespan comparison at your death bed.



I am very sympathetic to him (D. W. Smith) now, since his focus. If you search his posts on this forum.

Sorry to tell the truth.
 
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I like your posts on here, it is like a soap opera. I am always looking forward to stories about the new progress in your career,etc. Your life is like the programmers on Office Space or Dilbert. Funny stuff indeed.
 
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A $2000 increase works out to about $167 extra a month BEFORE taxes.

There has never been a point in my life, no matter how little I was earning, that an amount like that meant the difference between success and failure, prosperity or starvation, rich or poor.

Regardless of school experience, there are other factors and you cannot allow yourself to fall into the folly of basing your expected financial worth on your college scores or location.

Your college scores are NOT an indicator of intelligence, though it is often an indicator to me of how seriously someone took their college career. I could easily ace any class I had an interest in. If I didn't care, I didn't try that hard. Now that I'm no longer some punk kid right out of high school I always go for the 'A' and I can almost always get it. I don't think I am any smarter than I was back in college, I just take courses more seriously than I used to. Not that I've had one recently.

Your colleague might be a better negotiator, he might have more confidence, he may just interview better. He might have struggled with algebra but does just fine in a real world situation. I scored low in my intro computer coursework in college because instead of using real world examples and technologies they were stuck on an esoteric system that I have not seen since. So I am less interested in someone's college experience and more interested in that they have a degree and demonstrate to me in an interview that they can do the job.

Though the best advice I can give is not to worry about the other guy but worry about yourself. That turns into a long lonely road when you tether your success based on how others are doing.
[ June 18, 2007: Message edited by: Jason Cox ]
 
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Hi,

So I am less interested in someone's college experience and more interested in that they have a degree and demonstrate to me in an interview that they can do the job.



I agree with jason. In my college the top 5 rank holders were considered very intelligent and i have always observed that they were respected and whatever work used to be there only they used to be called and finally when the interviews came these top rank holders suffered a lot to get a job its just because they were not having skills. People who failed twice in the exam were the people who got the job soon because they were very good in there domain and they had good communication, self confidence and ability to take the initiative and handle the job.I am not saying you that you are one among them. There may be two things either you are poor in some of the things if so just develop those skills or else you may be good but not getting the right opportunity wait and when it comes grab it and all the best


Regards
Nik
 
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So... who said life was fair? I'm sure your high school drop out neighborhood car mechanic probably also makes more than you or most of us here. If you keep dwelling on this you'll never get anywhere. Are you in this industry to get rich? If you're in I.T. to make money you're probably in the wrong field. I would suggest you drop that Data structure class you're taking if its pushing you deeper and deeper into this hole. Instead do the SCJP and/or the SCJD, if not for anything you'll know if this career is for you.
To me it also seems like you just don't appreciate what you have yourself, so why should someone else?. The things you listed, selective university, Honor roll etc. You have so much going for you, but you just refuse to see it.
 
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There may be a couple of reasons for your lower salery.

First - Supply and demand. There may be an overabundance of workers, or a lack of employers where you live .

Second - stability. Are you able to job hop. If you have wife, kids, house, ...... you may not be able to jump from job to job. Job hopping does 2 very important things:
1) is most of your new experiences are within the first 6 months. These new experiences are critical to resumes and more pay. After the first 6 months I am usually doing repative redundant tasks. New bullets on the resume are far appart.
2) allows you to get that 10%+ pay raise. Most employers have only given me an annual 1% cost of living pay raise. However, jumping ship usually gets me at least 10%

Third - You may not be a good negiotiator, or not a very good resume builder. Job hunting skills require practice.
 
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Hey folks. Let's not be bitter, unkind, or teasing with the person who posted the topic. Let's focus on the topic and give your input, it is very rude and stupid to do name calling like reminding others what articles this person has posted. He/She has the freedom to post whatever he/she likes to. I don't understand why you have to do such name calling ? Remeber the basic rule for this forum is what ? it is "Be Nice". So please ask yourself before you post anything. Are you acting nicely ? You can totally disagree with his views and give your thoughts, not name calling, please.
 
FY Hsieh
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It's time to accept the real world. Let me ask you --- Why G. Bush can be the president ? How about his school grades ? Bill Gates told students "This world is not fair." So the early you can accept the real world, the better for you. You have to prove yourself in this real world using EVERYTHING you have -- your intelligence, hard work, social skill, charm,persistence,networking,everything. So how can you say if someone has a lower GPA from a state college definitely should make less than you do ?? I tell you what, today the difference is $2000. Maybe 10 years later, with the unchanged GPA and degree, he may make 10 times than you do, are you going to kill yourself, then ? Don't be silly, young man. It is completely meaningless to compare with any individual, trust me. Everybody has different intelligence, talent, skill, network, and luck, how can you compare ?? It is menaingless and you won't get anything out of it. the best way is to compete with YOURSELF. Ask yourself if you can do better, what else can you make yourself better ? And then you will start to feel happy everyday. Never ever to do such comparison or try to get any result out of it. it will just make you feel miserable. You can always find someone lucky than you, right ?
 
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When I was at university a group of us used to go and run a mile or two on the track every night. Then we got our degrees and went our various ways.

Several years later I opened my copy of the alumni magazine to read that one of the group was now a vice-president of Intel. And clearly I wasn't anything like that. I was a bit downcast for a few minutes, but I got over it by the end of the day.
 
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"Life is unfair, better get used to it"
 
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Well the �real education� starts once you finish your education and start working.
 
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Please do not mind Mr. D.W. Smith , but I feel that all your questions are somewhat similar.

Sometime back I also had similar situation, but now I do not have any such problem and working happily , though I am earning a lot less than what my peers are earning and the irony is that I was one of the top students of my engineering university.

The day I stopped comparing myself with others and concentrated in my work , I became a happy man.
 
Roseanne Zhang
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Originally posted by vinod awar:
"Life is unfair, better get used to it"



Thanks vinod!

If I compare my earning or rank with some of my lowest GPA students I taught in the past, I would be more miserable than Mr. D. W. Smith here.

However, I am very happy with my life!
[ June 19, 2007: Message edited by: Roseanne Zhang ]
 
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Originally posted by vinod awar:
"Life is unfair, better get used to it"



Life is unfair, take advantage of that
 
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Do not undermine yourself by comparing yourself to others. It is because we are all different that each one of us is special.
 
peter cooke
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I keep flashing back to those old black and white Jimmy Stewart movies.
When I poder how I had hoped things would be instead of how they are. I remember Jimmy and his angle. What if I was not here for ........fil in blank.....

I may not have as much as I wanted, or be as successful as I hoped. I have been lucky in that I don't have all the soap opera dramma that some of my college associates have. One guy I know was paid 14Mil by IBM for his company. His kids only see him as a cash cow and eagerly await their inheritance.

Thank you kindly the grass is greener on my side of the lawn.

I measure success in: can I deep a roof over my families head, food on the table. Are my kids free of drugs/other destructive vices and not in trouble with the law. And are my kids contributing productive memebers of society.
 
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As Jason pointed out, $2000/year is noise.

Still, if we consider it meaningful, I'm not surprised. What I'm about to say I say out of a desire to help, albeit in the tough love sense.

Manish is correct that there is little correlation between GPA and career performance. GPA is based on memorization, mathematical/scientific calculation and application, and general analysis. Career success depends on those but at least as important are communication skills, teamwork, networking, the right attitude, negotiation skills, determination, enjoyment of your job/industry, hard work, personal planning, etc.

I have seen many of your posts and they are very negative. I have seen people who have had much less than you do more than 99.9999% of the world. Have you seen "Pursuit of Happyness"? I've known people with stories even more impressive.

You need to change your attitude. You can say life isn't fair or that your unlucky or come up with any other reason, but until you believe that you control your own fate you will never be successful. Personally, I don't believe in luck, but even if you do, it doesn't seem to be getting you anywhere, so you're going to need more than luck.

Second, stop comparing yourself to others, because chances are there will always be someone smarter, richer, better programmer, bigger house, more money, etc. The only person you really compete with is yourself. Focus on yourself and push yourself to do more and you will.

--Mark
 
D.W. Smith
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GPA is based on memorization, mathematical/scientific calculation and application, and general analysis. Career success depends on those but at least as important are communication skills, teamwork, networking, the right attitude, negotiation skills, determination, enjoyment of your job/industry, hard work, personal planning, etc.



That's my problem right there. I couldn't possibly deliver a speech even if I were to spend a month memorizing the entire speech (I suppose that's what you mean by communication skills), and my social skills and personality type make it difficult for me to develop good networking skills (knowing how to make friends who will help you find a job in the future) and negotiation skills (which I suppose means being able to talk your way into a great job).

Teamwork? I don't see what's the big deal. If it means being able to work on a project with people each of whom will contribute different bits and pieces to the project, that's fine with me.

Attitude, determination, enjoyment of your job/industry? Sure.

You need to change your attitude. You can say life isn't fair or that your unlucky or come up with any other reason, but until you believe that you control your own fate you will never be successful.



I need to change more than just my attitude; I also need to change my personality type, my social skills, my worldview, my values, my demeanor, my temperament, my disposition blah blah blah just give me a new brain and let me start over again.

But seriously, I do think it is sad that out of all the skills career success depends on, the one I struggled the least with is the one most students struggle the most with. That's why when they tell you "study hard and you will have a great job," they are not really lying, it's just that it is assumed that you have all those other skills or, at the very least, that they are easy to acquire.
 
Mark Herschberg
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I'm continuing my reply in the vein of "tough love"...

Originally posted by D.W. Smith:

That's my problem right there. I couldn't possibly deliver a speech even if I were to spend a month memorizing the entire speech (I suppose that's what you mean by communication skills), and my social skills and personality type make it difficult for me to develop good networking skills (knowing how to make friends who will help you find a job in the future) and negotiation skills (which I suppose means being able to talk your way into a great job).



There you go, there's the attitude, "I can't." I used to be afraid of public speaking. I used to have extremely poor social skills, with few friends in school and in inability to meet and talk to people. I choose to fix my shortcomings. You could change those things if you wanted to and put in the effort. You have chosen not to. You don't have to, and that's fine, but (and this is my personal opinion and, to be very clear, I express this as me personally and not a moderator of JavaRanch) if you recognize your shortcomings and still choose not to address them, then you should really stop whining. People (especially people here) are here to help others, but we implicitly assume people want to be helped. You don't seem to want help, you seem to just want to "say, life's not fair." Why bother?


Originally posted by D.W. Smith:

That's why when they tell you "study hard and you will have a great job," they are not really lying, it's just that it is assumed that you have all those other skills or, at the very least, that they are easy to acquire.



No, they're 100% truthful, but you've effectively said, "I want to do math, I worked hard at learning to farm, why won't they let me do math now?" That an extreme example, and a somewhat fictitious one. A better one might be, "I got a 4.0 in physics, why can't I get my big break as an actor." You have simply defined "good job" to be one which requires skills you have selected to ignore.

Let me ask you this, what did you hope to get by posting this thread? Advice on how to change? A fairy godmother who will wave a wand and give you a job for which you admit you lack the skills to get? Company that misery so enjoys? Or something else all together?

--Mark
 
Jay Dilla
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Originally posted by D.W. Smith:


I need to change more than just my attitude; I also need to change my personality type, my social skills, my worldview, my values, my demeanor, my temperament, my disposition blah blah blah just give me a new brain and let me start over again.

But seriously, I do think it is sad that out of all the skills career success depends on, the one I struggled the least with is the one most students struggle the most with. That's why when they tell you "study hard and you will have a great job," they are not really lying, it's just that it is assumed that you have all those other skills or, at the very least, that they are easy to acquire.



D.W you can do anything you put your mind to in my opinion. I use to have a slight stutter(think of how sugar ray leonard speaks) growing up and I have been able to get jobs that involve ALOT of speaking,


I even was once a salesman, and I stuttered BAD in that interview(Matter fact I stutter more then usual in all my interviews because I'm so nervous.) The guy gave me the job because he seen how determined I was! Right now I work for one of the major consulting firms in America and I had a 2.6 GPA from a public school. You can do anything you put your mind to, just stay positive.
 
Jason Cox
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Anyone who can get a 4.0 GPA already has the seed for success, therein lies the irony. A lot of what gets you success in life is a willingness to work towards your goals, even when those goals are challenging. Whatever it was that drove you to get good grades in college will work to drive you to whatever else you need to achieve. The problem is, and I suspect this is true for many of my high scoring colleagues that have not gone as far as they expected, is that your career is not so easily graded.

I absolutely hate college as the gold standard for employment because much of what they teach is worthless and the idea of "grades" isn't applicable to anything you'll do in the real world. Even performance evaluations don't compare since they score as much on "soft skills" as they do technical. In fact, the only thing you'll likely get scored on from here on out are things they don't teach in college.

Mark is right, don't fall into the "I can't" category. All you have to do is adjust your thinking. Drive yourself to success, just accept that success doesn't involve how the other guy is doing and you are still graded in life, just not the way you're graded in college.
 
Roseanne Zhang
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This is for everybody, no exceptions, on this thread!



** You Can Only Change Yourself

The following is inscribed on the tomb of an Anglican Bishop in Westminster Abby (1100 A.D.) �

When I was young and free and my imagination had no limits, I dreamed of changing the world. As I grew older and wiser, I discovered the world would not change, so I shortened my sights somewhat and decided to change only my country.

But it, too, seemed immovable.

As I grew into my twilight years, in one last desperate attempt, I settled for changing only my family, those closest to me, but alas, they would have none of it.

And now, as I lie on my deathbed, I suddenly realize: If I had only changed myself first, then by example I would have changed my family.

From their inspiration and encouragement, I would then have been able to better my country, and who knows, I may have even changed the world.

 
Roseanne Zhang
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Copied from here:

http://theonediet.wordpress.com/the-library/other/you-can-only-change-yourself/
 
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You can identify your personality type so that you can understand yourself better.

http://www.myersbriggs.org/type-use-for-everyday-life/personality-and-careers/

You still have time to change yourself. Sometimes it takes people a lifetime to figure our what they wanted to do in life. Don't consider yourself an isolated case in this world. There are many people in this world who are in the same boat as you.

Success always come to some people because they have be in the right place at the right time.
[ June 20, 2007: Message edited by: ravindra janapreddy ]
 
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Just adding my 2 cents...

... for me to develop good networking skills (knowing how to make friends who will help you find a job in the future) ...



No. The goal of networking is to be friends with people you like. The goal is to have friends who you can help, there is no expectation of them helping you. The goal is to find people to have beer with, to shoot pool with, to play golf with, etc.


Teamwork? I don't see what's the big deal. If it means being able to work on a project with people each of whom will contribute different bits ...



Okay, but are you networking with this people? Do you talk to them about stuff other than the project? What do you know about them? etc. Teamwork mean being part of a team, not just being a stake holder in a project.

Henry
 
D.W. Smith
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Originally posted by Mark Herschberg:

You have simply defined "good job" to be one which requires skills you have selected to ignore.



Yes and no. I never said I wanted a managerial type of job, or a job where I will be required to speak in public, or a job where I will be required to have tons of interaction with the customers. All I want is a job where I will be writing Java code. I want to come to work in the morning, sit at my desk, write code, interact with coworkers if I need to, and then go home at 5:00 PM. If I get paid a competitive salary for my work, great. Otherwise, I a willing to sacrifice myself economically for the right job. That's my definition of a "good job."


Let me ask you this, what did you hope to get by posting this thread? Advice on how to change? A fairy godmother who will wave a wand and give you a job for which you admit you lack the skills to get? Company that misery so enjoys? Or something else all together?



I wanted someone to tell me which programming jobs I could be doing with the hard skills that I have.
 
Mark Herschberg
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Originally posted by D.W. Smith:

You have simply defined "good job" to be one which requires skills you have selected to ignore.

Yes and no. I never said I wanted a managerial type of job... I want is a job where I will be writing Java code.



Exactly, and the point you're missingis that in many companies writing Java code is not a solo activity, but one which requires teamwork, communication skills, etc.

If you want a job which doesn't emphasize these skills, find a company where you are one of a handful of programmers in a support role on some non-critical project. You'll get little recognition and little opportunity for advancement, but you'll also get fewer people who will want/need to spend time with you.

Let me reiterate: 98% of the time software development is a team oriented activity (when done right).

--Mark
 
D.W. Smith
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Originally posted by Mark Herschberg:
[QB]

Exactly, and the point you're missingis that in many companies writing Java code is not a solo activity, but one which requires teamwork, communication skills, etc.



I don't have a problem with teamwork. I also don't have a problem with communication skills, unless I am required to give public speeches.


If you want a job which doesn't emphasize these skills, find a company where you are one of a handful of programmers in a support role on some non-critical project. You'll get little recognition and little opportunity for advancement, but you'll also get fewer people who will want/need to spend time with you.



I don't care about recognition and I don't care about advancement. If I like what I am doing, why would I want to advance to some type of managerial or supervisory role? Any why would I need recognition? I try not to place my happiness on what people think about me, you know.
 
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It is all to do with passion to excel and perseverence. Some people follow around the field where there is a better pay. My view is stick to the field you are good at and excel in it.
 
arulk pillai
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One other thing is come up with good ideas. You can always find people to implement your idea(s) but it is not always easy to think outside the square. Passion and motivation to excel can get you to put your thinking cap on. Also should stop comparing to others and strive to be unique in our own way.
[ June 22, 2007: Message edited by: arulk pillai ]
 
Henry Wong
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I don't care about recognition and I don't care about advancement. If I like what I am doing, why would I want to advance to some type of managerial or supervisory role? Any why would I need recognition? I try not to place my happiness on what people think about me, you know.



Generally recognition or advancement, or even both, are triggers for raises, bonuses, etc. This may explain why your friend with a "2.6 GPA, state school, makes more money than [you] make".

And BTW, advancement does not imply management -- most companies have technical tracks for advancement.

Henry
[ June 22, 2007: Message edited by: Henry Wong ]
 
D.W. Smith
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Originally posted by Henry Wong:
[QB]

Generally recognition or advancement, or even both, are triggers for raises, bonuses, etc. This may explain why your friend with a "2.6 GPA, state school, makes more money than [you] make".

And BTW, advancement does not imply management -- most companies have technical tracks for advancement.



Henry, you are correct. It is possible to advance to another technical position within the company. But, if those higher technical positions require me to do the stuff that I don't like doing, I'll keep my current position, doing what I like doing.
[ June 23, 2007: Message edited by: D.W. Smith ]
 
ravi janap
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I have seen over the years of my experience in the industry (IT) that it is the so called "not so intelligent" people who do well in the industry since they are not carrying any additional baggage like GPA, graduation from best school etc. These people don't have high expectations. The intelligent people are the one who are always used to working hard and want to see instant results in terms of recognition and advancement but yet some times the results are not as per their expectations so they easily get frustrated and started comparing themselves with the lesser intelligent people who seem to be prospering in the industry in spite of not working hard in life or not having enough intelligence. It is all matter of having high expectations of onself and the non-fulfillment of it that leads the intelligent person into deep frustration.

However I just want to caution that the above remarks can't be generalized to all the industries. There are fields like engineering and medicine where one need to have good academics and that automatically means intelligence to succeed on job. I have myself graduated from a very good school and I have seen that the top 25% in my class have all done extremely well. They are paid better than the rest and I have lot of respect for these intelligent breed of people.

Thanks
Ravi
[ June 25, 2007: Message edited by: ravindra janapreddy ]
 
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