Career Path & Salary Variance
April 4th, 2010 at 2:47:35 AM
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I work college sports games, and this includes about a 20 minute walk to and fro which leads to a lot of mind-wandering time. I think of a lot of things, and one thing that has really caught my attention is the relation between career choice and gambling terminology.
I haven't really had time to put together exact numbers, but personally I'm looking to go into engineering at a major company (Aerospace major, but I don't really care) and that seems to have a very high expected value with a reasonable amount of variance. Strictly speaking, just as an engineer, you probably won't be making millions of dollars a year unless you jump into the business side of it. This is similar to computer science, with a VERY small portion who became billionaires during the tech boom. Most of the computer scientists I know are finding nice and cushy jobs right out of school, but without a lot of career opportunities to step up the ladder in 5 years (variance).
On the other hand, something like acting or starting a business (Yes, you can start an engineering/programming business so take that into account) has very high variance. So much so that the majority of them go bust and have to do something else like revert to a high EV, low variance job.
Another career that's come to mind (since I work with them) are journalists, specifically newspaper/sports types. They have a reasonably low expected value as well as a pretty low variance. A few of them might make it to ESPN and hit it big time, but that's very very few.
Basically, I'm just wondering if anyone else has thought about this before. Also, if you could compare your gambling style to your career path I think that would be kind of neat. Personally, I'm a "balls out" kind of gambler... as compared to what I plan on doing which is a pretty safe choice. I blame the Asian in me.
I haven't really had time to put together exact numbers, but personally I'm looking to go into engineering at a major company (Aerospace major, but I don't really care) and that seems to have a very high expected value with a reasonable amount of variance. Strictly speaking, just as an engineer, you probably won't be making millions of dollars a year unless you jump into the business side of it. This is similar to computer science, with a VERY small portion who became billionaires during the tech boom. Most of the computer scientists I know are finding nice and cushy jobs right out of school, but without a lot of career opportunities to step up the ladder in 5 years (variance).
On the other hand, something like acting or starting a business (Yes, you can start an engineering/programming business so take that into account) has very high variance. So much so that the majority of them go bust and have to do something else like revert to a high EV, low variance job.
Another career that's come to mind (since I work with them) are journalists, specifically newspaper/sports types. They have a reasonably low expected value as well as a pretty low variance. A few of them might make it to ESPN and hit it big time, but that's very very few.
Basically, I'm just wondering if anyone else has thought about this before. Also, if you could compare your gambling style to your career path I think that would be kind of neat. Personally, I'm a "balls out" kind of gambler... as compared to what I plan on doing which is a pretty safe choice. I blame the Asian in me.
Its - Possessive; It's - "It is" / "It has"; There - Location; Their - Possessive; They're - "They are"
April 4th, 2010 at 5:11:33 AM
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ahiromu, I'm at the opposite end of a career from you -- retired, mostly from engineering. I think I followed my career in a rather conservative manner. I had three primary employers for 5, 3, and 26 years respectively. That sort of long-term relationship was fairly common in the days of my father and grandfather, but much less so these days.
Most of my friends would consider that I am quite conservative in other aspects of my life as well. Earlier this year, my wife and I were accompanied by a friend of some 25 years on a trip to Vegas and environs. She watched as I gambled in 11 different casinos, playing blackjack only when craps was not available. My friend was absolutely amazed. She could not comprehend that I would actually risk money playing a game in which I knew that the other side always had an advantage over me. It just seemed too far outside her perception of my character. She asked me several times where the player-advantage games were, since she assumed that was what I would have to play if I went to a casino.
From my friend's perspective, the fact that I gambled in a casino was clear evidence that I was not behaving in a conservative manner at all. On the other hand, I characterize my gambling patterns (low stakes, short sessions) as quite conservative, with just enough risk to provide entertainment. I think that comparing a career and a gambling practice in terms of expected values and variance may depend significantly on the perspective of the one making the comparison and not just on the numbers that might go into a calculation.
Most of my friends would consider that I am quite conservative in other aspects of my life as well. Earlier this year, my wife and I were accompanied by a friend of some 25 years on a trip to Vegas and environs. She watched as I gambled in 11 different casinos, playing blackjack only when craps was not available. My friend was absolutely amazed. She could not comprehend that I would actually risk money playing a game in which I knew that the other side always had an advantage over me. It just seemed too far outside her perception of my character. She asked me several times where the player-advantage games were, since she assumed that was what I would have to play if I went to a casino.
From my friend's perspective, the fact that I gambled in a casino was clear evidence that I was not behaving in a conservative manner at all. On the other hand, I characterize my gambling patterns (low stakes, short sessions) as quite conservative, with just enough risk to provide entertainment. I think that comparing a career and a gambling practice in terms of expected values and variance may depend significantly on the perspective of the one making the comparison and not just on the numbers that might go into a calculation.
