subdude
Redshirt
- Local time
- Today 4:03 PM
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2010
- Messages
- 13
Before I get to my question, two caveats...
1) I realize virtually no one from any personality-type thinks they are overpaid, and most people probably feel they are underpaid. Everyone would like to make more money, and most people probably think they deserve to.
2) I realize it can rub many people the wrong way to whine about pay when many people can't find a job and a lot of people work hard at jobs the pay much less than one's own. And I think it goes without saying that bragging about one's own intelligence is often, well, not an intelligent thing to do.
That being said...
Given that INTPs tend to be intelligent, often unusually intelligent, and given the personality traits of INTPs, do you think we as INTPs typically find ourselves in careers that provide incomes far more modest than the incomes we thought we would be making back when we were growing up? I think the answer is yes, but I would love to hear what others think, either in agreement or disagreement.
It seems to me that school (elementary on up) is basically all about being "smart." Inasmuch as it's about hard-work, it's about academic accomplishment and is rarely about achieving anything productive, and the classes that actually involve actually producing something---home economics, shop---tend not to epitomize academics in most people's minds. Once one is in the working world though, almost no one gets paid merely for being smart. At this point, it seems that intelligence no longer has the power it did in school to make one successful. Sure, it's still extremely helpful in achieving professional success, but a lot of other things also become important. Marginally intelligent people with great leadership skills, with great organizational skills, and with other types of skills that go beyond book smarts suddenly have an advantage over the typical INTP. As a result, INTPs may find themselves working for people who could not do the work an INTP does. (I'm thinking here about my work as an engineer, but I'm sure this could apply in a lot of other fields.)
I am not saying that supervisors don't deserve the higher income they get, even if the INTP worker works as many hours as the boss and even if the supervisor couldn't do the technical work the supervisor's people perform. Not everyone has the talent and drive to be a successful supervisor/manager. I also realize some INTPs may actually be highly competent managers, even if it may go against the type.
My basic question is simply this: when you think of all the things you've accomplished in life, all the skills you've acquired, all of the unique things you can do that very few others can do, and then look at your pay stub, do you think "Is this seriously all I get paid? Maybe I never thought I'd be rich, but seriously, is this all I get paid?"
I'm a mechanical engineer who mostly does HVAC and medical gas design for hospitals. Much of the work I do is pretty cookie-cutter stuff that doesn't take a lot of brain power, but I am often called on to do various engineering analyses that I don't think any of my coworkers could do. (Of course, I love that sort of work.) I'm not setting records for my workaholism, but I do think I work hard and am a responsible team member. I generally enjoy my job and like my coworkers and supervisors, but I can't help but be unimpressed by my salary. Money isn't the most important thing to me, and I haven't cared about ever becoming rich since I was about 10, but I always thought I was smart enough that if I worked hard, I could have a job that would pay enough that I wouldn't be scared by the costs of daycare, car repairs, and that sort of thing. I really don't mean to sound egotistical or ungrateful, but I just hoped that by this point in life I would be in a career that does a better job paying the bills. I'm curious if other INTPs are in similar situations and/or have similar thoughts. Or if you feel good about what you are paid, I'd be interested to hear that too.
1) I realize virtually no one from any personality-type thinks they are overpaid, and most people probably feel they are underpaid. Everyone would like to make more money, and most people probably think they deserve to.
2) I realize it can rub many people the wrong way to whine about pay when many people can't find a job and a lot of people work hard at jobs the pay much less than one's own. And I think it goes without saying that bragging about one's own intelligence is often, well, not an intelligent thing to do.
That being said...
Given that INTPs tend to be intelligent, often unusually intelligent, and given the personality traits of INTPs, do you think we as INTPs typically find ourselves in careers that provide incomes far more modest than the incomes we thought we would be making back when we were growing up? I think the answer is yes, but I would love to hear what others think, either in agreement or disagreement.
It seems to me that school (elementary on up) is basically all about being "smart." Inasmuch as it's about hard-work, it's about academic accomplishment and is rarely about achieving anything productive, and the classes that actually involve actually producing something---home economics, shop---tend not to epitomize academics in most people's minds. Once one is in the working world though, almost no one gets paid merely for being smart. At this point, it seems that intelligence no longer has the power it did in school to make one successful. Sure, it's still extremely helpful in achieving professional success, but a lot of other things also become important. Marginally intelligent people with great leadership skills, with great organizational skills, and with other types of skills that go beyond book smarts suddenly have an advantage over the typical INTP. As a result, INTPs may find themselves working for people who could not do the work an INTP does. (I'm thinking here about my work as an engineer, but I'm sure this could apply in a lot of other fields.)
I am not saying that supervisors don't deserve the higher income they get, even if the INTP worker works as many hours as the boss and even if the supervisor couldn't do the technical work the supervisor's people perform. Not everyone has the talent and drive to be a successful supervisor/manager. I also realize some INTPs may actually be highly competent managers, even if it may go against the type.
My basic question is simply this: when you think of all the things you've accomplished in life, all the skills you've acquired, all of the unique things you can do that very few others can do, and then look at your pay stub, do you think "Is this seriously all I get paid? Maybe I never thought I'd be rich, but seriously, is this all I get paid?"
I'm a mechanical engineer who mostly does HVAC and medical gas design for hospitals. Much of the work I do is pretty cookie-cutter stuff that doesn't take a lot of brain power, but I am often called on to do various engineering analyses that I don't think any of my coworkers could do. (Of course, I love that sort of work.) I'm not setting records for my workaholism, but I do think I work hard and am a responsible team member. I generally enjoy my job and like my coworkers and supervisors, but I can't help but be unimpressed by my salary. Money isn't the most important thing to me, and I haven't cared about ever becoming rich since I was about 10, but I always thought I was smart enough that if I worked hard, I could have a job that would pay enough that I wouldn't be scared by the costs of daycare, car repairs, and that sort of thing. I really don't mean to sound egotistical or ungrateful, but I just hoped that by this point in life I would be in a career that does a better job paying the bills. I'm curious if other INTPs are in similar situations and/or have similar thoughts. Or if you feel good about what you are paid, I'd be interested to hear that too.
