Career Planning using Analogy of the Road

[fusioncat]

Dear all, I like to hear your views if my observation is correct

I believe everyone of us wants to have a good career but this path is not a bed of roses.

I notice all workers are classified as below using road as an analogy, please let me know your thoughts. One key question, why are people who build the road paid less than the people who uses the road?

1) People who build the roads (Operations, back end)
e.g. software developer, infra team, accounting/hr executive, engineers, designers, programmers, nurses, therapist etc.

Work is extremely competitive with high risk of being replaced by younger graduates and outsourcing. Salary and prestige is often low. There is a salary ceiling and age ceiling. These people have low or no say in decision making.


2) People who use the roads (Analyst, researcher, sales and marketing)
These are the people who use the road to meet specific business requirements and objectives.

These people present information to or can influence decision makers.
Salary and prestige are slightly higher and the range from top performer to bottom performer can be a large range. Age and salary ceiling is slightly higher. This people can go almost anywhere.

3) People who manages the roads (policy makers, strategic decision makers, governance, policy makers, management, etc)

These people also design and govern the road that was built. They are also the one who find funding/resources to build the roads. They are key decision makers and manages the previous two roles. Salary and prestige are high. Age and salary ceiling is by far the highest. These people can still lead or manage when they are in their 50s or 60s and annual salary can reach a 6 digit figure.

4) The fourth group plan, build, manages, sell and [B]OWN/B] their road(s).

These are entrepreneurs. These are the people who hire the other 3 groups of people. Salary and prestige (ability to take control of their life) are almost limitless. While life is neither a bed of roses for these people who initially started out, the potential is near infinite if their foundation is correct.

That's life. And we're asking why our youth shun certain jobs or certain fields of study like engineering??

It's just like a development project, example, a condo.

I was told once that the building and construction team - not talking about the contractors and hands-and-legs workers - but the professional staff, e.g. qualified architects, M&E or civil professional engineers, get paid according to a percentage of the building cost.

So for large projects, the fees are higher, and to many people, these professional people are certainly paid a lot - but then you have to consider the years of study, hard work to reach their qualifications, and the fact that they have to bear responsibility for their endorsements of the work they do.

Then, when the condo is ready, along comes the sales staff. Now as we know to sell real estate, just need to take exam to get the license - no need to learn all those hard math and physics or even get a degree. For every sale, the salesmen/women get a percentage of the SELLING price - which is the building cost plus the PROFIT!!! And sales team also don't have the responsibility or liability concerning safety aspects of the building.

So tell me which one is a better deal???

Originally Posted by fusioncat

Dear all, I like to hear your views if my observation is correct

I believe everyone of us wants to have a good career but this path is not a bed of roses.

I notice all workers are classified as below using road as an analogy, please let me know your thoughts. One key question, why are people who build the road paid less than the people who uses the road?

1) People who build the roads (Operations, back end)
e.g. software developer, infra team, accounting/hr executive, engineers, designers, programmers, nurses, therapist etc.

Work is extremely competitive with high risk of being replaced by younger graduates and outsourcing. Salary and prestige is often low. There is a salary ceiling and age ceiling. These people have low or no say in decision making.


2) People who use the roads (Analyst, researcher, sales and marketing)
These are the people who use the road to meet specific business requirements and objectives.

These people present information to or can influence decision makers.
Salary and prestige are slightly higher and the range from top performer to bottom performer can be a large range. Age and salary ceiling is slightly higher. This people can go almost anywhere.

3) People who manages the roads (policy makers, strategic decision makers, governance, policy makers, management, etc)

These people also design and govern the road that was built. They are also the one who find funding/resources to build the roads. They are key decision makers and manages the previous two roles. Salary and prestige are high. Age and salary ceiling is by far the highest. These people can still lead or manage when they are in their 50s or 60s and annual salary can reach a 6 digit figure.

4) The fourth group plan, build, manages, sell and [B]OWN/B] their road(s).

These are entrepreneurs. These are the people who hire the other 3 groups of people. Salary and prestige (ability to take control of their life) are almost limitless. While life is neither a bed of roses for these people who initially started out, the potential is near infinite if their foundation is correct.

u're right. it happens EVERYWHERE. say i give you one million dollars to start a business. you want to grow your business and earn income. these groups of people sound really sad so here's another perspective:

1. you need raw materials to build your business. you will get them for cheap, unless you're running a charity, and maximize your available capital. (Those selling raw materials usually have more than one buyers to maximize their earnings.)

2. you need people to use the road to earn income. without them you have no cash inflow. as long as the salary you paid to them is less than the amount of cash they bring in, you have a positive cash inflow. your business will grow.

3. things wear and tear. you might want to expand your business and earn further income. you hire people to manage them, at a low cost, just like raw materials, as they are necessary to keep the business going.

4. when your business is overvalued, you sell it, and then build another at a lower cost and keep the remaining profits. the cycle goes on.

[ChampionTutor]

Yes you r right.