It’s not that education is useless, but rather that insufficient education is useless. Good companies and good positions are always available, but due to their limited nature, most people cannot attain them, leading to complaints that education is worthless.
In reality, if your education is sufficiently good, there are plenty of job opportunities, especially if you possess proactive habits and a commitment to seeing tasks through to completion. Companies need individuals who can get things done, not those who wait to be trained or motivated.
A relative of mine, a 2023 graduate with a 211 undergraduate degree and a 985 master’s degree, has joined Texas Instruments. She mentioned that she now takes home over 40,000 monthly and is about to buy a car and a house in Shanghai.
Texas Instruments is a global semiconductor design and manufacturing company that has been deeply rooted in the mainland for many years. According to online discussions, Texas Instruments not only offers R&D positions but also sales positions during recruitment.
Among these, the salary for R&D positions is over 20,000 per month, while sales positions can reach up to 400,000 annually. Although there is still a gap compared to this 985 master’s graduate’s monthly income of over 40,000, it is already considered a high salary among fresh graduates.
Of course, higher salaries come with higher expectations. Based on feedback from individuals who have interviewed at Texas Instruments, the interview process requires not only solid professional knowledge but also excellent communication skills and exceptional stress resistance.
Even if one passes the interview, the requirements during the internship are also very high; specifically, only about 20% of interns may transition to full-time employees.
With such high recruitment standards and a strict selection process, those who remain with an annual salary of 400,000 or a monthly income of over 40,000 do not seem to be overpaid.
They are all individuals who have been filtered through multiple rounds of selection and possess work capabilities and stress resistance that are not common. Therefore, for them, receiving higher compensation than others is only fair.
Society rewards those who are exceptional, not ordinary. As the saying goes: The way of heaven is to reduce the excess and supplement the insufficient. The way of man, however, is different; it diminishes the insufficient to provide for the excess. The stronger you are, the more you are given; the weaker you are, the more you lose.
Finally, when faced with others sharing their high salaries, it’s okay to be skeptical, but don’t always think that others are just showing off. Even if they are showing off, it is after they have achieved their success. What we should do is learn from others how to obtain high salaries and how to maintain promotions and raises, rather than sour grapes about unattainable grapes, hiding in the shadows, and taking potshots.