[masraum]

Originally Posted by KC911

^^^^ (to Stealth's post) This too....

IMO, if you are really good in IT .... you control your own destiny. You may have to "fire" your employer a few times along the way .... but then you make even more $ .

BUT.... you have to have "IT" .... and love it.

It's like being paid to continue your education for 2-3 decades.

I loved it... until I didn't anymore

Absolutely. It has been my experience that the fastest path to more money and experience is moving around. I'd say that 2-5 years is the longest that I'd expect to sit in one place, at least early in your career. Often, even making strides in one company may involve leaving that company for a period and then going back. I've known several folks that were getting the incremental yearly raises (small), but then left a company and went back a year or two later and were able to get hired back at a significant increase over their previous rate.