[zero-sharp]

Kinda. Career success isn't strictly based on merit or "smarts."

But I was responding to the claim that a bachelor's in math can get you "any kind of job." That just isn't true. You will always have to compete with the people who have specialized and have experience in that particular domain. Why would any organization hire a math student for a software development job (for example) when they have hundreds of applicants lined up with CS degrees/internships/whathaveyou? Pick any other domain and apply the same thought process. Again, you'd really have to be pulling on your connections or be a standout in some other sense to get that level of consideration. I'm confident that for a lot of hiring managers, success in the long term and "hiring the best" are secondary to "can this person be productive in a reasonable amount of time?".

I remember when I was in school philosophy students used to say the same thing and I thought it was totally absurd. That somehow a philosophy student is on equal footing with someone who just spent four years coding? Just insanity.

[gfourfour]

The philosophy students were right, some of the highest mid career earnings of any major. It’s harder to get your foot in the door without specialized knowledge - but careers arent determined by your first entry level job.