[kamaal]

Your post is so correct, that I'm running short of words of praise for it.

The problem isn't just in the US. I'm from India, and the situation you describe matches the very situation we have here.

One thing that really pisses me off totally, is the industry seems to classify people into two separate categories. First, the kind of people who become managers quickly are automatically considered good. Its almost like if you are coding after 5 years into the industry, you are 'stuck'. That's how its described.

Second, is the kind of people you describe as in having worked for technically meaty projects before say 30. Unfortunately such work is exceedingly rare to find. I would be glad if you can write an essay on how to be finding such work. It would help me and nearly everyone else a lot.