[snowwrestler]

Most people are motivated by more than money. Working in product development at a place like Apple, or Google, or Amazon, etc, gives you a chance to work with very smart, accomplished people. It gives you license to do great work and maybe push some envelopes with what is possible in your field. It gives you a platform to have a major impact on society. It makes other people say "wow" when they hear where you work, or what product you helped create.

For some people that is a form of motivation, and even a form of compensation. Doing graphic design at a PR agency for a cereal campaign, even if it pays more money and gives more vacation time, might be less attractive to people than a harder, more demanding job that confers the above benefits.

It's also important to look at the entire career. Busting her ass at Apple for 6 years might set up a young designer to get taken very seriously if she decides to move to another company, or start her own. That would be less true if she was a junior designer working hourly for Brauny paper towel company (or whatever).

[fruithunter]

"Busting her ass at Apple for 6 years might set up a young designer to get taken very seriously if she decides to move to another company, or start her own."

No. Don't take a job under the premise that it has good experience and will set you up for a later higher paying job with another company. That's a a myth. Get better at negotiating your salary now.

You should never take the mindset to to defer your salary in exchange for experience. Get paid what you're worth.

[danudey]

I think the argument is that a job is more than just about salary, as long as you're getting paid enough to live comfortably, because there's more to job satisfaction than your paycheque. In the case of Apple, that comes in the form of working in a good (pro-design) environment, on a good design team, on projects that people actually use. On top of that, you're working for a famous company on highly visible products, which is an additional bonus on top of the rest of the job.

I certainly would never tell someone to take a crappy job because of visibility, but if you're getting paid enough, then highly visible work is a 'nice to have'.

[snowwrestler]

You're creating a false dichotomy. One can be good at negotiating salary and still choose a job that comes with high demands.

It's obviously not a myth that each job can help you get the next. Else why does anyone prepare a resume? Or do an internship?

[vacri]

It gives you a platform to have a major impact on society.

Major? Can you give some examples where a line engineer at one of the big companies has personally done something through their work that has had a major impact on society? "Wow, you work at a cool place" is small talk and prestige, not something that has a societal impact; something that inherently changes the way people interact with and/or perceive each other.

[snowwrestler]

You don't think Google search or iPhone have had a major impact on society?

[vacri]

Sure I do. I just don't think that the fundamental parts of those products that has that major impact were the brainchild of line engineers.