Elitism, education, and high school drop outs

[noamnety]

33. I'm not sure employers even consider a high school diploma

once you have some college under your belt. They look at the highest level of education completed - like you said - as one aspect.

When I was about the same age as Snowden is now, I was a GS13 (civilian equivalent of roughly a Lieutenant Colonel), without a high school diploma or GED. So his pay scale seems high - but not unbelievable for a contractor, if he had the skills to back it up. One thing that adds to salary is if you can combine some sort of technical skill with the more general background knowledge. For me once I was a contractor, that was graphics plus military intelligence, which gave me a somewhat unique ability to both analyze and communicate information. (Big Edward Tufte fan here!) That made me more marketable than if I just had the art background but needed people tell me what to put in the charts, or if I had the intel background but no real grasp of how to use the info for effective briefings.

I'm guessing Snowden's salary reflected that he could do the hacking/IT part, but also had enough background knowledge from previous jobs at NSA and embassies and even reading political blogs, to be able to hone in on what was important. (Pure speculation on my part there.)