Why Titles and Salaries Don’t Tell the Full Career Story

Most people’s careers plateau at the mid-seniority level, regardless of how long they work or how much they earn, according to an analysis of 150 million résumés led by Harvard Business School professor Paul A. Gompers and conducted with researchers from several institutions.

People often measure career attainment by job titles and salaries, but the research also considers the time it takes someone to reach a particular title after graduating from college.

According to the research, the median time it takes someone in the finance industry to attain the level of vice president after graduating from college is 11 years. The director level typically takes 12 years, while the median time to become a chief operating officer is 15 years.

The study examines the typical number of years it takes to reach a particular seniority level and then assigns a “seniority value” equal to that number to that role. For example, it typically takes 20 years to reach a C-suite position, so that role is assigned a seniority value of 20. But few people who work for 20 years will achieve a C-suite role with a seniority value of 20.

For most people, years of experience eventually exceed their seniority level. Careers typically peak within 15–20 years, often at the middle levels of an organization. Among the résumés studied, only 19% of people with 20 years of experience had reached a seniority level of 20.

The findings may be especially relevant to communicators, whose titles and pay can vary widely across agencies, corporations, nonprofits and government. Looking beyond labels such as “director” or “vice president” to consider a role’s actual responsibilities, influence and place within an organization may provide a clearer picture of career progress — and expose promotions that amount to little more than title inflation.