So I'm 20 and I've started looking at the salaries of jobs/careers, and this is the impression I've gotten. Like that you could spend years cramming a ton of knowledge about a very niche field, and still only get 2-3x what a run-of-the-mill job makes. Is this true? If yes then I guess this route to wealth would only make sense (due to the diminishing returns) if the topic truly spoke to you, right? Are there alternative career paths to good pay than being really good at something really specific?
Salary really depends on value provided or enabled. That's why more knowledge stops mattering at a certain point, someone with a month of experience driving a forklift is less valuable than someone with 3 years, but 6 years of experience isn't significantly different.
There's also benefits to being closer to money to show value. This is why sales jobs tend to pay better, as showing direct responsibility for 1 million in sales vs keeping the machines running that made the product.
I actually just got told something similar. In a resume was listed, "over 10 years of leadership/management experience" and the recruiter reviewed it and said, "i don't care. I can find 20 other people within two minutes who have 10+ years of experience. Tell me what the skills are."
Tenure in a position means very little. Every year is a diminished return of value.