I’ve been mulling over a discussion I stumbled across recently about people earning $300-500k+ annually. The original question was simple enough: what do these high earners actually do, and do they feel lucky or just like they’re doing $300k worth of work? What followed was one of the most honest conversations I’ve seen about success, privilege, and the role of luck in our careers.

The response that really stuck with me came from someone earning in that bracket who laid it all out: “Luck, timing and working hard.” They went on to acknowledge their good health, supportive family, lack of major misfortunes, being in the right place at the right time with the right boss, and marrying well. Most importantly, they recognised that while they work hard, “a lot of people work hard and they don’t earn that sort of money.”

The discussion around occupational downgrade among refugees has been doing the rounds online lately, and it’s got me thinking about how we frame these conversations. The headlines focus on refugees experiencing career setbacks after a decade in Australia, but the reality is far more nuanced than the sensationalist framing suggests.

What struck me most about the various perspectives shared was how many people pointed out that occupational downgrade isn’t unique to refugees at all. It’s a common experience for most migrants whose qualifications aren’t recognised here. One person mentioned downgrading from a PhD in Iran to become an MD in Australia - earning more money and finding the work easier. Another talked about taking ten years to rebuild their career path entirely.