There's a point where diminishing returns sets in. My guess is that anything over 140k a year would result in the same, if not, lower test scores. Read the first chapter of Dan Ariely's book: The Upside of Irrationality. Like so many best selling authors, he's simply taking research and dumbing it down for everyone else to consume.
I agree, I've worked as a help desk person and a developer and I personally enjoy development type work. A lot of satisfaction comes from working at the right company too. I've worked at many companies and I finally found one I enjoy working at. The company I work for is within Fortune's top 100 companies to work for: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2009/fu.... I'd suggest going through the list and trying to find one of those companies. If you can't find one, make sure you do your home work during the interview process. I believe Joel on Software has a good article about what to look for when considering a new employer.
Finally, happiness is a choice. Go into your job each day telling yourself that no matter what happens you’re going to find something positive. It’s a lot of hard work to be happy.
I know what you’re talking about. For my first two jobs I worked for the first company that said yes. The first experience turned out to be okay because I had a very good manager. The second job was a complete mess and the company couldn’t retain a person for more than two days. I stayed at the job for six months because everyone around me said you can’t quit before then. For my third job I finally had an uncle and friend tell me that I should take my time before picking my next employer. So the next time I went to approximately seven job interviews and received three acceptance letters. I was tempted to take the first acceptance, but people warned me this time. Now I’m very happy at the company I chose and wouldn’t trade it for many jobs out there. For some reason I know a lot of IT people with the same problem. I suppose part of the problem has to do with IT people thinking the best of people and not understanding most social ques. In my case it was definitely that I didn’t see the writing on the wall, which I now could spot. Also, I come from a blue collar background and my parents themselves had no experience of their own to share with me. People who work in IT and have white collar parents tend to not have this issue as often because parents tell them what to look for. Good luck.
The article should be renamed to Parental Guidance and Aptitude Outdoes IQ. There's are a lot of "smart" people out there who are the result of very fortunate parenting rather than actually possessing any intelligence.