It's also the case that the federal government has hard caps at various stages.

In the private sector, you can -- in theory -- rise to your level of competence, regardless of your education or discrete skillset. Engineers can become CEOs through experience and in-service learning.

In the public sector, if you want to land a team lead position, you increasingly need at least B/B/B, if not C/B/C, even if the job is in Calgary. And that's barely middle management. If you have your eye on the most senior jobs (ADM level or higher), not only do you need fluent bilingualism (C/C/C or go home), you'll find you increasingly need a law degree or MBA, even though these credentials wouldn't necessarily have been useful to you when you started your career.

So that's your choice:

• Go into the private sector and take your chances. The sky's the limit, and in theory, only your competence holds you back.
• Go into the public sector and hit a cap 6 years into your career. Then, after years of concentrated study to move past it, another cap 10 years later.