What is the highest paying job in business?
I'm interested in majoring in business and want to know what good jobs would I be able to pursue.
2 answers
Kushaan’s Answer
There are many entry-level jobs that you can get right out of college that will comfortably pay you $50-$55k a year. Any standard job in supply chain, marketing, or accounting will typically have a huge market upon graduation. Jobs in management consulting and investment banking are often more competitive in salary and may net you upwards of $65k-$70k with a signing bonus. There are many factors involved including where you go to school, the current market at the time of your graduation, which companies are hiring etc.
As you move two-three years into any company with a proper promotion scale, expect to see a raise into the $80k range. At this point, your salary is entirely contingent on your company and how well you're doing within the company. High performers can easily get into six figures in a few years.
There are also a few alternatives:
If you go into any sort of sales/commission based job, your ceiling will often be a lot higher. While your standard pay will be lower, you can earn more based on performance. I know individuals in their first or second year of sales that are earning well over $100k a year simply by hustling and making sure they are meticulous with their commission.
In addition, if you go into any sort of startup or early-stage company with seed funding, you may be paid a smaller salary but will also be paid with "equity" or a percentage of the company. As your company continues to grow, your equity will grow with correlation. As your company gets valuated higher, the shares will be worth way more. You can hold onto these as long as possible until you want to sell them. Mark Zuckerberg still has most of his Facebook shares.
Side note: Don't do jobs for the money if you're miserable. You may resent your boss, resent your relationships, and make it tough for you to have a break in your career. Do something you love, get praised, and a higher salary will come faster. Hope this helps!
Lindsey’s Answer
Great question Judith! We'd love to tweet your question out to help out those students who also have this question, and we'd like to mention the author! Do you have a Twitter handle we should use?