Which degree for most lucritive job?

juanveron45

I know its not the best reason to do something but I was wondering what area is best to get into if making money is your main aim, what degree should one go for?

Also disregard law and medcine or anything you would have to do 7 years in uni or college for ,Im talking 4 years of a bsc degree?

rediguana

Actuarial Science.

Kinetic^

rediguana wrote:

Actuarial Science.

Ditto.

How long to be a pharmacist? Pretty high earning job.

Absolut

If you want to follow the natural progression from a degree in actuarial science to becoming a qualified actuary, then there'll be a few more years of study and exams. A four year BSc will allow you to work in a lot of different jobs, but not as an actuary (which is extremely highly paid, so I'm assuming that's what you were referring to when you said actuarial science - but also very difficult to suceed in).

juanveron45

Any others, give as many examples as you can

Nehpets

Entrapenuer (SP!!)

justfortherecor

A degree in financial services or the like from LSE/Oxbridge.

rediguana

Nehpets wrote:

Entrapenuer (SP!!)

Entrepreneur is maybe the best. A money expert once told me I'd never become a millionaire working for someone else. Unfortunately I misinterpreted that advice and have now been unemployed (or "underemployed", at any rate) for some time.

The point is, set up your own successful business and you get to keep the profits. You don't even need to go to college at all, technically.

easyontheeye

an IT degree! ... or eh maybe not

damnyanks

Your degree does not push you into the most lucrative areas. All it does is show you are interested in the area.

If you want to earn big bucks, be good at what you do and constantly look to push yourself.

If you want to earn a decent amount of money and do shag all go become a teacher or some form of civil servant where its more difficult to get fired from.

You want a 1st class degree from a good University on a decent course to ensure more doors are left open for you.

A couple of years ago everyone wanted to go into actuary because the money was great.

Now everyone wants to become an accountant because the money is great

The newer trend developing is everyone wants to become a "investment banker"

And before those 3 you had everyone wanting to become a programmer of some sort.


Just go for what you like - all of the above pay ****e if you suck. They pay amazing if you are good.

nesf

damnyanks wrote:

Just go for what you like - all of the above pay ****e if you suck. They pay amazing if you are good.

Exactly. Most high paying jobs only work well if you are good at them. Sales can pay out absurd amounts of cash, if and only if you are good at it. Ditto with IT, law etc. Doing something you are only mediocre at will never earn you a lot of money. You'll plateau at middle management and be stuck there, generally speaking.

Vikings

juanveron45 wrote:

I know its not the best reason to do something but I was wondering what area is best to get into if making money is your main aim, what degree should one go for?

Also disregard law and medcine or anything you would have to do 7 years in uni or college for ,Im talking 4 years of a bsc degree?

From reading all of your threads in this forum its is quite apparent that money is your main drive, the thing is you don't want to work towards it!

You are going to have to start off on the ground floor just like everyone else, find something you are interested in (may I suggest banking as you are obviously fascinated by money) and work hard at it. There is good money to be made in every field of work out there, it is only the select few that earn it though as they are mostly passionate about what they do

rediguana

IncredibleBulk wrote:

From reading all of your threads in this forum its is quite apparent that money is your main drive, the thing is you don't want to work towards it!

You are going to have to start off on the ground floor just like everyone else, find something you are interested in (may I suggest banking as you are obviously fascinated by money) and work hard at it. There is good money to be made in every field of work out there, it is only the select few that earn it though as they are mostly passionate about what they do

Ok, well yes, if you're a pleb at your job you're unlikely to become wealthy through it.

But the OP was emphasizing money (and why wouldn't he?) and that coloured everyone's answers.

But, all things (effort, talent, luck etc) being equal, there are still vast wage differentials between certain professions. I read the wall street book, "Liar's Poker" recently, where obscene amounts of money were being thrown at twentysomething traders. Yes, this was back in the crazy eighties, but still.

Work hard and be a brilliant teacher (which, despite what someone earlier on said, is no easy life) and you'll still be attached to a very ordinary pay-scale. Well, it's not bad, but you can forget about Ferraris and Cristal.

Anyway, just to reiterate - financial services gets my vote. But OP, remember - work hard and stay in school.

ps. My dissolute buddy carved out a lucrative niche for himself as a UK-based dentist. I don't know how much he earned, but one minute he was a student selling his jeans to friends to fund clubbing, the next he's wracking up speeding fines in his Porsche Boxster and beating off the lovely ladies with a stick. Initially difficult to get into dentistry, but then you're done, no more exams. In fact, his biggest problem is boredom (cleaning teeth here, pulling them there). But you want that MONEY, don't you, Mr. OP? You want that PAPER??? Look into dentistry, if you hate finance.

damnyanks

Just some info concerning trading / banking as people seem to read those little books about how great it was or fun it was etc.

1 - For the first 4 / 5 years your hourly wage averages out to 6 pounds an hour. (M&A)

2 - They fire you the second any sort of downturn happens

3 - The money you get is a %%% of what you have earnt. Earn nothing - please **** off (A bank pays aaround 500k a year for 1 trader's deskspace).

So while you shouldn't BS and say money isn't important don't just be some fool that jumps into an industry because it has the highest salary.

No such thing as a free lunch in life.

Stephen

Dentistry sounds ideal if you're a sadist. What other job pays so much to inflict pain on others?

Copper

Good tradesmen earn very decent wages, its also very easy to set up your own company and earn a fortune (if you're willing to work like a horse).

DubTony

nesf wrote:

..... Sales can pay out absurd amounts of cash, if and only if you are good at it.

Nehpets wrote:

Entrapenuer (SP!!)

I know a guy who used to make about £75,000 a year as a salesman (yes ... POUNDS) and started his own business about 5 years ago. He's 34 and is doing well to make €35,000 a year now.

If sales is your gig you're most likely better off working for someone else and being great at it. As an entrepreneur you'll need many, many more skills. You can hire salesman, but hiring someone to run your company is a lot tougher.

I have my own business and do ok, but I'd be a lot better off doing 40 hours for €60K a year (average for what I do) instead of working 70 hours a week.

Look to a degree in business and then decide whether to go further. If you're the entrepreneurial type then I'd say business finance is the way to go. Know how to get and handle money, learn to negotiate well, and let others do the donkey work.

PeakOutput

engineering degree tbh

something like 85% of managing directors in all companies are engineering graduates

PeakOutput

Copper wrote:

Good tradesmen earn very decent wages, its also very easy to set up your own company and earn a fortune (if you're willing to work like a horse).

yep a mate of mine got 600 points in the leaving and refused to go to college so his dad got him an apprenticeship as an electrician he realised he loved it and is half way threw the apprenticeship doing a elec engineering degree aswell and already has a 2007 motorbike and an audi a1(think a1 the golf like one) and he is only 20................he is an exception though and you gotta be very determined and hard working to come near to what he has done

BossArky

PeakOutput wrote:

engineering degree tbh

something like 85% of managing directors in all companies are engineering graduates

That sounds stat sounds incredibley wrong. No way 85%. Did you read it in an engineering journal such as IEI by any chance?

PeakOutput

BossArky wrote:

That sounds stat sounds incredibley wrong. No way 85%. Did you read it in an engineering journal such as IEI by any chance?

no i cant remember exactly were i heard it reading back over it it does sound way to high but it is a very large number


edit; now that i think of it im pretty sure it was years ago in school at a career talk or something

BossArky

It obviously depends on what venn diagram you're talking about. E.g. Ireland Vs City of London. I'm sure Ireland has heaps of engineers in those types of positions... where as London would be more businessy.. from my experience.

Vikings

rediguana wrote:

Ok, well yes, if you're a pleb at your job you're unlikely to become wealthy through it.

But the OP was emphasizing money (and why wouldn't he?) and that coloured everyone's answers.

But, all things (effort, talent, luck etc) being equal, there are still vast wage differentials between certain professions.

I completely agree with you there. Yes money should be an important factor but not the only factor.

OP, you need to find something you are interested in. Stop starting 20 threads a day asking about different lines of work and think about what you would like to be doing yourself, what you can see yourself doing in 5 years, for the rest of your life etc... once you get into a profession there is money to be made as long as you have the will to work for it.

No such thing as easy money no matter what job you are in

damnyanks

And whenever you do get into college make sure to do a work placement for 9 - 12 months even if the university doesnt offer it as part of the course (Take a year out).

Its useful on so many levels its not even funny.

mountainyman

Insurance and Investment at City University would have the best tradeoff between the brains needed to get in and the salaries you receive at the end.


MM

amen

the 85% is wrong sort of
its based on a report done about 5 years ago in the USA (I'll see if I can find the link).

they looked at the top several thousand companies in the USA (based on turnover, staff etc) and they looked at the qualifications of the executive board and senior managers

Approx 80% of top managers/ceo had Engineer/Physics Degress, 10% had Maths degress and the everything else in last 10%.

think about it. Most companies are technology dependant and/or manufacture some thing hence a large number of technology based people.

If you have have a company that makes widgets who do you want as the boss? Some bean counter or arty/business type who doesn't really under stand what you do or someone who knows what you do, how it works, what its for etc.

Think of the all the companies in Ireland even the USA ones Intel, HP etc they all have technology people as the head. I think even Air Lingus with Wille Walsh( think he had a B.Eng).
Several top civil servants in UK have B.Sc/B.Eng same here.

I agree some financial companies may have business types as their heads but I bet apart from the financials you will find a lot that have B.Eng/B.Sc at the top.

Actually a log of the top finance companies use science grads to create their mathamatically modesl in order to maximise their profits. The maths is normally very complex and requires specialist skills ( not going to get a business grad to do that)

It is very easy to teach business skills to anyone (mostly commone sense) after college but very hard to teach scientific skills after college. Once you have a good science background its easy to learn the business stuff and progress that way.

Of course you should pick a subject you like not just one you think will you good money.

xebec

If you definitely want money, but don't want to cut down your options about exactly what you want to do then consider Management Science & Information Systems Studies in TCD.

My class are graduating this year, with a wide variety of careers prospects and wages. At the top of the earning bracket are those going into trading for an investment bank and those going into consulting (like me) who can expect to start on more than £30,000 plus a sign-on and rising steadily from there - the trader could be earning mega bucks within a year, it's all about talent in that business. Of those in Ireland, the highest offer this year is for a consultancy offering €30,000, with most other graduate programs in the mid-20 thousands.

Afaik, everyone in the class who wants a job for next year already has at least one offer.

copacetic

PeakOutput wrote:

engineering degree tbh

something like 85% of managing directors in all companies are engineering graduates

This doesn't sound at all right and I'm an engineer. I'd say that 70% of all CEOs were accountants and about 15% engineers.

It doesn't make any sense, how many companies are engineering based? Certainly less that 50% of companies. Why would at least 40% of companies that aren't engineering based have engineers as CEO?

I'd like to see some linkage to back up the original claim.

copacetic

amen wrote:

Think of the all the companies in Ireland even the USA ones Intel, HP etc they all have technology people as the head. I think even Air Lingus with Wille Walsh( think he had a B.Eng).
Several top civil servants in UK have B.Sc/B.Eng same here.
.

Mark Hurd has a BA in Business and Otellini's degree is in economics.

edit: and Willie Walsh was a pilot and MBA.

nesf

xebec wrote:

If you definitely want money, but don't want to cut down your options about exactly what you want to do then consider Management Science & Information Systems Studies in TCD.

My class are graduating this year, with a wide variety of careers prospects and wages. At the top of the earning bracket are those going into trading for an investment bank and those going into consulting (like me) who can expect to start on more than £30,000 plus a sign-on and rising steadily from there - the trader could be earning mega bucks within a year, it's all about talent in that business. Of those in Ireland, the highest offer this year is for a consultancy offering €30,000, with most other graduate programs in the mid-20 thousands.

Afaik, everyone in the class who wants a job for next year already has at least one offer.

BIS in UCC has a similar "prospectus". Honestly, the real world and what they promise you in uni are not one and the same. The degree you do has far less of an impact on what jobs you can get than people think (excluding professions like Engineering, Medicine etc). I'm not cutting down your degree or anything, I'm sure the top half of your class will get excellent jobs but the people coming out and scraping 2.2's or passes mightn't find life so rosy and with the way grade inflation is going a 1H degree today is worth a lot less than a 1H degree 5 or 10 years ago, which also plays a factor.

Copper

yep a mate of mine got 600 points in the leaving and refused to go to college so his dad got him an apprenticeship as an electrician he realised he loved it and is half way threw the apprenticeship doing a elec engineering degree aswell and already has a 2007 motorbike and an audi a1(think a1 the golf like one) and he is only 20................he is an exception though and you gotta be very determined and hard working to come near to what he has done

I would definitely recommend a trade or any construction related degree if you want to make money OP.

sorry nesf

nesf

Copper wrote:

How are ya Mark, ya should'nt be using boards in work, you should be playing WOW!! Did your Da sell the house yet? It's an A3 by the way!!:D

If you want to chat, use MSN, IRC or send a pm. Don't do it in threads please.

juanveron45

Hi Qubec,

Thanks for recommending the MSISS degree to me it looks very interesting and what I like about it is that its very broad and flexible, alas i have 2 problems

1.I dont have enough points to apply as my LC points were very low but since im 28 I would be applying as a mature student anyway, I have a diploma in analytical chemistry from I.T Carlow which may help my case but there are only 24 places so my chances are very slim I would say, would you say my chances are romote?

2.I will have to work parttime to finance myself going back to uni,is this possible while doing this course?

thanks

damnyanks

amen wrote:

the 85% is wrong sort of
i
If you have have a company that makes widgets who do you want as the boss? Some bean counter or arty/business type who doesn't really under stand what you do or someone who knows what you do, how it works, what its for etc.

Nit picking but the head of yahoo is a bean counter. Degree doesnt matter, once you get to that level you're an expert in the field one way or another

PeakOutput

How are ya Mark, ya should'nt be using boards in work, you should be playing WOW!! Did your Da sell the house yet? It's an A3 by the way!!

jesus its a small world.....kinda feel wierd now talking about him lol

This doesn't sound at all right and I'm an engineer. I'd say that 70% of all CEOs were accountants and about 15% engineers.

It doesn't make any sense, how many companies are engineering based? Certainly less that 50% of companies. Why would at least 40% of companies that aren't engineering based have engineers as CEO?

I'd like to see some linkage to back up the original claim.

if i remember correctly we were told that it was because of there problem solving / reasoning skills they work there way up threw the engineering field and then decide to apply it to the business world but it was obviously guidance counsellor bull if people in the actual field dont really know anything close to it.....my bad

nesf

damnyanks wrote:

Nit picking but the head of yahoo is a bean counter. Degree doesnt matter, once you get to that level you're an expert in the field one way or another

Well outside of engineering, medicine, nursing et al what your degree isn't going to define you very much once you've been working for 5/6 years. People will only be looking at your work experience at that stage in general. There are exceptions, your PhD subject might still be of relevance etc depending on the field you work in, but by and large companies will be hiring (and firing) you based on what you've done/achieved in the workplace and not on what you marks you got in the second year of your degree.

PeakOutput

juanveron45 wrote:

1.I dont have enough points to apply as my LC points were very low but since im 28 I would be applying as a mature student anyway, I have a diploma in analytical chemistry from I.T Carlow which may help my case but there are only 24 places so my chances are very slim I would say, would you say my chances are romote?


thanks

my mother applied to trinity as a mature student and as far as i know most if not all the courses have places set aside for mature students so if theres 24 places there is maybe 1 / 2 for a mature student so ur not competeing with the leaving certers just with other mature students

i am pretty sure you have missed the deadline for mature application threw the cao for next september though just in case your thinking of doing this this year so id check the site as if its not gone its very close

nesf wrote:

Well outside of engineering, medicine, nursing et al what your degree isn't going to define you very much once you've been working for 5/6 years. People will only be looking at your work experience at that stage in general. There are exceptions, your PhD subject might still be of relevance etc depending on the field you work in, but by and large companies will be hiring (and firing) you based on what you've done/achieved in the workplace and not on what you marks you got in the second year of your degree.

check any recruitment site and a huge number of jobs say some form of third level education prefered i think its to show you can stick something out at this stage unless its a more specialised area