Expert: Daniel Mazur - 4/6/2009

Question
Hi.I am 15 years and am currently studying in high school with maths and physics as my main subjects. I intend to get into a profession that has highly paid salary. Please could you suggest some jobs that will suit my palate?

Answer
Hello Anisina,

highest salaries come with functions in industry high up the management chain. For that I think you need to study a renown economics school, where you get at least some maths. Otherwise CEOs recruit from law graduates, which is very far from your stated interests.

If you are asking for "an ordinary employee with high salary", then I should suggest getting a degree in maths-statistics and financial calculus. These are easy enough to cross with some managerial degree and suitable for employment by banks, stock traders and insurance companies.

If you are a more hands-on person, then only you should consider engineering - electrical, mechanical, civil,... almost any. In engineering jobs you will "start small", but if you work well and are inventive enough, you will have a very good prospect of earning a very nice living.

It depends on what you expect exactly, how much is "a lot" of money to you. None of the ordinary employee positions can take you anywhere near the wealth scale of tycoons, they will just make for a very decent living. If you want to earn a million US$ a month or more, you cannot get it by ordinary work - you must have a good profitable idea and stick to it, set up a business, do all the right moves to eliminate competition, have a lot of political connections, learn to play dirty without ever been caught at it ... That's it. That sort of becoming rich does not come from what profession one has, but what other skills they have, how much perseverance, guts, daring, ... Something they don't teach you at school. I should point out that specifically choosing a physics career will not make you rich. It makes a decent living, kind of safe and out of harm's way, that's it.

Cheers!
Daniel