<p>what are some of the most profitable careers right out of college? Like high starting salary with plenty of room for job growth. thanks</p>
<p>Hedge funds, private equity, venture capital, wealth management, investment banking (although not this year), strategy consulting.</p>
<p>Of course it should be said that these types of jobs are generally only available to those who go to the top schools.</p>
<p>Which jobs start low but grow the fastest/highest? (Sorry to ask a new question in your thread)</p>
<p>It is often said that English majors start low but have high potential for growth (average salary may depend on the school your degree is from, but is really more about the individual, I think)</p>
<p>Well from Carnegie Mellon, just about everything in engineering but the best I've seen are Computer Science majors, ECE, Computational Finance and Business Admin majors (IT and MIS). The analytical skills help in many fields such as hedge funds, I-banking, financial consulting, etc. Just because you do Comp Science doesn't mean you can't go to Wall St. to bank. A lot of great traders are also from these analytical majors. Economics/Business seem to have the best growth if from a top school.</p>
<p>In addition to this, petroleum engineering is at the top of the list as well. Average starting salary with bonus is somewhere between 110-160,000. </p>
<p>There are also the 6 year pharmacy programs, where you start with an average of 125,000 right out of college.</p>
<p>About one-third of MIT grads have been heading to Wall Street for years. Engineers start out strong but quickly hit a ceiling in typical jobs. </p>
<p>After decades of observing I think major matters little for elite jobs at banks, consulting firms and corporations. All of them just look for the smartest folks they can find and train themselves.</p>
<p>Software engineers tend to make alot of money if you get recruited by a good firm.
not talking about google..my dad is an exec at this small software company,and even there, good software engineers can be making over 6 digits relatively quickly.
Obviously no hedge fund salaries, but sufficient for high 20's/low 30's</p>
<p>Right now probably anything to do with petroleum.</p>
<p>NBA stars.</p>
<p>what about realistic jobs with a business or economics degree from a top school?</p>
<p>Working at your family's ultra-successful business. Or for your in-laws' ultra successful business.</p>
<p>"what about realistic jobs with a business or economics degree from a top school?"</p>
<p>You're probably going to look at investment banking, consulting, and hedge funds. All of which are realistic if you come from a good school, have done well, have good interviewing skills, and have networked to a degree.</p>
<p>(Hedge funds are very, very difficult though)</p>
<p>
[quote]
Hedge funds, private equity, venture capital, wealth management, investment banking (although not this year), strategy consulting.
[/quote]
The job opporturnities in the financial services sector have virtually disappeared and are unlikely to ever return to the pre-meltdown level. Hundreds of hedge funds have gone belly up. Investment banks as such no longer exist. Even regular corporate finance is anemic at best. With the IPO market as its worst level in decades, forget about venture capital. Same thing with the private equity market. </p>
<p>Many business schools, including HBS, have set up crisis centers to assist the legions of recently laid off graduates in financial services. Over 100,000 high paid jobs have vanished on Wall Street alone this year, and a similar number in London. Most are changing careers entirely. With so many experienced applicants competing for few jobs (often at major salary cuts), chances for a college graduate without significant experience to land a job in the financial sector are slim to none. </p>
<p>If as predicted by most economists, the general economy tanks in '09 that will mean that many high paying jobs for college graduates will also disappear. Consulting and marketing typically take a nosedive in bad economic times. Many college Career Counseling offices are bracing themselves for next year to be even much worse than this year, which was already one one of the worst on record.</p>
<p>The only exception will remain some of the more technical fields in engineering or computer science where there is still a shortage of qualified applicants. </p>
<p>My suggestion: stay in school if you can. Get a graduate or professional degree in a field that is less tied to the current recession such as healthcare or energy. Even law or medicine may be a good bet as the numbers of graduates are limited and the baby-boomers are starting to retire from these fields.</p>
<p>Cellardwellard, I agree that things are bad now. But I don't think that the OP care about right now, but rather when he actually graduates, which I assume is going to be years later. </p>
<p>I also agree that Ibanking will probably never go back to the boom levels. But hey, I suspect that it's still going to be a very nice career. Sure, not as nice as it used to be, but still pretty good. As an analogy, computer science and IT still isn't as good as it used to be during the peak of the dotcom boom (when some guys I know who hadn't even graduated from college were being offered contract work for over $150 an hour just because they knew how to configure Cisco routers and switches), but it's still pretty good.</p>
<p>Surgical nurse - and you could do that with a two-year degree.</p>
<p>I would urge those chasing the dollar signs to also consider quality-of-life issues. You can make a lot of money but have little free time to spend it or enjoy the comforts it should bring you.</p>
<p>
[quote]
My suggestion: stay in school if you can. Get a graduate or professional degree in a field that is less tied to the current recession such as healthcare or energy. Even law or medicine may be a good bet as the numbers of graduates are limited and the baby-boomers are starting to retire from these fields.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Law isn't as looking as hot as it used to. Unless you graduate from a top law school, sometimes graduates can't even find good jobs because of the huge surplus of lawyers right now.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I also agree that Ibanking will probably never go back to the boom levels. But hey, I suspect that it's still going to be a very nice career.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I don't know about that. We have not even close to the bottom of the market and things will get far worse over the coming years. The changes occuring right now in the financial services industry are not just cyclical but will have permanent effects. When firms that survived the great depression are collapsing, we are talking total implosion of an industry. Wall Street is turning into a ghost town. Restaurants and other businesses that catered to the financial industry are closing in droves. Tens of thousands of financial analysts have lost their jobs. Those still lucky to have a job won't see a bonus for a long time. Whatever reemerges from the ashes will be a very different industry. Glass-Steagall or similar regulation will certainly be reinstated. This will mean much less room for speculation and hence less need for highly paid traders and financial analysts of all sorts. Banking will change for ever. </p>
<p>I don't think the analogy with the IT sector holds. Microsoft, HP, Ebay and IBM didn't implode after the internet bubble bust. Weak firms with business models built on sand disappeared, but the strong survived and continued to thrive. It is hard to find in the current environment a single banking entity capable of surviving without massive amounts of cash infusion from the government; not Citibank and definitely not Goldman Sachs or JP Morgan Chase. Right now, they are all on life support. </p>
<p>You have to have a very strong appetite for risk to bet on a promising career in financial services even five to ten years out.</p>
<p>Financial services will always be there. Engineering is a good career path with a Bachelor's degree. I also think work in the federal government will become more popular again as it was 40-50 years ago. Good benefits, low stress levels, clear career progression path.</p>