As another round of soon-to-be college graduates heads into their final semester before hitting the job market in May, many are reflecting on their choice of major. It’s fairly easy to look at a report outlining the highest paying jobs by major, and many students study these findings closely. They have a fair idea of the kind of money they would like to make, both out of the gate and later on in their careers. However, these sorts of surface data insights do not tell the whole story.
Companies can position themselves as forward-thinking organizations that help position newcomers to succeed – both for themselves and for their business. Incentive compensation software help organizations develop a sophisticated plan for new hires that sets pay goals for their development.
A recent PayScale survey highlighted the top-paying jobs for each of the top 20 college majors. It made its estimations based on the average salary five to eight years into a job, a time when many workers will have settled into a career, the Herald & Review reported. Many of the usual suspects yielded the top-paying jobs – technical and computer science majors led to jobs such as IT program manager, IT consultant, program manager and engineer, all of which earned between $65,000 and $98,000 a year on average.
Humanities majors such as history, English and social work led to lower paying positions. Many of these jobs came with a salary less than that of positions that did not even require a bachelor’s degree, according to USA Today. Subway operators, fashion designers and power distributors are among the top median income-earning positions that emphasize training or creativity over a scholarly achievements.
How to use incentive compensation to drive innovation
An average salary only represents a small part of the puzzle. Within that average are many employees who want to make more money, but also would like to put their degree and interests to greater use. Incentive compensation can help companies offer employees direction that can gauge their accredited skills and drive personal satisfaction in their employment. After several years in the workforce, many college graduates can become disillusioned with their career – and in fact, it’s often best-paying jobs reports, first viewed while they’re still in college, that affect how they qualify their own success.
With incentive compensation, employers can offer eager fresh-faced employees, as well as more tenured personnel, the opportunity to contribute to their own personal development in a quantifiable and qualitative way. An employee that can track his or her own progress, instead of feeling lost in the crowd of a job report, will be a more productive part of the team.
