Pick Your Business Career, Then the Path to It

A $166,790 median salary, real budget ownership, and a promotion path that almost always runs through a coordinator role first.

It's one of the highest-paying business titles on the BLS list, and almost nobody walks into it straight out of school.

It is rarely an entry-level job: BLS lists five years or more of related experience, and many HR managers start out as HR specialists.

A median of $123,860 a year and 24 percent projected growth through 2035, with no clinical license required outside nursing home administration.

A practical, numbers-first roadmap from your first statistics class to your first data scientist job offer.

BLS lists five years or more of related experience for this job. Here is the realistic path in, what the work involves and what it pays.

Most operations managers get promoted into the job, not hired into it, and the median pay is $105,770 a year.

No prior experience is required to start, but the licenses, the optional CFP and a client base take years to build. Here is the path.

A bachelor's degree is the usual way in. Here is what the work involves, which licenses and credentials matter, and where the career leads, from BLS, O*NET, FINRA, and CFA Institute.

BLS calls the job management analyst: a bachelor's degree and some related experience get you in, at a median of $101,860 a year.

A bachelor's degree is the usual way in, with no prior experience required. The CPA license is the long-term decision, and here is what each step takes.