building wealth in the pursuit of happiness

Nov 1, 2007

8 steps to a six figure career

Hi! If you're new here, welcome - I'm Steve, the author of brip blap! Take a look at my about page and check out a few posts. If you like what you read (and I hope you do!), please sign up for my RSS feed or sign up to get posts by email by clicking here. Send me an email directly - I would love to hear from you. Thanks for visiting!

I have a job making well over six figures. I am not bragging but I’m not going to be overly humble about it, either, because I put my blood and tears into getting there. I spent 6 years in college obtaining two degrees (and starting a PhD). I spent most of my twenties working like a maniac in the professional accounting sweatshop industry, also known as the Big 4.

I was horrifically underpaid on an hourly basis - I was working 80 hour weeks when I was making $35,000 per year. I roughly estimate my earnings at the time to have been about $12 per hour. That’s not shabby - it’s probably a working wage in many parts of America - but it’s not exactly what you’d hope for if you have an advanced degree in accounting.

There was a payoff, though. The payoff came in three parts. One: I laid the foundation in my first 10 years for my current position. I view it as retirement in small. I worked hard and was “frugal” with my wage to earn a better “retirement” post-Big 4. I only have the “senior expert consulting” tag now because of the effort I put out for the previous 14 years.

Two, I got to see the world on my companies’ tabs. I traveled from 1996 to 2004 to every single corner of the globe. Some employers flew me coach, some business - I stayed in fleabag hotels in third-world countries but I also stayed in opulent palatial hotels and even in country estates and former palaces. I had to work like a maniac (meeting at 9 am in Frankfurt! meeting at 3 pm in Paris! report due by 2 am European time that night!) but I also got to sip martinis at the nicest lounges on four continents without spending any of my own money.

Three, I learned what the real secrets are to success as a corporate cog. Again, no pride in saying this, just observing what floated and what sank as I slowly, slowly floated. So from that, here are my eight tips to set yourself on the road to a six figure career.

  1. Pick a good college major. Don’t major in English, or history, or poli sci. I’m sorry. It’s true. I love history. My dream major was either linguistics or Russian history, specifically early Soviet history (1917-1939). They still are my dream majors, for that matter. I got a major in mathematics, though. I wasn’t great at it, but I wasn’t bad, either. To this day, though, I get goggle-eyed looks from my finance colleagues when I say I don’t have an accounting degree - I have a degree in MATH! Just like that guy from A Beautiful Mind! I even studied exotica like chaos theory. No matter that I couldn’t explain any of it now - people are still impressed, which leads me to…
  2. Don’t get a job using your major. If you are accounting major #76 out of 100 in your new joiners class, you won’t stand out. If you are the only math major, you’ll stand out. Standing out early in your career is critical - if you don’t start to stand out until your 4th or 5th year, it’s too late (although keep point #8 in mind, too)!
  3. Get a graduate degree or certification. I got a master’s degree, but I just as easily could have gotten a CPA (Certified Public Accountant) or CFA or CFP or CMA, etc. etc. Again, you need something to distinguish yourself from the Bachelor’s crowd - I think my master’s has opened a lot of doors that would otherwise have remained closed. I can’t emphasize this point enough. I know there are people out there who became officers with only a high school education, or a mail-order college degree. You may even find that with the rise in online colleges, more and more people will get degrees online while they work. But at the end of the day, if you want to get into a six-figure career, it’s going to be significantly easier if you have a master’s or an MBA or a law degree or a certification of some sort.
  4. Take a ‘weird’ job. Early in my career (after about 2 years working) I volunteered to go work in Germany - but there were no openings in my company. I then proceeded to volunteer for a number of other assignments - odd ones around the US, in Europe, strange assignments like doing inspections of grain silos (yes, some clients are willing to pay accountants to verify how full silos are). All of my activity got me noticed, and I found myself winging off to Moscow with less than 3 full years’ work experience under my belt. To this day, it’s the first thing that anyone wants to talk about when they see my resume. Always. People are always full of questions, and I can throw out anecdotes that give me the appearance of being a confident self-starter because of my fearless decision. That one experience probably increased my lifetime earnings significantly, despite being (from my point of view) almost meaningless work-wise.

  5. Move to a big city early in your career. The simple fact is that in the 4 years I moved from a small town in the south to Connecticut to New York my salary increased by 200%. It was simply a cost of living adjustment, but that impressive salary growth creates an expectation in your employers. Big cities have more competition, higher costs of living and “fancier” jobs at corporate headquarters. These jobs may not be better but they usually do pay better.
  6. Shift jobs frequently - but not too frequently. The simple fact is that you’ll hit dead ends all the time. Sometimes they will be external (stuck working for a boss who won’t let you transfer to other departments for new opportunities) and sometimes they will be internal (you just can’t summon any enthusiasm for your current work). Use these as red flags to jump ship! You can get a reenergizing boost to your career, usually for at least a small increase in salary, by taking your expertise to another company that needs it. This also relates to #5 - it’s a lot easier to job hop in New York (hundreds of multinational corporations) than it is in Kansas City (a few). I’m not saying it’s impossible in Kansas City, but the circle of people in your profession will be smaller and eventually you’ll run out of options if you aren’t careful.
  7. Learn to sell yourself. This is an incredibly difficult thing for some people, and it’s hard to understand why. I’ll give you a quick way to get over it. Imagine something you really like: your favorite band, your favorite movie, even the bar around the corner that makes the best martini. Imagine that you’re trying to convince someone who’s indifferent to try listening to that band, or watch that movie, or try that martini. How do you do it? Can you imagine that enthusiasm in your voice, the excitement that you feel? Now take that enthusiasm and sell your favorite person: yourself! Make sure that you aren’t embarrassed to point out your strengths, or even to tell people how you are fixing your weaknesses.
  8. Learn to fly below the radar but do a good job. This advice flies in the face of a lot of career advice. I can state that at the middle management level, going down to staff, one thing and one thing only is valued - serving your master. Your master is your boss. Make your boss look good. If you make yourself look good, by extension you make your boss look bad, because you are stealing his thunder. Learn to perform solidly but quietly. Don’t dash into the CEO’s office with your hot product development idea. This may be the way to earn the CEO’s momentary interest but it will gain you a career-long dislike from your boss. If you want to have cheerleaders in your corner, stay on the sidelines. Have enthusiasm, cheer as loudly as possible, but don’t run out on the field and snatch the ball from the quarterback, your boss.

Think you can’t do it? You can! I have seen incredibly smart, personable, motivated people fail and dull, bitter people succeed. The biggest factor past the 8 steps above has always been a fervent, desperate desire to cling to the corporate bosom and keep getting that paycheck. It is amazing how quickly good people can fail when they realize they would do better following the white rabbit, and how strongly bad people will fight and scratch their way up the ladder to maintain their debt-ridden, consumer-driven lifestyle. I scratched and clawed for years to stay on the corporate treadmill, but finally realized I needed to step off. People constantly ask me what happened as if I’ve failed, but their opinion is unimportant. I took the first step to FREEDOM when I realized a six-figure salary isn’t important if it costs you your life.

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Viewing 60 Comments

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    Hey, outstanding advice Brip Blap. I'm making six figures for the first time this year (woot!) and nodded along to all of your points except number 2, I do work in my degree field although it's somewhat odd for North America. I don't get to see the world, but I have seen a huge part of the US on expenses. I actually filled out my annual review form this week, and was thinking about what you mention in your second paragraph there - I've worked my arse off and built a nice resume to this point, and I think (hope?!) it will pay off in flexibility available to me in the years to come. Great post.
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    I think if you go to a good college, you can probably pull off an esoteric major. It's in the same vein as taking a weird job, it makes you memorable.

    Sounds like you don't have a lot of respect for those of us living in the corporate world. Probably a fair cop.
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    This really is a great post. I love you advice. It's not an easy way to make money or something people even necessarily want to hear but it's the truth and it's completely honest.

    On a side note, your 20s sound like what I'm going through now. 60-80 weeks making approx. 35k/year. Not fun. I'm still in school though (at night), I'm in a big city and I'm majoring in Finance (which hopefully will prove to be beneficial).

    Great Post.
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    Hi Brip Blap,

    Awesome post. I think with inflation and such eventually everyone will actually need a six figure career. I am working on making over 100k next year and I think most of your advice is spot on. I disagree on the graduate degree part because work experience counts for something, too. In fact, I am making more than a lot of people who just came out of masters programs with the same degree because I worked during the 2 years they went to school.
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    @Guiness416: congrats on the sixK and thanks! When you want to jump off the salary bandwagon, contract consulting awaits... :)

    @plonkee: I don't know about the esoteric major. If you want to major in philosophy, fine, but just don't be prepared for huge success in the finance world. There's nothing wrong with it - my dad has a philosophy PhD and wouldn't trade it for anything - but it just simply isn't the path to corporate success in my opinion (and I'm sure there are plenty of exceptions). You're right about not having much respect for corporate workers - I certainly have a healthy dose of self-loathing going on. I guess it's not respect so much as being angry that so many talented people are sold so short. I see so many bright people at my corporate clients who are tortured with meetings and overtime and bureaucracy who could do their jobs in 20 hours per week if there wasn't this insane addiction to the clock. But I'm probably a bit too hard on corporate employees, but it's out of frustration more than anything.

    @Matt: Trust me, it will be beneficial - but also trust me, it's going to be necessary to grit your teeth in the short run. No pain, no gain, unfortunately.

    @baglady (love the nickname, by the way): You're right, eventually a sixK income will be the norm. I don't think of my income as particularly impressive by any means - probably half of my neighbors are at that level. And I agree with you that working sometimes accelerates earnings past others who stay in school. I personally think a master's will be less useful than certification in the future.
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    actually, i think plonkee is right. the major doesn't matter - it's the grades that you get into the cushy consulting gigs. except for accounting. :)

    major in what you want (and are good at) + take some basic skills-type classes (ie, stats) + awesome gpa + good interviewing skills = cushy job.

    i can only think of one person who actually got a "useful" major that ended up in i-banking, consulting, etc. most of my friends have undergrad degrees in "government", "art history", "culture and politics", "english", etc. but they also had 3.8+ gpas.

    the same applies for some graduate degrees - if you want to go to law school (after which you will start out with 6 figures), your major doesn't matter. they love the phil majors.


    i am not sure the masters degree is so distinguishing anymore. they are a dime a dozen here - a useful way to put off working for another year or so. i think where the masters is useful is the connections you create (ideally).

    and i am 100% in agreement with the "weird job"!
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    Great article, Brip Blap. I'm looking into MBA programs now, though I admit, the application process is not coming along very quickly. I may apply for 08 matriculation, or I may have to push it back until 09. We'll see how the fall/winter goes. I think an MBA from a solid university with my military background should get me pretty close to 6 figures. At least, I hope! :)
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    Great post! You're not the only math major running around here....
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    Great post. I agree with every single point. I imagine our career trajectories are pretty similar. I know when we hire, we won't look anyone who doesn't have a "hard" major. It might not be fair, but the fact is that most 6 figure jobs are quant in nature.
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    I just have to step in here and put a plug in for self-employment as a viable option for earning six figures!

    I left college before getting a degree, despite doing well academically, because I wanted (and needed) to make money. I was making 6 figures before all of my friends and family, including those with Masters and Professional degrees, ever did. I didn't have any student loans to pay off, either.

    But the biggest benefit, really, is that I haven't had to deal with the big B (boss)!

    Great article. Thanks for the interesting peek into competitive corporate life.
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    great post but i would disagree with number one and two. well mostly with the part about english. english isn't a bad degree to go in with. Just have another one by its side. And yes get your masters or higher! english has many different fields that you can get into and that alone can get you places. I believe i'm going to go for english and communications. yes, i know my grammar is really bad but i plan to fix that with college.
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    it sounds miserable...
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    I just got my bachelor's in English from a top university. I "followed my heart" and picked English because I love to write.

    I was duped.

    My advice to anyone is minor in anything you want, but major in something useful.
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    Hi Brip Blap,

    I'm in an industry where, in a good market, 22-year-olds fresh out of college can make over six figures. I actually graduated with a liberal arts degree, but I took a fair number of accounting and econ classes and got an internship in finance because I was really scared that I wouldn't be able to find a job after graduation. So I do agree that your coursework is important, but I think that even if you do a "softer" major like English or Psychology, you can still break into business. It's just important to have some quant classes - that way you have an option to apply to business positions if you'd like. I would absolutely apply to jobs that specify finance or accounting majors/backgrounds because even though I don't have that major, I do have that experience.

    One more thing, I'd suggest that recent college grads get a "hard" job in terms of lifestyle to start out with - then you can test for a year or two to see if that's something you really want. It's much easier to decide to switch from finance to PR before you have a family/lifestyle that depends on a finance salary.
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    Really impressive post. I agree with pretty much all of your advice, and most strongly with "help your boss look good". As a boss, I know that I really appreciate it when my team members do an outstanding job and make me look like a star. As an employee, I know it's difficult to not try to make too big of a splash and take credit from your boss. A good boss will give very visible credit to his team for doing a good job.

    I think that at all levels of your career you need to be very visible to management. You shouldn't do this conspicuously or at all costs, but it is a good idea to attend high profile meetingsm interact socially and generally make sure that you are noticed (in a good way).
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    Dear Bripblap,

    I stumbled here and am glad to have arrived.

    Something I came to realize (although I've probably not fully "learned" it yet) is the importance of showing others your hard work or how effective you are. Elizabeth Taylor was known to say, "I am my own commodity," which has stuck with me since I heard it many years ago. Your post emphasizes how to brand and differentiate yourself so those around you, especially those in charge, learn to appreciate your actions and efforts. The importance of this in terms of your career and your eventual "freedom," as you say, cannot be overemphasized.

    Thank you for a great post. I'll be back.

    Maya Norton
    The New Jew: Blogging Jewish Philanthropy
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    Good on ya mate, I certainly have no such aspirations though. I'd rather do what I want in life rather than be a wage slave. Life's to short to run after money we don't actually need.

    But you have reached your goal so good for you! :-)
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    @Will - couldn't agree with you more, actually. I wouldn't say it was my goal to be a wage slave, though. I used my years as a wage slave to shift over to contract consulting. Now granted, I'm still tied to big corporate clients and I'm not totally free of the 9-to-5 grind, but I do get overtime, I can take off time whenever I want (since if I don't show up I don't get paid, so clients are somewhat neutral about time off) and in an average year I'm taking off around 8 weeks.

    So I don't feel like I'm running after money I don't need. I don't work full-time, my wife doesn't work at all and basically the main reason I'm still accumulating money is because New Jersey is expensive. Once I've saved enough (and even after all of this we save about 20-30% of my income) we'll pack off to a smaller, less expensive town elsewhere and I'll drop to working 20 weeks a year or so.

    And THAT is really my goal...