Students may obsess over their first job after college, but the real question is: Where can that job lead by year 10 – or 15? If you’re looking for a stable job that also pays relatively well as you progress in your career, you might consider studying to become a nurse, business manager, or an IT professional.
Mid-Career Majors and What They Pay
According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which crunched data from the US Census Bureau to analyze the outcomes of 73 college majors, the median mid-career wages for business analytics and information systems and management roles in 2024 topped $100,000. If you’re in a general business role, you can expect to earn $90,000 mid-career; nursing grads can expect $87,000. It’s worth noting that while nursing pays slightly less on average, the unemployment rate is very low at just 2.1 percent – compared with 3.8 percent in business management and six percent for IT roles.
What Does it Mean to Be Mid-Career?
“Mid-career” individuals are generally defined as those 35 to 45 years old, with anywhere from five to 20 years of experience in their fields. Mid-career workers are often perceived as the engine of the workforce, because combined with technical expertise, they also have the experience and knowledge to fill decision-making roles. If you’re picturing yourself at mid-career, know that this is generally the transition period from completing individual tasks to creating and implementing strategy.
You can also think of your “mid-career” as the middle third of your entire progression, from entry-level through senior. During this middle third, you may find yourself experiencing a change in what you want out of your role, such as the potential for leadership, a more demanding position, or increased work flexibility. Unlike an entry-level role, which is focused on what skills you bring to the table, a mid-career role gives you an opportunity to flex what you’ve learned over the years. This time period is also where you can start to look for higher salaried positions, or specialize in a particular area.
As an entry-level worker, you’re likely to spend most of your time learning as much as you can while navigating what it’s like to work in your industry. Whereas a mid-career position should start to get you close to your final destination – or at least give you better insight as to where you want to land as a senior-level employee.
Mid-Career Jobs in Nursing, Business and IT
Some examples of career progressions:
- A registered nurse may advance to a nurse management position, and then finally a nurse director or healthcare administrator. Some nurses may start in bedside care, and then decide to manage teams or work in an administrative role. A bachelor’s degree in nursing is generally required for healthcare management roles, especially those that involve teaching or education.
- An IT professional who starts out as a help desk technician may eventually develop into a system administrator, with the goal of becoming an IT director. During the mid-career years, one may choose to pursue a degree such as the Master of Science in Information Technology to learn how to manage projects and teams and better set themselves up for this transition.
- A new business grad may land in a marketing assistant position, and then progress to a marketing manager role, with the goal of becoming a marketing director. Another example may be someone who starts in a business analytics role, and then becomes a product manager, and then finally a chief marketing officer. A bachelor’s degree in business administration is generally required for entry-level business positions and can lay the groundwork for graduate business studies, such as an MBA. Additional training in areas like project management can also provide a boost.
Choosing a Mid-Career Outcome Over a Major
Whether you’ve completed some college coursework, a bachelor’s degree or are looking to get a master’s degree or certificate, it’s hard to avoid focusing on what the wages of your first job post-education could look like. However, mid-career salary data as a whole can better define your income potential over the course of a lifetime. In that case, it may be wiser to pick more than just a major or an area of focus – instead, pick an outcome.
Explore UW Online Collaboratives and UW Flexible Option, which offer programs in technology, healthcare, business, and much more designed for working adults. Many students who have completed courses through these programs work full-time and manage other responsibilities, such as family, involvement in their local communities, hobbies, and much more.