In the Pink Floyd song “Money,” Roger Waters shows the dark side of money and the problems it can bring, singing lyrics like, “Money, it’s a crime ? Money, so they say, is the root of all evil today.” Though evil as it may or may not be, it’s safe to say we all wouldn’t mind having just a little more money. The sky is seemingly limitless when you have money, but that job at McDonald’s may not get you there. So the question many incoming students pose to themselves is what kinds of jobs are the most financially rewarding?

According to Timothy Howard, communication studies Professor at Sacramento State, you can enjoy what you’re doing and still make a fair amount doing it.

“Students graduating now, within three to six months can make 40,000 to 45,000 at entry level positions, 60,000 to 80,000 at junior level positions, and higher executives can exceed six figures, really as high as you want to go. The great thing is nothing is the same everyday. It is an industry (public relations) where you’re constantly learning,” Howard said.

He goes on to point out some of the more creative aspects benefits of the public relations field, “Creative people find their way to PR (public relations) the money might be a factor today, people have to feed their families, but it’s a calling, it’s an art, a living instrument,” Howard said.

So what about all those kids who chose majors that aren’t in public relations, or in other popular fields such as business or medical? Well according to Eva Gabbe, the Manager of Recruitment Programs in Sac State’s Career Center, your major doesn’t matter as much as you think it might, “What I’m seeing is sales. Whether you’re an engineer and get into industrial sales, or you are excited about pharmaceuticals sales, across the board from english majors to nursing majors, big bucks. Anything in sales is really the bread and butter of a company; they earn a lot of money.”

So we’ve seen a few of the fields that can provide the economic goal we may be striving for, but what exactly are some of the highest paying jobs? According to the Department of Labor the top eight jobs are listed are all in the medical field. So where does that leave all of those entrepanurial students in engineering, law and business? Well somehow they make it through the day, especially when they know that they won’t have to be diving into anybody’s ? body anytime soon.

The doctor’s office aside, passion for the work business students do can still be found, take Eric Wright for example: Wright is a senior at Sac State as well as a business major, and is excited about the career path he is embarking on.

“I happen to really like business, I also enjoy technology and computers, I just wasn’t quite into the computer science thing so I decided the things that I was interested in, technology and business, put ’em together and I’m a M.I.S. major, which is a form of business major.” Wright said.

Taking Wright’s track, he found his passion and thought about what he wanted to do first before imagining what the paycheck might look like, “I just got lucky enough that I happen to be into a subject that pays well. I mean, I have lots of interests but I really enjoy business, I enjoy reading and studying what’s happening in the business world, finance and all of that.” Wright said.

So in the end there are plenty of jobs out there, whether they’re on a list or not, where you can make a lot of money. The true test we must all face is finding the one that is right for us, after that it should be easy right?