Choosing your main career is not an easy decision to make. After you’ve invested enough time, it can be hard – or even impossible – to change to something else. And having to live with the knowledge that you’re putting all your time and energy into something you don’t even enjoy can be crushing. You should also consider the financial aspect of things – not every career has the same earning potential. The right choice is not always obvious, especially when you consider your own personal skills and motivations.
With all that said, if your main motivation is maximizing how much money you can make in the long run, there are some choices that you should direct your attention to. Narrowing down your choice further is a matter of being familiar with your own skills and talents. You should also consider the current job market in the region – Asia tends to offer lots of opportunities for people willing to get a good education.
Technology
By far the best choice you can make with regards to the effort/payoff balance is to go into tech. That’s not to say that it’s an easy line of work – far from it. But people with a technical aptitude have a great potential for development these days, especially if that aptitude is for digital devices specifically. The IT sector is still growing and it’s not clear when it will stop, because we’re still seeing new solutions for various problems coming out on a regular basis.
Software development itself is a highly diverse field these days. People who like to build interactive applications work in a completely different area from, say, those who enjoy wrangling large data sets and finding hidden patterns in numbers. No matter what you like, there will always be some opportunity available to you.
Healthcare
Healthcare remains another common choice among people who like the idea of earning well in the future. It can sometimes be a huge challenge to get a degree and start practicing, admittedly, but it’s well worth the effort. Keep in mind that you might have to go through some particularly rigorous education courses if you want to operate in this region. Many Asian countries have been putting a lot of effort into improving the level of quality in their healthcare institutions. This means that you’ll have to bring something viable to the table too.
As long as you’re determined and follow your education properly though, there’s not much that can get in your way. Just make sure to investigate all areas of healthcare and not just the most popular physician jobs. A Doctor of Nursing Practice salary can be quite attractive, for example, even though most people tend to overlook these fields for some reason.
Law
Going into law is another choice with a huge initial barrier to overcome. But working in that field is about more than just the money. This kind of job can bring a true sense of satisfaction if you like helping people in disadvantaged situations. Because in the end, that’s mostly what this profession is about. You have to help people overcome problems that they can’t even begin to comprehend. The barrier of entry is so high for a good reason – the consequences of botching someone’s legal representation can be severe.
There are also various opportunities to specialize in when working in law. If you find that you’re more interested in learning about a specific field – like technology – you can direct your legal expertise to what you prefer. There’s always a strong need for attorneys with advanced knowledge in different areas.
Business
It might sound like a cliché to say that people who go into business end up making a lot of money, but it’s just a fact of life. However, it’s not the smooth sailing experience that some people seem to assume it is. Running a successful business can take a lot of effort and knowledge, not to mention a little bit of luck. Having the right education can make a huge difference, as it can provide you with the extra confidence you need to know that you’re driving your company in the right direction.
You should also be prepared to deal with heavy competition if you choose to go into this field. Many people think that they have what it takes to be successful entrepreneurs, and this has also driven up the popularity of this type of venture. On the bright side, you can also assume that not all of your competitors will pose a real challenge to you because of this.
Finance
Last but not least, don’t forget to take a look at the world of finance if you have a knack for numbers and money. This is a very active field at the moment, and it’s going through some major developments. This is largely tied to the advance of modern technology. As it turns out, finances and tech go hand in hand. Which makes sense, when one considers the implications of processing large volumes of data and other similar operations commonly associated with this field.
It’s going to get even more interesting in the near future too. Many predictions indicate that finance is going to be one of the hottest fields just a few years from now, and those who get in early enough stand to gain a lot when this happens. Developing the important skills to make sense of it all can take a long time, and you’ll also find yourself pitted against people with years of experience if you delay this.
Whatever you pick though, make sure that you align your choice with your own skills and interests. Everyone has an aptitude for something different than those around them, and it’s important to realize where your skills lie and take advantage of them. Otherwise, you’ll eventually find yourself stuck in a situation that you’re unhappy about and have no way of changing. Unfortunately, a large number of people nowadays continue to live like that, and it’s usually because they’ve made the wrong choices at some point in the past.