13 Jobs Where Your Salary Could Increase Quicker Than You’d Expect

Choosing a career can be tough, but weighing all your options beforehand can help you select a career with good growth potential. 

To get ahead financially, choose a job that fits your strengths and puts you on a path to grow your experience, responsibility, and salary as time goes on.

Each industry comes with benefits and drawbacks, but if getting promotions and raises quickly is on your must-have list for an ideal job, pay attention to the following positions. These can put you on the fast track to advancement and more money.

This is probably the easiest field in which to grow a career quickly. Many sales professionals are paid on commission, so as you build up a book of business and become more practiced at closing deals, your salary can grow quickly.

Beyond the raise, sales tend to promote from within 13% more often than average positions.

There’s plenty of upward mobility in trades like plumbing. As an apprentice, you’ll earn around $40,000 per year. In four years, you can become a journeyman, and add two more years and you can become a master plumber, making an average of $80,000.

As a master plumber, you can set up your own plumbing business.

Becoming an electrician is a great way to drive up your salary quickly. In four years of on-the-job training and some classroom instruction, you’ll make an average of about $64,000 per year as a journeyman electrician.

Bump up your credentials to become a master electrician with two to four more years of experience and study, and you’ll be a master electrician, making about $74,000 per year.

This field encompasses a wide range of jobs and includes everything from an SEO specialist to a marketing director.

A huge benefit to the field is it has a much higher internal promotion rate than most: 94% above the national average.

With a bachelor’s in computer science or a similar field and a few certifications, you’ll be on your way as an entry-level information security analyst.

Most people spend about three to five years in these roles before moving on to mid-level roles, which can make north of six figures.

This job title is a broad one and encompasses multiple fields and industries, but consultants provide third-party advice and analysis on what organizations can do to improve their products and systems.

Consultants generally enjoy a hefty salary and an internal promotion rate that is 13% higher than normal.

This industry includes everyone from bank tellers to financial planners. With appropriate training and experience, financial employees are promoted at a rate that is 18% higher than average.

This is understandable as businesses want continuity in client relationships.

Workers in this field collaborate with executives, marketing professionals, and sales managers to develop new revenue opportunities. This includes developing client relationships, conducting market research, and creating policies to improve efficiency.

Business development professionals get promoted at a rate 26% higher than the national average.

Purchasing agents and managers procure the materials, equipment, and services needed for a business to function.

At a promotion rate that’s 12% above average, you can work up to being a purchasing manager, making upwards of six figures per year.

Web development is a growing field and one in which you can quickly grow your salary. Entry-level developers make around $66,000 annually, but senior web developers make about $141,000 — more than double!

It takes only three to seven years of experience to qualify for this huge jump in pay rate.

Engineering may be an exacting education to get, but the payoff is well worth it. Entry-level engineers start in the ballpark of $60,000 to $70,000 per year, depending on the field.

However, the average for most engineering salaries is above $100,000 per year — and that’s just the mean. Top earners make more than double the entry-level salaries in their fields.

Product managers oversee every aspect of producing a particular product, from concept to manufacturing to marketing and distribution.

Choosing a career in this field may be a wise move if you wish to get promoted quickly—its internal promotion rate is a whopping 149% above average!

In fields from construction to healthcare, project managers direct all the moving parts and people involved in completing a specific project.

They’re handsomely rewarded for their efforts. They make an average of $89,000 per year and are promoted 51% faster than the average.

One of the best decisions you can make that will boost your bank account is to choose a career with sufficient upward potential. The two trends to pay attention to are how quickly the industry tends to promote employees and how high the ceiling goes.

You may be able to open more doors or advance more quickly with additional education, certifications, or training, but you should weigh this with the opportunity cost of money and experience gained while on the job.