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Rare skill pairings raise pay
Rare skill pairings
Ben Felix studied engineering, then finance, and later learned to make content on YouTube. Plenty of professionals know finance, and few of them also know how to make video. That pairing makes him close to one of 100 on Earth, by one guess, and it brought him more income than learning even more finance would have.
Learning the camera
The skill took years to build. His early videos are rigid and nervous, and about three years of recording passed before he felt comfortable in front of the camera and smiled on it.
Education and earnings
Education data points the same way. Historically, formal or trade education has had a mechanical relationship with lifetime earnings, and degrees like engineering, finance, business, and some sciences have earned more than others. Which skills will pay most in the future is unknown: ten years ago the answer might have been software developers, and today it might not.
How much does a college major change earnings?
Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce ranks college majors by earnings. Its reports find that engineering and computer-related majors earn the most over a career, while majors in early childhood education and social services sit near the bottom. In one report, the range between the highest- and lowest-paid majors exceeded the premium of a bachelor's degree over a high school diploma.
Why do predictions about hot skills age badly?
Economist Richard Freeman studied the market for new engineers in a 1976 paper and found a repeating cycle. When salaries for a field rise, more students train for it, and by the time they graduate the supply has grown and pay has cooled. Economists call this the cobweb model, a name that comes from the shape of the supply and demand diagram. Freeman also traced the pattern in the market for lawyers.
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