The Best and Most Employable Degrees in Ireland
If you're looking to study at a university in Ireland, there are plenty of options. While Ireland is home to much fewer academic institutions than some of the larger countries in Europe, it does boast several incredible universities that are highly ranked both in Europe and around the world.
In this article, we'll be looking at the career choices you need to consider when choosing your degree, the jobs that pay well, and the degrees in Ireland that offer the best job prospects.
Best Paid Jobs in Ireland
While most university courses tend to lead to certain jobs, there are often several routes into any career.
Before we look at any universities, courses, or even subjects, let's see which jobs or career choices will likely give you the best financial security.
Just remember that any of the salaries we list here will be averages and can vary depending on your experience, who you work for, etc.
Marketing Directors
Marketing directors are the first on our list of Ireland's highest earners and can supposedly earn an average of €96,000 a year according to some sources.
Ranges provided for other sources are more grounded and suggest that their typical earnings are between €26,000 and €80,000. Again, it depends on who you are and who you work for.
Pilots
Travelling the world and taking to the skies might be enough to convince many to choose the life of a pilot. However, the salaries can range between €29,000 and €89,000 a year.
More conservative estimates state €27,000 a year is the average though we've also seen €42,000 and €66,000 cited by various job sites.
However, you don't become a pilot through university so make sure you keep this in mind if you feel this is the career choice for you.
College Professors
A career in academia is only possible with the proper academic qualifications so if you want to earn somewhere between €34,000 and €106,000 a year, you'll likely need a degree, postgraduate qualification, and maybe even a doctoral qualification.
Orthodontists
With a conservative upper salary estimate of around €120,000, orthodontists can easily earn nearly triple the national average salary of €45,000. However, some sources have suggested €160,000 and even €184,000 as averages.
Orthodontists, like many other medical and healthcare careers, require special training and courses before they can move into this role.
Chief Financial Officers and Chief Executive Officers
The top positions in a company or business are often those with the best average salary and the chief financial officers (CFOs) and chief executive officers (CEOs) are typically the highest earners.
CEOs have a slightly higher average salary than CFOs, with the difference becoming more apparent with the higher earners.
We've seen salary estimations between €40,000 and €133,000 for both, but there are also some outliers suggesting salaries of €271,000 and €276,000.
Bank Managers
Any high-level management position will likely command a good salary and there are few places to enjoy better salaries than in financial institutions.
Whether you believe the average salary is between the range of €46,000 and €142,000, €60,000, and €80,000, they're all above the national average salary.
Lawyers and Judges
Given the high levels of expertise required, legal professions tend to pay well all over the world. Judges tend to earn more than lawyers since they require even more experience, but either profession is paid above the national average.
A salary range between €49,000 and €186,000 could be expected with an average salary for lawyers of €75,000.
Judges in Ireland are the second best paid in Europe so we don't need to say much more about that.
Doctors or Surgeons
Often cited as the best-earning career choice in Ireland, medical professionals such as doctors and surgeons earn between €72,000 and €222,000 a year.
Lower estimates are €60,000 a year, but we've also seen €84,000 and €134,000 mentioned.
With so many specialisations and earning potential increasing over time, you can see why the range is so broad.
Subject Areas with the Best Earning Potential
Now that you've seen some of the best-paying careers in Ireland, you've probably started to see some patterns emerging.
Naturally, certain industries and professions command higher salaries and even if you don't end up in any of the roles or positions we mentioned earlier, simply studying a certain subject area can improve your earning potential.
While not every role in these subject areas will provide the best salary, if you're looking for courses or an area of study that will provide you with opportunities to earn good money, these are all excellent options.
Engineering
Engineering covers a broad range of technical subjects. Almost every industry uses at least one kind of engineering and engineers are often very employable.
Engineers are highly educated problem solvers and are often paid well for their knowledge. An education in engineering, especially for the technically-minded, is worth considering.
Architecture
Architecture is another technical subject area, but one that allows you a lot of opportunities to also be creative.
The salary ranges in architecture are high and architects and other roles in architecture command high salaries reflecting the years of study and knowledge required.
Law
You've likely started to realise that supply and demand play a big role in salaries. For careers in law, that are very exclusive and only possible after many years of study, you can expect an excellent salary like the ones we saw earlier for lawyers and judges.
That said, these aren't the only roles in law and other related roles will also provide lucrative salaries.
Computer Science
This is the one area that didn't have a single role in the high-earning careers we mentioned earlier, but computer science is traditionally an area that pays well.
Another subject for technically-minded students, if you like technology, problem-solving, mathematics, or statistics, computer science could be a fine choice.
Finance
If you want to earn good money, it pays to follow the money. Studying finance leads to careers in finance and the people who work with money tend to take home a lot of it.
These aren't the only subject areas with good earning potential, but they're certainly the ones worth considering if you're aiming to be among the top earners in Ireland.
If money is getting in the way of you studying a degree, don't forget to look for scholarships in Ireland.
Degrees with the Best Job Prospects in Ireland
Earning a lot of money is good, but you also want to study a degree programme where you're likely to have a job in the first place!
Average salaries and highest earners don't consider employability, but these degrees are the ones where you're likely to land a job when you graduate.
The best ones are those that offer employability and a good salary, but you might also want to consider subjects you like and other things like the chance to study abroad.
Computer Science
Computer science tends to pay well and offer good career opportunities for graduates. In the modern age, technology is everywhere and those with an understanding of how computers work, how to program them, or how to develop apps and other technologies won't have too many problems finding work.
Economics
We've already alluded to how money makes the world go round. Graduates with an understanding of this tend to find jobs quite easily in Ireland and can make a good living from it, too.
Economics isn't just money, though. Economics looks at how goods and services operate so it's not solely about money, though it does play a big part in it.
Accounting and Finance
Accounting and finance is the area of study that focuses mostly on money, the numbers, and how it all works. It's a great degree choice for finding work and earning a good salary.
Engineering
Again, it's the engineers that are paid well and will find work quite easily. With so many different areas of specialisation, you need to look into which areas you're interested in before you choose an engineering degree.
Business and Management
To get the top jobs at companies, it can help to have studied business and/or management. Business degrees are usually required at the biggest companies in the world.
Healthcare
Medical professionals of all kinds are generally paid quite well and while some could be paid more for the stellar work they do and the difficult conditions they have to work under, many are paid a salary reflective of the experience they have and the very difficult academic path they had to follow to get there.
The one thing you might be thinking is how easy are these degrees. No degree should be easy, especially the ones that lead to high-paying careers, so if you need help, don't forget that the Superprof site is home to plenty of talented and experienced private tutors who can help you with career choices or your studies.
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