What to LEARN to earn more! Step-by-step guide…

Successful career, fast salary growth, and early retirement. Most employees think about it from time to time. But how can you achieve this, and what skills should you learn? In this article, we will talk about how to turn these dreams into reality and highlight the key skills to learn to achieve it.

Which jobs today open the path to financial freedom? What skill do people choose who want to increase your income and change their lives for the better?

This article is mainly for salaried employees and how to succeed in your career, but if you're also interested in quitting your job and what skills you need to learn to become a fast millionaire and entrepreneur, read another article in my blog.

So let’s talk about the steps you need to take in your career to achieve the best outcomes: high salary, early retirement, and high-ranking positions.

Absolutely, becoming a millionaire while being an employee is real.

Take Sundar Pichai. Before becoming CEO of Google, his career started in engineering and product management. Joining Google in 2004, Pichai made significant contributions to products like Google Chrome and Google Drive. Over time, his leadership and vision not only elevated him to the top of one of the world’s most influential tech companies but also made him wealthy, with a net worth of $1.65 billion.

Then there's Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, who began his career at IBM as a regular engineer before joining Apple in 1998. Cook’s expertise and strategic thinking eventually led him to succeed Steve Jobs as CEO in 2011. Under his leadership, Apple experienced unprecedented growth, and Cook became a billionaire, highlighting the massive potential for wealth accumulation as a dedicated employee.

Another good example is Darren Woods, CEO of Exxon. Woods began his career at Exxon in 1992 as a planning analyst. Rising through various roles within the company, he ultimately became CEO of ExxonMobil. While specific figures about his net worth are not publicly disclosed, it’s clear that leading such a global player in the energy sector places him in the millionaire club. Darren Woods' net worth is at least $127 million, as he owns more than 1,207,924 shares of Exxon Mobil. His annual compensation exceeds $30 million.

These stories show how starting in entry-level positions and working hard can lead to senior roles and financial success. Their journeys from the ground up to millionaire and even billionaire status underscore the importance of being ambitious and constantly improving.

Now let’s talk about two different paths for engineers dreaming of becoming millionaires. Engineering, with its wide range of disciplines, offers multiple paths to financial success. Let’s look at two key routes, each with its unique journey, requirements, and skills to learn.

This involves aiming for leadership roles such as manager, director, or executive within a company. This path usually begins with a solid foundation in engineering, often requiring at least a master’s degree. However, technical expertise alone is typically not enough to reach the top of the corporate hierarchy.

To truly excel and prepare for executive roles, earning an MBA is highly recommended. An MBA equips engineers with essential knowledge beyond their technical background, including strategic thinking, financial planning, marketing, operational management, and leadership. These skills are crucial for making high-stakes decisions, leading teams, and driving company growth.

Becoming a manager or director involves not only excelling in your technical role but also gaining deep insights into business operations and how to maximize profit. Success on this path can lead to significant financial rewards, including high salaries, bonuses, stock options, and other executive-level compensation.

This path is more research-oriented and ideal for those inclined toward innovation and developing new technologies or solutions. The academic route often goes beyond a master’s degree to a Ph.D.

The key to financial success on this path is monetizing your expertise and innovations through inventions and patents, either earning royalties or selling them. Patents give you exclusive rights to your inventions, allowing you to license your technology to companies or even start your own business to develop and promote your product.

This is especially relevant for professionals working in artificial intelligence or social media marketing, two of the most in-demand fields today that can significantly increase your income. These areas require constant upskilling and learning the latest skill trends.

Both paths show how you can become a millionaire while working as a regular engineer, but each requires different strengths and abilities. So the key to success in your career is to have a clear career development plan with both short-term and long-term goals. You need to keep learning, getting education, earning master’s degrees, Ph.D.s, MBAs, PE status, and professional certifications in your field.

Go talk to your boss. Tell them about your goals and what you plan to do. Ask for their help and support. When I was just starting, I moved through four job grades in just six years. I went from technician to leading more than 50 people. And I did it all before I turned 30, making me the youngest department head at the time.

It’s all in your hands, friends. Good luck