Post by Chidiebere Anagu

Industry choice is the single biggest lever on your starting salar bigger than your grades, your school, even your major.

Oil and gas pays two to three times what retail or hospitality pays for the same degree, the same GPA, the same effort. A graduate trainee at Nestlé will likely out-earn one at a local FMCG startup doing near-identical work, not because they're better, but because of the badge on their ID.

Your degree gets you in the room. The industry decides the number on the offer.

So if earning is a priority: pick the sector on purpose, early, and let your degree serve that choice, not the other way around. Drifting into whatever hires first isn't a neutral choice. It's how capable people end up underpaid for years, wondering why their effort isn't showing up in their paycheck.