At the risk of attracting accusations of madness, with this week's top ten jobs we have chosen to highlight 10 roles from the jobs board that offer a salary of £50,000 and over.
It's unlikely that you'll come out of university and be welcomed into the world of work with a £50,000 starting salary, well unless you have been offered a job by New York-based law firm Sullivan & Cromwell. It is however worthwhile knowing what level of qualifications, experience and skills you will need to land one of those roles, as that could, just maybe, influence the decisions you make now.
1. Fund development director, World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts
There were a few scintillating executive jobs to pick from in this week's top 10 but it was pretty obvious from the minute I happened upon this beauty that it would make the shortlist. I mean, can you imagine it? You and your other fairly well-heeled friends at Ottolenghi's in Islington having brunch when you announce that your new job is with WAGGGS. Someone's bound to choke on an apple fritter. But to their credit, the real WAGGGS has been around much longer than its bronzed counterparts and as fund development director, it will be your job to ensure it stays that way.
2. Finance director, Institute of the Motor Industry
I may not fancy a career number crunching but chartered accountants are still very much in demand, meaning that the career remains a desirable option for many graduates. This view from the top at IMI lists pretty comprehensively what the job of a finance director looks like. As well as the expected - producing financial statements and strategic financial planning - there are a few responsibilities graduates might not associate with finance: systems management that takes an understanding of legal requirements, or identifying and pursuing opportunities for business expansion. Unfortunately test driving fast cars is not part of the job description.
3. Customer communication programme manager, Nakama London
Thinking you might have to wean yourself off World of Warcraft as your career progresses? Not if you get this job at a "widely renowned and respected gaming institution". I think a gaming addiction will be positively encouraged. To be in with a chance of earning £400/day, experience of branding and communications, marketing and project management - and not just of Guitar Hero - is essential.
4. Head of higher education, British Library
In my first year in London, a tall, dark and handsome stranger changed my life. Newton is a giant bronze statue that sits in the courtyard of the British Library and is perhaps my favorite sculpture in London. A Peyton and Byrne tuck shop sits at the gates serving up the most delicious churros and inside the library itself is a heady mix of cafes and silent study spaces and attractive research types. But you'll need more than a love for fried Spanish pastries to get this job in the marketing team where you'll be responsible for developing the strategy for partnership and collaboration with higher education.
5. Director of Sense International, Sense
It's interesting to note the small details that set executive jobs apart from graduate level positions: there is flexibility about where you could be based; while down at the bottom of the career ladder the most you'd get is an automated email confirming receipt of your application, applicants for this job at Sense are invited to call the CEO's PA for an informal chat about the position. Life's good at the top, but to get there you'll need formidable leadership skills, strategic planning skills to shape the future direction of the organisation and of course many years of management experience gained in NGOs.
6. Creative industries i-Net director, South West Screen
You only need to use the word 'creative' to draw me in and this position doesn't disappoint. With involvement in advertising, crafts, television and digital design, it seems the ideal role if you are something of a portfolio careerist and have experience gained across various industries. If you see yourself aiming for something like this, now's the time to start building experience running complex projects, flexing your entrepreneurial muscle and showing an aptitude for risk management.
7. Portfolio manager, Essex County Council
It might not seem like the best time to be planning a move into local government: central government has turned the budget into a slasher movie and the 'big society' looks set to take powers away from local government and give it to communities. And it's a landscape such as this that would make this next role more demanding and challenging. To progress into a post like this you'd need change management experience gained in large organisations. And here you'd need to be able to implement that change pretty quick; during this 18-month contract you'd have to successfully resolve challenging strategic issues, deliver results in a target-driven environment and manage people through a tense season of change.
8. Lead user experience consultant, Madgex
If you threw terms such as 'wireframing' and 'design ideation' into a sentence I'd have no idea what you were talking about but I'd be impressed. This job at Madgex is brilliant because they make no bones about the fact that they are on the look out for the ultimate tech geek: armed with technical knowledge and highly educated. You'd need to be pretty confident about it too - public speaking skills are desirable for this one. It's also a really good indicator of the amount of work you have to put in to get to this level in a tech environment: a strong portfolio that showcases experience of writing and presenting reports, creating prototypes and said wireframes - using Axure, Illustrator, HTML, or your tool of choice.
9. Business development manager, Clarion Interpreting Ltd
Recently I read a really interesting article about the lack of opportunities for disabled candidates in the job market. The article states that "56% of adults with impairments experienced restrictions in the type of work they did or the salary they were paid." So an opportunity welcoming applications from the deaf community immediately appealed.
If you are aiming for a similar post in the future, as well as specialist knowledge of a field, you'll need to be commercially savvy - with a top track-record for selling - and be a brilliant networker.
10. Research fellow - climate change adaptation, Overseas Development Institute
Having attended many a public discussion at the ODI, I have to commend its commitment to making complex issues and powerful policy makers more accessible. This vacancy flags up what is not always known about researchers: as well as visiting far-flung parts of the world for work, you also need proposal writing and marketing skills so that you can keep getting funding to do your work. For the right candidate with years of research experience, analytical skills and project development this seems a good place to make an intelligent noise about climate change and the environment.
