Management jobs can get a bad rap. The Peter Principal speaks
for many people's feelings about managers by positing that workers rise to their highest level of competence
before receiving promotions that render them incompetent. While this is meant to be humorous, of course, there
is a lick of truth to this sentiment, and so it's managers who take the most abuse.
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Most managers are all too willing to endure the inevitable
ribbing in return for their so-called "golden parachutes." The fact is, Management Jobs pay more, provide
better benefits, and offer fewer physical challenges than do blue-collar jobs, which is why they're so hotly
in demand. The idea of "flying a desk" simply appeals much more to the average person than fighting on the
front lines where it's hot, dirty, and often dangerous.
Landing Management Jobs
Management jobs aren't just roaming the countryside waiting to be snatched up by any takers who come their
way. Usually, these jobs are rewards for one of two things: years and years of toil at the lower rungs or an
advanced degree such as an MBA. The third group that routinely finds its way into management jobs is
family--that is, the family of those already seated in management. If your name happens to be Mellon,
Rockefeller, Trump, or Kennedy, you inherit the right to skip over management altogether and proceed directly
to ownership.
Since the latter two options are out of the question for most people--the rise in MBA grads
notwithstanding--it's brute force that represents the easiest path for those on the executive job search.
Construction, military, sales, and manufacturing jobs are among the most popular for advancing from worker to
overseer-of-workers by more or less meritocratic means. Just beware that every industry promotes under
qualified workers, often to the exclusion of their more qualified peers.
