Explore the pay, the preparation and the choices that can open your next step.
Three existing course pathways · Nine selected occupations · U.S. wage benchmarks, May 2025 · Checked September 13, 2026
What if I keep building my skills?
Compare staying in general office clerk with studying toward another occupation. Change the assumptions to see the trade-offs.
Illustrative scenario, not a salary forecast. Starting pay defaults to a lower-wage benchmark, not a verified entry offer. New-role pay defaults to today’s national median, not a new-graduate salary. All inputs are editable.
Your choices change the comparison
$30,306Year 10 · stay in first role
$129,180Year 10 · study / new role
Annual gross earnings · 15-year what-if
━ Stay in first role┄ Study / new role
$532,632 difference in cumulative gross earnings after training cost through year 10.
Stay: $303,060. Study / new role, less $0 training cost: $835,692. Negative values mean the study route has not caught up under these assumptions.
Read all annual values
Illustrative annual gross earnings, USD
Year
Stay
Study / new role
1
$30,306
$15,153
2
$30,306
$15,153
3
$30,306
$15,153
4
$30,306
$15,153
5
$30,306
$129,180
6
$30,306
$129,180
7
$30,306
$129,180
8
$30,306
$129,180
9
$30,306
$129,180
10
$30,306
$129,180
11
$30,306
$129,180
12
$30,306
$129,180
13
$30,306
$129,180
14
$30,306
$129,180
15
$30,306
$129,180
What must happen for this route to work?
Typically a bachelor’s degree and related work experience; some enter through alternative training and relevant certifications.
Office productivity can be a foundation. Technical support and cybersecurity are different occupations, not automatic outcomes of MOS coursework.
The model assumes you complete training and enter the role without a job-search delay. It excludes taxes, living expenses, inflation adjustments, loan interest and benefits. Actual results may be lower or higher.