The NASPP Blog

It’s not often that the job of stock plan administrator shows up in a list of top jobs; this is no reflection of the quality of the job but more because few people outside of the stock plan community know this job exists. I have commiserated with many stock plan administrators about the difficulties of trying to communicate what they do to the uninitiated. It is not dissimilar to trying to explain my own job (sometimes it feels like no one has ever heard of the concept of a membership association).

So imagine my surprise when Andrew Schwartz of Computershare forwarded me an article from ThinkAdvisor that ranks stock plan administrator as #6 on a list of best paying jobs for business majors (“15 Best Paying Jobs for College Business Majors: 2016.”

The list was compiled using data from Payscale.com, including their list of most popular jobs for business graduates and their College Salary Report (which considers a sample of 1.4 million college graduates). According to the article, the salary listed is comprised of base annual salary or hourly wage, bonuses, profit sharing, commissions, and other forms of cash earnings (ironically, equity compensation isn’t included). It’s also not a starting salary; it’s for someone who is mid-career (about 44 years old with 15 years of experience).

The article reports that the median mid-career pay for business administration majors working as stock plan administrators is $120,000. Some of the jobs that stock plan administrator came in ahead of include tax compliance manager; treasurer; and payroll, accounting, finance, and budget directors.

As an English Lit major, however, I take issue with the article’s suggestion that humanities majors need to change majors. I know plenty of liberal arts majors who have ended up in stock plan administration.  So if you know any soon-to-be college graduates (business or humanities majors), you might want to suggest they follow in your footsteps.

– Barbara