SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Job Market : PART ONE: JOB PROSPECTS : WHAT FAST-TRACKERS ARE EARNING

A decade ago, it was easy to determine if you were on the corporate fast track. By simply earning your age--$30,000 at age 30 and $1,000 more each year thereafter--you could consider yourself among the nation’s up-and-comers.

But that formula no longer works.

According to the Assn. of Executive Search Consultants, the professional trade association for headhunting firms, today’s hotshots should be earning more than twice their age at 30 in salary and bonuses, more than three times their age at 40 and more than four times their age at 50.

Furthermore, the association reports that real corporate “top guns” routinely break “Mach I,” the $100,000-a-year barrier, before turning 40. The association’s findings were based on a survey of 150 companies that were asked how much they pay executives in the top 10% of management.

Industrial Consumer Financial Communications High-Tech Age Products Products Services Entertainment Products 30 $43,250 $57,270 $72,927 $55,227 $53,500 35 64,500 82,261 103,361 82,292 68,750 40 86,875 115,880 140,028 121,042 103,333 45 109,000 164,000 189,861 138,182 128,000 50 155,000 222,738 234,412 169,545 143,200

Service Overall Age Industries Average 30 $65,625 $62,120 35 81,665 90,936 40 105,000 132,086 45 145,000 178,828 50 175,000 211,992