How To Become A Topper: What It Is and Career Path

What is a topper and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a topper. For example, did you know that they make an average of $14.15 an hour? That's $29,438 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -5% and produce -45,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreTopperUS Average

Salary

2.3

Avg. Salary $29,438

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.5

Growth rate -5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.84%

Asian 3.40%

Black or African American 11.45%

Hispanic or Latino 16.89%

Unknown 4.82%

White 62.61%

Gender

female 52.19%

male 47.81%

Age - 45

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 45

Stress level

7.5

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.4

Complexity level is basic

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.8

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a topper

Explore topper education requirements

Most common topper degrees

High School Diploma

48.0 %

Associate

16.0 %

Bachelor's

15.0 %

Start to develop specific topper skills

Skills	Percentages
Food Preparation	55.30%
Assembly Line	44.70%

Complete relevant topper training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New toppers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a topper based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real topper resumes.

Research topper duties and responsibilities

Pack product according to spreadsheets and run distributing lines while conducting computer operating codes for organization.
Pack product according to spreadsheets and run distributing lines while conducting computer operating codes for organization.

Prepare your topper resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your topper resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a topper resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable topper resume templates

Build a professional topper resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your topper resume.