Looking for a high-paying job? Perhaps you should consider sales. In a recent study sponsored by Ernst & Young, Hale and Door, the nation's preeminent technology law firm, and J. Robert Scott, executive recruiters, 1999 and 2000 compensation levels in of more than 1,000 executives of software and Internet companies were compared.

Key findings of the study were:

• CEOs received the highest base salaries, but sales directors earned the highest pay overall when bonuses were included.
• COOs received the highest increases in compensation.
• Chief Technical Officers received bonus increases of 66 percent, on the average, Heads of Engineering received average bonus increases of 58 percent
• The highest average increases in bonuses, 71 percent, went to CEOs.
• Bonuses as a percentage of base compensation increased more for CEOs with an average of 40 percent.
• The greatest jump in cash compensation, 25 percent, went to marketing directors of companies that grew to between 31 and 60 employees.

Read more complete survey results. You can also purchase the entire study.