Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Career Profiles

Every organization requires a strong leader to foster its destiny. For most companies, this leader is the chief executive officer, or CEO. As the visible head of the company, the CEO works together with other top-level executives to craft strategies and set corporate goals. The CEO is the final decision maker on most important decisions. If you have enjoy having high levels of responsibility and are excited by the prospect of leading an entire organization, you may want to consider working towards a career as a CEO.

The role of the CEO varies in every company. Some CEOs are involved in every aspect of the business, including staff management, research and development, advertising, and more. Other CEOs devote their attention to one particular aspect of corporate management and delegate the rest of their responsibilities to other officers.

There is no set path to becoming a CEO, but most companies will look for a candidate with at least an MBA and several years of experience in senior-level business administration. If you don’t have mountains of experience, however, you can become a CEO by starting your own company. CEO hiring is highly competitive, as each company usually only has one CEO.

If the challenge of running a company appeals to you, and you’re not intimidated by the lengthy process to become a CEO, you might want to consider starting down this career path. To learn more about how to become a CEO, the challenges and rewards in this career, educational routes, and more, read some of the career profiles below. We’ve interviewed experienced CEOs to give a unique insider’s perspective.