deck engine DPO tanker yacht lawyer doctor garbageman whatever. do what makes you happy. if you don’t enjoy your job then it doesn’t matter how much you are getting paid, in the end you are wasting your life and you’ll end up an unhappy grumpy fool with a substance abuse problem. look around you: you see them everywhere.
your question leads me to believe you have no preset agenda (“I’m going to be a river pilot in Missouri when I grow up”) so my recommendation is to graduate and then go out exploring. try different types of vessels & work. don’t worry about the money, just look for jobs that you enjoy. my youth spent on sail training vessels, research vessels, cruise ships, & back-packing around South America were not great money makers, but in the end they were rich with experience.
life is short, so make the most out of it.