Ideally look at the kinds of problems that are difficult and important and that we have a long way to go in, such as nanotech, biotech, and materials science. Compensation ought to be more or less irrelevant, you just want to do something worthwhile and get paid enough that you can keep doing it.
Bzzt. Idealism and an accompanying implicit ideology detected. Naked apes strive after status, prestige, respect, all of which are similar enough and all of which make money easier to get.
