The path to a great job is rarely well-marked, and it can be different for everyone.

Whether you luck into your dream job through family or friends or claw your way to the top via blood, sweat and tears, it's all the same at the end. But there may be a couple of common themes -- for instance, networking.

For the people who land cool, lucrative jobs, it's not what they know, but who.

We talked to five people who have cool jobs that pay well and asked them how they managed to land the gigs.