Tell MySQL what offset to use, from which result to start limiting.
mysql> mysql> mysql> CREATE TABLE sales_rep( -> employee_number INT, -> surname VARCHAR(40), -> first_name VARCHAR(30), -> commission TINYINT -> ); Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.01 sec) mysql> mysql> mysql> INSERT INTO sales_rep values(4,'Rive','Mongane',10); Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec) mysql> INSERT INTO sales_rep values(5,'Smith','Mike',12); Query OK, 1 row affected (0.00 sec) mysql> mysql> mysql> SELECT first_name,surname,commission FROM sales_rep ORDER BY commission DESC LIMIT 1,1; +------------+---------+------------+ | first_name | surname | commission | +------------+---------+------------+ | Mongane | Rive | 10 | +------------+---------+------------+ 1 row in set (0.00 sec) mysql> mysql> drop table sales_rep; Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)