How to find third or nᵗʰ maximum salary from salary table?

Question

How to find third or n^th maximum salary from salary table(EmpID, EmpName, EmpSalary) in optimized way?

Answer 1

--nth highest salary

select * 
from (select lstName, salary, row_number() over( order by salary desc) as rn 
      from employee) tmp
where rn = 2

--(nth -1) highest salary

select * 
from employee e1
where 1 = (select count(distinct salary)  
           from employee e2
           where e2.Salary > e1.Salary )