Post: #1

Too many people seek "glamorous" professions that are scarce and unrewarding while overlooking challening jobs in big demand. Real wages of U.S. high school graduates peaked in 1970. The people who have gotten ahead have higher education. You usually don´t get paid unless you have knowledge, skills, and credentials to prove it. Of course people have different preferences. Some cowboys love their jobs and Roosh quit his top-rated job as a biologist. Here is a list of my winners and losers with more comments below.

Winners:
Actuary - You can take three exams in college and soon finish all ten to get a stress-free six-figure income in large cities.
Occupational-Physical-Speech Therapist - Top-rated, growing medical jobs.
Dental Hygienist - Another easy and surprisingly well-paid career.

Losers: Law school, flight school, culinary school. Those glamorous jobs pay poorly and school is expensive.

Best and Worst Jobs 2011

1 software engineer $87,000 Many computer-related jobs.
2 mathematician $94,000 Requires Ph.D.
13 physicist $106,000 Requires Ph.D.
16 philosopher $61,000 Requires Ph.D.
3 actuary $87,000 Bingo!
6 meteorologist $85,000 A great overlooked job.
7 biologist $74,000 Roosh may disagree.
9 audiologist $63,000 Increasingly requires doctorate.
10 dental hygienist $67,000 Bingo!
12 accountant $60,000 Not as boring as it sounds.
15 financial planner $101,000 Wow, nice pay.
17 occupational therapist $70,000 Bingo!

158 salesperson (retailer) $20,000 Unskilled
158 farmer $59,000 Unskilled
160 correction officer $39,000 Unskilled
167 dishwasher $18,000 Unskilled
172 travel agent $31,000 Unskilled
196 taxi driver $21,000 Unskilled
200 roustabout $32,000 Unskilled

And the too glamorous category:

156 buyer $49,000 (But I love Chanel!)
163 actor $49,000 (But I want to be a star!)
176 disk jockey $28,000 (But I want to be cool!)
176 firefighter $45,000 (But I want to be a hero!)
178 police officer $49,000 (Ditto!)
188 reporter (newspaper) $34,000 (Low-skilled too.)

Post: #2

I've already said it on here but I'm going back to college in August and not sure what to major in. The most money I can get with a 4 yr degree but a job that I'll actually enjoy when I graduate. Thanks for the list.

Post: #3

Actuary..

Will have to pass 8 (yes, e-i-g-h-t) notoriously hard exams each avg. totaling 800 hours of study. Typically, your life will be an unending studying for exams. Kiss your social life good bye. If you don't like studying.. stay away. Don't kid yourself with six salary when you only have two exams, you'd have to be a fellow to be on that level. Hard to land internships. Idea: maybe just develop your own business on your free time instead of doing differential equations and calculating skews on gausov distributions while your friends party?

btw, the outsourcing trend has started in actuarial field as route calculations are offshored to india.

Post: #4

I think this list is not well researched and skewed. Who gave the philosopher a job? Meteorologist, are you serious??? Why is the sales person ranked low, they make major bucks!

Never believe this crap about careers. Talk to people who are in the industry and not published statistics. Reports like this is how they got the law students (hopefuls) to fork over their lives to law school admissions.

Post: #5

So glad I majored in mathematics & computer science.

Post: #6

(05-06-2011 08:59 AM)manilaguy Wrote:  Who gave the philosopher a job?

Ha! I was thinking the same thing. Maybe my philosophy degree wasn't worthless!

(05-06-2011 08:59 AM)manilaguy Wrote:  Meteorologist, are you serious???

Hey, a job where you get paid to be wrong? Sign me up!

Post: #7

I am currently going to school and will have a chocie of one of two professions on the list.

That is, if my dreams of being an internet millionaire don't pan out first.

Post: #8

Quote:Who gave the philosopher a job?
Ha! I was thinking the same thing. Maybe my philosophy degree wasn't worthless!

I've yet to see a job listing for an for entry level philosopher.

Post: #9

(05-06-2011 10:38 AM)hydrogonian Wrote:  I am currently going to school and will have a chocie of one of two professions on the list.

That is, if my dreams of being an internet millionaire don't pan out first.

Focus on the internet millionaire, but hedge your risk on the profession. If you fail on the business, at least you have the stable income to support you as you fail and fail until you eventually succeed.

Post: #10

Every single one of those jobs sounds like hell on earth.

Hell, I even did a couple when I was younger.

And they were hell on earth.

I am glad I went the International Playboy route (great work...if you can get it).

Post: #11

(05-06-2011 11:10 PM)manilaguy Wrote:  Focus on the internet millionaire, but hedge your risk on the profession. If you fail on the business, at least you have the stable income to support you as you fail and fail until you eventually succeed.

yup..thats the idea. And, of course, I was kidding about the millionaire thing. I'll settle for a few grand per month in passive income. That'll free my time up enough to make me feel like a millionaire.

Post: #12

Police officer in toronto, 4 years after academy makes around 90,000. Pension, benefits, job for life, not too bad.

Post: #13

(05-06-2011 11:03 PM)manilaguy Wrote:  I've yet to see a job listing for an for entry level philosopher.

(05-07-2011 12:17 PM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  I am glad I went the International Playboy route

I've yet to see a job listing for an entry level international playboy.

Post: #14

(05-07-2011 12:17 PM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  Every single one of those jobs sounds like hell on earth.

Hell, I even did a couple when I was younger.

And they were hell on earth.

I am glad I went the International Playboy route (great work...if you can get it).

G are you accepting any applications for apprenticeship

Post: #15

(05-24-2011 05:41 PM)Samseau Wrote:  

(05-07-2011 12:17 PM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  I am glad I went the International Playboy route.

G are you accepting any applications for apprenticeship

Start at the bottom and pay your dues. Begin as an intercounty playboy. Then get promoted to an interstate playboy. Only if you are successful can you apply to be an international playboy. Once you have mastered this level, you can become an intergalactic playboy.

Post: #16

Finance and Banking - I'm close to finishing up my undergraduate degree and already have had multiple job offers. I do go the extra mile, but if you work your ass off and take advantage of school networking opportunities etc, you can set yourself up nicely. Now it's just figuring out what type of job in the field I want... I guess this is the catch. A lot of them make me want to shoot myself. I am trying to work abroad, anywhere.. anywhere but the states. Time will tell..

Post: #17

Finance. You're useful in most organizations, you can pretty much jump around for higher salaries.

I am trying to make that leap from working at day job towards investments/consulting. its definitely not easy but being location independent while maintaining an income stream is totally worth it.

Post: #18

Did anyone go to school for Finance?

Post: #19

Finance, Economics, and Accounting are the three best fields in Business.

I didnt realize that till after I graduated, doubt I would have joined the 9-5 workforce anyway but atleast id have more options.

Post: #20

Engineers interestingly enough hold far more status and influence in Europe & Asia than the US. Though as I work a lot with my company's American sites I've noticed that engineers that have social skills above the par tend to jet through the ranks pretty quickly. It is a job that provides immense stability, more so than most jobs during the credit crunch.

Post: #21

(05-29-2011 02:05 AM)houston Wrote:  Did anyone go to school for Finance?

I did. I went to NYU but didn't do the whole Investment Banking deal -- wanted to enjoy my 20s.

Post: #22

Don't study what you want to do. Study Mechanical Engineering. Then you can do what you want to do.

You probably won't be an engineer, but you'll be flexible enough to deal with an ever changing workplace.

/can't hack that - Physics. Can't hack Physics - Math. Can't hack math - some combo of Economics, Accounting, Finance with lots of math and computer programming. Can't hack that - don't to university
//and FFS don't do to grad school

Post: #23

(05-29-2011 11:25 PM)beta_plus Wrote:  Don't study what you want to do. Study Mechanical Engineering.

That's what I did.

Quote:Then you can do what you want to do.

Hasn't worked out that way.

Post: #24

(06-02-2011 06:49 PM)Irminsul Wrote:  

(05-29-2011 11:25 PM)beta_plus Wrote:  Don't study what you want to do. Study Mechanical Engineering.

That's what I did.

Quote:Then you can do what you want to do.

Hasn't worked out that way.

Funny, that's how it ended up for me. Mech. engineering is probably the most versatile of any college/uni program you can get into that will still land you a good job.

Post: #25

(06-03-2011 01:40 AM)Vicious Wrote:  

(06-02-2011 06:49 PM)Irminsul Wrote:  

(05-29-2011 11:25 PM)beta_plus Wrote:  Don't study what you want to do. Study Mechanical Engineering.

That's what I did.

Quote:Then you can do what you want to do.

Hasn't worked out that way.

Funny, that's how it ended up for me. Mech. engineering is probably the most versatile of any college/uni program you can get into that will still land you a good job.

And what exactly do you do? As I see it, the engineering job market is pretty competitive, and getting worse as more and more jobs are offshored.