It’s getting harder and harder to make a living out there.
The days of holding a full-time job that paid a healthy wage and offered chances to advance
and a healthy retirement are fading for many people, and many workers are forced to hustle
and hold two or more jobs just to make ends meet.
But are there jobs out there that provide the dream and aren’t going anywhere any
time soon?
Yes, but they might not be too easy to come by.
You’re probably going to spend a good amount of time and money to get the education required,
but how much time varies - and some you can get with only four or six years.
For our first job, a financial advisor, you’ll only need a four-year bachelor’s degree
in economics.
These counselors analyze people’s financial status and give them advice on how to properly
plan for retirement or major purchases like home ownership.
This profession is a combination of the roles of the stockbroker and community banker, combined
with an economics teacher, and it pays handsomely - with a median salary of over $87,000.
Giving good advice can be good money - and that goes double when you’re advising the
next group.
Few people consult with more experts than politicians, and that means that political
scientists are in hot demand.
These experts - who need a Master’s degree that takes about six years to achieve - study
trends in international and domestic politics and serve as advisors and educators.
While it’s common for Senators and Governors to employ these experts directly as consultants
on campaigns, they also frequently have positions in private think tanks and universities.
This job comes with a median salary of over $120,000 - but with a caveat.
There are the fewest openings for this position per year of any job on this list.
Are you good at math?
This next job might be right up your alley.
Insurance is a huge business, and one of the most critical parts of the field is calculating
risk when assigning people rates and deciding who to insure.
Insurance companies use actuaries to calculate these factors, and these experts use a background
in statistics, economics, and math to create formulas that predict likely outcomes.
Not only does this profession have a median salary of $108,000, but it only requires a
bachelor’s degree to achieve.
While most of the jobs are in insurance, other industries are starting to employ actuaries
to calculate their own risks.
But no job is more in demand than this next one.
Have you ever heard of a business operations manager?
It’s one of the newer professions on this list, and these are essentially the people
who manage the managers.
Large businesses have many decisions, and this is the person who coordinates them - handling
hiring, contracts, and budgets.
They make the business run smoothly and keep everyone on the same page, and no business
operations manager will operate the same as the next - because every company has different
needs.
Their median salary is just over $100,000, the field is growing fast, and most companies
only look for a Bachelor’s degree in candidates.
One of the best tactics for success is to look for a job in a field almost everyone
needs.
Virtually every business is trying to sell you something, and that means every business
needs a great sales manager.
They handle training for the sales team, set short-and-long term sales goals, and coordinate
strategies and messaging for the company.
Depending on the company’s structure, they may also be involved in recruiting and hiring.
The company will fall apart without a good sales team, and so these people are paid well
- just over $125,000 on average.
And it’s another job that only requires a Bachelor’s degree - usually in business
administration.
Companies are often more interested in looking for experience than schooling.
Companies are looking for a lot of talent - and the opportunities for those with skills
are growing.
Every company is a complex financial institution, and they need someone coordinating their deals.
That’s where the financial manager comes in.
This critical member of the staff analyzes the company’s cash flow and reports directly
to the people in charge with projections for their profit.
They’ll work with the other managers to develop a comprehensive financial strategy
for the company, and often have a direct line to the CEO on economic matters.
Like other managers, most companies only ask for a Bachelor’s degree in a related field
like business or economics - and these talents can earn an average of just under $130,000.
But there might be one field more critical to the business’ success than finances.
Much like the sales manager, the marketing manager handles the company’s exterior and
determines how to brand their product to the world.
Their goal is to help the company maximize their profits, and they need to know when,
where, and for how much the product should be sold.
Top marketing campaigns for high-level companies can be the company’s biggest expenditure,
and so this position has a lot of trust - and a lot riding on their success.
Commanding an average salary of $136,000, these talents usually need a Bachelor’s
degree in marketing and experience in the field.
Of course, there’s one new field that every business needs an expert in.
Many companies today are held together by a complex technical network of servers running
both their private network and their public online presence.
If one thing goes wrong in the system, it could expose the company’s trade secrets,
open them to liability, and damage their brand.
That’s where the IT manager comes in.
A technical expert who runs the computer and information systems of the company, they handle
cybersecurity and other computer-related issues with a team of experts.
They usually need a specialized Bachelor’s degree, and can earn just under $150,000 a
year - and the field is growing fast.
But what if you want a little more excitement in your career?
Millions of people fly each year, and every plane full of passengers is putting their
trust in one person above all else - the pilot.
This highly trained expert not only needs to know every detail of the complex airplane
and control panel, but they need to have a cool head and be able to react fast in a crisis.
While they only need a Bachelor’s degree, they also have to be certified as a pilot
in flight school.
The majority of jobs are in the commercial aircraft industry, but positions are also
available privately and in the medical and rescue field.
Pilots have a lot of responsibility, and with that responsibility comes good money - over
$120,000 a year.
Pilots take to the sky - but these next experts go deep below.
The oil industry is one of the world’s most valuable, and the equipment used to harvest
it from reservoirs is among the most expensive and complex out there.
That’s why the Petroleum Engineer is a critical piece of the puzzle for any oil company.
Their job requires them to analyze data on the makeup of the ground where the oil is
located and determine the safest and most cost-effective way to harvest it from miles
underground.
Identifying a problem before the equipment hits it can save the company millions, so
these engineers are worth the investment for the company - to the tune of an average salary
of over $135,000.
But a four-year Bachelor’s degree in engineering is enough to get you in the door.
But what is the highest-paying job that can be obtained with only four or six years of
college?
Nurses are one of the secret weapons of the medical field, interacting with patients regularly
and noticing things busy doctors may not pick up on.
But there is one specialist nurse who is in even higher demand.
The nurse anesthetist has training in inhaled and intravenous drugs that are used to reduce
pain and render patients unconscious during surgery.
These are the only non-physicians who are allowed to handle these drugs, so they are
required to have some extra training - a Master’s degree and a full year of critical care experience.
But the reward for that extra work is inviting - an average salary of no less than $175,000
a year.
But if you want to go even higher, you’d better be prepared to hit the books.
The top-paying positions out there require a Doctorate.
As long as there are people facing trial for crimes, and businesses needing legal advice,
there will be a need for lawyers.
So it’s not a surprise that law schools are still one of the top destinations for
college students looking for a reliable career.
Whether you’re working for a private defense firm or serving as one of a staff of corporate
lawyers, you’ll need some serious education - a four-year pre-law program plus three years
of intensive law school.
But for those who graduate the competitive program and find a good position, you can
easily command a six-figure income, with an average salary of over $120,000.
And then there’s always the hope you’ll become a celebrity lawyer and get a call when
a reality TV star drives their porsche into the neighbor’s pool.
No one looks forward to visiting the next specialist, but they’re essential - and
well paid.
It might surprise you, but Dentists aren’t technically doctors.
They have their own certification - Doctor of Dental Surgery or Doctor of Medicine in
Dentistry.
General dentistry involves cleaning teeth and repairing cavities, as well as advising
patients on good dental health.
They can either run their own private practice, or join or form a partnership with other dentists
in a larger practice, but to get there, they’ll have to complete a college program that ranges
from seven to eight years.
The good news is, dentists usually have a great deal of independence to set their own
hours, and they earn an average salary of over $150,000.
But if you really want to hit the jackpot as a dentist, you’ll need to specialize.
As long as there are adolescents with crooked teeth, there’ll be a need for orthodontists.
These specialty dentists focus on the teeth and jaw, helping to realign teeth through
slow processes including braces and other tools.
They usually work with patients long-term and have to go to a separate school for orthodontics
after finishing their dental degree - which means it can be a ten to eleven years of school
before they’re fully certified.
They’re paid handsomely for this work, with the median salary for orthodontists cracking
the $200,000 level.
The same salary and extra time in school goes for other dental specialists like prosthodontists
who specialize in implanting replacement teeth.
But there’s one degree that is your ticket to the highest-paid jobs out there - but you
should expect to work for it.
The MD or medical degree is the conclusion of a long journey that can often take over
ten years, including a multi-year internship and residency.
The exact length varies depending on your specialty, but some of the highest-paid specialties
include obstetricians and gynecologists who work with childbirth and reproductive health,
surgeons who perform complex procedures on the internal organs, and oral surgeons who
perform more intensive dental procedures like extractions of impacted teeth.
All of them go through a similar process - four years of pre-med, four years of medical school,
followed by a clinical internship and residency that gives them hands-on training.
And once the famous medical school gauntlet is complete, the average doctor earns over
$200,000 and some specialists can approach $250,000 a year.
But if you don’t want to get your hands dirty, there is one medical specialty that
might be for you.
While most psychologists don’t go through medical school, psychiatrists do.
These mental health specialists do much of the same counseling that other therapists
do, but they have one major difference - they can prescribe medication and analyze complex
mental health conditions like schizophrenia from both a mental and biochemical standpoint.
They have similar internship and residency programs to other medical doctors, and most
hospitals have at least one on staff.
These medical professionals get an average salary of around $220,000.
But there is one specialty that’s even more in demand.
Much like the nurse anesthetist was the highest-paid job in the Master’s category, the job with
the highest average pay in the Doctorate category is...the Anesthesiologist!
This is one of the most sought-after specialties in the medical field, as these doctors are
experts in administering pain management medication before, during, and after surgery - making
them an essential counterpart to the surgeon.
They monitor the vital signs during the surgery and can make critical life-saving decisions
while the surgeon is occupied with the procedure.
It can take twelve to fourteen years to become a fully certified anesthesiologist, which
makes it one of the most challenging careers to embark on - but the eventual median salary
of $260,000 makes it an inviting specialty for the ambitious.
So those high-paying jobs are still out there, but with one thing in common - it’s a pretty
high climb to get qualified.
For more ways to get rich quick, check out “10 Surprisingly Easy High Paid Jobs”,
or watch this video instead.