My job is supposed to be hot and well-paying so says CNN Money.
Real quick, here are the 10 jobs that pay well and are in demand these days; I’ve italicized my job’s description below.
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Medical Science Liaisons
They’re called MSLs and they are hired by pharmaceutical companies to be information providers between them and their clients such as doctors and insurers. They’re expected to make from $115,000 – $120,000 plus 10% – 20% bonus. -
Internet Sales And Marketing Account Directors
I suppose these are people in sales and marketing who work for internet companies and do their advertising for them. Kinda like the creative minds behind this. They’re expected to make $120,000 – $150,000; variations are based on which city they work. -
General Managers at Premier Resorts and Hotels
Does this sound like a dream job or what? Who wouldn’t want to work in a resort as a highly paid manager? But it may not be the paradise you think with customer service and management issues that are the staple of this job. This’ll take you an average of 15 years to reach but the pay is amazing: $150,000 – $250,000. -
Designer of Athletic/Active Wear
Entry level pays you $30,000 but an experienced, successful designer makes $90,000 – $200,000. Wow, I didn’t know it was THAT good! -
Construction Estimators
They price out the material costs for a project and make $55,000 – $75,000. -
Construction Project Managers
They oversee projects in construction and make $55,000 – $100,000+. -
IT SQL Database Administrators
Pay is in the six figures at larger cities: $100,000+. -
IT .NET and Java Developers
Similar to SQL DB administrators, they can get paid $100,000 and above. So I’m a database and Java engineer and am constantly surrounded by others of similar background. Though most of us aren’t hurting financially (and to be honest, some of us still get paid under $100,000), it’s not uncommon for us and other white collar professionals to feel the daily grind of long, intense hours and exhaustion. It gets pretty tough at the managerial level when more responsibility is heaped upon you and you need to account for the success of your team and projects, all usually under a restricted budget. The politics sucks like in any other place, but it’s still a creative job and pays decently. -
Accounting: Staff Accountants
Pencil pushing and calculator tapping will get you $50,000 – $70,000. Not bad! I’ve considered this route earlier in my life. -
Accounting: Financial Analysts
Your corporate financial skills can get you $55,000 – $100,000. I thought I’d try this out one day, but then it could just be a case of “out of the frying pan, into the fire.”
Looks like I’m supposed to be in good shape right? Well, it really all depends on where you live and the cost of living there. I said it then and I’ll say it again that the “well-paid” aspect of a job is but relative and needs to be reevaluated against its location. Here in Silicon Valley, one Java programmer alone is as stretched as anyone else, unless of course, he (or she) has no dependents. But two Java programmers in one household does make a difference; which unfortunately, is not our situation at this point in time. I still wonder how some of my colleagues are able to swing it here with one salary, a spouse and at least two kids. I’ve seen it happen, and I guess it CAN still happen… but they’re a dying breed around here.
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
As a Java programmer in Silicon Valley, I hear you. Fortunately, we have two incomes and no dependents. I think it’s tough to live anywhere on one salary nowadays. It seems the world has changed.
Lazy, we need to have a SV meet up sometime with other pf bloggers just like the DC folks did! We have too much in common here….:)
“Medical Science Liaisons”
Is this a fancy term for “drug rep”? To be sure, if you are physically attractive and talk well with people, this can be very high paying job.
Back in the days of the Internet boom, it was pretty common in a two programmer household to have one person in a job with one of the bigger, more stable companies in Silicon Valley while the other tried out a start-up and gambled it would hit big. I know a couple of people that worked for, but it wasn’t many.
We left the Valley in ’97 because of the housing costs, but friends that are still there seem to be doing OK once they got into the housing market there. Now it seems like everybody is trying to get into Google so they can ride that stock.
It’ll be interesting to see if there becomes an emergence of demand for Ruby developers as that gains popularity. For awhile, if you understood EJB you could write your ticket and Ruby seems to be that next frontier. Regardless, it’s nice to see there’s enough work out there for everybody despite the long hours you point out.
—Pete
You have a good point re cost of living. Even making 6-figures in a metropolitan city like NYC/SanFran doesn’t mean that you will be well-off by any means.
Seattle (where I am) isn’t that bad yet…..you can still find affordable places to rent/live close to the city..but it is quickly getting worse.
Yes SVB, we should have a meet-up at some point.
I think eventually I’ll leave for the housing reasons that Pete suggests. My fiancee and I could rent here forever at this rate and build quite a nest-egg, but we’d like to own a home someday.
The internet has opened up many opportunities for employment. However, for the older 60+ generation, it is hard to compete for the same job as someone 40 years old. I never realized how the mind slows down around the age of 60. I always thought my dad was teasing but god rest his soul it is the truth. Doesn’t mean you get suddenly stupid, no, you don’t think quite as quickly which sometimes is a good thing as you don’t speak to quickly until you’ve thought things through.
Medical science liaisons are not another fancy name for drug reps, although the confusion is common. MSLs are field scientific agents while reps are field sales agents. One provides scientific support specific to disease state related information. The other provides promotional support specific to sales of the company’s drugs.