Ten Best Career Paths That Pay Handsomely
Monday, January 3rd, 2011
Deciding upon a career path is a monumental decision, and it’s not easy to change tracks once you’re on course pursuing a career path. Therefore, you have to consider a few aspects and remuneration is perhaps the most important criterion. A rewarding career path will pay you not just in monetary terms but also in terms of job satisfaction. Here is a list of the top paying career paths for you to choose from.
• Finance and Accounting – If you’ve got a head for figures and you are good at math then you’re a natural fit for this field. It is one of those lines of work that is crucial across sectors. Any industry or business needs qualified accounts people to manage their money. Accountants are not going out of fashion anytime soon and the career does pay. A CPA can earn upward of $74K per year and a CA stands to earn more than $81K in a year.
• Business – An education that prepares you to run businesses ensures that there will always be takers for you in the job market. And there are enough and more specializations for you to choose from including accounts, entrepreneurship, healthcare, hospitality, I.T, and many more. A CEO with an MBA degree under his belt can earn upwards of $350K per year.
• Healthcare – The sector pays well and within the healthcare segment, surgeons have the heftiest pay packets with annual income touching $285K and more. Healthcare is a burgeoning sector and there is a great demand for qualified registered nurses, physical therapists, hospital administrators, etc. The demand is driving salaries here. There is huge scope to rise higher professionally with further education and experience.
• Law – Legal occupations pay well with mean annual salaries touching $125K. Not all practitioners are going to end up as judges and magistrates but lawyers working for law firms don’t do too badly. Because industries are regulated by law, legal practitioners are always in demand. Given that studies can take seven years or more followed by training and accreditation, you come out a finished product with a good asking price in the job market.
• Computer Science – A project manager, I.T; information technology manager; senior software engineer are just three examples of job positions where a bachelor’s degree and some experience that can land you annual salaries of up to 100K and even more. A master’s degree and periodic certification courses add to your value. An attractive proposition here is the fact that you can be on your way to a healthy income with just a 4-year bachelor’s degree course.
• Education – A lot of us do not associate teaching with good money and many who give their lives to teaching do so because of their love for the job. However, increased specializations have meant that arts and skills in today’s world are ideally taught from supremely competent individuals. Administration and management responsibilities associated with running schools and universities mean that school principals, academic advisors, and admission counselors can all earn above $110K per year.
• Engineering – Engineers are verily the builders of a nation. There are many streams to select from – electrical, mechanical, civil, electronics are the traditional ones. Software, networking, programming are some of the in-demand engineering streams that have gained traction over the past few years. Electrical engineers working for the federal government can earn up to $90K per year. Salary packets for other engineering disciplines are in the same range.
• Aviation – Airline pilots in the civil aviation sector are always in demand. The same is true for co-pilots and aerospace engineers. This is one of those rare sectors where you can get good money as an airline pilot even without earning a college degree. The annual income of an airline pilot can touch $175K.
• Architecture – Architects plan and design structures such as buildings, theaters, factories, huge colonies, city blocks, and sometimes entire cities. Project architects employed by the federal government can earn up to $140K per year. A self-employed architect can make close to $100K .
• Graphic and Media Design – A qualified graphic designer with certification in marketing is a valuable asset in industries such as entertainment, sports, and, advertising. Graphic designers can work in print and electronics media. An art director with a master’s degree can earn up to $90K in a year working on contract. Advertising and promotions managers working in mid-to-large sized companies can take home upward of $100K each year.
The career paths mentioned above pay handsomely. A well-paying job in a field that has good long-term growth prospects is what you should be aiming for. In any given career path, there are specializations and super specializations. As your niche expertise grows so does your income. When selecting, keep in mind your likes, predilection to various fields, region of future employment, and ability to pursue training for the required duration. The bottomline is that we live in an era of specializations; so if you are a specialist practitioner in any field, you will make money.
