There is a wide range of high-paying careers to make money for graduates of all degree levels, but people need to know where to look for them and how to pursue them. If it’s important for you to have a high-paying job, these careers may pique your interest.
The bulk of these occupations are in health care, and most of the jobs on the list require an investment in education beyond a bachelor’s degree. This can take many years to complete and a hefty price tag can come with it.
So, when deciding your career direction, ask yourself, “What can I do that can’t be done by many people?” If the answer is something that the job market values, you may find yourself making money in one of these occupations.
Surgery
There’s a good explanation why surgery practitioners have some of the highest compensation rates of any career-they perform surgery. It is also well worth seeing that surgeons, anesthesiologists, and OBGYNs hold lives in their hands and need a good 10-12 years of higher education to apply for the job, from college to medical school to a residency (sometimes up to 4 years). In the next decade, each of these jobs is projected to see thousands of job openings, and their unemployment rate is, simply, zero.
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Psychiatrist
Like those who put us to sleep and cut out our tumors, the physicians who work for our mental wellbeing even make quite a good income. Psychiatrists go to medical school (as opposed to psychologists), spend years in residence, and are responsible for administering a medicine that needs more years of study, and also requires a more rigorous workload than a psychologist. As an aspect of physical health, the psychiatrist addresses mental health and thus gets paid the salary of a medical doctor. However, with more than 3000 planned jobs in the next decade, there is potential for more.
Physician/Specialist
If you say you’re “going to the doctor,” you mean a physician 9 times out of 10, a medical doctor who has been trained in general care for individuals. Physicians spend a lot of time in school, working in residences, and just working in general, as with the other highest-paying jobs. The hours for a physician are long and demanding. Physicians make a lot of money in return for the sacrifice of time, with general practitioners making revenue approaching $200,000, and even more for specialists.
Oral Medicine
How important oral health is cannot be overestimated. Mouth diseases can often be critical, overlooked signs of bigger problems, while poor oral hygiene, including cardiovascular diseases and dementia, can cause many other diseases.
While many Westerners neglect their oral health, a well-deserved high salary is made by the individuals who are responsible for it. Dentists make around $125,000, although they can make as much as $170,000 from orthodontists. They are jobs that require and face many years of schooling- few individuals are cut out all day for looking in mouths.
Nurse Anesthetist
Although some of the highest-paid medical practitioners are anesthesiologists, nurse anesthetists still do pretty well for themselves. Nurse anesthetists, an advanced nursing practice specialty, do pretty much what anesthesiologists do, administer anesthesia, control vitals, but under the supervision of a medical doctor, they are allowed to do it.
To work as a nurse anesthetist, a master’s degree and certification (CRNA) are required, and nurse anesthetists are normally expected to do the work of nurses as well, including aftercare. Certainly, their median six-figure income is well-earned.
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Computer Network Architect
Businesses are increasing and dropping on their connectivity in the 21st century, and the architect of the computer network is a vital part of keeping communication going. The computer network architect develops data transmission networks into large cloud networks, which can be as small as the intranet of one organization.
It’s a job with a tremendous amount of responsibility and more than a few years of schooling (in most cases, at least a master’s degree); no one without several years of experience becomes a network architect, either.
IT Manager
Generally speaking, in a company or organization, an IT manager is responsible for the IT department, operating in a position of authority and accountability over the technicians and analysts who keep the computer networks of an organization going. Although you can work your way up from entry-level to manager, advanced education would be needed by an IT manager in most cases. Why is IT manager part of careers to make money? If you are in IT, you should know it is one of the careers to make money for a long time.
However, not only does an IT manager need to be well versed in technology, but also in the skills and techniques of management that might require a master’s degree. An IT manager should expect more than $100,000 a year for years of education and critical accountability.
Pharmacist
Pharmacists are, in many respects, unsung medical heroes; doctors may prescribe drugs, but it’s the pharmacist who makes sure patients get the right dosage when they need it, in the right shape. You need a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree to become a pharmacist, as well as a license from the state Pharmacy Board. Pharmacy is one of the careers to make money. Before getting to work as a professional, that comes down to too many stressful hours of schooling, internship, research, and practice, and while the work itself is fairly low-stress, it also carries a lot of responsibility and a salary to match.
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Petroleum Engineer
It is a clear rule of thumb that it will be well-paid for any occupation with “engineer” in the title, and that is particularly true for Petroleum Engineer. Modern life runs on petroleum, from gasoline to plastics, and the experts who have the technical expertise applied to maximize production, manage drilling sites, build equipment, and execute strategies earn their keep.
Petroleum engineers require highly advanced post-bachelor education for many years, and working conditions can be serious (oil and mild climates just don’t seem to go together), all of which are good reasons for high pay. Therefore, petroleum engineer is also one of the best careers to make money.
Nurse Practitioner
These days, when you go to your family clinic, you are much more likely to see a nurse practitioner than an MD, and that is a good thing. Most of the time, having learned most of the advanced skills that doctors learn, an NP can do whatever a doctor can do, but they still have a nurse’s hands-on experience and skill and bedside manner.
To practice, NPs need a Master of Science in Nursing degree, as well as state licensure, and aspiring NPs should know that the hours are much more responsible as long as nursing. However, the pay tends to make up for worn-out feet. Therefore, if you are a nurse in the west, you are on a path to careers to make money.
Physician Assistant
One of the most important elements of the healthcare system is physician assistants since they are the difference between medical care and no medical care in certain situations. PA education is similar to that of medical practitioners, finishing at the master’s degree, and PAs are specialized in testing, diagnosing, and treating patients.
PAs are instrumental in delivering medical services in many rural and underserved areas without hospitals. Although their pay rate is not as high as that of a full medical doctor, a doctor’s assistant does not go unrecognized.
Nurse Midwife
For advanced practicing nurses, there are many specializations, but Nurse Midwife is one of the most fulfilling, in more ways than one. A nurse-midwife is the best of the two worlds for women who want the soothing and less intrusive treatment of a midwife, with the assurance of modern medicine.
Nurse-midwives require a Master of Science in Nursing and Licensing to practice, and nurse midwives must work under the supervision of an OBGYN in most instances. For the most part, however, nurse midwives are entirely in charge of the birthing room and the care of pregnant women and their infants, and their wages represent that obligation.
Actuary
Amazingly, an actuary is one of the careers to make money. Actuarial science is a highly specialized accounting discipline that blends accounting, statistics, and business; to assess risk for insurance firms, banks, government agencies, and more, actuaries use all that knowledge.
In addition to a lot of studying and many years of higher education, it’s a work about which very few individuals even have a mind. An actuary is one of the best positions out there for job safety, workload, and pay scale for those who can do the math. There are never enough actuaries because it’s a challenging niche, meaning a well-trained actuary can almost write their ticket.
Lawyer
To claim that there are too many lawyers is simple for laypeople, but that is intentionally ignoring how important lawyers are for just about every area of the industry, government, entertainment, healthcare, and more.
Lawyers defend the victim from injustice, keep corporations on the straight and narrow, assist families in life changes to handle their properties, and provide legal advice when someone has been wronged. Lawyers need a Juris Doctor degree and a license from their state Bar Association to practice, and a high median salary is paid for their long hours, high stress, and great responsibility.
Operations Research Analyst
Operations Research Analysts have a simple reason for making a high salary: math. To put it simply, mathematics, statistics, and data are used by operations research analysts to analyze business problems and create solutions. That may mean anything from making changes to the supply chain to organizing products in a store for higher sales to optimizing human resources.
As it is a highly technical field, an automatic barrier to entry is created by the education and skills set, so unemployment is low, job projections are high (growing by 27 percent), and median wages are stable and satisfying.
Conclusion, Careers To Make Money
As always, for obvious reasons, the highest of the highest-paying careers are in medicine; the healthcare system is phenomenal in a long period of growth, and the barriers to entry are so high that the field is self-selecting- quite simply, there are not many individuals who are cut out to be surgeons, doctors, or nurse midwives between education, stress, and responsibility. You can earn top wages. All you need to do is choose one of the careers to make money, and start the journey.
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