27 Six-Figure Jobs that Don't Require an MD
If you want to earn the big bucks, become a doctor -- or so says the Bureau of Labor Statistic's just-released listing of employment and wages.
But you're not so into science or the gazillion extra years of school and training it takes to become a surgeon? Buck up. There are lots of six-figure jobs that don't require a medical degree.
Once a year, the BLS takes a look at 800 different jobs and breaks down how much each position earns on average. This year, 27 of the 43 best-paid positions in America did not require that you become a doctor of either medicine or dentistry. (Of course, 15 did and dominated our listing of highest paying professions, which you can find here. The only doctor that didn't show up on that listing: Optometrists, who earn $106,750 on average.)
There are a few things to note about the BLS data, however. First, their figures exclude income reported by those who are self-employed either as sole proprietors or partners. As a result, the salary figures for lawyers and accountants are likely to reflect company lawyers and bookkeepers, rather than their more high-paid counterparts at partnerships like Ernst & Young or Gibson, Dunn. Were these executives included, they could certainly give the doctors and surgeons on the Top 15 listing a run for their money.
Then, too, the BLS data doesn't reflect bonus, commission or contingent pay -- such as stock options -- so chief executives probably earn more, as do brokers and insurance salesmen. That said, if you want a steady job, with a six-figure income, here's where the BLS says you can find one:
1. Chief executive officer........................$173,350
2. Lawyer.................................................$129,440
3. Natural Science manager.....................$129,320
4. Petroleum engineer..............................$127,970
5. Architecture/engineering manager......$125,900
6. Computer systems manager................$123,280
7. Marketing manager..............................$122,720
8. Financial manager................................$116,970
9. Airline pilot/flight engineer.................$115,300
10. Sales manager....................................$114,110
11. Industrial psychologist.......................$114,040
12. General operations managers.............$113,100
13. Physicist.............................................$112,020
13. Air traffic controller............................$110,280
15. Pharmacist..........................................$109,380
16. Human Resources manager................$108,600
17. Law professor.....................................$107,990
18. Political scientist................................$107,930
19. Judge..................................................$105,390
20. Public relations/fundraising mgr........$104,390
21. Postsecondary health instructor..........$103,960
22. Computer research scientist...............$103,150
23. Managers (all)...................................$102,160
24. Computer hardware engineer............$101,600
25. Nuclear engineer...............................$101,500
26. Purchasing manager..........................$100,600
27. Mathematician..................................$100,260
If you want detailed career advice on how to handle tough interview questions and the sort of social media mistakes that could cripple your chances, be sure to check out Amy Levin-Epstein's wonderful On the Job blog.
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