For someone that is going to finish high school Yr 12, what sort of job or career are there that is high paying, good job security and high in demand and relatively easy to get into
What Is The Best Career to Get into That Is High Paying?
LMaserati on 16/06/2015 - 14:54
Comments
working as an engineer first year out. 50k take home. I'll be able to afford my first home in 20 years!
Engineer pro-tip: do some company hopping every 2 years or so. Put in commitment and effort in whatever you do. Go the long mile and constantly improve yourself.
Career in engineering requires a lot from you. Sucks you up during the day leaving you drained at night. Helps if you have the passion as the hard work is not as hard. If its not your passion, be prepared for some pain.
Its not hard to get more than $50k if you're willing to move out of a capital city…
You expect you will be on new grad wages for 20 years?
Would not recommend engineering either unless it's software eng
would not recommend software engineering or equivalent (i.e. becoming a coder) unless you are bloody good… I mean very very good… most coder suck and get pay average salary. I'm sure there's a exception here or there.
General guid: if you suck in the job that you do (regardless of what it is), expect to be paid an average to below average salary
Agreed, unless you are very good you will get off-shored.
…and being very good is no guarantee either. Requires management that actually sees your worth.
Agree with others. If you want serious money and job security, forget Engineering. Projects and security are too dependent on what the government's flavour of the day is.
How about studying Law? Or medicine if you can get in.
@jjjaar, FYI our consultancy pays about $70k per annum for civil engineering grads straight out of uni. But pay rises are slow coming.
I hear everyone calling Law the new arts degree…
Science is the new arts degree. Lowest employment rate, and lowest starting salary.
Well a law degree is actually helpful in landing you a job, and a prerequisite to pracice as a lawyer. An Arts degree, while a lot more fun, has little effect on your job opportunities.
@Son ofa Zombie: You can check university graduate statistics. That's what I'm basing it on, so unfortunately, I think it's the case. Here's UTS stats; http://www.uts.edu.au/about/university/facts-figures-and-ran…
@Son ofa Zombie:
That is true. Unfortunately I am doing Arts/Science double degree, so after spending 4 years at uni, I probably will end up jobless.I really don't think you should stress too much about it. If you do well and are proactive you can get a job no matter what degree. I know a girl who got into Boston Consulting with just an arts degree
what they don't tell you before enrolling at uni for a science degree is that 3-4years of Bach degree isn't enough. To get a decent job with good pay, you'll need to spend another 20 years doing phd and research! Many labs won't even consider you or read your resume unless have honours or loads of experience (which of course every new graduate has, cough)
Surgeon - You're looking at 5 years (at least) of med school or 2-3 years undergrad then 4 years postgrad.
2 years of junior doctor training (JMO + RMO) 60k-70k p.a.
1 year of SRMO training 80k p.a.
at which point you become eligible to apply for surgical training (there are some pre-requisite training modules and things you need done, roughly they're a couple of grand per course). However most people these days take 3-5 years of 'unaccredited' training to get into SET training. (possibly north of 100k, not sure).
- 5 years of SET training (100k-200k+)
Then you might become a consultant (dependent on whether you can score a job, not many places are hiring consultants). If you do 500k p.a.+.
So as you can see, don't do it for the money, there are better options. The hours you gotta work are horrendous and the effort you have to put in is pretty taxing too. But if you're interested in it, it's worth it.
TL;DR
5-7 years of uni
8 years MINIMUM of training (the people that do it in 8 are usually geniuses)
13 years later (more realistically 16-18 years later) … earning the big bucks (if you can get a job)if you're just after money and wanna do med, be a GP
Don't forget salary packaging and perks like paid conferences and allowances for professional development. But owning your own business(es) can potentially pay more, as can other employment pathways already discussed.
how do you explain Doogie Howser then?
as someone going through training, definateley not for money. its very soul destroying and very competitive. you will have no life in your early 20s
If you do surgery for the money and not the love of surgery then you're going to have an absolutely miserable time.
The OP wanted a job that's relatively easy to get into and pays a lot.
So forget being a surgeon.In general, the jobs that pay well are (due to the nature of supply/demand):
jobs where you are solving a problem someone else can't easily solve in an area which you invest hard work to become an expert (that includes being a lawyer, doctor, geologist, plumber, etc)
jobs that people can easily get into but don't want to (e.g. cleaning sewers)
Let me say, I've been there. I'm a medical specialist.
The minimums times you stated above are correct, however, those timeframes are only achievable in the ideal situation. A more realistic case is:- Get through medical school (4 years graduate minimum)
- Do your internship (if you can get one. currently Australian graduates can get one but might be in a city far far away from your home).
- Do a couple of years as a Junior Resident Medical Officer
- While you are a RMO you need to look at doing research projects IN YOUR OWN TIME after work to buff up your CV because it's competitive to get into surgical or other medical specialty training programs. This might involve publishing a paper in a journal. Say goodbye to your free time.
- Do a couple of years as an unaccredited registrar in the specialty of your choice (or if jobs in your specialty of choice are scarce, you do an unaccredited job in a specialty similar to your choice, to buff up your CV) Unaccredited jobs basically means you are gaining experience in that field but the time doesn't count towards your training.
- Finally after doing a few years of unaccredited work, and publishing a paper or two, you get into surgical training.
- Then you do 5 years minimum of surgical training.
- During those 5 years you are doing long hours and night shifts etc.
- During that time you are also required to pass usually 2 exams for most specialties, one near the start and one near the end. The one at the start involves studying all the basic knowledge about your specialty (e.g. anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, etc) and once you pass that one, you are allowed to continue your training. The second exam tests whether you are ready to be a specialist (e.g. do you know how to do all the operations that are expected of you as a consultant surgeon). Many doctors families break down during this time, people get divorced, etc.
- Finally, you are through your training and now you are competing against other specialists for a job in a public hospital. Have you published enough papers during your training? (remember, publishing papers requires doing research IN YOUR OWN TIME for years). IF you haven't done enough to buff your CV, then somebody else who has will get the consultant job, while you are left, fully qualified specialist, to find your own work somewhere. Sure, you can do private, but who will refer to you? IF you're lucky, you can get a job in a regional hospital.
I like my job. I'm honoured to be doing this job, and serving the community in this way, and invest my own time and effort outside my paid hours to make sure I can do the best job for the community. I do it because I want to do it. But I think many people fail to realise the sacrifices me and my family make to get to this point.
So there is definitely money in medicine at the moment (but it's getting worse because the government is flooding the country with medical schools). It's good money. but it's not easy money.
Engineer is not a good career for money. Except very few people who managed to become expensive consultants or big managers. You have no guarantee that you are going to be one no matter how hard you work. If you become an Electrician or a Plumber, if you put the same effort you could earn 10 times more. But that's not an office job. If your priority is money that's where the demand and money stays.
Figure out what you like and look if it's worth doing (e.g. a regular bachelor of science is very basic, but possibly specialising may be better). Then ASK around (lecturers, career fairs) and get some EXPERIENCE!!!
^Healthcare, only if it has compulsory clinical placement that you have to do,if your going more healthcare (don't know about engineering) and do any internships or volunteer programs. You will need the experience as I recently completed a course (Bachelor in Medical Science) and am shit out of luck, no jobs.
Contemplating going back to go be a physio.
Tech fields, software development. Medicine is, as ever since medicare came in, guaranteed high income if you become a doctor.
Trades can be, but you have to run your own business.
Invariably, most of the highest earning careers are people running their own business.
I read there is an oversupply of medical students in AU capital cities at the moment.
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2015/s4237584.htm
Software / web developer jobs are paying good rates. I work in a similar field, and although my current job pays average wages, I know of contractors being consulted out for $1500 a day. Not bad for 8 hours work.
With lots of days of no work, or spending time finding and applying for work :)
There isn't an oversupply of anyone in medicine, article says there's too many people who have no experience. Like any industry you want people ready to go not some trainee that needs to be shadowed for years.
When doctors start to earn under six figures, then there most certainly isn't an oversupply. Internships are a problem, which is why it's worth looking at the university, to find one which either helps you with a placement or even guarantees a placement. Once all the typical things are finished, and a doctor can practise on their own, it's figuratively like as if the government provides them with a money printer.
There's a definite oversupply of medical students in NSW.
The class of 2015 is the last year where domestic students are guaranteed an intern spot for 2016.
Once you get into the workforce there's an oversupply of applicants for virtually every training program, especially the "high paying" careers such as surgery, dermatology etc.
Though after you make it as a consultant you'll pretty much be set for the rest of you and your children's lives and if you're willing to work in rural or remote areas you'll be rewarded handsomely indeed.
@jzdhgkd: But is that a result of too many students, or is it creating a bottleneck on places in order to keep a cap on people in the profession?
@sd4f: It's both. The cap on places has always been in place and is effectively a way for specialists to 1) maintain quality of fellow specialists and 2) more importantly, cap the level of competition.
The oversupply is a more recent phenomenon and is the result of changes to the scheme governing university placements - they were liberalised (probably around 2009 from recollection?). This isn't just affecting doctors - it's affecting dentists, optometrists and a number of other healthcare professions. This oversupply has already hit in dentistry and optometry (because they are four year degrees) whereas medicine by virtue of being a 6-year degree is being affected later.
It means there will be downward pressure on wages for healthcare practitioners and increased competition for graduate places.
To me it looks like there is an oversupply of students for the under-supply of allocated placement spots. At least where I am there are many short-handed medical teams in hospitals without (or without enough) resident interns who rely on the student rotations to handle their patient capacity because the state doesn't allocate enough due to budget decisions.
Disregard software development as an option. Businesses see you as an expense rather than asset. After manufacturing, IT staff and programmers are next in line to be out sourced overseas.
Can you compete with someone earning $10,000pa developing software and who will consider that to be awesome pay?
Yes you can. 99% are completely incompetent and you're guaranteed to spend more time fixing their "code" then what they saved you in time.
However it's not about facts, if management offshore all your jobs then it's all moot :) "Oh hey these guys code too and they're much cheaper!"
"Oh hey these guys code too and they're much cheaper!"
And they never seem to learn from their own horror stories.
@Myrtacaea: My experience as an engineer designing industrial heaters is straight forward; they never do learn from their mistakes. They will screw on price and get the cheapest thing from dodgiest supplier, but when it fails they have plenty of funds to rectify the situation.
"Oh hey these guys code too and they're much cheaper!"
And they never seem to learn from their own horror stories.
"…but that's ok because by the time anyone else figures it out I'll be out destroying a completely different company wrapped in my golden parachute. For an extra kickback i'll even recommend them to my next employer as the company I used to achieve my success."
@sd4f: Internal rectification team takes more pain in the end just trying to get it to work half-decently than it would to start over. Starting over is not an option. Final deliverable is terrible.
Rectification team cop any blame and is used as a reason for the next set of works to be outsourced. Rinse and repeat.
@syousef: Bonus points if the poorly-suitable-outsource-recommendation was selected with a personal conflict of interest.
what ever you do, dont do IT, im doing it now and its too late for me to change now.
starting your own business and succeeding in it is the highest chance of earning big money..
most programming/software engineering jobs are getting shifted overseas to India where some Mumbai programmer will do it for the fraction of the price of what one would pay here.
ICT is not as high paying as every one thinks it is, getting a job is really really hard in IT these days and once you get a job the pay is very average, a friend of mine graduated 2 years ago, he studied ICT too majoring in networking, he knew someone who got him a job as a support/helpdesk, he is still working there, pay is about 45K a year, unless you know someone who can get you in you will not have an easy time finding a job..
best paying jobs these days are labor jobs in general they have better pay compared to desk jobs, this was not the case 20 years ago, but unfortunately this is the case now.
Well, I would recommend first to ask/find out what the kid like / may like to work into.
Then you could help him/her to define a little bit more his/her future career or job opportunity.
For example, not everyone wants/can be a programmer because it is well paid and there is always demand.
Life's not all about money. If you want to be happy do something that you enjoy and love not something just because it will make you lots of money.
+1 to this. There are many many people who do not enjoy the job or career they are in. A clique but money does not equal happiness. Finding work you love, and getting paid well for it is a sweet sweet spot.
Did you perhaps mean cliché?
Perhaps I did Big Ted.
Agreed. I work in IT, get paid well…and it's miserable.
I hate it.
Find something you like and work out how to get paid doing it.IT suck balls, don't do it man
Also work in IT.
the work is good, the money is good.
It's management / incompetence that the industry is rife with that isn't so good.
TL;DR
DON'T DO IT.
I work in IT.
Get paid well, have heaps of perks and love my job!
I too work in IT. Work my ass off 10 hours days. Get paid accordingly. I love it. IF I didn't I would probably work 7.5 hours days 9-5. 30 minutes breaks every day.
Been at it for 8 years and it gets better every year.
I Work in i.t, but would love to work in Adult entertainment
(I build websites for the adult industry)
What is the general business model for the average website?
Do they "borrow" videos from other sites and resell? License fee? Can't imagine them all making new videos, or is there other ways?
I work in IT.
Im 24yo Systems Administrator. Currently working for a Insurance Company.
I enjoy what i do. I earn over 75k. Been in the IT industry for 2 years. Dont have a hecs debt.
There are a lot of introverts in the IT industry though. I stand out because i am loud. This has really helped my career :)
Im 24yo Systems Administrator. Currently working for a Insurance Company
It's great till you hit 40 and you're earning more but are seen as a bigger expense. Then there's a new 24 year old who's just as bright and a lot fresher (though without the experience) who'll do the job for half as much. The truth is your competence doesn't even matter unless you're given the opportunity and all it takes is a management change to lose that opportunity. If you do find a good job where you're allowed to shine, as I have, you find it difficult to leave and hope to hell that each restructure doesn't deteriorate your conditions. I'm working a lot harder and doing weekends where I was rarely doing that in my 20s. It's just expected. (I'm one of the lucky ones as overtime and shift allowance still gets paid even though it's been eroded).
There are no guarantees though. My job allows me to support a family of 4 in relative comfort. I'd be hard pressed to find better.
An analyst-programmer given a little creative leeway can sometimes find ways to solve problems that save in terms of cost and complexity.
My old maths teacher was an accountant before he became a teacher, teaching in China. He was telling us that his pay was definitely far worse. He was definitely enjoying teaching there (or he may have been enjoying happy ending, now I think about it.)
Probably because they treat teachers with respect there. My uni lecturer said when he taught in China he felt a lot more valued than here, and his students brought him gifts at the end of each semester out of appreciation. Most kids here are brats (primary and high school at least) and from what I've heard, their parents are even worse.
I was joking around happy ending, but I think he generally enjoyed the cheaper living and the fact that he could travel lot more. He was teaching international students though, British based international school.
+ve to counter it, i commented to sort of go into it
some ppl are too serious and neg everything
work one day a week in a high paying job and spend the rest of the time doing what you love…thats what i should have done -_-
go be a dentist, or a plumber
True, the novelty of money wears off quick if you hate what you do. The reality of a job day in, day out, hits hard if you don't enjoy it.
This. A friend has just completed an engineering degree and has now ended up studying medicine (despite being near top of the class and getting multiple job offers) because he didn't enjoy the work. You'll quickly realise money isn't everything when you are doing something you don't enjoy.
I've been thinking about this lately. I actually think it's more about prioritisation than passion. Some people would actually prioritise money/security over the enjoyment of their job and then do their own thing/whatever makes them happy once they have sufficient funds and security to do so. The ideal scenario is obviously a job you enjoy, that pays well and has high security, but those are rare and so usually something has to be traded off and this depends on how you prioritise. For example, my brother-in-law works at a C-Suite level job not purely for the money, but to provide an extremely secure environment for his family and that makes him happy. He said he would love to just be tinkering with cars if he could.
ummm… vacation, holiday, nice cars, nice houses
I think money can make my life very happy; besides having good health :)it's the "how to get the money" part that makes people unhappy.
wouldn't anyone who wins a big lottery be happy?
Apparently not. Dan Gilbert (Harvard psychologist) has done a lot of studies into happiness. People who win the lottery and people who suffer a serious disability are, on average, as happy as each other one year later. He has some fantastic talks and books on happiness. I would recommend this one
I agree with this statement.
Unfortunately, in order for this statement to always hold true (since you can't be always guarantee what you like to do is always going to be 'highest' income etc.), you really need to have low expectations in life. i.e. don't have too many wants/needs for material things/experiences. Also not get pissed off when your other half leaves you because you can't support their lifestyle etc.
- You might find the job you like, say your 'dream job', but not get paid a lot at the beginning… if you have high expectations to advance and get paid more you will be disappointed when it doesn't happen according to your timeline and end up being unhappy
- same thing if you see all your friends with higher salary than you going on holidays and buying their house, cars, gadgets and toys… if you have high expectations in this area you will be disappointed when you can't afford the things they have and you will end up being unhappy.
- the list goes on…
It's a mental/psychological training that you need in order to look beyond the material things your friends/family/peers have that you don't. If there's any doubt in your mind about this, you will surely become unhappy… even doing the thing that you thought you originally 'enjoy and love'. Don't let other people's want/needs impact your true want/needs and you will avoid a lot of suffering in life.
If you can do this then you are a better person than most people!
Good luck!
The good news is that if you are not successful you'll end up getting a job, working hard, spending your money, paying the bills, buying/paying off the house and saving up for retirement, then and only then will you come to the realisation that you've wasted your entire life chasing other people's dreams, wants/needs etc. and decide to go back to what you truly enjoy and love towards the end of your life. The reason why this can happen only in your old age is because you're so old that you don't care about what people say about you or all these people who were holding you back are now dead. (Note: If you want more challenges, make a couple of babies and they will keep you busy for 20-30 years in between)
But you can buy ice-cream so its pretty much the same thing.
choose a career you love and you will probably never work a day in your life. because that field probably isn't hiring anyway
Nice idea, but that thought reflects utopia more so than Australia and the rest of the world. Unfortunately most of us do what we need to do to make ends meet. What it takes to make ends meet is of course highly variable and dependent on our individual wants and needs, and those of our family. Most of the time we do not have the luxury of being happy at work individually, but strive for overall happiness of our family. This especially becomes true once you have kids.
Like it or not, the undeniable reality for most people is that money goes a long way towards making the world go around. The world won't stop spinning without money of course, but would I forego a house by living in a caravan park? Hell no! Would I compromise on my kids' education by living in a suburb where property is cheapest? hell no again, in my case! To each their own of course!
Like all animals human behaviour abides by Darwin's survival of the fittest theory. Being human we tend to push our limits until either our mental or physical capability, or until we suffer a physiological setback. Be it cancer, physical injury, depression, or such.
In essence, if you don't want those coins, someone else does!
Yeah um, that's what I thought. Be open for the huge reality that you, like 95% of the population, probably don't have a passion for ANY job at all. (Ones that you can obtain)
In which case, the job that balances earning the most amount of money and requiring the least amount of hours will be your dream job.
If you are in this boat, unlike me, DO NOT throw away an opportunity to get a higher paying job for a job that you think will make you happy. It won't, money will make you happy because you get to spend it on your family, being with your loved ones, taking more holidays, enjoying more luxuries.I threw away medicine because I had zero respect for GPs and I loved engineering. Boy was that a mistake, my jobs keeps me interested when I'm doing it turns out that I don't have the passion I thought I had when I picked this over medicine in year 12. I thought I was being proud picking what I loved over what I considered to be a career that I wouldn't be happy with because money doesn't make you happy, your passion does. It's depressing thinking about how the laborers that work under me earn 2-3x my salary. I appreciate Fridays so much now.
When you're on your death bed, I guarantee that you will not think "God, I wish I worked more, I love my job so much, I'm glad I picked a job I was passionate about". You will definitely be thinking "God, I wish I spent more time with my beloved family and less time working".
Premier league Footballer, pays up to $18,000,000 p/a. Easy to get into if your as good as Lionel Messi.
Don't even need skill, just know how to take a fall…!
It appears I've found 2 'soccer' lovers! haha
Wait 3!
*9
10!
jeez, so much butthurt after this comment, I lol'd +1
By far the stupidest comment I've read in a while.
pilot
Prostitution
If you like screwing people, lawyer is also a good choice.
Aren't they prostitutes to money?
Getting a job in law is difficult at the moment due to large influxes of law students.
Save yourself the stress of finding a job in the legal field by either using the law degree for other areas of employment or another degree.
Prostitutes don't make money. Be a pimp.
I don't think that there are any prostitution on the Forbes wealthy list.
It is the Brothel that makes the money?Most of the people on Forbes list on top 100 are CEOs/enterpreneurs which not many people have mentioned. Jobs like doctors, plumbers (in Australia's case, I've seen places where plumbers earn next to nothing), lawyers can earn a lot, but it's not to the extent where you could become a billionaire (usually). Those jobs are relatively safe though (average wage in that industry is high). Prostitutes probably fall under category, you could earn a lot with minimum risks (i.e. losing all your money).
Yeah to make billions, you would need to be in either:
1. Property (Real Estate Tycoons)
2. Business (Start-up)
3. Shares (Warren Buffett)
4. All the above
the owner of Adultshop.com.au was on Australia's BRW Rich 200 list for quite some time.
Having around ~$80Million doesn't make the list these days though.
Hugh Hefner also needs no introduction.
Healthcare - Engineer, Analyst, Clinician, Surgeon!