Need some direction or at least some confirmation you’re already heading down the path? Here’s a look at the best jobs out there, starting with some of the best-paying, followed by some of the most fulfilling!
Top Money-Making Jobs
Chief Executive Officer (C.E.O.)
Virgin CEO Richard Branson and Faze Publications CEO Lorraine Zander
What you do: C.E.O.s are the leaders of their companies. They plan, develop, and establish the company’s policies and objectives in accordance with the corporation charter and board of directors’ mandate. C.E.O.s are responsible for the profitability of the entire organization.
Education: You’ll need a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) in Marketing, plus you’ll likely put in a number of years working up the corporate ladder to this head position.
Salary: Up to $2 million (the national average is $264,000)
Perks: Yearly bonuses, stock options, power.
Surgeon
What you do: Surgeons perform operations on patients to prevent disease, repair injured tissue and bone, and correct deformities. Surgeons often specialize in a specific area, such as neurological (brain) surgery.
Education: A four-year Bachelor degree with courses taken in mathematics, chemistry, and biology, and then four years of medical school. Wait, you’re not done yet—you’ll still need to do a residency and internship, lasting between three and eight years.
Salary: $190,000
Perks: Surgeons are always in high demand, so you’ll continue to draw hefty pay cheques throughout a long and stable career.
Rock Star
What you do: Craft your musical talents into your unique sound and sell your musical soul to the devil. You’ll tour, record in top studios, and do back-to-back interviews and guest appearances between shows.
Education: Larger-than-life rock stars usually start out playing for chump change for small—and often inattentive—audiences. They keep rehearsing and working the scene (often for years) until something catches.
Salary: Millions! (if you hit the big time)
Perks: Besides the freedom, creativity, travel, and adoration, you’ll also make royalties any time your song is played on the radio or is used on television or in movies.
Airline Pilot
What you do: Airline pilots fly large carrier planes with loads of passengers.
Education: First you’ll need to earn your private license (after 45 hours of flight time), and then your commercial license (add 200 hours of flight time). There is also extensive ground school to instruct in the mechanics of the engine and airframe, air regulations, meteorology, and navigation. Lastly, you’ll need to pass a comprehensive medical exam.
Salary: $150,000 (for captains employed by a major airline)
Perks: This is one of the highest paid, stable, non-unionized jobs out there. Also, you get free flights when you’re off duty!
Dentist
What you do: Dentists are responsible for giving patient checkups, filling cavities, performing root canals, and other minor surgeries. They also remind patients to floss, and give them that awful fluoride treatment.
Education: A Bachelor of Science degree will help you get into a dentistry graduate program. Dentistry school is another four years.
Salary: $190,000 (for a specialist owning their own practice)
Perks: You get to ask your patients questions they can’t possibly articulate clear answers to while their mouths are cranked open. Come on, wouldn’t it be nice to be on the other end of this equation for once?
Professional Athlete
What you do: Professional athletes specialize and excel in one sport.
Education: Many pro athletes get their start by taking scholarships to American colleges and playing on their teams—professional sports recruiters will scout these teams for players good enough to go pro.
Salary: You can make millions, even tens of millions of dollars. (Shaquille O’Neal makes upward of $20M a year!)
Perks: You get paid to play something you love. Plus, product
endorsements on the side keep those fat cheques coming.
Investment Advisor (Stockbroker)
What you do: Investment advisors follow the financial market to determine what the trends will be, then advise clients as to where to invest their cash.
Education: A Bachelor of Commerce degree with a specialization in finance will serve you well. You’ll also need to complete the Canadian Securities Course.
Salary: $120,000
Perks: Because you’ve got the knowledge to successfully build your own investment portfolio, you’ll be swimming in benefits.
Film Actor
What you do: Actors convincingly pretend to be other people on camera. A typical day—off set—might include rehearsing lines, auditioning, going to callbacks, interviews/guest appearances, and networking, networking, networking.
Education: A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) acting program will instruct you not just in acting techniques, but also in how to break into the biz. Many private courses are also offered outside of a school setting. It may take years of hard work to get noticed (if at all), but it helps if you have a good agent and you’re a member of ACTRA (Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists).
Salary: $20M a film (if you’re one of the Hollywood elite)! Most other actors live below the poverty line.
Perks: Once you’re in demand, you’ll have your pick of roles—very satisfying for the creative soul. But the attention-getter in you will enjoy the constant spotlight and never-ending swag.
Want to get into a money-making career? You’ll likely need the following to make serious cash:
• education or work experience in the field
• a take-charge personality
• a strong drive to work hard and make it
• innovative problem-solving skills
• charisma
• ego to spare (you must be able to recover quickly from rejection!)
Top Dream Jobs(that are also invaluable)
Video Game Tester
What you do: Turn your slacker hobby into a living. Just as it sounds, you play video games that are still in development, providing feedback that will pinpoint problems before the games are released.
Education: If you spend most of your after-school waking hours gaming, and you’re better than all your friends, you may be the right candidate for the job. But don’t forget to keep up with your homework—a Bachelor degree (BA) in Computer Sciences or a certificate as a computer technician is often necessary to back up all that gaming experience. You’ll also have to be computer literate: you must be able to understand the programming process, and be able to install operating systems, cards, joysticks, and drivers.
Salary: $16,500
Added value: Being a game tester is the best way to get into the gaming industry as a designer or developer if you don’t have a programming, art, or business degree.
Veterinarian
What you do: Veterinarians are doctors for our little furry friends. Vets work with a variety of animals to perform checkups and other surgeries, mend broken bones, address behavioural problems, and prescribe medications.
Education: You’ll take courses in biology, chemistry, physics, and math in a twoyear pre-veterinarian program at university, followed by four years of veterinary school working towards a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine (DVM).
Salary: $90,000
Added value: If you are a true animal lover, what could be better than surrounding yourself daily with pets and other animal lovers? Not only are you helping animals, you’re helping their owners feel better at the same time.
Teacher
What you do: Teach. Plus, you act as a role model to students, and help motivate them.
Education: You need a university undergraduate degree plus a Bachelor of Education (B. Ed), a one- to two-year program at teachers’ college.
Salary: $47,000
Added value: It’s gratifying to know you are helping shape the minds and lives of the next generation.
Radio DJ
What you do: Talk about music, interview rock stars and celebs, and play your favourite songs to a live radio audience.
Education: A college program in radio broadcast is a great asset. Start with a solid knowledge of music, mix in a good dose of charm, an ability to perform, and a radio-friendly voice and you’re set.
Salary: $44,000
Added value: Meet musical gods and get free promo CDs, tickets to sold out concerts, and access to sought-after parties.
Eco Tour Leader
What you do: Working in this field, you lead expeditions through the wilderness—by foot, kayak, horseback, etc.—while conserving the environment and sustaining the well-being of locals.
Education: Eco tour leadership training courses are available, as well as a number of relevant four-year degrees. You’ll need to be in good physical shape and know the activity you’re leading inside and out. You’ll need CPR and other emergency training, and you’ll need great leadership and people skills.
Salary: $30-$40 per day (depending on where you work and what you do). Your medical insurance, room, board, travel costs, and food are covered by your employer.
Added value: Not only will you travel and become one with the great outdoors, you’ll challenge yourself mentally and physically. See what you’re made of!
Social Worker
What you do: Depending on the specific field you choose to follow, as a social worker you may be mentoring at-risk youth, working with mentally or physically disabled persons to meet life challenges, or doing case work for new immigrants trying to make the transition into a new community, among many other meaningful opportunities.
Education: You will need at least a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW). A Masters of Social Work (MSW) is strongly recommended to compete for higher-paying jobs.
Salary: Upward of $60,000, but most direct community work jobs pay far less.
Added value: This is a tough career (one that’s extremely challenging emotionally), but the reward comes from knowing you’re helping others and contributing to a caring, functioning community.
Freelance Writer
What you do: You write. It may be books, magazine articles, or newspaper columns.
Education: A college editing or writing diploma, or an English or journalism degree will give you the skills you need to be a freelance writer. But postsecondary isn’t absolutely necessary—many famous authors never did formal training. Most important, you just need to keep writing and sending in submissions for publication.
Salary: $27,500 (The money can be inconsistent, and varies, depending on your contracts, your skills, and the recognition of your name.)
Added value: This job offers a lot of creativity and independence to make up for its lack of security. There are markets for writing on just about anything, so write about what you know and love.
International Development Worker
What you do: Help build schools, develop safe community water systems, develop sustainable farming practices, etc., in third world nations.
Education: Often all that is required is volunteering a helping hand.
Salary: You may only be paid in food, shelter, and kindness, but many organizations will pay for your airfare.
Added value: You’ll see the world in a way most people never will. Instead of travelling like a tourist, you’ll get first-hand knowledge of the way people really live in remote international locations and build relationships with local people you’d otherwise never meet.
Find your dream job! Answer these two questions to find your perfect match:
- What do you love to do most? (You won’t feel like you’re clocking in if you love what you do.)
- What are you passionate about? (Decide what issues motivate you— you can make a difference.)
Written by Faze contributor Amanda Greener
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