We all know the jobs that are (virtually) guaranteed to rake in the big bucks: doctor, lawyer, engineer, etc.-- no surprise there. Yet as it turns out, a surprising number of jobs pay more than you may think; some don't even require a college education. There are some caveats, of course; many of the jobs involve a personal sacrifice of some sort, be it living underwater for months at a time or being at someone else's beck and call 24/7. However, if you're willing to make some life changes, you may find you're a good fit for one. Here are some of the most surprising:
Who wants hot dogs!
Step inside my office
Food vendors can make bank if they're in the right spot. As the adage goes, success depends on location, location, location, and this rings true for food vendors. One dog slinger working the much-trafficked corner of 35th and Broadway makes an average of $250/day (easily over $100,000 per year if he works 50 weeks a year.) Note that hot dogs are not the only food that will net you more green than Central Park; an ice-cream vendor on 37th and Fifth Avenue can earn up to $700 on a good day. In New York City, where rents for office space can run upwards of $600 per square foot (yes, per foot), these types of vendors generally only need to pay for an annual vendor's license and tax identification number to stake their claim. No rent equals low overhead, and the significant markup on hot dogs and other items means that a busy day can be highly profitable.
If you can take the heat, get into the kitchen
Only 140 more days until I can see the sun
While most culinary artisans aren't making too much money––except for the top well-known chefs with their own line of cookware––there is one position in the industry that does pay exceptionally well. But this is no free lunch: the role is as the lead submarine chef with the Australian Navy. That's right; you'd be cooking for almost 60 hungry seamen and women 20,000 leagues under the sea. Chefs start at a not-too-shabby $58,800 per year not including a $50,000 bonus just for showing up (turns out 50% of success really is showing up!), a capability bonus of $40,000 a year, plus almost $50,000 worth of "seagoing allowance" and "submarine service allowance." All that, and your room and board are taken care of. I mean, you'd have to be okay with living in a massive iron pill capsule and wouldn't see the sun for weeks at a time…but think of the money you'd save on sunscreen!
Someone's gotta do it
And they thought I'd amount to nothing
Taking out the trash is by no means a glamorous job. But if you live in the right area, you can make a mint by doing something no one else wants to do. Some sanitation workers make upwards of $100,000 in New York City. This is not representative of the average "waste engineer" annual salary, which ranges from the high $30's to low $60's, but everything is more expensive in NYC, and trash removal is no different. The upside is that wages are rising much faster than average in this industry because of the lack of available talent.
Roger that
Air traffic controllers – the men and women who ensure airplanes don't crash into each other on the ground and in the air – make over $120,000 year. It's by no means an easy job: they must continuously concentrate (often directing multiple carriers at once), and work shifts during all hours in a dim room staring at brightly lit screens. While the job itself is stressful, if you can hack it for 20 years you'll get to look forward to early retirement at 50 and enjoy enforced retirement at 56.
I see a lot of green in your future
Aunt Mabel says hi and don't overwater her ficus
Psychics, despite their employment in a field of dubious nature, earn an average of almost $100 an hour, according to Payscale. This may seem surprising at first, but given that the estimated 85,000 psychics in the United States pull in approximately $1.5 billion in revenue per year, it may not be so outlandish. Psychics also claim to have high-flying customers, such as executives who can afford to shell out for their pricey service. Whether or not a given psychic has any ability to foresee the future is in the eye of the person paying their salary. Many psychics prefer to act as therapists, guiding people through tough times and hard decisions—and possibly telling them that Aunt Mabel forgives them for breaking that window when they were a kid.
Jeeves, bring the car around
Being a private butler is not usually on the career list at the guidance counselor's office, but it's a legitimate job that with an excellent salary––that is, if you get hired by the right employer. The International Guild of Professional Butlers has 10,000 members in the United States alone and estimates there could be as many as a few million private butlers worldwide.
So, what exactly does a butler do? Unlike in the days of Downton Abbey, people today can generally dress themselves and don't take daily breakfasts in bed (although that does sound pretty great). Today's modern butlers are considered "household managers" who oversee the rest of the staff, schedule household maintenance, receive visitors, organize events, and so on and so forth. They also can act as personal assistants, booking reservations, managing wardrobes (dry cleaning and tailoring), and generally ensuring that life runs smoothly for their employer. The job requires impeccable social skills and etiquette, and you'll need in-depth knowledge of wines and spirits (natch!) to be successful.
A private butler is a trusted employee for those who can afford them and are generally compensated as such: according to the International Butler Academy, these discreet individuals earn between $50,000 and $150,000 annually.
If your current job is just not cuttin' the mustard or if you're someone who could thrive in a stressful, claustrophobic, or even smelly environment, it may behoove you to explore a less conventional job that just might push your income up a few tax brackets.
- Unexpected Jobs That Pay $100K | Monster.com ›
- 9 unusual jobs that earn $100,000 or more - CBS News ›
- 14 Odd Jobs That Pay Insanely Well | GOBankingRates ›
- 15 Unusual Jobs That Surprisingly Pay Over $100,000 ›
- 32 Fun Jobs That Pay Well | Find a Career You Can Love ›
- 11 Odd Jobs with High Salaries | Salary.com ›
It's Southwest Companion Pass Season. Here's Why It's The Best Flight Deal on the Market
Southwest Companion Pass
There’s all this talk about solo travel. And for good reason — no wasting precious time waiting for others to get their act together, take the plans out of the group chat and actually buy the tickets. Going solo, you can be spontaneous. You can plan your trips according to your precise tastes. You can hop on any flight and fly awayyyyyy.
But what if each time you flew you’d get a free ticket? That’s what you get with the Southwest Companion Pass.
Award status, upgrades, lounge access — there are many perks in the frequent flier game. But one of the coveted holy grails is the Southwest Companion Pass.
What is the Southwest Companion Pass?
The Companion Pass is part of Southwest’s Rapid Rewards program. You get to choose one person to be your “companion,” and they fly with you for free (plus some taxes and fees) on every flight. That’s right. Two for the price of one. That’s half off each ticket if you split it! Whether you’re flying with a partner, family member, friend, or anyone else, they can tag along for free.
And it gets better: once you earn the pass, you can reap the rewards for that full calendar year … AND the next. That’s why people go mad trying to earn a companion pass during the early months of the year. The sooner you qualify, the longer you can use it.
There are also no blackout dates. There are no limits. And if you didn’t purchase the ticket (think: work travel, your companion, or a generous benefactor), there are no restrictions! As long as you’re the one on the plane, your companion can also … be on the plane.
You can also switch out your designated companion 3x a year. So, no need to stay in a relationship simply to get the most out of your companion pass! Ghost and fly away — with a whole new companion!
If this sounds too good to be true — it’s not. But there is one small catch. It’s kinda tough to earn this mega reward.
How to qualify for the Southwest Companion Pass?
You can qualify for the pass in one of two ways:
- Fly 100 qualifying one-way flights
- Earn 135,000 qualifying points in a calendar year.
Clearly, this is no small feat — especially if you’re trying to qualify ASAP.
So how do you actually earn the Southwest Companion Pass?
Don’t worry, there’s a path to earning this amazing reward without climbing on 100 flights or spending an exorbitant amount of money.
Earning 135K reward points may seem completely impossible, but it’s easier than it sounds. Simply sign up for a Southwest Credit Card and turn those spending habits into a rapid rewards account. Through the Rewards Priority Credit Card, earn points when using local transit and commuting, plus score major points and miles whenever you spend.
Stay with me here. This is not some scheme to get you into credit card debt. Many airline cards come with potential savings, giantic rewards, awarding you points, and cashback with every purchase you make that can be redeemed for travel. And often they can come with passive sign-up bonuses. If you spend a specific amount of money within a certain timeframe of opening the card, you can be in for a windfall of points.
Now that’s where the companion pass comes in:
- Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier
- Southwest Rapid Rewards Plus Credit Card
- Southwest Priority Credit Card
- Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Credit Card
- Southwest Performance Business Credit Card
Southwest has three personal cards and a business card. Each of these cards offers rewards between 30K-80K points. In the past, people could open two cards and get a bonus that granted enough points to almost meet the minimum. However, with new restrictions on personal cards, you can only get one bonus every 24 months. Boo!
However, this doesn’t apply to business cards. If you’re eligible, have good credit, and not likely to spiral into insane credit card debt, you can open a business card and a personal card, and accrue 100K+ points. The Rapid Rewards Priority Credit Card will get you points after you spend money in no time.
Now to earn the rest of them.
The secret to gaining these credit card points is to plan your card sign-ups around big purchases. Just before a recent move, I opened a card . . . and the rewards came rolling in — a small balm to ease the pain of how exorbitant moving can be.
Put everyday spend — especially big purchases or bulk items — on your Southwest credit card and watch your award points quickly add up. Typically, you earn 1 point per $1 spent on your Southwest card and 2 points per $1 on actual Southwest purchases.
But there are other ways to earn points, including:
- Flying Southwest: Booking travel on Southwest earns more points. The cost of this travel will be worth it with your companion pass
- Shopping from Rapid Rewards Partners: Purchases with Southwest’s “Home & Lifestyle” and “Shop and Dine” Partners also earn Companion Pass qualifying points. While you shouldn’t make gratuitous purchases, browse Southwest’s partners to see if you could earn extra points for items you'd be purchasing anyway. All this, simply from enrolling in their Dining Program and shopping with their partners.
So there you have it! And since it’s almost Spring, get to earning and soon you’ll be flying two for the price of one!
Jobs don't have to be miserable!
Though the wave of tech layoffs and the threat of a recession has overshadowed yesteryear's news of the great recession, everywhere you look, employees are asking for more — and getting it. Though this time of uncertainty could have given employers back the power, it's still in the hands of the workforce.
From Gen-Z's boundary setting and penchant for quiet quitting when they're being under-recognized, to labor unions and even the WGA writer's strike, we're in an era where workers can make demands about how they work — and where they work. And for many people, they want to work from home.
For many employees, full-time remote work offered newfound flexibility to work around their schedules — whether it be picking up kids from school, or working when they feel most productive. Many employees seized this freedom to escape big cities and relocate and prioritize their quality of life. Remote work lovers are demanding offices remain closed or requesting it as a benefit or work option. And if their company insists they return? Many would rather look for new jobs in the flourishing remote-first corporate environment.
However, some missed the structure of the office and its offers of accountability, collaboration, more amenities, and . . . friendship. But not all companies are created equal. Some hope to lure employees back by upgrading the office experience. Turns out, the millennial start-up with that Day-Glo ping-pong table and IPAbeer-on-tap isn’t actually the dream if it comes with a toxic work environment (we’re looking at you WeWork). As companies add in-office perks, employees are requesting more support, boundaries — and even arrangements like the four-day workweek.
via HBO
For the best of both worlds, companies are adopting hybrid systems. However, reports from CNBC and BBC imply that this may be a taxing option. Having one foot in the office and the other in your office kitchen is far from ideal for most employees, research says.
LinkedIn’s 2022 Global Talent Trends report reveals that of the 500 C-level executives surveyed, 81% said they’re changing workplace policies to offer greater flexibility.
But according to CNBC, “emerging data is beginning to show that hybrid work can be exhausting, leading to the very problem workers thought it could solve: burnout. More than 80% of human resources executives report that hybrid is proving to be exhausting for employees. This is according to a global study by employee engagement platform TinyPulse. Workers also reported that hybrid was more emotionally draining than fully remote and more taxing than even full-time office-based work.”
BBC agrees, reporting: “Emerging data is beginning to back up such anecdotal evidence: many workers report that hybrid is emotionally draining … Workers, too, reported hybrid was more emotionally taxing than fully remote arrangements – and, concerningly, even full-time office-based work. Given many businesses plan on implementing permanent hybrid working models, and that employees, by and large, want their working weeks spent between home and the office, such figures sound alarm bells. But what is it specifically about hybrid working that is so emotionally exhausting? And how can workers and companies avoid pitfalls so that hybrid actually works?”
“Overall, human resources executives thought that hybrid and remote work were the most emotionally exhausting for employees, but that wasn’t the case,” Elora Voyles, a people scientist at TinyPulse, told CNBC.
So with every employee having various experiences and opinions about what works best for them and their lifestyles, it makes sense that people are job-hopping to suit their newfound preferences.
Frankly, some are job-hopping to enhance their compensation. Statistically, most people realize their greatest salary increases when they move from one job to another. Remaining at the same company for years and years often limits how much you can make as your career advances. One popular female finance guru, Cinneah El-Amin told Afrotech: “I am a staunch advocate for more women to job-hop, to get the money they deserve, and to stop playing small when it comes to our careers and the next step in our careers.”
The research supports this, with Zippia claiming: “Generally speaking, a good salary increase when changing jobs is between 10-20%. The national average is around 14.8%, so don't be afraid to ask for a similar increase. At a minimum, you should expect a wage growth of at least 5.8% when you change positions.”
However, a job search can be daunting, despite the potential benefits. But if you can land a role in a new company — and potentially boost your salary while you’re at it — you will challenge yourself and constantly keep learning. LinkedIn Learning, for example, is one platform that can help you level up your skills and give you an edge to land the job.
LinkedIn Learning allows you to take advantage of the moments that truly matter. It offers courses on subjects that will carry you through every step of your career. Their instructors have real-world experience.
Check out the LinkedIn Learning Pathfinder and it will generate a custom list of courses based on what you want to achieve. Learn more about recent top career development goals and acquire the skills to help you reach them.
Unsure what to do and how to start your job search? Let LinkedIn Learning be the first step you take in the path to a new and improved career.Oh, how far we’ve come! Recently, it was revealed that — finally! — women CEOs at Fortune 500 companies outnumber male CEOs named John. A dubious milestone, but it's something to celebrate.
Though women have come pretty far in society, the progress we've made is far from enough. From the pay gap to daily microaggressions, it’s still obvious that women are treated as lesser than in society. This is especially clear when you look at how few female-founded businesses there are.
According to Rolling Stone, it’s crucial to support female-owned businesses. They report: “While it is true that the different experiences and backgrounds that women and men have undoubtedly affect business approaches, this is actually a good thing. A business with diverse perspectives is an innovative business that can actually push the boundaries of industries.” Like with any other social justice cause, uplifting marginalized folks is good for everyone involved. We all benefit from the increased, diverse worldviews brought about by representation.
The article continues: “Having a gender-diverse business yields better consumer insight, and in turn, a more profitable business. Back in 2015, McKinsey & Company found businesses that were more gender-diverse were likely to outperform approximately 15 percent above the industry median. Years later in 2020, they found that the percentage had increased to 25 percent.”
Therefore, even if we aren’t focused on all the social and political reasons to uplift female entrepreneurs, it’s better for everyone’s bottom line if we do.
Yet, despite this oft-proven reality, archaic stereotypes and oppressive systems stand in the way of progress in every sector. An article in Business News Daily outlines some of the obstacles women face as entrepreneurs. The number one hurdle they face? Social expectations.
The article advises that in order to beat this imposter syndrome, female founders should stick to their guns rather than trying to conform. “Women may feel as though they need to adopt a stereotypically "male" attitude toward business: competitive, aggressive, and sometimes harsh. But successful female CEOs believe that remaining true to yourself and finding your own voice are the keys to rising above preconceived expectations.”
But often, women are told their lack of professional advancement is their fault. You’re too shy. You’re not assertive enough. You need to ask for what you want. Otherwise, how do you expect to get it?
However, despite this refrain, it’s actually not their own fault. This scapegoating convinces ambitious women that if their careers are stifled, it’s their fault. This causes imposter syndrome, lack of representation, and real industry consequences.
According to BND, “Raising capital is even more difficult for women-owned businesses. A 2014 Babson College report found that less than 3% of companies with venture capital funding had female CEOs … venture capitalists tend to invest in startups run by people of their own ‘tribe.’”
Other things that get in the way of women climbing the ladder to success include: struggling to be taken seriously, owning their accomplishments, building a support network, balancing business and family life, and coping with the fear of failure.
These are real, tangible barriers that most female entrepreneurs face. The women who have succeeded should be celebrated — and this month is the perfect one to do so. Luckily for us, we can vote with our dollars, supporting the businesses we love so that there can be more like-minded companies out there in the world.
Here are some of my favorite female-owned brands to support in the pursuit of equality: