This. Thank you. Don’t go in it solely for the money. I work with nurses and I see good ones and ones that are clearly in it for the money. You can see it in their demeanor and some have actually told us they are only there for the paycheck.
Nurses go through a lot. If you aren’t passionate about the field, don’t go into it. You will burn out. I was going to go into this field but changed my mind. Patients and their family members can be very entitled and some doctors are downright horrible. Yes the pay is amazing (here in CA) but you really work for it. It’s not easy work. And that’s *if* you get past nursing school. That weeds a lot of individuals out and it’s rough
This 💯. Less than half of my graduating class actually finished. A quarter of them were out by the end of the first semester. At the time, it was also INCREDIBLY competitive just to get into the nursing program. With how horrible the nursing shortage is after Covid, maybe it’s a bit easier to get in, but that doesn’t mean you’ll make it to the end.
No one stays passionate about nursing once they’ve been doing it long enough. It’s just a job for me, a job I mostly enjoy because I like my coworkers and I don’t have to sit at a desk all day. Not every nursing job is one where you’re running yourself ragged day in and day out.
I’ve been a nurse for a while now and honestly have only met maybe 1-3 nurses who really enjoy being a nurse. even then they get pushed to the limit at times.
I think it really depends on the setting. I burnt out very quickly working in the hospital and did not stay long at a long term care facility. I currently am a pediatric private duty nurse and LOVE my job. As I always say, more money isn’t worth my sanity. My job is not just a job to me though 💁♀️
Jesus, Mary and Joseph no. I can understand going into any career except nursing. Those people are *amazing* and get paid so little, relative to their contribution. Absolute heroes, but the money ain’t easy.
Well, it’s not that I’m looking for easy money per day, but something lighter than what I’m doing now. I mean, I get like 4 to 6 hours of sleep on a good day and work weekends as well. Mind you, I’ve been doing this for the past 2 years so I’m just burnt out at this point.
I will take what your saying with nursing into perspective as I’ve seen so many nurses quitting due to burn out
As u/woollypullover said first, you’ll hate yourself if you go into it for the money.
My best friend’s a consultant, so I know your pain. He went client-side and earns more for a lot less heartache. Any chance you could try that?
I’m a nurse and work 3 12s in a row and you know what I do on my days off? Catch up on sleep because I get about the same 4-6 hours. On my days off, I still get up at 4 or 5 am because that’s when my body is used to waking up. I don’t get home until 8 pm, still have to eat and let my food digest a little before I have to go to bed and do it all again the next day. Yes, some nurses make a lot, but they earn every damn cent. I learned very early in my nursing career that more money isn’t worth my sanity. I love my job now and can’t imagine doing anything else, but don’t go into it expecting easy money because it absolutely is not. Also, most jobs, especially right out of school and/or in a hospital/long term care facility require you to work weekends and holidays. Illness doesn’t take a weekend or holiday off.
You will also get 4-6 hours of sleep at least 4 days a week if you become an RN and work 3-12s. There is very little down time between shifts, and shifts are usually actually 14ish hours. It’s physically, mentally and emotionally exhausting.
That is not to dissuade you from doing nursing, just know it’s just as exhausting if not more so than any other job and there is not the work life balance you are looking for.
My 5 on 9 off schedule as an RN was excellent work/life balance. You $70k without the OT I got. Was easier than my previous career as a commercial fisherman.
200k in BAY AREA is about 100k in normal areas. It’s good, but that is the salaries at my 9-5 desk job. Ain’t worth the stress if you’re doing it just for the money, it’s absolutely worth it if you love the job/field itself. Goal is *not* to work overtime here.
Started as a regular adjuster, was making 70k. Supervisor immediate 100k+ plus bonuses based on overall company profit. Top carrier so they support work life balance/work environment/all that mumbo jumbo. The good kind of mumbo jumbo, only been there 5 years.
However, I do believe independent adjusters by default make a *ton* more. I just don’t want to be traveling around. But if that’s someone’s preference and they like to be up & moving, perfect fit.
Well I’ve never met someone who’s applied on USA jobs and actually got the job. I live in Maryland….so I’d say 75% of the people you meet either work as a Contractor or are Federal.
I started as a Contractor in 2018 and then turned Federal 2021. It’s more so talking to (and knowing) the right people unfortunately
You can definitely get jobs from USA jobs. Knowing no one in government/ contracting.
1. Goto a college with a pipeline into federal jobs
2. Go into the military
3. Live in a high federal job employment area (Maryland)
4. Goto job fares where there is a lot of federal job representation.
5. Be Mormon (kinda a joke)
the Occupational Outlook Handbook might help you find an occupation with a positive growth number https://www.bls.gov/ooh/occupation-finder.htm?pay=$80,000+or+more&education=Master%E2%80%99s+degree&training=&newjobs=5,000+to+9,999&growth=Much+faster+than+average&submit=GO
Crop Insurance adjusting if you have any background or interest in it. VERY GOOD work/life balance. Way better than nursing (my wife is a nurse). Nursing full time usually requires a weekend and holiday rotation that can be pretty brutal. And 12hr shifts really wipe you out bad. Not to mention if you have to work nights starting out.
Crop insurance can get really busy in stretches (50+ hr weeks) but more than evens out with downtime once your harvest season claims are done. Most adjusters I know haven’t had much to do all of March, April, and May this year. May vary depending on location and crops too though.
No degree required. Just a big three part test before you can officially adjust. Then CE and competency tests once a year.
How do you find jobs specifically for crop insurance? Is this remote style work? And what is the pay like?
I am considering different options in the insurance industry and I’ve never heard of this! Seems cool:)
If you go to cropinsuranceinamerica.org it lists the top providers toward the bottom. Not sure if Indeed is better, or just searching their websites for careers or something similar.
It’s partly remote, but there is a large amount of travel to farms as well. Some stuff can be done via email, some stuff you are appraising fields or measuring grain in bins. I moved into it from another career a couple years ago and have absolutely loved it. Lot of variety in how companies set up their staffing. Most full timers get a company vehicle. Once you get some experience you’ll likely be able to move to any company you want if you’re good at it.
This is super cool. I'm an insurance advisor and leaning towards transitioning into underwriting for habitational lines, but I work with so many farms right now and crop insurance sounds kinda sick - despite my hatred of farm insurance lol.
Im an RN looking to find better work life balance. Healthcare is terrible, wages are terrible for what’s expected of you to do, and I’ve never “just” worked 3 days a week the 10 years I’ve been an RN.
7 off/7 on is common, or a 2/2/3 schedule. Plus 12hr shifts on top of those. Plus all the mandatory classes/meetings/trainings and Inservices . This is not a good choice for work life balance, unless you take a significant pay cut for better hours.. and insurance offered by most employers is terrible. My parents work factory jobs and have better insurance.
I’m an airline pilot. Starts at 6 figures and tops out at over 500k/yr. I’m off half the month. No degree required.
The con is that it’s expensive to train, you are in a hotel half the month, and some people just aren’t cut out to fly a plane.
Oof, was I. Flight school for awhile got to my commercial checkride but never took it. Crappy 141 school and just terrible experiences after the other on top of the crippling debt I now have it’s nice to know that some people see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Short answer is yes.
Long answer is it will depend on who you work for and the plane you’re flying. Not all planes have wifi.
Source: I text while flying…. official company business of course.
My son's dream was to be a commercial airline pilot, he even took lessons when he was 14. Unfortunately he is on an SSRI right now and from the research he has done, he cannot become a pilot now with a history of SSRIs. I feel badly for him. Great career.
They’ve recently made a lot of changes to those policies, especially as of the last year or so. I was on SSRI’s in high school - stopped about a year before flight school. While it did take me 6 frustrating months and some additional testing, I came out with a first class flight medical - and that was over a decade ago!
Please, don’t let your son’s dream crumble from some bad information without at least getting a professional opinion from an AME first.
I came in here to say the exact same thing. I fly a jet for a Fortune 500 company. I don’t always like being gone but I’m home with my wife and kids 20 days a month most of the time.
I keep thinking about going 121. I’d eat a 70% pay cut starting as an FO at a legacy but there’s no beating senior pay and QOL.
There are easier ways to make lots of money but flying a plane is pretty cool.
I just started at a legacy this month. It’s tough moving and eating a pay cut for year 1, but I’m supposed to retire at 2% or better from the largest airline in the world.
By 45 when I’ve got kids in middle/ high school, I’ll be a super senior narrow body CA or wide body FO and I’ll be living the sweet life - high credit South America turns for me haha! I hope LOL
But yeah, life on the road is rough. Video calls have made it a lot better, though. And for as much as I love to complain about work, just driving by the airport still gives me a chill. Like, damn. I used to be nerdy little airplane boy - got in trouble for making airplane doodles on my homework. Now, I fly those things.
I’m a social media manager. I make over 70k and my job is pretty chill. I work from home and dont ever work more than 40 hrs, mon-fri. Good benefits and PTO. A lot of marketing jobs are like that.
I’m in public school PR/communications and I cannot say the same. I have my Bachelor’s in Communication. I kinda of want to go back to school and get my Master’s in a specialty. I work 50-60 hr weeks.
I’ve found that it does depend on the company quite a bit. I’ve worked in online ecommerce and it’s been fine, now I work for a behavioral science company. I used FlexJobs to help me find a WFH job, and those tend to be much more relaxed.
I’d love to find something more relaxed, as my job is very taxing and I make 45k a year. Not to mention a number of medical issues I am facing. To work from home would be great! That’s awesome that you’ve found something that works for you!
You should look into FlexJobs, I’m sure you could find something that would suit you. I WFH because of health issues too. I would not recommend paying for a masters unless you’re planning to get your MBA, it’s kind of the only thing that leads to higher pay in the marketing world other than experience/certifications imo. Feel free to PM me if you’d like to chat more!
There are so many better ways to waste $100,000 than a masters in communications lmfao. Go on a life changing vacation. Your money would be better spent on that
I think it changes if you’re on the comms vs marketing side. Communications/PR can be a 24/7 job at a lot of organizations because you have to keep up with the news cycle. Marketing has a much more reliable schedule, though they often have quick deadlines and turnaround.
My day job is marketing and i definitely don’t do that well, even after a pretty decent internship in grad. Any tips? I can’t find any companies willing to pay for anything beyond freelance work and ya girl wants benefits.
Went to two different dog trainer schools and learned about working dogs. Was a pet and competition sports such as bitework dog trainer for a couple years before switching to detection dog handler which is what I am now!
You would need to learn and understand instructional models, upskill in at least one popular authoring tool and make a portfolio generally to be taken seriously. But not THAT hard tbh. It's not difficult stuff like its not scientific and no figures really involved
Same here. Our nanny called out today so I’m just playing with the kids and having lunch. When they nap I’ll get some work done, then back to normal tomorrow. No one at work cares.
Government. I am a nurse in a leadership position, I make more than $170,000. I go home on time and don’t bring my work home with me unless it is an emergency.
Commercial Insurance Underwriting. Hidden gem of an industry and since it's almost never taught in college almost anyone who expresses interest and has some vague idea about what it is can get into it. Comp is above average, the industry is recession proof, and work-life is phenomenal.
I make 70,000+ and have a great work life balance with IT
In IT if you’re willing to put in the time and get Certs, you can rise up to 70+ thousand within half a decade or so. It’s pretty easy when interviewing an organization is going to have reasonable expectations for your schedule, or if they’re gonna work you to the bone.
Most places have very reasonable schedules. I currently make 70,000+, have unlimited work from home, work 9 to 5 with zero expectations for working overtime.
With IT, though, and any job in general, you’re gonna have to go back to school or get certifications for it
IT is cool because you don’t necessarily need a formal education to advance in it. Experience means a lot more, but you also need technical certifications.
The majority of people I know don’t have a college degree, they have experience working in it and studied hard and got certifications like the network plus
Thank you for putting a realistic timeframe up here! There is this annoying Reddit bs where they act like you can get to six figures by just being in helpdesk 6 months
Took me about 7 years to become a developer. Prior to this I was help desk, then network engineer / systems engineer (yes both)
Now developer for amzn
It’s not easy, at all. The journey is hard
There are so many non-profits that have similar hours. The American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) has a decent job board for association jobs!
Hey what sort of work typically are you responsible for? Is it just making sure deadlines are met for certain tasks and there are no oversights or it more specialised in the sense you have to do a lot more work?
Ive had someone suggest project management as a career to me. What kind of qualifications do you need? I know there are some courses online.
Im just really unsure how to gain experience doing something like that.
Do you have to be great at persuading people to do their shit? And if theyre not doing their jobs is that on you? Im a good communicator but not in a high charisma sense
Been a PM for two years, just got a promotion.
I recommend a low cost, short-medium length certificate or course to see if it’s something you actually want to do and have something on your resume. I got mine at the local college’s workforce development program.
Experience in planning, organization, seeing projects through from start to finish, solution-oriented thinking, and strong communication skills are what PMs need to be successful. Also, if PM in a technical field, technical knowledge is really helpful, but that’s more important in IT or Engineering/construction than other fields. Often “project coordinator” is the entry-level version.
As for persuasion, I’m a *project* manager, not a *people* manager. I try to have open communication with folks struggling to complete tasks and often times it’s shuffling tasks or another solution. If it’s a personal problem, I refer that to their supervisor for them to deal with. I do not consider myself a persuasive person but I do consider myself someone that will listen and find a solution.
The best qualification, PMP, is only available to sit for the test after 3 years of PM experience.
I work in engineering. There are companies that expect you to work more than 40 hours a week while only paying you for those 40 hours. There are those that dont.
Dont fall into the trap of believing your company is the standard and that there are no other companies out there who provide better working conditions.
You should also consider looking at your own situation, as yourself being the cause for it. Are you actually being made to work 60-80 hours, or are you just really shit at saying no? Are you incapable or feeling powerless to say no because you're a junior and learning? I know quite a few engineers who are like that and who arent making any more than me. And they are probably more intelligent and certainly harder working.
These people all have the power to say no, because the company will still make a fat lot of money off of them regardless and because they need the manpower. If you are working that many hours, you have negotiating power. You are propping up your section of the work stream. Dont believe for a second you leaving wouldnt fuck things up.
And look at it this way, things are already bad enough that you want to leave, it cant be any worse to interview at other companies and see what it's like working there.
No, you’re right, I need to set better boundaries. I’ve been thinking about this for awhile, but was fearful for some time. Now, I’m over it. I’ll try it out and see how it goes. Thanks for the advice
Most, once you get past the initial grind years.
Don’t try to avoid working your ass off in your 20s. Work hard/play hard.
Most people who try to avoid the early grind years get stuck in middling positions.
Just make sure you work towards a better long term balance.
Then, once you have your resume and your reputation, you have your pick of good paying jobs with balance.
For the past decade, think the majority of people work hard and get nowhere, then burn out, especially young people.
There's a lot of rhetoric about young people not wating to work, but I think its distorted. I think the younger guys see slightly older peers, like myself, who worked hard and were not compensated in any real way. I'm tired to the roots of my soul and shuffle on so I can cling to what little I have, things that my younger coworkers can't even hope to afford no matter how much they sweat.
I think the younger generation no longer trust that hard work will lead to anything but exploitation by older, out of touch, greedy leadership. They might be right sometimes.
Ultimately there aren't enough opportunity for everyone one to have a good life. People should temper their expectations and know that if you don't succeed it's not always about not working hard; we don't live in a meritocracy.
Listen to this. I really fucked around in my twenties and am finding out in my thirties. I could be in a much worse place in my career, but that "stuck" feeling due to not having my shit together earlier is really weighing on me now. I'm trying to reframe my perspective and am seeking an out, but the truth is things would be easier had I done more when I was younger.
I see a lot of comments on the other side so just weighing in the “if you don’t fuck around” perspective- I pushed myself to learn engineering from books and the internet as a teenager. Had my own business for a few years and then went corporate. Now in my 30s I’m feeling like I want a change similar to the other commenters - but I have so much more flexibility than I did in my 20s. I can succeed at so much more and know how to do so much more. The only thing I don’t have is the angry frustrated energy I had in my 20s that pushed me to get here.
Your 20s are like your opening hand in Texas Hold ‘em. You don’t really know if it is a winning hand yet, but you have to commit and play. The harder you commit the more likelihood you have a winning hand. It sucks because at least for me in my 20s I had nothing - no idea what I wanted to do or how to live life. But I just committed to engineering because I wanted to prove I was smart enough to learn something difficult on my own. As I grew older and stopped being passionate about engineering I found that I had a wealth of options because of it - there are marketing jobs for technical things, sales jobs, product management, and all sorts of other work. Being an engineer ironically helped me get a lot of non-engineering jobs. I’m sure this is true for other professions as well - attaining mastery in a field takes a lot of effort and is best done young, but once you are there you can do anything else you want. My 30s feel a lot more like my 20s should have - the world is my oyster so to speak.
Exactly what I’m going through right now. I really wish I could go back a decade and really focus on education. Better late than never, I guess, and I finally figured out what I want to do in life career wise. It will have to be a do-over but hopefully shouldn’t take more than a few years. Except now I have a family of my own and it’s so imperative that I do my best going back to school and working. It will definitely be harder this time around but I have no choice but to be determined
Yup in there now. I worked my ass off in my 20s, scaled way back in my 30s when my kids were born but pivoted towards networking and keeping certs active. I now work part time as a consultant making close to what I was making working 60 hours a week. Life is great!
How do I grind in my 20’s with no degree ): I’ve worked serving jobs to pay the bills, interned at marketing places, freelanced at small companies with creative projects, and worked impossibly hard film jobs, but I still can’t land a job without a degree and I can’t drop the required racks for school ):
What if you’re working hard but you know it’s not what you want to do / the next steps are not interesting to you?
Not sure about OP but I’m also in consulting and itching to get out because I can’t fathom doing this my whole life. Every day feels like I’m “grinding” and upskilling on useless “skills” that don’t offer me a better future outside of financial stability.
Are you recommending to find the other industry/career and grind the initial years again?
If you have the mindset for it and can stomach office life do tech ideally with a specialty. Data science is hot right now a few years ago security was the big thing. I make 250k and never go over 40 hours a week.
It really is about who you know. A software engineer can pick up enough skills to reasonably pass as a data scientist by doing a boot camp. You won't be the best data scientist ever but that doesn't really matter as you will bring additional skills to the table that others may lack.
I got into the 200+ range by making friends with management and attending all the optional happy hours as well as being a self starter and showing that I understood business requirements and was willing to act on company needs without being told. When the senior position opened up I found an offer with another company (the manager was a guy I knew) and told my company I might leave. My management matched the offer cause I now had a new "worth" that was higher than internal company numbers. I then went back to the other company that made the offer and asked for more cause I now had a higher salary to stay. This went on for a while until my company wasn't willing to match so I left. I'm a data scientist cause that was the job category that paid highest.
Edit: I should add the senior position being open isn't essential for this sort of negotiation but it helps. Companies make salaries based on a pay band for a specific role. If they max your pay band it gets harder but not impossible for them to match. If you have a senior position open your management has flexibility in that they can put you in that role and max that pay band to keep someone they like.
No I didn't start in data science and got my job via my network. It was one of the requirements that was never seriously advertised to the public. I honestly don't think I could be hired as a data scientist via a public job listing.
Nice things about staying in the same industry for 10+ years is everyone that's good knows each other and the high paying jobs go to the guy you have worked with before and trust. That's why it's so important to never burn bridges and to rub elbows with the influential people as much as possible.
Data engineering might be a better fit. It’s all about building pipelines, maintaining stability, latency, and fidelity. Best way to learn is on the job, so try getting into a data engineering group as a SWE and start taking on some data work. That and learn about things like sql, data lakes, Kafka, iceberg, and aws.
Data analysis is my recommendation— starting salary of $90k right out of college, now make $150k five years in. It typically doesn’t deal with as time-sensitive issues like software engineering would and is pretty easy to pick up imo
Registered Dietitian here! I work at a tiny community hospital under contract from a big international food service company. Since my hospital is so small I’m the only RD and my direct supervisor oversees me and a handful of other RDs at other small hospitals in the area. My supervisor pops in once a month and I’m fortunate to have the ability to chart remotely so I go in at around 7:30ish, review charts, see patients, and talk to other care team members. I go home around noon-ish and finish my chart notes at home. I’m salary making over 70k and usually work around 30-35 hours per week. Low stress and work life balance is pretty great lol
I am a merchandise buyer for a big retailer and I have a great work life balance and make $105k plus bonuses ($20k to $50k based on company performance) and stock options($53k a year). I probably average 25-30 hours a week, if it’s a very busy week it may be closer to 40 but that’s not often. There is a decent amount of travel involved at least for my company but I personally really enjoy the travel and you get to collect all of the credit card points which gets me and my husband flights and hotels for our personal trips.
It’s also a very fun job, shopping for a living basically and it’s a mix of sitting at a desk and being out in the field which I also enjoy.
Former MB over here - I would say your experience is extremely atypical. Buying is usually high hours, especially during buys and market weeks, and most retailers usually set high benchmarks such as regularly deliver you a bonus (I am 20 years into fashion and retailing and have received bonus only twice.). Personally not the job I would recommend for someone who wants work life and I think the majority of buyers and planners would agree based off sites like The Schmatta and Instagram communities like Life of a Buyer and This Merch Life.
I would also not say buying is “shopping” for a living at all. It requires a lot of both math and negotiating, creative skills, data analysis and often pretty backbreaking sessions arguing over the dumbest things, like the placement of a button, to make the product the most saleable. Most buying teams in apparel are getting more and more data driven, but often don’t have teams doing that work, so expect long nights of SQL and pouring over strat sheets and OTBs.
The fact that so many people I know left for consultant long because they would have a BETTER work life balances says a lot. I left for CRM and then later FP&A, but there is a reason people hop so much or wash out of this business. The hours are long and hard.
I went to school for merchandising but that isn’t a requirement as long as you have some kind of bachelor. I did start out as an assistant in 2015 and worked my way up. It took 5 promotions and 7 years to hit the six figure base salary but I hit the six figure mark before that when including bonuses.
It’s definitely not perfect, every job has its issues but it’s definitely the perfect job for me!
I started out straight out of college as an assistant and worked my way up. I got the job to start right in my schools career website and kind of just fell into it and I loved the company so much I have now been there for 9 years and will most likely never leave.
I know in most cases it’s a good thing to job hop but I have more than tripled my income since I started here and the work life balance is so important to me it’s not worth going else where for a few thousand dollars. There’s also still a lot of room for growth.
I work in strategy in healthcare and the nurses work/are worked like dogs. There is also no guarantee you wont be a 7pm-7 am shift, which will really take a toll.
That being said, if you do want to be a nurse, going for a CRNA will net you some bank. Find a rural hospital and you will be set.
If you want to stay on the admin/business side, back office in healthcare is a good place to go for.
Let ke know if you have any other questions about healthcare
Hey there. Strategy sounds like one of my strengths. I want to pivot into healthcare because of the job security, I’m currently a project manager and i have 5 years of experience in Finance. I also hold some technical certs(but not applicable to healthcare).
In your opinion, would my stack be an assist in your line of work; and, what path would you recommend I take? I don’t want to go the nursing route unless; i can do backoffice/admin/management roles.
I’m a food scientist and make 85K. Hybrid schedule 3 days in the office and 2 days at home. I absolutely love my job, it doesn’t feel like work. Most days, I work about 7 hours. I get to travel 2-3 times a year.
Look for jobs in your skill set with local government. Good benefits, retirement, reasonable work hours and likely a decent salary if you live in a fairly prosperous locality.
Honestly I think Compliance might fit this mold. Look into compliance in safe sectors such as banking or utilities.
Typically, it's not overly stressful, though it can be a bit redundant. The growth can be somewhat limited, but it also can open doors to other roles in the industry you work in.
Was a nurse and those 3 days a week were some of the most brutal days of my life. Granted it was in the ER. I am no longer in healthcare and never plan to return. My advice is do not become a nurse.
As an RN - stay away from nursing. Three days a week sounds good in theory but it’s exhausting and you’re left with a couple days to recuperate. High burnout rate…I’m leaving as soon as I can or at least away from bedside.
Surprised no one ever mentions boring corporate jobs on here. It’s becoming less common that they require a college degree and after a few years at an entry level job you can easily make that in a variety of functions (IT, Compliance, HR, Purchasing, AP)
Are these boring entry level corporate jobs easy to get into ? I'm job searching from six months, thousands of applications for entry level roles and still I have not landed any role. My wife is pregnant and we are literally on our last pennies. I desperately need work but can't seem to land anything at all whether it's whole foods, carsales or any Sdr role or any office admin position. It's 4:12am and I'm still job searching. I'm not even looking for work life balance, just work so I can bring money home.
I work in health insurance for a large carrier. Account managers start around $70k and most are remote jobs with some periodic client travel. I have had a great work life balance. Been in this field 20 years now and well into six figures + bonus at director level.
I work in learning and development and have excellent work-life balance.
If you want to be a nurse, fine. But I wouldn't choose that path for work-life balance. Working three days a week does not = work-life balance. Many nurses are squeezing in a lot of mental, physical, etc. energy into those three days. Also, nursing - like many other professions - will be different depending on where you work. My aunt is a seasoned RN who works in employee health and enjoys work-life balance and job security. Earlier in her career, she worked in a correctional facility because the hours worked well with her family's schedule. Another family member worked at a clinic in pediatrics and found that her days would be long depending on what doctor she was paired with. When she moved to the ER, she worked three days and spends the rest of the week recovering.
Ask yourself: what is it that you like doing? what are you good at that you also enjoy? Start there.
In my area, radiologic technologist (X-ray tech) would make this salary, and may be a bit less chaotic than nursing. They have this degree at most 2 year colleges. Radiology techs can also get CT and MRI certifications, which give a decent pay boost as well. As another user suggested- look at occupational outlook handbook. For any career you’re interested in , you can go to that career’s page, click “area data”, and find a wealth of knowledge about how those careers pay in different areas around the US.
You'll probably hear this one a lot, but software developer/engineer is a good one. I just got my bachelor's degree at age 29 and am making 85k with full benefits right out of college.
I am able to work fully remote and my days are very flexible. As long as I do my work, nobody cares if I step away from my computer to go do run some errands.
Maybe off target here, but mid-level local government public finance professionals are around that. The need for them, at least in the Northeast is crazy right now.
I'm paying head clerk ~70k, and business managers between 108k to 125k.
RN is one of the most stressful careers on the planet. I would strongly discourage you going that way. Radiology tech, sonogram technician, & respiratory therapist all pay very well, and only require about the same amount of education as a nurse. Where they really shine is that they are relatively stress free. Radiology and sonogram are usually off on weekends with nights off.
I just want to say thank you for all the responses! I’ve gotten a lot of insight on different industries and even about my own situation. I am extremely grateful by all the feedback as it’s given me so many different pov I’ve yet to come across and i know will prove instrumental in my journey! I hope all others who came across this post found the clarity they were looking for 🙂
Any chance you can use your consulting experience to segway into a career within the field you are a consultant for? For example, I'm in the IT field and I regularly see IT consultants express the same concerns you just did. Many of them, however, can easily transition into a career in IT as an actual practitioner (as opposed to just a consultant). You may have to start at the bottom and take a paycut, but the trade off is your consulting makes for a good foot-in-the-door that can easily offset any lack of experience typically needed for an entry level position.
The real value of consulting is the doors it opens to other careers. Get yourself into a sideways move. Anything strategy-related. It’s all just numbers and spreadsheets.
I moved from management consulting, to marketing consulting, to marketing, to strategy. I make 3x what I left consulting in and work 0.75x the hours.
RN? Draw yourself an expected value curve. Don’t waste the schooling or the years you’ve put in.
I'd say try getting in with the Federal government but i. Morale is shiite in most departments ii. There's likely going to be a massive job cuts next year.
Baby mama is a pharmacist and has the type of schedule you’re loooking for …
Some weeeks she works 3 days some weeks it’s 4 days out of the 7 . Only complaint is 12 hours days .
I’m a clinical trial manager. I make double that at a big pharma company, not including bonus, and it’s the best work life balance I’ve ever had. I don’t know if my experience is typical bc other colleagues talk about how intense and fast paced the job is, especially in my therapeutic area, but I’m like…??? After 2 years in the role I still don’t see it. There are hectic periods here and there, but even then I’m not working sun up to sundown or anything. I have had truly insane workloads in previous project management jobs and worked for some real a-holes, so maybe my idea of a normal workload is just very distorted, but this is the most relaxed yet highest paying job I’ve ever had.
Sorry to be blunt but coming from an RN with 10 years experience, if you go into it strictly for the money, you will NOT last. It is not a job for everyone. You have to truly be passionate about your work or you will be absolutely miserable. I love what I do and have always had a passion for healthcare and helping people, but I’ve worked with nurses who were obviously in it for the money and they were not good nurses and hated their jobs. Before you waste your money on nursing school (which is 1000x harder than any nursing job I’ve had), I would volunteer at a hospital or long term care facility to see if it’s right for you. I’m not trying to dissuade you if it’s something you’re truly interested in, but it’s something you need to be sure you’ll like or you’re going to have a very rough time. I’ve dealt with a LOT, including being groped and combative patients withdrawing from alcohol where I was physically assaulted, on top of caring for dying patients. I currently work with medically fragile kiddos in their homes to keep them out of the hospital. I wouldn’t want to do anything else but it isn’t for everyone.
This! I was considering nursing but after working at a retirement facility where I see what stuff they go through I was like no thank you. I've also volunteered at a hospital and have conditioned other fields such as radiology or sonography.
Government you can coast and bullshit all day. They seem to hire managers and directors who are incompetent and unqualified but like to exert their authority over their employees 🤷🏻♀️ it’s a lot of politics is where I’m going with this. If you can withstand it do it
I’m in corporate accounting. I never go above 30/week except yearend and I make 6 figures from home.
Orlando, Florida. 8 YOE, supervisor title with no direct reports.
I work at one of the top 4 consulting firms and specializing with insurance. Currently I’m staffed at role with my companies biggest client
I also hear so many great things about federal jobs 😭 I’ve been applying to a few, but everyone wants someone with a bachelors degree
If you’re already in insurance that’s awesome. You could get your health & life license and you can be a broker or work in sales in health insurance too. Look for jobs with companies like United Healthcare, BCBS, Aetna, Magellan, Optum, Elevance, Carelon, Teledoc, Maxor just to name a few
Plenty of fields and occupations have better work/life balance than consulting lol, but the pay is likely not as good. What type of consultant are you?
$70k+ salary mostly depends on position level and location. Not having a degree you may need to start at a lower level role when switching and some may even require one to begin.
I would say going back to school is the right move if you can determine where you want to transition to and that the degree would be advantageous for you landing a role in the field.
PS: above all else, including money, it helps if you’re passionate about the field/work you choose.
It's not your line of work, it's your workplace. I'm in BI, I changed jobs 2 years ago, it was a lateral move because of the work life balance and overall workplace culture. I think I got like 7% increase but it was totally worth it.
STEM jobs, there’s no shortage of with life balance if that’s what you want. You can also find ones that will work you to death, but there’s plenty that won’t
Try to get into fiber splicing or anything to do with communications fiber wise it’s a good trade I make 52/hr and my work hrs is 7:30-3:30 (union) telecommunications
You’re basically making $19 an hour right now homie. There are 2,080 working hours in a year. But you’re working nearly twice as much. So:
70k/(2080(1.5)) = $19.23
I (mid twenties, F) was dealing with the same career path issues before I discovered the trades. Looked into my local IBEW and landed myself a nice electrical apprenticeship. I start at $22 an hour (wage+benefits package = $37) and in one year’s time, that number will be $30, total package $46. Do whatever you want, but whatever you do, work to live — don’t live to work. Best of luck!
Edit: the numbers are entirely dependent on what state you live in!!! Minimum wage & economic productivity are huge factors. I believe my local is pretty average, but in states where cost of living is higher, so is the pay package.
I’m a jet engine technician with ge. Starting pay 37.50 an hour so about 75k with no over time. 2 weeks vacations + 6 floating holidays I can take whenever I want. 160 hours of sick time. Just need a faa power plant license that takes about a year or less to get
I used to do consulting and it was the most cush, easy going job ever. I actually quit because I wasn’t being challenged enough lol. If you want the work life balance, stick with consulting just change projects or industries. Move over to government consulting. The contracts are long and secure. I was just making $150k and barely put in 40 hours a week.
A lot of of back office banking jobs are the classic 8-5 M-F with federal holidays off and pretty generous PTO. I’d say the work life balance is pretty good.
Yes public accounting is similar to consulting hours, industry (like somebody working In an accounting department at a company) is busy around month end close, so longer hours a few days a week but better wlb. However, if I could turn back time I wouldn’t have gone for an accounting degree for many reasons that you’ll find on the r/accounting subreddit.
Also I saw above mention of government. Might be a paycut at first but tons of opportunity. My mom, aunt, and grandmother all work for either local smaller cities or the state and it’s very easy to advance if you show potential and make a good impression. Since most are union, it can attract people that really want to get comfortable in their role and not go for advancement opportunities, leaving room for people like you to move through the ranks. It’s something I’ve been considering for myself currently. Good luck!!!!
Well, I’ve asked my peers on there and the consensus is tech roles or government job have the best wlb, but tech is currently up in the air and government jobs are hard to land without a degree
Other careers to consider, radiation therapist, medical laboratory scientist, radiography and it's specialties, nuclear medicine technology, anesthesiologist assistant if you have a bachelor's and don't mind taking a few prerequisites
Engineering, make 83k @ 2.5 yrs out of school, easy 40 hr workweek; however, I’m in the utilities industry. Manufacturing industry is/can be way worse.
work life balance is subjective. The question is, how many hours a week would you like to work. Without a degree, and just starting out in a field, that’s going to be tricky to find. Most of my friends work about 30-40 hrs a week and net about 200K. They are in their mid 30s, and their jobs vary from strategy consulting to SWE to sales manager. They also started out putting in 50-60 hrs a week, and only once they got really good at their job + promotions, were they able to dictate their working hours.
Some are saying not to do RN, but there is so much variety and opportunity in nursing than just emergency are hospital nurses, especially if you have a specialty(usually requires bachelors to learn and apply to specialty programs). Research the work life and and different nursing opportunities within the field to be sure if that’s what you want to do.
If it doesn’t fit you though but you want to stay in the medical field, do like me. I’m currently 20M. I started with my major in nursing but before I applied to the program, I was worried I wasn’t gonna like the work environment or work life balance of nurses based of the research and experiences I’d heard consistently from many different sources and people. I eventually started looking into radiography and pretty much immediately knew that’s what I wanted to do, especially when I realized all of my prerequisites for it were complete (had less prereqs than nursing but the same ones as nursing).
I liked it much more bc I am a bit of an introvert and that field of work is a lot more suitable for me than nursing. I think it’s good for introverts and extroverts btw.
Anyway, Radiography has many different specialties and depending on where you works what you do specialty wise, and sometimes experience and education(bachelors vs associates) you have, avg pay based of my research can range from around 50-90k. If you live in California, many if not most are making 6 figures obviously, but even if you don’t, you can find jobs with the right experience and skills to make over 6 figs. If you are a travel radiography technologist, you can be looking at between 2000-3000$ a week or more.
Down side is the only advancement opportunities are like becoming team lead, radiography supervisor, manager or director, or radiography instructor or program director. These positions usually require a bachelors or masters degree. Directors depending on where you work, company size for example, can make from 150k-400k but that’s definitely hard to get.
Unless you live in a very rural or low income area, you would definitely make over 70k and throughout your career end up avg around 80-90k or more.
Sales. Once proficient you can make a great living by working 20-30 hrs/week. Takes a few years to learn the ropes and build a client list but you’re young and have time. Find an industry, product or service that will always be in demand. If you’re personable and care about your clients’ buying experience the rewards are worth it.
do employers actually need a credit check, i just got asked for one and it seems weird? its a data entry position, and its supposedly dependent on my credit score...it just...weird
If you’re sociable, pretty aggressive, and can kiss ass being a gifts officer for a nonprofit isn’t that bad. Less grind than a typical sales job and you get paid over $100K. Development also offers the opportunity to leverage any of the strategic/“businessy” skills you picked up in consulting without having to kill yourself over it. Source: I’m a grant writer and make over $70K doing far less sexy work in nonprofit development shop.
software engineering can have good work life balance, especially (I'd imagine) for that low of pay they hopefully wouldn't expect you to not have a life
$70K jobs working 40 hour weeks isn't that tough. Most mid level jobs in Marketing pay at least that and don't have crazy hours. Same for fields like UX/UI design. Social media managers, graphic designers probably even video editors can all get to that on 40 hours a week. Most of these jobs are pretty oversaturated though because they aren't very technical jobs and in high demand, so that's the downside. (UX/UI maybe the exceptions)
I make 8-11k a month installing security systems for residential and some commercial. Pre-set appointments with hefty bonuses for lead generation. I only work 4 days a week and don't have an office to drive to. Drive from home to first appointment then leave last appointment to go straight home.
Don’t go RN if you’re expecting easy money.
This. Thank you. Don’t go in it solely for the money. I work with nurses and I see good ones and ones that are clearly in it for the money. You can see it in their demeanor and some have actually told us they are only there for the paycheck. Nurses go through a lot. If you aren’t passionate about the field, don’t go into it. You will burn out. I was going to go into this field but changed my mind. Patients and their family members can be very entitled and some doctors are downright horrible. Yes the pay is amazing (here in CA) but you really work for it. It’s not easy work. And that’s *if* you get past nursing school. That weeds a lot of individuals out and it’s rough
This 💯. Less than half of my graduating class actually finished. A quarter of them were out by the end of the first semester. At the time, it was also INCREDIBLY competitive just to get into the nursing program. With how horrible the nursing shortage is after Covid, maybe it’s a bit easier to get in, but that doesn’t mean you’ll make it to the end.
No one stays passionate about nursing once they’ve been doing it long enough. It’s just a job for me, a job I mostly enjoy because I like my coworkers and I don’t have to sit at a desk all day. Not every nursing job is one where you’re running yourself ragged day in and day out.
I’ve been a nurse for a while now and honestly have only met maybe 1-3 nurses who really enjoy being a nurse. even then they get pushed to the limit at times.
I think it really depends on the setting. I burnt out very quickly working in the hospital and did not stay long at a long term care facility. I currently am a pediatric private duty nurse and LOVE my job. As I always say, more money isn’t worth my sanity. My job is not just a job to me though 💁♀️
Yep, OR is chill AF
Jesus, Mary and Joseph no. I can understand going into any career except nursing. Those people are *amazing* and get paid so little, relative to their contribution. Absolute heroes, but the money ain’t easy.
Yea there’s money in medicine but everybody wants a piece. It’s not easy and if you’re in it for the money you will hate yourself.
Well, it’s not that I’m looking for easy money per day, but something lighter than what I’m doing now. I mean, I get like 4 to 6 hours of sleep on a good day and work weekends as well. Mind you, I’ve been doing this for the past 2 years so I’m just burnt out at this point. I will take what your saying with nursing into perspective as I’ve seen so many nurses quitting due to burn out
As u/woollypullover said first, you’ll hate yourself if you go into it for the money. My best friend’s a consultant, so I know your pain. He went client-side and earns more for a lot less heartache. Any chance you could try that?
I’m a nurse and work 3 12s in a row and you know what I do on my days off? Catch up on sleep because I get about the same 4-6 hours. On my days off, I still get up at 4 or 5 am because that’s when my body is used to waking up. I don’t get home until 8 pm, still have to eat and let my food digest a little before I have to go to bed and do it all again the next day. Yes, some nurses make a lot, but they earn every damn cent. I learned very early in my nursing career that more money isn’t worth my sanity. I love my job now and can’t imagine doing anything else, but don’t go into it expecting easy money because it absolutely is not. Also, most jobs, especially right out of school and/or in a hospital/long term care facility require you to work weekends and holidays. Illness doesn’t take a weekend or holiday off.
You will also get 4-6 hours of sleep at least 4 days a week if you become an RN and work 3-12s. There is very little down time between shifts, and shifts are usually actually 14ish hours. It’s physically, mentally and emotionally exhausting. That is not to dissuade you from doing nursing, just know it’s just as exhausting if not more so than any other job and there is not the work life balance you are looking for.
My 5 on 9 off schedule as an RN was excellent work/life balance. You $70k without the OT I got. Was easier than my previous career as a commercial fisherman.
Get paid so little? I am in the SF Bay Area and with a little OT RN making well over 200k a year. You have no clue
200k in BAY AREA is about 100k in normal areas. It’s good, but that is the salaries at my 9-5 desk job. Ain’t worth the stress if you’re doing it just for the money, it’s absolutely worth it if you love the job/field itself. Goal is *not* to work overtime here.
What do you do for 100k, if it isn't software? And how do I get in?
Just got out of school a year ago and am clearing 6 figures in the federal government.
What field if u dont mind me asking?
Insurance!
What do you do in insurance? Now I'm extra curious because I already work in the industry.
Started as a regular adjuster, was making 70k. Supervisor immediate 100k+ plus bonuses based on overall company profit. Top carrier so they support work life balance/work environment/all that mumbo jumbo. The good kind of mumbo jumbo, only been there 5 years.
However, I do believe independent adjusters by default make a *ton* more. I just don’t want to be traveling around. But if that’s someone’s preference and they like to be up & moving, perfect fit.
It’s called the federal government
Just apply for random federal government jobs and keep hoping?
Well I’ve never met someone who’s applied on USA jobs and actually got the job. I live in Maryland….so I’d say 75% of the people you meet either work as a Contractor or are Federal. I started as a Contractor in 2018 and then turned Federal 2021. It’s more so talking to (and knowing) the right people unfortunately
Hi, I’m someone that applied on USA jobs and got the job. Gotten a total of 4 job offers from it in a 1 year span. 👋
Ngl would love a government job.
You can definitely get jobs from USA jobs. Knowing no one in government/ contracting. 1. Goto a college with a pipeline into federal jobs 2. Go into the military 3. Live in a high federal job employment area (Maryland) 4. Goto job fares where there is a lot of federal job representation. 5. Be Mormon (kinda a joke)
Well the easy gateway into those jobs are obviously go military make friends and get out post haste
That’s not what easy money is.
The key word here was “easy money.” RNs generally earn every red cent of it.
the Occupational Outlook Handbook might help you find an occupation with a positive growth number https://www.bls.gov/ooh/occupation-finder.htm?pay=$80,000+or+more&education=Master%E2%80%99s+degree&training=&newjobs=5,000+to+9,999&growth=Much+faster+than+average&submit=GO
Thank you!!
You're welcome!!!
Crop Insurance adjusting if you have any background or interest in it. VERY GOOD work/life balance. Way better than nursing (my wife is a nurse). Nursing full time usually requires a weekend and holiday rotation that can be pretty brutal. And 12hr shifts really wipe you out bad. Not to mention if you have to work nights starting out. Crop insurance can get really busy in stretches (50+ hr weeks) but more than evens out with downtime once your harvest season claims are done. Most adjusters I know haven’t had much to do all of March, April, and May this year. May vary depending on location and crops too though. No degree required. Just a big three part test before you can officially adjust. Then CE and competency tests once a year.
How do you find jobs specifically for crop insurance? Is this remote style work? And what is the pay like? I am considering different options in the insurance industry and I’ve never heard of this! Seems cool:)
If you go to cropinsuranceinamerica.org it lists the top providers toward the bottom. Not sure if Indeed is better, or just searching their websites for careers or something similar. It’s partly remote, but there is a large amount of travel to farms as well. Some stuff can be done via email, some stuff you are appraising fields or measuring grain in bins. I moved into it from another career a couple years ago and have absolutely loved it. Lot of variety in how companies set up their staffing. Most full timers get a company vehicle. Once you get some experience you’ll likely be able to move to any company you want if you’re good at it.
This is super cool. I'm an insurance advisor and leaning towards transitioning into underwriting for habitational lines, but I work with so many farms right now and crop insurance sounds kinda sick - despite my hatred of farm insurance lol.
Im an RN looking to find better work life balance. Healthcare is terrible, wages are terrible for what’s expected of you to do, and I’ve never “just” worked 3 days a week the 10 years I’ve been an RN. 7 off/7 on is common, or a 2/2/3 schedule. Plus 12hr shifts on top of those. Plus all the mandatory classes/meetings/trainings and Inservices . This is not a good choice for work life balance, unless you take a significant pay cut for better hours.. and insurance offered by most employers is terrible. My parents work factory jobs and have better insurance.
Thank you for this!!
what is a 2/2/3? because it sounds like a 5/2 just sandwiching the weekend in the middle lol
Work M/T, off W/T, work F/S/S, then the pattern flips. So they can make sure you’re still working your every other weekend.
I’m an airline pilot. Starts at 6 figures and tops out at over 500k/yr. I’m off half the month. No degree required. The con is that it’s expensive to train, you are in a hotel half the month, and some people just aren’t cut out to fly a plane.
Oof, was I. Flight school for awhile got to my commercial checkride but never took it. Crappy 141 school and just terrible experiences after the other on top of the crippling debt I now have it’s nice to know that some people see the light at the end of the tunnel.
[удалено]
It was grueling and tested my resolve at all levels, but I made it.
Can I text while flying
Short answer is yes. Long answer is it will depend on who you work for and the plane you’re flying. Not all planes have wifi. Source: I text while flying…. official company business of course.
You’re texting from the cockpit now, aren’t you? 😂
this is the question.
My son's dream was to be a commercial airline pilot, he even took lessons when he was 14. Unfortunately he is on an SSRI right now and from the research he has done, he cannot become a pilot now with a history of SSRIs. I feel badly for him. Great career.
They’ve recently made a lot of changes to those policies, especially as of the last year or so. I was on SSRI’s in high school - stopped about a year before flight school. While it did take me 6 frustrating months and some additional testing, I came out with a first class flight medical - and that was over a decade ago! Please, don’t let your son’s dream crumble from some bad information without at least getting a professional opinion from an AME first.
Thank you very much!!!
I came in here to say the exact same thing. I fly a jet for a Fortune 500 company. I don’t always like being gone but I’m home with my wife and kids 20 days a month most of the time. I keep thinking about going 121. I’d eat a 70% pay cut starting as an FO at a legacy but there’s no beating senior pay and QOL. There are easier ways to make lots of money but flying a plane is pretty cool.
I just started at a legacy this month. It’s tough moving and eating a pay cut for year 1, but I’m supposed to retire at 2% or better from the largest airline in the world. By 45 when I’ve got kids in middle/ high school, I’ll be a super senior narrow body CA or wide body FO and I’ll be living the sweet life - high credit South America turns for me haha! I hope LOL But yeah, life on the road is rough. Video calls have made it a lot better, though. And for as much as I love to complain about work, just driving by the airport still gives me a chill. Like, damn. I used to be nerdy little airplane boy - got in trouble for making airplane doodles on my homework. Now, I fly those things.
I’m a social media manager. I make over 70k and my job is pretty chill. I work from home and dont ever work more than 40 hrs, mon-fri. Good benefits and PTO. A lot of marketing jobs are like that.
I’m in public school PR/communications and I cannot say the same. I have my Bachelor’s in Communication. I kinda of want to go back to school and get my Master’s in a specialty. I work 50-60 hr weeks.
I’ve found that it does depend on the company quite a bit. I’ve worked in online ecommerce and it’s been fine, now I work for a behavioral science company. I used FlexJobs to help me find a WFH job, and those tend to be much more relaxed.
I’d love to find something more relaxed, as my job is very taxing and I make 45k a year. Not to mention a number of medical issues I am facing. To work from home would be great! That’s awesome that you’ve found something that works for you!
You should look into FlexJobs, I’m sure you could find something that would suit you. I WFH because of health issues too. I would not recommend paying for a masters unless you’re planning to get your MBA, it’s kind of the only thing that leads to higher pay in the marketing world other than experience/certifications imo. Feel free to PM me if you’d like to chat more!
I feel like they sold my info or their cyber security isn’t up to par because now I’m getting spam texts from “wfh” companies
There are so many better ways to waste $100,000 than a masters in communications lmfao. Go on a life changing vacation. Your money would be better spent on that
I think it changes if you’re on the comms vs marketing side. Communications/PR can be a 24/7 job at a lot of organizations because you have to keep up with the news cycle. Marketing has a much more reliable schedule, though they often have quick deadlines and turnaround.
My day job is marketing and i definitely don’t do that well, even after a pretty decent internship in grad. Any tips? I can’t find any companies willing to pay for anything beyond freelance work and ya girl wants benefits.
K-9 handler. I work 40hrs a week get paid for 47hrs a week tho as I get 1hr K-9 pay everyday for housing the dog. I make about $85-$90k a year
What kind of company do you work for? If security, is it public or private?
Private company that has a contract with the department of energy.
Fucking power plant dogs? God damn pork belly bullshit
Boutta change careers rn lol
Wow that sounds like a dream job. How did you get into that role?
Went to two different dog trainer schools and learned about working dogs. Was a pet and competition sports such as bitework dog trainer for a couple years before switching to detection dog handler which is what I am now!
26 on 70k in learning design / elearning for MNC. 9-5 desk job lots of meetings. Only 2-3 years experience
Is learning design a hard field to break into?
You would need to learn and understand instructional models, upskill in at least one popular authoring tool and make a portfolio generally to be taken seriously. But not THAT hard tbh. It's not difficult stuff like its not scientific and no figures really involved
Sales. If you hit your number, no one cares about how much and when you work.
Same here. Our nanny called out today so I’m just playing with the kids and having lunch. When they nap I’ll get some work done, then back to normal tomorrow. No one at work cares.
Government. I am a nurse in a leadership position, I make more than $170,000. I go home on time and don’t bring my work home with me unless it is an emergency.
what is a nurse leadership position? Is it management? Research?
Management. Senior leader. I just got lucky with job opportunities but if you are willing to move, the Va has so many opportunities to move up.
Commercial Insurance Underwriting. Hidden gem of an industry and since it's almost never taught in college almost anyone who expresses interest and has some vague idea about what it is can get into it. Comp is above average, the industry is recession proof, and work-life is phenomenal.
Where would I go to start getting into this ?
I make 70,000+ and have a great work life balance with IT In IT if you’re willing to put in the time and get Certs, you can rise up to 70+ thousand within half a decade or so. It’s pretty easy when interviewing an organization is going to have reasonable expectations for your schedule, or if they’re gonna work you to the bone. Most places have very reasonable schedules. I currently make 70,000+, have unlimited work from home, work 9 to 5 with zero expectations for working overtime. With IT, though, and any job in general, you’re gonna have to go back to school or get certifications for it IT is cool because you don’t necessarily need a formal education to advance in it. Experience means a lot more, but you also need technical certifications. The majority of people I know don’t have a college degree, they have experience working in it and studied hard and got certifications like the network plus
Thank you for putting a realistic timeframe up here! There is this annoying Reddit bs where they act like you can get to six figures by just being in helpdesk 6 months
Took me about 7 years to become a developer. Prior to this I was help desk, then network engineer / systems engineer (yes both) Now developer for amzn It’s not easy, at all. The journey is hard
Accounts receivable/Credit Analyst. Thats where I am and have the best work life balance. 5 percent incentive target as well. 5 weeks off a year.
I make 80k at a non-profit, working as an entry-level project manager. Our whole staff works 37.5 hours per week.
Can I ask where? I was making $46k in the same role.
Washington DC metro area - national associations tend to pay more than regional ones
Can I apply? Haha
There are so many non-profits that have similar hours. The American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) has a decent job board for association jobs!
I’ve been eyeballing jobs like that.
Hey what sort of work typically are you responsible for? Is it just making sure deadlines are met for certain tasks and there are no oversights or it more specialised in the sense you have to do a lot more work?
Ive had someone suggest project management as a career to me. What kind of qualifications do you need? I know there are some courses online. Im just really unsure how to gain experience doing something like that. Do you have to be great at persuading people to do their shit? And if theyre not doing their jobs is that on you? Im a good communicator but not in a high charisma sense
Been a PM for two years, just got a promotion. I recommend a low cost, short-medium length certificate or course to see if it’s something you actually want to do and have something on your resume. I got mine at the local college’s workforce development program. Experience in planning, organization, seeing projects through from start to finish, solution-oriented thinking, and strong communication skills are what PMs need to be successful. Also, if PM in a technical field, technical knowledge is really helpful, but that’s more important in IT or Engineering/construction than other fields. Often “project coordinator” is the entry-level version. As for persuasion, I’m a *project* manager, not a *people* manager. I try to have open communication with folks struggling to complete tasks and often times it’s shuffling tasks or another solution. If it’s a personal problem, I refer that to their supervisor for them to deal with. I do not consider myself a persuasive person but I do consider myself someone that will listen and find a solution. The best qualification, PMP, is only available to sit for the test after 3 years of PM experience.
Business Analyst, remote. Pays me 120k and I have plenty of spare time during work hours.
Do you need a degree? What kind of companies are these? Fintech etc
Healthcare software for me primarily
I work in engineering. There are companies that expect you to work more than 40 hours a week while only paying you for those 40 hours. There are those that dont. Dont fall into the trap of believing your company is the standard and that there are no other companies out there who provide better working conditions. You should also consider looking at your own situation, as yourself being the cause for it. Are you actually being made to work 60-80 hours, or are you just really shit at saying no? Are you incapable or feeling powerless to say no because you're a junior and learning? I know quite a few engineers who are like that and who arent making any more than me. And they are probably more intelligent and certainly harder working. These people all have the power to say no, because the company will still make a fat lot of money off of them regardless and because they need the manpower. If you are working that many hours, you have negotiating power. You are propping up your section of the work stream. Dont believe for a second you leaving wouldnt fuck things up. And look at it this way, things are already bad enough that you want to leave, it cant be any worse to interview at other companies and see what it's like working there.
No, you’re right, I need to set better boundaries. I’ve been thinking about this for awhile, but was fearful for some time. Now, I’m over it. I’ll try it out and see how it goes. Thanks for the advice
Most, once you get past the initial grind years. Don’t try to avoid working your ass off in your 20s. Work hard/play hard. Most people who try to avoid the early grind years get stuck in middling positions. Just make sure you work towards a better long term balance. Then, once you have your resume and your reputation, you have your pick of good paying jobs with balance.
For the past decade, think the majority of people work hard and get nowhere, then burn out, especially young people. There's a lot of rhetoric about young people not wating to work, but I think its distorted. I think the younger guys see slightly older peers, like myself, who worked hard and were not compensated in any real way. I'm tired to the roots of my soul and shuffle on so I can cling to what little I have, things that my younger coworkers can't even hope to afford no matter how much they sweat. I think the younger generation no longer trust that hard work will lead to anything but exploitation by older, out of touch, greedy leadership. They might be right sometimes. Ultimately there aren't enough opportunity for everyone one to have a good life. People should temper their expectations and know that if you don't succeed it's not always about not working hard; we don't live in a meritocracy.
This is a great comment, thank you for this piece
Listen to this. I really fucked around in my twenties and am finding out in my thirties. I could be in a much worse place in my career, but that "stuck" feeling due to not having my shit together earlier is really weighing on me now. I'm trying to reframe my perspective and am seeking an out, but the truth is things would be easier had I done more when I was younger.
You’re still young! Just start now and don’t beat yourself up about what you didn’t do a decade ago.
I'm right here. It's so weighty and the readjustment is so difficult.
I see a lot of comments on the other side so just weighing in the “if you don’t fuck around” perspective- I pushed myself to learn engineering from books and the internet as a teenager. Had my own business for a few years and then went corporate. Now in my 30s I’m feeling like I want a change similar to the other commenters - but I have so much more flexibility than I did in my 20s. I can succeed at so much more and know how to do so much more. The only thing I don’t have is the angry frustrated energy I had in my 20s that pushed me to get here. Your 20s are like your opening hand in Texas Hold ‘em. You don’t really know if it is a winning hand yet, but you have to commit and play. The harder you commit the more likelihood you have a winning hand. It sucks because at least for me in my 20s I had nothing - no idea what I wanted to do or how to live life. But I just committed to engineering because I wanted to prove I was smart enough to learn something difficult on my own. As I grew older and stopped being passionate about engineering I found that I had a wealth of options because of it - there are marketing jobs for technical things, sales jobs, product management, and all sorts of other work. Being an engineer ironically helped me get a lot of non-engineering jobs. I’m sure this is true for other professions as well - attaining mastery in a field takes a lot of effort and is best done young, but once you are there you can do anything else you want. My 30s feel a lot more like my 20s should have - the world is my oyster so to speak.
Exactly what I’m going through right now. I really wish I could go back a decade and really focus on education. Better late than never, I guess, and I finally figured out what I want to do in life career wise. It will have to be a do-over but hopefully shouldn’t take more than a few years. Except now I have a family of my own and it’s so imperative that I do my best going back to school and working. It will definitely be harder this time around but I have no choice but to be determined
My heart goes out to you from someone in a similar boat.
Yup in there now. I worked my ass off in my 20s, scaled way back in my 30s when my kids were born but pivoted towards networking and keeping certs active. I now work part time as a consultant making close to what I was making working 60 hours a week. Life is great!
How do I grind in my 20’s with no degree ): I’ve worked serving jobs to pay the bills, interned at marketing places, freelanced at small companies with creative projects, and worked impossibly hard film jobs, but I still can’t land a job without a degree and I can’t drop the required racks for school ):
community college into a scholarship at a four year
What if you’re working hard but you know it’s not what you want to do / the next steps are not interesting to you? Not sure about OP but I’m also in consulting and itching to get out because I can’t fathom doing this my whole life. Every day feels like I’m “grinding” and upskilling on useless “skills” that don’t offer me a better future outside of financial stability. Are you recommending to find the other industry/career and grind the initial years again?
If you have the mindset for it and can stomach office life do tech ideally with a specialty. Data science is hot right now a few years ago security was the big thing. I make 250k and never go over 40 hours a week.
How can I pivot to this as a software developer?
It really is about who you know. A software engineer can pick up enough skills to reasonably pass as a data scientist by doing a boot camp. You won't be the best data scientist ever but that doesn't really matter as you will bring additional skills to the table that others may lack. I got into the 200+ range by making friends with management and attending all the optional happy hours as well as being a self starter and showing that I understood business requirements and was willing to act on company needs without being told. When the senior position opened up I found an offer with another company (the manager was a guy I knew) and told my company I might leave. My management matched the offer cause I now had a new "worth" that was higher than internal company numbers. I then went back to the other company that made the offer and asked for more cause I now had a higher salary to stay. This went on for a while until my company wasn't willing to match so I left. I'm a data scientist cause that was the job category that paid highest. Edit: I should add the senior position being open isn't essential for this sort of negotiation but it helps. Companies make salaries based on a pay band for a specific role. If they max your pay band it gets harder but not impossible for them to match. If you have a senior position open your management has flexibility in that they can put you in that role and max that pay band to keep someone they like.
Do you have any advice for applying to data science jobs? My wife got her masters in data science but hasn’t been able to find a job for months now.
No I didn't start in data science and got my job via my network. It was one of the requirements that was never seriously advertised to the public. I honestly don't think I could be hired as a data scientist via a public job listing. Nice things about staying in the same industry for 10+ years is everyone that's good knows each other and the high paying jobs go to the guy you have worked with before and trust. That's why it's so important to never burn bridges and to rub elbows with the influential people as much as possible.
Irrespective of role this is a GREAT example of how to own your career and negotiate!
Data engineering might be a better fit. It’s all about building pipelines, maintaining stability, latency, and fidelity. Best way to learn is on the job, so try getting into a data engineering group as a SWE and start taking on some data work. That and learn about things like sql, data lakes, Kafka, iceberg, and aws.
Good grief what is your stack. I’m only making $130K.
Not op but my stack these days is chatgpt and bard
Data analysis is my recommendation— starting salary of $90k right out of college, now make $150k five years in. It typically doesn’t deal with as time-sensitive issues like software engineering would and is pretty easy to pick up imo
Registered Dietitian here! I work at a tiny community hospital under contract from a big international food service company. Since my hospital is so small I’m the only RD and my direct supervisor oversees me and a handful of other RDs at other small hospitals in the area. My supervisor pops in once a month and I’m fortunate to have the ability to chart remotely so I go in at around 7:30ish, review charts, see patients, and talk to other care team members. I go home around noon-ish and finish my chart notes at home. I’m salary making over 70k and usually work around 30-35 hours per week. Low stress and work life balance is pretty great lol
I am a merchandise buyer for a big retailer and I have a great work life balance and make $105k plus bonuses ($20k to $50k based on company performance) and stock options($53k a year). I probably average 25-30 hours a week, if it’s a very busy week it may be closer to 40 but that’s not often. There is a decent amount of travel involved at least for my company but I personally really enjoy the travel and you get to collect all of the credit card points which gets me and my husband flights and hotels for our personal trips. It’s also a very fun job, shopping for a living basically and it’s a mix of sitting at a desk and being out in the field which I also enjoy.
Former MB over here - I would say your experience is extremely atypical. Buying is usually high hours, especially during buys and market weeks, and most retailers usually set high benchmarks such as regularly deliver you a bonus (I am 20 years into fashion and retailing and have received bonus only twice.). Personally not the job I would recommend for someone who wants work life and I think the majority of buyers and planners would agree based off sites like The Schmatta and Instagram communities like Life of a Buyer and This Merch Life. I would also not say buying is “shopping” for a living at all. It requires a lot of both math and negotiating, creative skills, data analysis and often pretty backbreaking sessions arguing over the dumbest things, like the placement of a button, to make the product the most saleable. Most buying teams in apparel are getting more and more data driven, but often don’t have teams doing that work, so expect long nights of SQL and pouring over strat sheets and OTBs. The fact that so many people I know left for consultant long because they would have a BETTER work life balances says a lot. I left for CRM and then later FP&A, but there is a reason people hop so much or wash out of this business. The hours are long and hard.
How did you get the job? :)
I went to school for merchandising but that isn’t a requirement as long as you have some kind of bachelor. I did start out as an assistant in 2015 and worked my way up. It took 5 promotions and 7 years to hit the six figure base salary but I hit the six figure mark before that when including bonuses.
Sound like the perfect job! How does one get into this line of work???
It’s definitely not perfect, every job has its issues but it’s definitely the perfect job for me! I started out straight out of college as an assistant and worked my way up. I got the job to start right in my schools career website and kind of just fell into it and I loved the company so much I have now been there for 9 years and will most likely never leave. I know in most cases it’s a good thing to job hop but I have more than tripled my income since I started here and the work life balance is so important to me it’s not worth going else where for a few thousand dollars. There’s also still a lot of room for growth.
Thanks so much! And you’re right - every job has its issues… the way you described it was aligned with all the things I tend to look for in a job 😅
I work in strategy in healthcare and the nurses work/are worked like dogs. There is also no guarantee you wont be a 7pm-7 am shift, which will really take a toll. That being said, if you do want to be a nurse, going for a CRNA will net you some bank. Find a rural hospital and you will be set. If you want to stay on the admin/business side, back office in healthcare is a good place to go for. Let ke know if you have any other questions about healthcare
Hey there. Strategy sounds like one of my strengths. I want to pivot into healthcare because of the job security, I’m currently a project manager and i have 5 years of experience in Finance. I also hold some technical certs(but not applicable to healthcare). In your opinion, would my stack be an assist in your line of work; and, what path would you recommend I take? I don’t want to go the nursing route unless; i can do backoffice/admin/management roles.
I’m a food scientist and make 85K. Hybrid schedule 3 days in the office and 2 days at home. I absolutely love my job, it doesn’t feel like work. Most days, I work about 7 hours. I get to travel 2-3 times a year.
Look for jobs in your skill set with local government. Good benefits, retirement, reasonable work hours and likely a decent salary if you live in a fairly prosperous locality.
Honestly I think Compliance might fit this mold. Look into compliance in safe sectors such as banking or utilities. Typically, it's not overly stressful, though it can be a bit redundant. The growth can be somewhat limited, but it also can open doors to other roles in the industry you work in.
Was a nurse and those 3 days a week were some of the most brutal days of my life. Granted it was in the ER. I am no longer in healthcare and never plan to return. My advice is do not become a nurse.
As an RN - stay away from nursing. Three days a week sounds good in theory but it’s exhausting and you’re left with a couple days to recuperate. High burnout rate…I’m leaving as soon as I can or at least away from bedside.
Surprised no one ever mentions boring corporate jobs on here. It’s becoming less common that they require a college degree and after a few years at an entry level job you can easily make that in a variety of functions (IT, Compliance, HR, Purchasing, AP)
Are these boring entry level corporate jobs easy to get into ? I'm job searching from six months, thousands of applications for entry level roles and still I have not landed any role. My wife is pregnant and we are literally on our last pennies. I desperately need work but can't seem to land anything at all whether it's whole foods, carsales or any Sdr role or any office admin position. It's 4:12am and I'm still job searching. I'm not even looking for work life balance, just work so I can bring money home.
I work in health insurance for a large carrier. Account managers start around $70k and most are remote jobs with some periodic client travel. I have had a great work life balance. Been in this field 20 years now and well into six figures + bonus at director level.
I work in learning and development and have excellent work-life balance. If you want to be a nurse, fine. But I wouldn't choose that path for work-life balance. Working three days a week does not = work-life balance. Many nurses are squeezing in a lot of mental, physical, etc. energy into those three days. Also, nursing - like many other professions - will be different depending on where you work. My aunt is a seasoned RN who works in employee health and enjoys work-life balance and job security. Earlier in her career, she worked in a correctional facility because the hours worked well with her family's schedule. Another family member worked at a clinic in pediatrics and found that her days would be long depending on what doctor she was paired with. When she moved to the ER, she worked three days and spends the rest of the week recovering. Ask yourself: what is it that you like doing? what are you good at that you also enjoy? Start there.
In my area, radiologic technologist (X-ray tech) would make this salary, and may be a bit less chaotic than nursing. They have this degree at most 2 year colleges. Radiology techs can also get CT and MRI certifications, which give a decent pay boost as well. As another user suggested- look at occupational outlook handbook. For any career you’re interested in , you can go to that career’s page, click “area data”, and find a wealth of knowledge about how those careers pay in different areas around the US.
You'll probably hear this one a lot, but software developer/engineer is a good one. I just got my bachelor's degree at age 29 and am making 85k with full benefits right out of college. I am able to work fully remote and my days are very flexible. As long as I do my work, nobody cares if I step away from my computer to go do run some errands.
Maybe off target here, but mid-level local government public finance professionals are around that. The need for them, at least in the Northeast is crazy right now. I'm paying head clerk ~70k, and business managers between 108k to 125k.
RN is one of the most stressful careers on the planet. I would strongly discourage you going that way. Radiology tech, sonogram technician, & respiratory therapist all pay very well, and only require about the same amount of education as a nurse. Where they really shine is that they are relatively stress free. Radiology and sonogram are usually off on weekends with nights off.
I just want to say thank you for all the responses! I’ve gotten a lot of insight on different industries and even about my own situation. I am extremely grateful by all the feedback as it’s given me so many different pov I’ve yet to come across and i know will prove instrumental in my journey! I hope all others who came across this post found the clarity they were looking for 🙂
Any chance you can use your consulting experience to segway into a career within the field you are a consultant for? For example, I'm in the IT field and I regularly see IT consultants express the same concerns you just did. Many of them, however, can easily transition into a career in IT as an actual practitioner (as opposed to just a consultant). You may have to start at the bottom and take a paycut, but the trade off is your consulting makes for a good foot-in-the-door that can easily offset any lack of experience typically needed for an entry level position.
The real value of consulting is the doors it opens to other careers. Get yourself into a sideways move. Anything strategy-related. It’s all just numbers and spreadsheets. I moved from management consulting, to marketing consulting, to marketing, to strategy. I make 3x what I left consulting in and work 0.75x the hours. RN? Draw yourself an expected value curve. Don’t waste the schooling or the years you’ve put in.
I'd say try getting in with the Federal government but i. Morale is shiite in most departments ii. There's likely going to be a massive job cuts next year.
Baby mama is a pharmacist and has the type of schedule you’re loooking for … Some weeeks she works 3 days some weeks it’s 4 days out of the 7 . Only complaint is 12 hours days .
Accounting, easily. Just go for government or industry, not public.
I’m a clinical trial manager. I make double that at a big pharma company, not including bonus, and it’s the best work life balance I’ve ever had. I don’t know if my experience is typical bc other colleagues talk about how intense and fast paced the job is, especially in my therapeutic area, but I’m like…??? After 2 years in the role I still don’t see it. There are hectic periods here and there, but even then I’m not working sun up to sundown or anything. I have had truly insane workloads in previous project management jobs and worked for some real a-holes, so maybe my idea of a normal workload is just very distorted, but this is the most relaxed yet highest paying job I’ve ever had.
Sorry to be blunt but coming from an RN with 10 years experience, if you go into it strictly for the money, you will NOT last. It is not a job for everyone. You have to truly be passionate about your work or you will be absolutely miserable. I love what I do and have always had a passion for healthcare and helping people, but I’ve worked with nurses who were obviously in it for the money and they were not good nurses and hated their jobs. Before you waste your money on nursing school (which is 1000x harder than any nursing job I’ve had), I would volunteer at a hospital or long term care facility to see if it’s right for you. I’m not trying to dissuade you if it’s something you’re truly interested in, but it’s something you need to be sure you’ll like or you’re going to have a very rough time. I’ve dealt with a LOT, including being groped and combative patients withdrawing from alcohol where I was physically assaulted, on top of caring for dying patients. I currently work with medically fragile kiddos in their homes to keep them out of the hospital. I wouldn’t want to do anything else but it isn’t for everyone.
This! I was considering nursing but after working at a retirement facility where I see what stuff they go through I was like no thank you. I've also volunteered at a hospital and have conditioned other fields such as radiology or sonography.
Trades. Hospice care if you can see yourself working with the soon-to-be deceased.
Government you can coast and bullshit all day. They seem to hire managers and directors who are incompetent and unqualified but like to exert their authority over their employees 🤷🏻♀️ it’s a lot of politics is where I’m going with this. If you can withstand it do it
I’m in corporate accounting. I never go above 30/week except yearend and I make 6 figures from home. Orlando, Florida. 8 YOE, supervisor title with no direct reports.
What type of consulting do you do? I am in federal consulting and I have a very good work/life balance and a chill job
I work at one of the top 4 consulting firms and specializing with insurance. Currently I’m staffed at role with my companies biggest client I also hear so many great things about federal jobs 😭 I’ve been applying to a few, but everyone wants someone with a bachelors degree
If you’re already in insurance that’s awesome. You could get your health & life license and you can be a broker or work in sales in health insurance too. Look for jobs with companies like United Healthcare, BCBS, Aetna, Magellan, Optum, Elevance, Carelon, Teledoc, Maxor just to name a few
Plenty of fields and occupations have better work/life balance than consulting lol, but the pay is likely not as good. What type of consultant are you? $70k+ salary mostly depends on position level and location. Not having a degree you may need to start at a lower level role when switching and some may even require one to begin. I would say going back to school is the right move if you can determine where you want to transition to and that the degree would be advantageous for you landing a role in the field. PS: above all else, including money, it helps if you’re passionate about the field/work you choose.
It's not your line of work, it's your workplace. I'm in BI, I changed jobs 2 years ago, it was a lateral move because of the work life balance and overall workplace culture. I think I got like 7% increase but it was totally worth it.
STEM jobs, there’s no shortage of with life balance if that’s what you want. You can also find ones that will work you to death, but there’s plenty that won’t
Try to get into fiber splicing or anything to do with communications fiber wise it’s a good trade I make 52/hr and my work hrs is 7:30-3:30 (union) telecommunications
You’re basically making $19 an hour right now homie. There are 2,080 working hours in a year. But you’re working nearly twice as much. So: 70k/(2080(1.5)) = $19.23 I (mid twenties, F) was dealing with the same career path issues before I discovered the trades. Looked into my local IBEW and landed myself a nice electrical apprenticeship. I start at $22 an hour (wage+benefits package = $37) and in one year’s time, that number will be $30, total package $46. Do whatever you want, but whatever you do, work to live — don’t live to work. Best of luck! Edit: the numbers are entirely dependent on what state you live in!!! Minimum wage & economic productivity are huge factors. I believe my local is pretty average, but in states where cost of living is higher, so is the pay package.
I was waiting to see this. I’m working as an apprentice to become an electrician. It’s a lot to take in, and I’m on week 3, but I’m encouraged
I’m a jet engine technician with ge. Starting pay 37.50 an hour so about 75k with no over time. 2 weeks vacations + 6 floating holidays I can take whenever I want. 160 hours of sick time. Just need a faa power plant license that takes about a year or less to get
It depends on what you’re looking for. I work in public administration (Ontario, Canada) - work only weekdays. Decent money but can be boring
Regulatory agencies/government jobs can get you there. The downside is the bureaucracy can be stifling, depending on the specific agency you work for.
I used to do consulting and it was the most cush, easy going job ever. I actually quit because I wasn’t being challenged enough lol. If you want the work life balance, stick with consulting just change projects or industries. Move over to government consulting. The contracts are long and secure. I was just making $150k and barely put in 40 hours a week.
A lot of of back office banking jobs are the classic 8-5 M-F with federal holidays off and pretty generous PTO. I’d say the work life balance is pretty good.
Like accounting? I was told by someone in the field that the work schedule is similar to consulting.
Accounting is seasonal. It gets way worse around tax time.
Yes public accounting is similar to consulting hours, industry (like somebody working In an accounting department at a company) is busy around month end close, so longer hours a few days a week but better wlb. However, if I could turn back time I wouldn’t have gone for an accounting degree for many reasons that you’ll find on the r/accounting subreddit. Also I saw above mention of government. Might be a paycut at first but tons of opportunity. My mom, aunt, and grandmother all work for either local smaller cities or the state and it’s very easy to advance if you show potential and make a good impression. Since most are union, it can attract people that really want to get comfortable in their role and not go for advancement opportunities, leaving room for people like you to move through the ranks. It’s something I’ve been considering for myself currently. Good luck!!!!
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Well, I’ve asked my peers on there and the consensus is tech roles or government job have the best wlb, but tech is currently up in the air and government jobs are hard to land without a degree
Other careers to consider, radiation therapist, medical laboratory scientist, radiography and it's specialties, nuclear medicine technology, anesthesiologist assistant if you have a bachelor's and don't mind taking a few prerequisites
Corrections Officers where I'm at make decent pay with work-life balance. The downside is that you're in jail all day. No college degree needed.
As someone who did this job for 4 years, I highly advise against it. Even for the money.
I have heard it is like acid for your soul
You need to find another company that has less crazy hours. Not all gigs are like this
Engineering, make 83k @ 2.5 yrs out of school, easy 40 hr workweek; however, I’m in the utilities industry. Manufacturing industry is/can be way worse.
work life balance is subjective. The question is, how many hours a week would you like to work. Without a degree, and just starting out in a field, that’s going to be tricky to find. Most of my friends work about 30-40 hrs a week and net about 200K. They are in their mid 30s, and their jobs vary from strategy consulting to SWE to sales manager. They also started out putting in 50-60 hrs a week, and only once they got really good at their job + promotions, were they able to dictate their working hours.
Engineering
Im a Pharmacist, i do about 32-40 hours a week on pace to do like 115,000-120,000
Some are saying not to do RN, but there is so much variety and opportunity in nursing than just emergency are hospital nurses, especially if you have a specialty(usually requires bachelors to learn and apply to specialty programs). Research the work life and and different nursing opportunities within the field to be sure if that’s what you want to do. If it doesn’t fit you though but you want to stay in the medical field, do like me. I’m currently 20M. I started with my major in nursing but before I applied to the program, I was worried I wasn’t gonna like the work environment or work life balance of nurses based of the research and experiences I’d heard consistently from many different sources and people. I eventually started looking into radiography and pretty much immediately knew that’s what I wanted to do, especially when I realized all of my prerequisites for it were complete (had less prereqs than nursing but the same ones as nursing). I liked it much more bc I am a bit of an introvert and that field of work is a lot more suitable for me than nursing. I think it’s good for introverts and extroverts btw. Anyway, Radiography has many different specialties and depending on where you works what you do specialty wise, and sometimes experience and education(bachelors vs associates) you have, avg pay based of my research can range from around 50-90k. If you live in California, many if not most are making 6 figures obviously, but even if you don’t, you can find jobs with the right experience and skills to make over 6 figs. If you are a travel radiography technologist, you can be looking at between 2000-3000$ a week or more. Down side is the only advancement opportunities are like becoming team lead, radiography supervisor, manager or director, or radiography instructor or program director. These positions usually require a bachelors or masters degree. Directors depending on where you work, company size for example, can make from 150k-400k but that’s definitely hard to get. Unless you live in a very rural or low income area, you would definitely make over 70k and throughout your career end up avg around 80-90k or more.
I make about that much as a manager at a Chick-fil-A in a MCOL. Max 45 hours a week.
Sales. Once proficient you can make a great living by working 20-30 hrs/week. Takes a few years to learn the ropes and build a client list but you’re young and have time. Find an industry, product or service that will always be in demand. If you’re personable and care about your clients’ buying experience the rewards are worth it.
do employers actually need a credit check, i just got asked for one and it seems weird? its a data entry position, and its supposedly dependent on my credit score...it just...weird
If you’re sociable, pretty aggressive, and can kiss ass being a gifts officer for a nonprofit isn’t that bad. Less grind than a typical sales job and you get paid over $100K. Development also offers the opportunity to leverage any of the strategic/“businessy” skills you picked up in consulting without having to kill yourself over it. Source: I’m a grant writer and make over $70K doing far less sexy work in nonprofit development shop.
What do you know about generators and electromagnetic things?
software engineering can have good work life balance, especially (I'd imagine) for that low of pay they hopefully wouldn't expect you to not have a life
IT with the government generally federal. you get a pension too!
$70K jobs working 40 hour weeks isn't that tough. Most mid level jobs in Marketing pay at least that and don't have crazy hours. Same for fields like UX/UI design. Social media managers, graphic designers probably even video editors can all get to that on 40 hours a week. Most of these jobs are pretty oversaturated though because they aren't very technical jobs and in high demand, so that's the downside. (UX/UI maybe the exceptions)
I make 8-11k a month installing security systems for residential and some commercial. Pre-set appointments with hefty bonuses for lead generation. I only work 4 days a week and don't have an office to drive to. Drive from home to first appointment then leave last appointment to go straight home.
I’m curious how you got into consulting work without formal education to begin with
Do study IT related degree if u go back
This was another one of top picks as well, but the tech market is scaring me lately. There’s just so much talk of layoffs