The nation’s unemployment rate has reached 5.5%, a half-percent increase from last month, which is the largest increase in 2 decades. If you are “between gigs” or simply looking to upgrade, CNN Money in partnership with Careerbuilder, has put together a list of 10 jobs that pay $20 an hour or more. Check out the list, inside…
1. Gaming supervisors — $20.38/ hour*
Gaming supervisors watch over assigned areas in casinos and gaming facilities to make sure that all gaming stations are covered and gamblers are following the rules.Annual salary: $42,390*
Growth through 2016: 23 percent
Industry: Personal care and services
2. Health educators — $21.81/hour
Health educators encourage people and communities to live healthy lifestyles by teaching them about healthy behaviors and how to prevent diseases.Annual salary: $45,370
Growth through 2016: 26 percent
Industry: Community and social services
3. Subway and streetcar operators — $22.20/hour
Subway and streetcar operators control or drive trains, electric-powered streetcars, trolleys or light-rails that transport passengers through cities, suburbs and metropolitan areas.Annual salary: $46,180
Growth through 2016: 12 percent
Industry: Transportation and materials moving
4. Respiratory therapists — $23.37/hour
Respiratory therapists practice under a physician’s supervision to treat patients with breathing or other cardiopulmonary disorders.Annual salary: $48,610
Growth through 2016: 23 percent
Industry: Health care practitioner and technicians
5. Curators — $24.03/hour
Curators manage museums, zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens, nature centers and historic sites. They direct collections storage and exhibitions, including negotiating and authorizing the purchase, sale, exchange or loan of collections.Annual salary: $49,980
Growth through 2016: 23 percent
Industry: Education, training and library occupations6. Cartographers and photogrammetrists — $25.29/hour
Cartographers and photogrammetrists analyze and map geographic data provided by surveys, satellite information and photographs.Annual salary: $52,600
Growth through 2016: 20 percent
Industry: Architecture and engineering
7. Multimedia artists and animators — $27.90/hour
Multimedia artists and animators create special effects, animation or other visual images seen in movies, television programs and computer games.Annual salary: $58,030
Growth through 2016: 26 percent
Industry: Arts, design, entertainment, sports and media
8. Arbitrators, mediators and reconcilers — $28.27/hour
Arbitrators, mediators and reconcilers decide or recommend resolutions, penalties and liabilities on claims regarding legal matters.Annual salary: $58,790
Growth through 2016: 11 percent
Industry: Legal9. Urban and regional planners – $28.33/hour
Urban and regional planners develop plans and programs for land use and physical facilities in towns, cities, counties and metropolitan areas.Annual salary: $58,940
Growth through 2016: 15 percent
Industry: Life, physical and social sciences10. Loan officers — $29.77/hour
Loan officers approve various types of credit loans and advise borrowers on financial status and methods of payments.Annual salary: $61,930
Growth through 2016: 11 percent
Industry: Business and financial operations*All wages and salaries are mean averages provided by the BLS
For even more $20 an hour jobs check out CNN Money’s full article.
Ten jobs that pay $20 an hour [CNN Money]
(Photo: Getty)
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Ugh depressing.
BRB QUITTING MY JOB
Somewhat deceptive article-those are not entry-level salaries..and people swithcing to such jobs form unrelated fields are not likely to make that kind of dough right off the bat. Further, several of them require degrees in that or a related field (e.g. you can’t be an urban planner with a degree in english lit.)
What about Computer programmer? 90% of the people in the field cant program. But get a 6 month contract, and you’ll get a nice paycheck for 6 months until the project is due and you have nothing.
Loan Officer…. ummmm….
really, aren’t they laying off crap loads of people right now
Um, sorry, but I don’t think ANY of those are for people “between gigs.” Let’s see…I just lost my job. I think I’ll become a RESPIRATORY THERAPIST? Come ON! I imagine it takes quite a while to work up to most of these positions and salaries as well.
I’m an intern and I make $20/hr
7. Multimedia artists and animators – $27.90/hour…
Annual salary: $58,030
I think CNN got their shit mixed up. I’ve worked 3 entry level animation gigs (one television program) in the past 3 years, and they all pay around 30-40 grand MAX.
So, I thought my job was too weird and overspecialized to qualify, but some of this stuff is even weirder. Plus, mine isn’t evil, like arbitrators or loan officers.
So without further delay:
Government scientific contractor – $27/hr.
Performs various laboratory and field work for government regulatory agencies, including biological assays, sample preparation, and chemical preparation. Analyzes and organizes data using common database and spreadsheet software.
Requirement: Bachelor’s degree in science, some require graduate student or recent graduate degree
What? They’re still hiring loan officers? Seriously? You’d think there would be more than enough them out-of-work that submitting a resume would be a waste of postage.
High school teacher in Canada – $40/hour.
Uhh… thanks for the bogus list, most of these require at least a bachelors degree, if not a masters to ACTUALLY get the job. Uhh, curators… sure would like it if I could actually get that job, even with the masters degrees I have… a list of jobs that don’t require library degrees or ones in geography would be a lot more useful.
@Captain_Collide:
Yep. While as a freelance animator I was making $20/hour on average, when I finally got the offer to be hired on full time it was a $36.6K a year. Really, REALLY disappointing… specially given I was animating for the pharmaceutical industry.
I actually stopped animating and doing graphic design as a profession because it didn’t pay jack, and the areas that required that skill-set have a ginormous cost of living. There’s just no way I could compete with outsourced Korean labor, and the companies which most companies which the companies were turning to more and more. I instead turned to my fallback career as an IT tech and make far, far more money now than I ever did as an art guy.
Out of all the animation jobs I’ve had I got paid an average of about $39K. And one of the positions I was lead animator, too… so, uh, yeah. Not entry level at all. Of the other animators I know, most are making high 30′s to low 40′s. Guys out from Chicago, NYC and Florida.
So… yeah. I seriously ponder authenticity of those numbers. As a former professional in the industry I call shenanigans on those figures.
@swedelibrarian: It’s not their list, it’s CNN’s bogus list.
@Steaming Pile: Most of those jobs are commission only, and if they do pay a salary its minimal (2k or so), so they are still hiring. Just no one is making any money.
approx. $80 an hour –> A shipboard engineer
Entry level salaries are near $100,000 a year, and you only work 6 months out of the year.
Mind you it is a little dangerous, and you are out at sea with usually only 10 to 15 other people whom you will most likely not see that often (unless you really wanted to). Not all companies offer this, and you have to get a license, but it isn’t that bad. I will have this opportunity because I attend the Texas Maritime Academy at Texas A&M University at Galveston.
Top salary lists NEVER include anything from the maritime fields.
If you work in the bridge, and after several years, you can make Captain and earn $250,000 or more a year. (Something like that, but it’s definitely alot.)
Why not just throw “surgeon” and “President of the USA” in there too? You know, in case anyone just has a spare medical degree or is slightly mentally impaired and wants a summer job.
@Bladefist: So true… then there’s people like me who are looking for programming work and still can’t find anything. I’m too honest about my capabilities. I should bullshit an MCSD and cash on some chump.
@wallapuctus: Ya, well I hear on the radio all the time: “The average programmer makes 70,000 a year, and all you need is 6 months of weekend classes”
My ass.
@loganmo:
Respiratory therapists can get a two year degree, board certification and come out making that salary. Don’t need benefits? Float as an on-call and make double.
Sadly, my four year BA wasn’t this helpful, so I’m back in school for an associate’s degree… (I’m really tired of the office environment, I realize I could do my masters in the same period of time.)
Ugh, these lists are always depressing. Especially when public transportation jobs are on the list. For example, a SEPTA bus driver can make $20.57-22.84/hr on a high school diploma. These are some of the surliest, worst drivers around AND they get full health benefits. Makes me wonder why I’m going to grad school.
$20/hr doesn’t go too far in Chicago/New York/L.A/S.F
the article says gas station pump operators make $21.52/hr
im in the wrong industry
@Bladefist: Did you go to school for computer science?
@swedelibrarian:
I agree. This like most “tips” from media outlets is worthless. Thank God for CNN to tell me that I can make a lot of money if I just obtain a MS in a certain field.
@cashmerewhore: Resp. therapist and nuke med techs. Both are 2 year degrees and pay decent. Nuke med was paying $60g a year in lower paying cities.
The one I would run screaming from is pharmacy tech. The local tech school is churning out some of the dumbest people as pharmacy techs. The local pharmacies let them all do their internships at the end of their school. Over half of them have no business being a greeter at Walmart let alone a pharmacy tech. Since there is a steady pool of mouth breathing morons for the pharmacy tech jobs my guess it that it pays crap.
@amodlin: Yes. But my school was all Java based, and I am an ERP Project manager/.Net programmer. So how much I use from school is debatable.
@Bladefist: Ah ok. School is Java based as well (University of Pittsburgh) but it seems like companies are hiring tons of students right out of school. None of my freidns have had trouble finding a decent job so far and Pitt isn’t exactly the best CS school.
@Bladefist: Actually, replace the word “average” with “non-idiot kid that BS’d his way into the job by lying on his resume and learned all his skills on his computer he got for xmas by himself and actually really only uses it mostly to play World of Warcraft and download porn” and its actually pretty true.
With a few certifications you can make more with a starting salary than someone who went to college for 6-8 years.
You may not like it, you may not believe it, but its true. I know that my last boss was extremely upset that he went to college for 6 years, got a masters degree in business, and I left to an entry level job making more than him by more than 20k.
@Bladefist: I’m trying to break into .Net right now. It didn’t exist when I was in college.
Is this serious? Good luck getting a job as a CURATOR of a museum in between gigs – after all you’re only competing with every person who ever graduated with an Art History degree.
@amodlin: I’ve heard that programmers rarely get raises. Apparently there’s a steady enough supply of recent CS graduates, so when you ask for a raise in 5 years, the company says “we can hire a fresh college grad for what you’re making now, so shut up or leave”.
@DashTheHand: I hear you. I actually have been using the computer for god, 15 years? I started programming on the mirc client. College was just a formality.
5. Curators – $24.03/hour
Curators manage museums, zoos, aquariums, botanical gardens, nature centers and historic sites. They direct collections storage and exhibitions, including negotiating and authorizing the purchase, sale, exchange or loan of collections.
Annual salary: $49,980
Growth through 2016: 23 percent
Industry: Education, training and library occupations
As everyone already stated…
This disgusts me. First, I have a MS in Museum Studies, and have been in the Museum field for 8 years. The Curator positions are so few and far between, and DEFINATLY not starting anywhere near $49,000…that for CNN to say this should be an ‘in-between gig’…I can’t even type correctly I am seeing so much red right now.
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
@loganmo: I guess much of the salary depends on what area you live in. My first impression when I looked at those salaries was that they all looked like entry-level. I certainly wouldn’t want to be making any of those salaries after 5 or 10 years — especially in a US major metropolitan area.
I took a weekend class to become a property manager. my first job paid $55,000. No college required
@Bladefist: So true. I was a CS major and hated programming and I am terrible at it.
Now I’m an IT/Phone Analyst and do more than $20 an hour.
Capitalism rocks!
They did not consider paid time off. They used 2080 working hours (52 weeks x 40 hours) but people usually get at least 80 paid vacations, sick days, and then there are national holidays. Actual average work hours per year is going to be close to 1800 if not less.
LOL my hubby has a degree in urban planning. Let me tell you, it’s just swimming with opps for the BS level. Swimming I tells ya. NOT
@DashTheHand: I think what you described is not necessarily the norm. The certs might help if you want to go in something like network administration. For software developers, the general consensus among us is that you certainly don’t need a college degree to be able to do it, but most of the people in charge of hiring don’t accept that.
For entry-level, sometimes you need it in order to get in the door; to differentiate yourself from the average script-kiddie.
But even if you can manage to break in without it, it still can end up hurting later on. Also even for those with experience, many programmers/devs/software engineers I hear from always admit that the lack of degree closes quite a few doors for them. Like the salary seems to cap off quite a bit lower than it would otherwise.
@DashTheHand: You may not like it, you may not believe it, but its true. I know that my last boss was extremely upset that he went to college for 6 years, got a masters degree in business, and I left to an entry level job making more than him by more than 20k.
Very true. I slugged it out through college and have considered going to get basic certifications because I find they are worth more than my college experience.
I understand Raytheon pays pretty good if you want to work at one of the Antarctica bases (they do staffing for the non-government, non-scientific positions).
@Bladefist: I’d argue that given sufficient education on the basics of CS, learning a new language is far easier than learning to program in the first place.
My problem is that I was never a CS major, I learned perl on-the-fly, so making the jump to more structured languages such as C++ or Java is proving to much harder than I thought…
@sn1per420: I think that’s mostly true. I work for an unnamed company that does contracting to the US Gov’t (the Dept. of Defense, CIA, FBI etc) and it’s pretty difficult for them to just hire new people because you have to get clearance. I guess what I’m trying to say is, find a job where the company would have a TOUGH time getting rid of you.
@rekoil: CS is a special field. You either get it, or you don’t. Colleges try to make people get stuff, that their brain, mentally can’t think that way. A lot of the new companies, I.T companies, are not requiring a degree anymore. They basically want nerds. There are people out there with PHd in CS, who haven’t gotten a clue. They just are great at studying and taking tests.
Perl is a fine language, your issue is object oriented programming. Get a basic book on OOP, then .Net/Java will be easy for you.
@weakdome: Why not just throw “surgeon” and “President of the USA” in there too?
can i get an app, please?
2.5 months at the deathstar as a tech lead, no prior experience with an A+ cert, $12.33 per hour, CWA union benefits.
How about a between-jobs gig as a reporter for CNN?
@raisitup: They’re in the bin with the rest of the apps at McDonalds