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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GEORGE: Nobody’s hiring now. The market’s terrible.
JERRY: So what are you gonna do?
GEORGE: I like sports. I could do something in sports.
JERRY: Uh-huh. Uh-huh. In what capacity?
GEORGE: You know, like the general manager of a baseball team or something.
JERRY: Yeah. Well, that – that could be tough to get.
GEORGE: Well, it doesn’t even have to be the general manager. Maybe I could be like, an announcer. Like a caller man. You know how I always make those interesting comments during the game.
JERRY: Yeah. Yeah. You make good comments.
GEORGE: What about that?
JERRY: Well, they tend to give those jobs to ex-ballplayers and people that are, you know, in broadcasting.
GEORGE: Well, that’s really not fair.
JERRY: I know. Well, okay. Okay. What else do ya like?
GEORGE: Movies. I like to watch movies.
JERRY: Yeah. Yeah.
GEORGE: Do they pay people to watch movies?
JERRY: Projectionists.
GEORGE: That’s true.
JERRY: But you gotta know how to work the projector.
GEORGE: Right.
JERRY: And it’s probably a union thing.
GEORGE: [scoffs] Those unions. [sighs]
@amodlin: Yeah I know its CNN’s bogus list, anyone could figure that out!
@Bladefist: Seriously. My husband is a programmer, and I can actually read and understand a good portion of what he writes in the various languages that he uses. Would I be able to write any of it though? Only very simple things, and it would take me a lot longer than it takes him. It’s not just about learning the language, you also have to learn how to organize your thoughts and plan for future development.
screwed that up, meh, whatever
Unfortuantely, most of those jobs require some sort of skill or education. However, if your primary skill is watching Jerry Springer and drinking beer, it looks like #1 would be easy with a little bit of training, assuming you don’t have a rap sheet. #8 looks easy too; all you have to do is rule in favor of the company paying for your services. #3 is an easy job but it’s union so you’d have to know a guy to get your foot in the door. #5 would be easy except it requires you to know a bunch of stuff. I’m surprised #10 is on the list. I thought those jobs were becoming extinct or at least severely downsized?
@swedelibrarian: Actually I think its Career Builders list… CNN just used it to make an article.
So Career Builder sucks for making it and CNN sucks for believing it/not fact checking it.
sounds good to me… i didn’t know commenting could get so overly involved.
pretty much just wanted to clarify that I knew it didn’t belong to the consumerist and it’s turned into all this…Now I know what to do with all my spare time waiting for people to ask me reference questions, just keep commenting randomly!
Investment Banker (Mid-Level, in Denver) – $108.17/ hour (40 hour workweek) $61.81/ hour (actual 70 hour workweek).
Also, Train operators make 40+ grand a year? Who knew?
@backbroken:
Thank you for that, it made my morning.
I’m one of those already. *nod*
There is a pretty big shortage of people wanting to work on ships, that is why the money is so good.
@swedelibrarian: “turned into all this”
Sorry for mentioning it? It was stated at the bottom of the article pretty obviously… so it took 0 seconds to find out. just wanted to point it out since everyone was saying CNN was so off in their numbers… the real blame should go to the people who made the article
enterprise architecture for the federal govmint = $53/hour plus full benefits. actually guys, here’s what i’d do if i had it to do all over again. become an air force officer right out of college. work 20 years, retire with full pension and benefits at 41 years. salary, maybe $80-100k.
then get hired on as a civilian making about your previous salary and continue to draw your officer pension and benefits, work 20 years. salary + pension = $170k per year.
re-retire as a civilian at 61 drawing two full pensions, get a job at a federal contractor making $120k a year while drawing two full pensions, all with benefits. total annual compensation $260k per year.
and for the grand slam, marry another junior officer when you’re in your 20s and work together on similar career paths, and make have a mil combined by the time you’re 61. plus, there’s social security
i know one couple who have pulled this off.
and you don’t have to be a rocket scientist. i know lots of people who do this and they’re competent professionals, not necessarily brain surgeons, but they make brain surgeon money.
but just for starters, look at federal contracting – lots of $$$
Uh – Okay did you offset the fact that the majority of those jobs require 4 years of college education in that particular field plus thousands of dollars in tuition?
@Bladefist: S 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.
That is so true! I was getting Cs and Ds in Computer Science in college and I just kept thinking I was stupid. I got the theory but could never execute it.
I switched to Business Administration with a concentration in Information Systems (which had more than a few drop outs) and worked my butt off and got As.
I think CS is like accounting. You have to be a certain type of person to do it. It will drive everyone else to suicide if forced to do it.
Yeah, I’m piling on how poor a list this is. A museum curator as a relatively easy job to saunter into off the street? Yeesh, curators have Masters’ candidates fetching coffee for them.
Why doesn’t CNN include, Co-Founder of The Google?
Many unionized factory jobs: 20$ to 50$+ per hour. Seriously, if you can find a car manufacturing plant or a sawmill or something, you will start out making great money even with no prior experience.
The only problem is that forestry and manufacturing industries are going down the tubes. There goes one now.
#6 – hasn’t the surface of the planet already been mapped out, and with satellite imagery, isn’t this job in the same field as punch card data entry positions?
HA!!!!
SAT tutor…$30/hr!!!!
A cautionary note about casino gaming jobs — at most casinos you will be expected to pay the application fees for your own gaming license. This can cost hundreds of dollars, and you need it up front, because you can’t work until you’re licensed. The license application process usually involves a bankground check.
Usually supervisory positions get filled by promoting dealers, so you have to work your way up — but that isn’t all bad, as dealers can make a substantial amount of money in tips. If you don’t have previous experience, though, you’ll have to add the cost of a dealer class to your start-up costs.
@dualityshift:
Yeah, but the way you present that data is constantly changing, based upon needs, wants, and so forth. And things change from time to time as well, i.e., they build a new freeway or something that needs updating on maps. Mapping is just as much an art as science, especially since presentation is very important.
Furthermore, most geographic data is not located in some magic repository somewhere that can be accessed by all (though some data is like that). Some companies have access to some data that others don’t, and vice versa. Thus, for any given job, if that data can’t be acquired (either commerically or from the government), it is up to the cartographer to get it somehow, either from old maps or going out and mapping it with a GPS unit.
For that reason, I would argue that #6 isn’t equivalent to a punch card data entry position.
By the way, anyone that wanted to get into cartography, I would strongly recommend going and getting a certificate in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The field is just exploding demand wise, and you can make pretty good money.
@sn1per420: And if they can’t get enough graduates, they just pester the government for some H1B visas and bring in someone from India.
Companies like Microsoft are always complaining about a “shortage” of high tech workers and we need to allow more immigration. What they really mean is there’s a shortage of people who want to work at entry-level salaries for their whole career.
@Bladefist: that’s fun with numbers.. they really do mean “average”.. not “median”.
The “median” programmer makes $30k a year and can’t program.
I’m a programmer (been working this same job for almost 10 years now) making $70k in a city where median *household* salary is $34k.
@Preyfar:
@Captain_Collide::
Yup, and another thing to remember is that animators spend a fair chunk of the time unemployed. So even if you land a $27.90 gig, it’s not likely to last more than a few months.
@bohemian: Heh, I think I know more about my prescriptions than the pharmtechs, and that was before my physiology class.
I’m going back for Nursing or Rad Tech, both available as two year degrees. Basically whichever I can get into first (originally rad tech because I thought it was less bodily fluids, but after anatomy with the cadavers, I’ve been pretty desensitized….)
@maxforrest32: Not to mention that those positions are typically filled by PhDs….
Where did they get the numbers for #2? As an “in-between” career. That’s insane. I’ve got an MS in Health Promotion & a CHES, and it’s still hard to find work.
If you’re looking for something that doesn’t require advanced education that pays OK, you want to look at things like being a riverboat pilot, working offshore, driving a truck for a shipping line, that sort of thing. Those things pay quite well. So does the position of “Sanitation Engineer”, BTW.
Okay, ACTUAL between-job gigs I’ve done that paid $20 or more per hour:
High End Catering: $20/hour + tips. Requirements: Ability to balance heavy tray of champagne flutes while dodging conga-ing wedding guests.
Stripper: -$4/hour (stage fees) + tips (~$200 for a four hour shift). Requirements: Decent tits, ability to balance on 5″ platforms, on/off switch for soul.
Telemarketer: $6/hour + commission. Requirements: Broken moral compass, masochism.
I’m really, really glad I’m working in my chosen field again.
@ffmariners: hun, it’s called a joke… don’t take offense so easily, its just a blog comment!
@TWSS: agreed (telemarketer)! Although my “telemarketing” paid $9/hr plus bonuses, and i didn’t have to sell anything, just do survey’s for the national science foundation, try going to a university to do this… Indiana University had a pretty good gig going.
$20+/hour – Art Class Model. Stand around naked, in sometimes very cold rooms. Perks include making fun of people from the class for drawing your balls in such great detail.
@Jetgirly:
What are the licensing requirements for that, and is that only if you’re like a physics or chemistry teacher, or do all teachers make close to that?
I’m considering going into teaching (I’ll probably go for both foreign languages and ESL, maybe English Literature if I can), and if you can get a job in Canada with a US teaching certification, I’d definitely consider it.
@matt1978:
I came to the conclusion years ago that HR people in general don’t know shit about shit.
Urban Planning requires usually a degree and professional certification, the same with Catrographers (GIS professionals basically).
Wow. My salary when I left work to move to Florida and raise my wife’s family, $70K.
I have updated all my computer certifications, and now the best I can hope for is $50K.
Talk about depressing.
@TechnoDestructo: Ain’t that the truth.
“the rapist” for $20 Alex? – As quoted from Sean Connery from SNL …
Programmers start out at roughly $22/hr for a Gov position. Now where is that list …
Marketing assistant: 12$/hr, while I’m in college to be a graphic designer. Hopefully getting my Masters in marketing. Perhaps.
However, I contract as a Graphic Designer / Web Designer for anywhere from 20-60$ an hour on the side.
@gliscameria:
Right, but you typically only get about two hours of work per day, if that.
And it’s equally possible they could draw you with a tiny unit.
@TechnoDestructo: I just signed my contract to begin teaching in the 2008/09 school year. I have a probationary contract, which is the best contract you can get as a new teacher. If my first year is successful, it is automatically converted to a permanent contract- forever. I am guaranteed the full salary for the year, even if they can’t find a full-time job for me. My certification is in 7-12 English Language Arts, but there are no laws preventing the school board from making me teach math and physics once I’m hired. I was hired in December, and one of the conditions of an early offer of employment is that I won’t know where/what I’m teaching until late summer. Salaries are uniform across the board (starting at $51,500 or so in my city) EXCEPT for anyone who teaches a trade and has all the proper credentials. If you can teach carpentry, woodworking, etc. you can negotiate your own salary. Last year a first-year trades teacher was making about $68,000. All salaries vary from city to city, and certification laws vary from province to province. If you are Catholic, Alberta and Ontario are pretty desperate for Catholic teachers.
I don’t know about US-certified teachers working in Canada. Here, you either do a five-year Bachelor of Education degree or a four-year Bachelor of Whatever degree followed by a second, two-year Bachelor of Education degree. Then, you apply to the provincial Ministory of Education and they determine whether or not you are eligible to teach. The salary scale is based on your number of years of post-secondary education and the number of years you’ve taught K-12, and the government, not your employer, is responsible for determining that.
I’m working freelance making $50/hr and half the time, I don’t even know what I’m doing. Can’t tell you what I’m doing… Don’t want you to tell them I’m overpayed.
arbitrators and loan officers. Hmmmm…
You know, as long as your willing to be scum, crack dealing and child pornography probably pay pretty well, too…
No, curators do not make $20/hr, not in this presidency. Most museums are barely staying afloat. If you get into the museum world, you’re doing it for love and peanuts, literally. They might start paying you after your second or third year.
As for “health educators” (I’ve been searching in that industry and haven’t seen that term), I’ve yet to see an NGO or nonprofit that pays $20/hr for anything other than upper management.
@ffmariners: Ummm….did no one here bother to read the articles? The Consumerist post is the only one that mentions “in between gigs.” The CNN article is just a listing of 10 jobs that pay $20 or more an hour if you translate the annual salary to hourly pay and that are expected to have growth in their field up through 2016. Nowhere in the article does it claim to be quick fixes to your current, shitty career or something to pick up in between jobs. That was Consumerist that implied that with the “in between gigs” comment.
@wallapuctus: @Bladefist: Guys, if you have CS degrees from good schools, this is an awesome job market. I actually have heard radio ads for two rather large companies in the midwest that need programmers for C/C++ and .NET languages. I also know that both of these companies pay 55k+ for entry level work.
I am in the GIS/Geography field. I can tell you that it takes years to get to $25 an hour in Cartography or Photogrammetry. After three years in the industry, I make just under $20 an hour. Cartography generally requires a bachelors in geography. But interestingly, it is possible to get into Photogrammetry with no college or just a certificate. You could be making $25 + an hour within 10 years.
‘The “median” programmer makes $30k a year and can’t program.’ – I seriously doubt that’s the case; the median programmer’s STARTING salary here is 30K _euro_. Better programmers can do quite a bit better.
In my field, Art History, I’d need a PhD, and to have published a few
notable articles, or a book, to be a curator. And some of the better
jobs, in larger institutions or local governments, pay from $65-
$250,000 / yr. It’s much easier to be a registrar at a zoo or
botanical garden or some other place than it is to be a curator, as
curating in itself has Masters and PhD programs meant for “curatorial
studies.”
Looks like CNN didn’t do its homework.