Best Careers for 2012
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Web Designer
Web designers are crucial in business today making them in high demand. Web designers aren't your typical graphic designer, they design websites that can be viewed by many different devices including phone, televisions, and computers. They design websites in a way that will help businesses represent themselves out on the web. They are responsible for the aesthetics of a site and how the content is presented. Web designers spend a lot of their time using programs like Adobe Photoshop and also coding websites using HTML and CSS. Many web designers also have a basic understanding on how to work with different programming languages. They will also find themselves using javascript libraries such as jQuery.
Salary Information
Established Web designers can make around $76,000 per year. Many web designers are self employed and make much more.
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Criminal Investigator
Criminal investigators are all over television and in books. Criminal investigator's lives are usually portrayed as exciting and never boring. But what do real criminal investigators do? Criminal investigators solve crimes with the help of informants, suspects, and witnesses. They take evidence gathered and use it to solve crimes that have been committed. They are in charge of keeping records and background information on criminals. Their main objective is to gather enough evidence to help convict criminals of their crimes. There are many different criminal investigation specialties depending on they types of crimes that are committed. Some of them include burglary, domestic violence, homicide, missing persons, narcotics, computer crimes, and fraud. Each type of investigation requires special skills and experience.
Salary Information
Established Criminal Investigators can make around $100,000 per year.
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Network Administrator
With the world becoming more and more connected, there is a need to keep the world connected. Computers, phones, and offices in general need to connect to networks, either wirelessly or through a wired connection. These networks are very important and data stored within the network are stored on servers. Some companies have their own server rooms solely dedicated to storing the company servers. The servers and the networks require network administrators to maintain the hardware and software that run these networks to keep connected to the world. When you become a network administrator, you will be in charge of maintaining these networks, and troubleshooting problems that may arise with the network. Most companies are very dependent on the people who keep their technology running so they can continue to run their businesses.
Salary Information
Established Network Adminstrators can make around $106,000 per year.
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CPA
Do you create detailed budgets and stick to them? If you answered yes, you may want to consider switching careers because you would make a great certified public accountant (CPA). Certified public accountants track the spendings and earnings of organizations. They create reports, analyze budgets, and make sure companies adhere to generally accepted accounting principals (GAAP). Certified public accountants keep records, and create reports for, management, the public, and the government. The information in these reports is vital to managers as they make decisions and decide on business strategies. The public needs reports prepared by accountants so they can make wise investment decisions and make the investments that many corporations depend on. Governments need these reports so they know how much a business must pay in taxes.
Salary Information
Established Certified Public Accountants can make around $105,000 per year. Many web designers are self employed and make much more.
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Environmental Engineer
Environmental engineers have emerged within the last 20 years or so. Environmental engineering is relatively new. Environmental Engineers typically solve problems that help preserve the environment, natural resources, and wildlife. The results of Environmental Engineers benefit the communities they work in, but their efforts may also have a larger reach into the world community as a whole. Science and engineering play a big part in this career. It is an excellent choice for people who love solving problems, improving areas, and making lives better. Environmental engineers depend on their working knowledge of biology, hazardous waste, statistics, geology, hydrogeology, public health ecology, chemical engineering, agricultural engineering, civil engineering, and so many more subjects.
Salary Information
Established Environmental Engineers can make around $116,000 per year.
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Forensic Psychologist
Do you have a passion for the criminal justice system and an interest in the workings of the human mind? Forensic psychologists have interesting careers that combines the criminal justice and psychology fields. This line of work is extremely rewarding because it allows you to help make individual’s lives better and help improve and protect communities. People with this job usually work in the criminal justice system and often act as expert witnesses. Forensic psychologists work with judges and attorneys to help them understand psychological aspects of court cases. To to this, they work in one of three areas: family court, civil court, or criminal court.
Salary Information
Established Forensic Psychologists can make around $117,000 per year.
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Software Developer
A software developer is one of the most important people in the creation of the electronic devices you use every day. They may be computers, phones, cameras, electronic books, and a host of other electronic devices, but most likely a day doesn’t go by without you using an electronic device running sophisticated software. To understand the job of a software developer, you need to understand the difference between software and hardware. As a software developer, you will use a variety of tools to create software. Careers in software development use a variety of programming languages such as C++, flash, and Java. There are many different tools out there for you to use as a software developer.
Salary Information
Established Software Developers can make around $132,000 per year.
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Registered Nurse
Nursing is the largest occupation in the health care industry, with more than 2.6 million nurses in the United States. Nurses are responsible for treating, educating, and helping patients. One of the reasons that nurses love their careers is because of the high level of interaction with patients, nurses often have more patient interaction than doctors or any other position in the health care industry. The majority of nurses work in hospitals.
Salary Information
Established Registered Nurses can make around $94,000 per year.
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Special Education Teacher
Special education teachers have the very rewarding job of teaching children and youth with cognitive, physical, and emotional disabilities. These educators teach academic, social, and life skills so their students can reach their fullest potential. People with this career work with children who struggle with mental retardation, autism, brain injuries, hearing impairments, visual impairments, health impairments, or one of many other disabilities. Special education teachers can work in preschools, or elementary, middle, or secondary schools. Sometimes these teachers work with children in a classroom that is specifically for children with disabilities and sometimes they work with a child with special needs in a general education classroom. Special education teachers may also work with a general education teacher to teach a class with both general education and special education students. Teachers who work with younger children sometimes even work with children and their parents in their homes.
Salary Information
Established Special Education Teachers can make around $84,000 per year.
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Massage Therapist
Massage therapy is an exciting field where a massage therapist uses a variety of massage techniques to help others. If you become a massage therapist then you will reduce your client’s stress, treat injuries and pain. Many people also seek out a massage therapist for relaxation and consider it an essential part of recreation. Careers and opportunities in massage therapy are expected to grow. The demand for massage therapists is expected to increase due to the number and popularity of health spas is increasing. A massage therapist enjoys regular clientele, since people often receive massages on a regular basis. Massage therapy is a great career if you want to help people and you can even start up your own business with a steady client base.
Salary Information
Established Massage Therapists can make around $69,000 per year.
Guidance Counselor Salary
Guidance counselors are an important part of the education that students receive, typically at the high school level. The guidance counselor provides expertise to their students that helps the students determine their future goals how they can achieve those goals. This job provides a service to students that teachers simply cannot provide. Students need someone that listens and provides feedback that will be beneficial to them throughout their lives. The guidance counselor salary consists of a combination of salary and benefit packages. Guidance counselors typically train as teachers. They then decide to go back to college for the opportunity to earn master’s degree in education. You can complete a master’s degree through an online college, allowing you to work in a guidance counselor position and attend school at the same time.
Guidance Counselor Salary Statistics
A guidance counselor salary depends greatly on the school where the counselor works, as well as the experience the counselor has on the job. The median starting yearly salary for a guidance counselor who has recently graduated with a master’s degree typically averages $25,000, which is one of the lowest yearly salaries for one who has a graduate level degree. On the other hand, those who have been in the field for many years and are providing exceptional experience and services to their students can see that salary rise up to $70,000 per year. By this time, an experienced guidance counselor can make the most of the three-month summer down time, instead of working in a part time job to supplement his or her income.
While we can measure a guidance counselor salary, we cannot measure the rewards guidance counselors receive from performing their responsibilities. They take immense pride when they have helped one of their students achieve goals and fulfill dreams. Many students come to a guidance counselor when they are completely lost, they do not know what they want to do with their lives, and they do not know how to achieve any goals that they set. Guidance counselors help these students determine what career they would succeed in based on a analyzing their personalities. These students become grateful whenever a guidance counselor helps them steer their lives in the right direction.
Benefits Package
Most of benefits packages include, at the minimum, reduced rate medical insurance, while other benefit packages may offer to pay for the entire premium. In addition, most of the benefits packages also offer vision and dental insurance as part of the medical insurance. On top of the already generous insurance packages, some schools also offer paid time off that includes sick leave, vacation pay, and holiday. Additionally, the guidance counselor receives three month off during the summer. During the summer vacation, a guidance counselor may or may not receive payment for the time off depending on the school and length of tenure.
The guidance counselor salary may start out small, but with experience, the salary will increase. Better than the medical insurance, better than the time off, it is the feeling that you have more than just a job, that you have a career where you help young people achieve their dreams. As you build a relationship with the students that come to you for help, you will also gain trust and understanding throughout the entire student body. When you can gain the trust of one student, they will all see what a quality counselor you are as well as how much you care about the students. This caring nature, combined with your quality education, will provide you with success in your career that you never thought could happen.
