Some of the Highest Paying Jobs Going

A good friend of mine from Cambridge (UK) was telling me the other day that many UK sales jobs are some of the poorest paid positions in the country. He was referring to the so called sweat shops of the 21st century, otherwise known as call centers. He went on to say that some of the wealthiest people he knew were freelance writers and that freelance writing jobs were some of the highest paying jobs going. The reason we got talking about jobs and salaries was because he writes for some local rags and was doing a piece on the service industries in the East Anglia region of England.

Of course, it’s all relative. When I asked my buddy what he was comparing these positions to, he looked a little confused. I explained that call center salary was low compared to what? An orthopedic surgeon, or a janitor? This sparked off another debate of which I’ll save for another article, but the bottom line is that jobs should be compared to what we do, what we’re qualified for, and what our experience is. Registered nurse jobs, for example, could be compared to other positions in the medical profession of similar occupational backgrounds and or qualifications, but it would not be fair to make the comparison between the salary of a nurse and a medical scientist.

So whether you’re working in medical sales jobs UK, postal service jobs, or scientific research, it’s not really fair to compare work that you are neither qualified nor trained for. I have noticed over the years that the British do love a good moan bless them, but they do little to progress or move on, but rather stay stuck in their rut as if to get some morbid satisfaction out of complaining.

However, one thing that we all love is a good ole study of the richest people in society, and we also love to know what the highest paying jobs of modern times are. Quite often, these highest paying jobs take the most training, schooling, and experience before they yield the rewards. Although many folks are attracted to these job types for the money, it’s quite often only one part of the equation as these positions are usually quite specialist, and folks take a genuine interest in the role, and the high salary is but a contributory factor in the decision making process.

I’ve outlined some of the latest reports on the highest paying jobs at the moment. Well, not necessarily the highest paying jobs of all jobs, but the best jobs/best companies to work for, according to the most recent rankings done by people at CNNMoney.com. These employers include Genentech; J. M. Smucker; S.C. Johnson & Son; W.L. Gore; Container Store; Vision Service Plan; Valero Energy; Griffin Hospital; Wegmans; and REI.

In the same respect, while jobs such as those at Genentech might be some of the highest paying jobs, not all the companies have the highest paid employees—just the happiest, evidently. Rather, the highest paying jobs are those that according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (at bls.gov) belong mostly to medical professionals, legal representatives, and science and technology professionals and specialists. Here, for example, are the top, or highest paying jobs (based on median statistics):