Part of the American Dream is moving upwards, doing better than your father did, but a recent report on Money.CNN.com, suggests that the average job salaries of American men are heading downwards, and that they are actually earning less than dear old dad. The report cites an 18-month ongoing study by the American Enterprise Institute, Pew Charitable Trusts, Brookings Institute, Urban Institute, and Heritage Foundation which analyzed the average job salaries of men in their 30s, a reportedly reliable indicator of one’s lifetime income.
The study used figures from the Census Bureau that were adjusted for inflation to conclude that in 2004, 30-something men earned a median income of about $35K per year, a 12 percent drop compared to men in their 30s in 1974, who had a median income of $40K. The study claims this is a change from 1994, when men in their 30s were earning 5 percent more than their fathers did back in 1964 (adjusted for inflation).
What’s the solution? Don’t be average 🙂 As reported on Money.CNN.com, there are some professional careers in demand for the future that may bring you up to dad’s average job salary or higher, so keep reading!
How does your salary compare to your dad’s typical salary? Find out with our salary survey.
What is the Salary for a Robot Programmer?
For those trying to earn more than dad did, here are some professional careers in demand for the future that you may not be aware of. “Robot Programmer” sounds like an occupation created by Rod Serling, but it’s actually a real career that reportedly pays between $40K and $100K. A robot programmer uses a PC and hand-held controller to calibrate the robots’ parts and movement. This is important because today’s robots are performing more sophisticated tasks, such as checking blood samples. Not surprisingly, this job requires extensive training for the human.
Choosing a Career for My Future
If you enjoy mapping and diseases, you might want to consider a career as a Disease Mapper. This career pays $40,000 to $150,000 per year, and involves researching and tracking infectious diseases and epidemics. A disease mapper will use info from NASA satellites to calculate the temperature, rainfall and other variables of an area that is hit by a disease. He or she will then combine this info with infection rates to create a “map” and predict where it will next spread. To pursue this lovely field, you need a Ph.D. or master’s in a tech field, and expertise of a particular disease (no, colds do not count).
The Best Future Careers
Do you have network administrator experience, data analytics and writing skills? If so, you may want to think about working as an Information Engineer. This career pays you $70K to $100K to sit in front of computer monitors and analyze hundreds of gigabytes of data from millions of web users. Your job is to make note of trends, explain glitches within computer networks, and record what new web features are hits or misses.
Careers from Home
Are you an attorney who is web-friendly, or an Internet-savvy real estate agent? More real life professionals are turning to the virtual world of SecondLife.com. In fact, Salary Stories interviewed an embedded reporter who was paid real money to chronicle the imaginary world. SecondLife.com has about 2 million members, of which, 25,000 are entrepreneurs. Their online careers mirror real life, with people buying/selling land, designing clothes and jewelry for cartoon-like avatars, and creating pets!
Linden Labs, which created SecondLife.com, says 116 members made $5000 in February of this year. Additionally, members use SecondLife.com’s virtual surroundings to network with clients for real world transactions. According to Money.CNN.com, one lawyer earned $7K during his first two weeks on SecondLife.com.
How does your real life salary measure up to a virtual salary? The PayScale Salary Calculator is a quick and easy way to compare positions. When you want powerful salary data and comparisons customized for your exact position, be sure to build a complete profile by taking PayScale’s full salary survey.
Cheers,
Dr. Al Lee
Leave a Reply