don't live on bread alone. bring some cash.

CNN/Money came out with its list of the (current) Top 50 jobs in America. within the site, you can further look up each job or go through their sortings. at any rate, i am sharing the basic list here.

(actually, this post gave me an excuse to fix the problem with using tables in Blogger. victory is mine! bwahahahahaha!)

it's actually ironic and fitting at the same time, that they came out with this on a Good Friday ... you scan the list and weep as you sacrifice being in a dead-end job. (ok. stop. bitter. rant. now. remember Jesus' sacrifice this day.)

despite a portion of the IT field being outsourced in the past few years, you still have 2 of those job positions in the Top 10. and surprisingly, nurses come in at #47 (though its supposed to be in high demand, and is definitely one of 2 easiest ways to get a green card - the other way is to marry a Yank).

some of the easier (relatively) jobs that are competitive with the IT profession are physician's assistant, chiropractor (!), veterinarian and an actuary. what's an actuary? something like a statistical analyst.

non-CEO professions that go into six-figure territory include financial advisors, sales and advertising positions, doctors and dentists, and of course, those sharply-dressed devils known as lawyers. that's right, sell your souls and tell lies for money and power! (ok, ok, am calming down)

as you can see, Hollywood and its denizens is not in the picture because those high-paying jobs are not really "jobs", in the real-world sense of Joe Schmoe, John Doe and Joe Q. Public. so, Oprah and Tom Cruise can go to hell for all i care. (ok, ok, am taking my pills now.)

by the way, for my documentation colleagues in Manila, look at #13. there is hope.

of course, all of these means jackshit if (1) you don't have a working visa; and (2) you work in a state with high income taxes (the downside of living in NYC. *sigh*)

rank	job	growth	avg. pay
1	software engineer	46.07%	$80,427
2	college professor	31.39%	$81,491
3	financial advisor	25.92%	$122,462
4	human resources mngr	23.47%	$73,731
5	physician assistant	49.65%	$75,117
6	market resrch analyst	20.19%	$82,317
7	computer/IT analyst	36.10%	$83,427
8	real estate appraiser	22.78%	$66,216
9	pharmacist	24.57%	$91,998
10	psychologist	19.14%	$66,359
11	advertising manager	20.34%	$107,049
12	physical therapist	36.74%	$54,883
13	technical writer	23.22%	$57,841
14	chiropractor	22.40%	$84,996
15	medical scientist	34.06%	$70,053
16	physical scientist	12.18%	$80,213
17	engineer	13.38%	$76,100
18	curriculum developer	27.53%	$55,793
19	editor	14.77%	$78,242
20	p.r. specialist	22.61%	$84,567
21	sales manager	19.67%	$135,903
22	optometrist	19.73%	$93,670
23	property manager	15.30%	$78,375
24	actuary	23.16%	$81,509
25	writer	17.72%	$60,519
26	social service manager	25.52%	$74,584
27	paralegal	29.75%	$61,204
28	health svcs manager	22.76%	$92,211
29	advertising sales agent	16.33%	$112,683
30	physician/surgeon	23.98%	$247,536
31	management analyst	20.12%	$63,426
32	occupational therapist	33.61%	$51,973
33	mental health counslr	27.18%	$53,150
34	landscape architect	19.43%	$50,383
35	biotech res. scientist	17.05%	$66,393
36	urban planner	15.17%	$60,891
37	lawyer	14.97%	$153,923
38	spch-lang. pathologist	14.57%	$58,329
39	meeting/conv. plannr	22.21%	$56,072
40	dietitian/nutritionist	18.30%	$52,244
41	biological scientist	17.03%	$61,317
42	financial analyst	17.33%	$66,203
43	dentist	13.52%	$122,883
44	accountant	22.43%	$62,575
45	environmental scientist	17.11%	$59,027
46	lab technologist	20.53%	$51,502
47	registered nurse	29.35%	$68,872
48	sales engineer	13.96%	$78,875
49	veterinarian	17.39%	$79,923
50	school administrator	14.55%	$73,767