Six-Figure Jobs: A Japanese Proverb (And Cautionary Tale)

in Careers by AdamS — July 16, 2007 at 12:32 pm | 0 comments

It used to be that if you wanted a six-figure salary, you needed a certain job. But the fact is that there are other ways to earn six figures. As the old saying goes, “there are many paths to the top of Mt. Fuji,” and not all those paths need go through medical school, law school, or business school. Recently, Forbes.com published a list of several occupations that were off the beaten path but which were potentially as lucrative as the traditional stand-bys. Included on their list were the following:

Court reporters Professional (life or career) coaches Mine managers Truck drivers Pressmen Technical writers Restaurant managers Air traffic controllers Elementary school principals Post-secondary school teachers Market research analysts Real estate salespersons Insurance salespersons Loan officers Film editors

Several other news services, including CNN/Money, have listed additional jobs that have the potential for six-figure salaries, including:

Casino manager Hotel managers Make-up artists Cargo pilots Broadcast TV captioners Fitting models

Granted, many of these occupations offer six-figure salaries only to a portion of their professionals — say, the top 10 or 20 percent — or to professionals in certain markets or specialties. Some occupations are relatively small, such a mine managers or film editors, which means they don’t offer a lot of jobs to begin with, and those they do offer are extremely competitive. Other occupations, such as loan officers and real estate salespersons, are contingent on market conditions and therefore fluctuate year to year.

The point is that there is at least the potential for six-figure compensation across a range of industries. I don’t know about you, but for me that’s a terribly comforting thought. What this means is that gifted and motivated professionals in industries other than law, business, and medicine can make a handsome living — and do so doing something they love.

Too often we’re prone to make career decisions based on desires for prestige or money rather than on our own interests or talents. But those factors don’t have to be mutually exclusive — not anymore. Recent studies from the Bureau of Labor indicate that ceilings for many industries, including those listed above, are now exceeding the six-figure benchmark. As such, more and more professionals in non-traditional careers are enjoying a level of compensation they might never have obtained a decade ago.

So before you make a decision based on traditional — and perhaps out-dated — notions of what careers pay the best, remember the old Japanese proverb about the many paths to the top of Mt. Fuji and at least consider donning your hiking boots and looking for trails that are less well-known but equally prosperous.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Benjamin Welch has been a college instructor in writing and composition for nearly six years. When he’s not teaching or playing golf, he offers advice for students seeking information about continuing education, online education and online degrees.

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