Everybody needs a job.
And with this economy, things are getting tight.
Apparently, there are more bountiful jobs out there than we realize.
They may not be glamorous and sexy, but they'll pay the bills and fill a few tanks of gas.
Some of them we've always known about, and others are a surprise.
So... who is ready to work?
Redditor Haunting-Reality-570 wanted to make a list of all of the jobs that are secretly cash cows, so they asked:
"What’s a job where someone makes way more money than people realize?"
DUH...
"Someone’s already said it, but some of the wealthiest people I have ever met worked in sales. They also happened to be some of the dumbest people I’ve ever met... lol."
- kakapoopoopeepeeshir
Bucket of Paint
"My buddy and I own a line striping company. We paint lines in parking lots/garages, etc. We both drive modest cars and don’t necessarily live above our means. Since it’s just the two of us, our overhead is basically nothing besides our time. We can make around $2,000 off a ~$100 bucket of traffic paint, and we’re constantly slammed. I feel like people just see two 27-year-olds in fluorescents and probably would be extremely surprised at what we make."
- PuffHerbs420
Restoring Power
"Linemen. No, not the football players. The people who fix electric lines. They make crazy money, especially during overtime to restore power after a storm."
- Curious_Party_4683
"You are correct in saying utility workers earn a generous salary; however, it comes at a cost. Working in this industry requires long hours, often having 16 hours a day multiple days a week, shift work, weekend/holiday staffing, call-outs, being deployed out of territory (days or weeks at a time), and hazardous work from a physical and mental aspect."
"Needless to say, these individuals sacrifice a lot of their lives for this line of work. They miss a lot of important events, have trouble maintaining family/friendships, hobbies, etc. It’s not for the faint-hearted; money isn’t everything."
- LarsJMOBJECTION!!!
"This will probably get buried, but anything with Legal support. My husband has been a legal videographer for years. He records video of mostly depositions."
"Someone is always suing someone else. Legal videography, no."
"There are many forms of court reporting (stenography, digital court reporting, deposition officer, etc), and none require a law degree, but do require some knowledge of the law and basic decorum."
- According_To_Me
Bank...
"I know people who own salons for eyelash extensions, epilation, and eyebrows that make bank."
- A**Gasketz
"I used to date a girl who was a hairstylist. She rented a chair from a salon and brought in her own clients. She was bringing home like $250k a year working 3 days a week, cutting and coloring hair in the high-end part of town, and she didn't have to deal with all the BS of owning the business, just managing her clients. It was pretty remarkable, honestly."
- SeeYouOn16
9 Month Tour
"Being a seafarer... a master or chief engineer makes anywhere from $15,000 to $20,000 per month net after taxes, which they can maximise if they do a full 9-month tour - though I haven't seen a master do that in a while."
- WorldBiker
splash ships GIF Giphy
Tugged...
"Tug boat driver. My half-brother is one. At 23yo he was offered a job offshore for $250k. He didn't take it, opting for other roles that led to a permanent position in the city of his choice."
- -qqqwwweeerrrtttyyy-
"My father was a tug boat captain until he retired a few years ago. He did everything from long-haul trips to in-port cruise ship assistance. He retired from it because his knees were so bad, but he loved it and made a lot of money over the years. His last company asked him to come back for a 30-day trip at $1000 a day. He turned it down, but wished he could have done it. It’s also a career that most don’t think about, so when they find good captains, they tend to pay well."
- JulesyJ
Bricks...
"Tech sales. And 90% of these ppl are as dumb as a brick."
- Effective-Ear-8367
"I worked in tech sales for a bit, and during a practice session, I was told I 'knew too much about the product.'"
"I was instructed to dumb it down and to pretend to ask my supervisor for more advanced questions."
"I was told the reasoning is while it’s great on paper that I know everything, buyers don’t trust salespeople who are too smart and think they’re getting taken advantage of in some way."
"I transitioned into data analysis for the same company and was much happier... lol."
- SwissMargiela•
CRAZY...
"Med spas are crazy money. You more or less sell either water or cosmetics locked behind a medical license. Everything is cash only. Everything is temporary at best (or fake at worst)."
"People think doctors in general make crazy money, nope, they make good livings. But doctors who sell out for quack medicine can make crazy money."
- Dr_Esquire
Waste...
"Water and sanitation engineers, apparently."
- Livid_Tadpole_6224
"Civil and environmental engineering is the lowest paid kind of engineering, but usually the most job stability. Early career, you’re making maybe $75-120K K and you’ll likely need a master's and a decade of experience before you start getting paid more.
"Source: Partner is a wastewater engineer, and all our grad school friends are environmental engineers. I’m in biotech and get paid more."
- Jdazzle217
CHEERS!!!
"Part-time cocktail bartender in an old-money part of town."
- MiniMiller
"My husband is a server in fine dining and makes, on average, between 400-700 a night."
- leramire
Season 3 Nbc GIF by Will & Grace Giphy
BOOM!!!
"Elevator repair people. Business is booming."
- spinnaker9
"I knew a guy who was repairing elevators for 20 years and tried to retire 5 times. The last job he did, he got paid over a million. He bought an RV and disappeared. Every now and then, I see he posted a pic of Yellowstone or some other national park.'"
- badbackandgettingfat
"And escalators! I live in a large city, and I feel like I keep coming across escalators that are out of service."
- 1dayatatime_mylife
What's fair?
"The job I'm already doing. We lost a teammate, and the job posting went up for $40k more per year than what I'm making doing that same job. I approached the boss about it, and he said the market is really tough and it's not fair, but they have to offer that much to get someone new in. I asked for a raise to match market pay, and he said that comes out of a different budget, and the raises budget is dry."
- phoenix14830
$100/HR... Easily...
"Personal Trainers."
"Most are broke because they work in big box gyms that screw you over, or just don't take the job seriously."
"A good self-employed trainer can get $100/hr easily."
"I've broken 6 figures for the last 12 years (been in business 15)."
- MoneyLawfulness2304
The Beat-Up
"I was a flooring installer/owner for years before going into the front office side of it for large-scale companies. I consistently made 200-300k after taxes and paying my crews and helpers."
"Now I just do investments (property development/rentals), and when I tell people how I started, they are taken aback that I used to grind away doing hard labor with no college degree, and now in my 40s, I'm living a semi-retired life.
"You see a beat-up old truck carrying carpet around, he’s making six figures easy if he’s doing it right."
- Brotendo48
Can Confirm
"Professors in professional schools."
"Making 200-400k is the norm for law, business, and medicine teaching."
- DrHydrate
"Professor here in Business. Can confirm."
"The common perception of the gig being low in pay is based on all of the faculty in the humanities who make ~50k-70k."
- AggressiveHornet229
Canadian Comedy GIF by CBC Giphy
Teaching is too dangerous these days.
No wonder they make so much.
Of course, except for the non-college professor people.
They are left out in the cold.
It is also surprising that with some of these, a job must also be death-defying.
Whatever happened to a normal 9-5?
Making money isn't like how it used to be.
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