5 Best Careers to Switch To (And How to Get Them)
If you’re not sure what career you want, but you want something better than what you have, this list is for you.
Let’s look at five careers that have high pay, growing fields, easy access, and opportunities for advancement. Essentially, let’s get the highest income, in the easiest way, and with the most job security.
Medical Services Manager
Medical Services Managers run the business side of healthcare. They make appointments, organize staff, run human resources, budget, make long term strategy plans, market the business, and more.
Imagine running a business, but that business is providing healthcare: you’re in charge of healthcare operations. Part of the reason there are so many openings in this field is because it’s a busy job. These employees are the go-to for everything except medical questions. Assume you’re always going to be on call, going in on weekends, or working evenings.
Luckily, the money is worth it. Half of Medical Services Managers make over $101,000. Plus, the already-huge field is set to grow 28% over the next decade. It may be a stressful job, but it’s the best combination of high pay and field growth on this list.
To get the job, you might have to work your way up and get a little bit of experience, but most positions only require a bachelors degree. And Healthcare Administration degrees are available in a LOT of places online. Western Governors University and Liberty University both have options where you can get this degree for under $18,000 in two years if you hack the degree by using transfer credits.
And if you need help earning any of these degrees, just remember that you can sign up for a consultation with us. We’ll help you graduate quickly and inexpensively so you can build a career you love.
2. Video Editor
If you’re creative and want to work in film, the easiest path to making videos or movies is editing. This is a versatile job because you can work for a company or for yourself.
The job is pretty straightforward: you edit videos. A Youtuber, director, or other creative sends you a bunch of footage and a vision, and you go for it by turning it into an engaging video. Editing is a great place to start if you want to transition into producing, writing scripts, operating cameras, or any other film process.
But what about the money?
Half of video editors make over $60,000 a year, and this field is projected to grow by 12% over the next 10 years. That’s pretty good.
You don’t need a film degree to get an editing job. Work on the skills, get some experience, practice, seek feedback, and you’ll be able to get your foot in the door quickly. Youtube, iMovie, Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premier are great sources for learning the ins and outs of editing.
Unfortunately, if you want to speed things up and get an editing bachelors degree, few hackable online colleges offer them. However, a good friend of mine got his film degree at Full Sail University, and he’s an amazing editor–so I might make an exception to my usual moratorium on for-profit degrees.
3. Logistician
I love this field because I left my full-time professor job so I could become a logistician. Basically, a logistician is the person at a company who moves things or people from one place to another.
I suppose that could apply to a bus driver, but the true focus of logisticians is the supply chain.
Let’s say my company prints books. The logisticians at my company make sure all the paper and glue and threads and ink get purchased and make it to the factory. Then, they make sure all the books make it out to distributors. They predict demand, transportation costs, and much more. Their main goal is to be as efficient as possible, so if you like numbers and efficiency, logistics could be a really satisfying career for you.
The majority of logisticians make upwards of $77,000, and the field should grow by 28% between 2022 and 2032. You’ll need a Bachelors in business (specifically supply chain if you can), but a few positions might be okay with a specialized Associate’s. There is a great business/supply chain degree available at University of Maine at Presque Isle that you can finish in no time.
4. Human Resources Specialist
A great way to jump into business is as a human resources specialist. These guys handle payroll, recruiting, training, and interviewing. They manage employees and get to interact with all departments in a company. On the serious end, they might be managing salaries and benefits, and on the more fun end, they might double as the party planning committee where they help boost morale.
Over half of HR specialists make $62,000, and the field is growing by 8% in the next decade. A bachelors in HR or business should be enough to get in, and these are available at almost every single online university.
But the real reason I like this job is that it’s an entry level position with the option to jump up to being an HR manager. HR managers make $126,000. You typically will need a Masters degree for this higher position. But after a few years of working as a specialist, you’ll be able to earn a Masters and angle for leadership positions. I really like HR management because it pays well, is part of a growing field, and has a clear track for advancement.
Plus, it’s a very hackable degree. If you work with us, you could get that bachelors degree in under two years. Western Governors University, Thomas Edison State University, and Liberty University all have great HR degrees.
5. Web or Software Developer
Finally, we have computer jobs! There are so many great tech careers to go into, but I found two that I think are the most efficient ways to start making money.
First, we have web developers. Over half of web developers make at least $78,000 and the field is growing by 23% over the next 10 years. Not to mention, you only need a bachelors degree.
Plus, there’s a lot of variety in this field. You can focus on coding websites, designing user experiences, managing websites, monitoring analytics, and more. Essentially, web developers create and maintain websites for companies.
On the other hand, software development jobs are a little more competitive, and you might need a masters for some degrees. But typically, a bachelors degree is enough. Half of these employees make at least $109,000, and their field is growing by 25% over the next 10 years. They basically do everything for software that web developers do for websites. They design apps as well as computer programs.
As for earning degrees in either of these fields, there are plenty of great computer science degrees available at Liberty University, Thomas Edison State University, and Western Governors University.
The final thing I’ll say about all of these jobs is that it’s important to pick one you’d actually enjoy. Try not to limit your focus to salary and growth predictions. If you’d hate being a software developer, don’t do it. You need to decide two things on your own: the minimum amount of money you’d like to make, and something you’d like to do for a living. Then once you find a job that has both of those things, you look at the requirements and start knocking those out. Starting a career can be as simple as that! ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
And if you need help earning a college degree quickly and cheaply, set up a consultation with us. We frequently save our clients $40,000 and 2-3 years of time in just two 45-minute consultations.
