Study This, Earn That -- Learn why your salary is a matter of degrees

The college diplomas of an engineering and music major look nearly identical.
Their bank accounts at the mid-career mark... not so much.

Not long after the ink dries on their degrees, a petroleum engineer will make $100,000 more per year than a music major, according to mid-career salary statistics from Payscale's 2010-2011 College Salary Report.

[Looking for a degree? Start here]

For those curious about the average pay that comes with different bachelor's degrees, we count down some of the most popular degrees from highest to lowest. The results may surprise you...

Study Finance, Earn $91,500

While it may pale in comparison to petroleum engineers, who earn a whopping $157,000, finance graduates with a bachelor's degree still do quite well, earning an average mid-career salary of $91,500. Typical finance careers include financial planners, bankers, and stockbrokers.
[Find the right Finance degree program for you]

Study Information Technology (IT), Earn $79,300

Information technology gave birth to today's paperless business world, making an IT bachelor's degree valuable in every profession imaginable, from the computer industry to health care and beyond. According to Payscale's 2010-2011 report, IT grads make nearly $80,000 mid-career.
[Search for IT and Information Systems bachelor's degree programs]

Study Accounting, Earn $77,500

Forget about Mandarin, Spanish, or even English. The most important language in the business world is accounting. According to Payscale, those with a bachelor's degree in accounting have an average salary of $77,500 mid-career. It's also a smart choice for those seeking an associate's degree since many accountants enter the workforce with only two years of training.
[Find Accounting schools and programs]

Study Marketing, Earn $77,300

Knowing how to market a product to the masses is a skill that will always be in demand. Grads with a bachelor's degree in marketing get paid handsomely for their efforts, averaging at $77,300 per year mid-career. For even quicker training, you can earn a marketing associate's degree.
[Find local and online Marketing schools now]

Study Business, Earn $70,600

While business administration remains one of the most popular bachelor's degrees, Payscale broke down undergraduate business degrees into two categories: international business and business. Today's global economy gives a slight edge to international business majors, who average at $73,700 mid-career, just ahead of the $70,600 in average salary for business majors.
[Search for local and online Business degree and MBA programs]

Study Literature, Earn $65,700

Sure, you will strengthen your reading and writing skills by studying literature. But reading great books can also deepen your ability to understand the human condition. Literature majors often move on to study law or work in communications or marketing as writers and editors.

Study Human Resources (HR), Earn $61,900

Recruiting and retaining the best and brightest employees is an HR professional's goal. By gaining a bachelor's in human resources, you can position yourself for a mid-career salary of nearly $62,000 by learning how to best use your people skills in all kinds of workplace environments.
[Find online Human Resources training programs today]

Study Criminal Justice, Earn $58,000

Lawyers and paralegals aren't the only ones who study laws and how to apply them. Everyone from federal agents and police officers to private investigators can benefit from studying criminal justice. A mid-career salary of $58,000 is the norm for those with a bachelor's degree.
[Search for Criminal Justice bachelor's degree programs now]

*All salary data is based upon mid-career averages of those with a bachelor's degree and comes from Payscale's 2010-2011 College Salary Report.

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By Chris Kyle

25 best-paying jobs for women

When you look at Forbes magazine’s most recent list of highest-paid CEO’s (chief executives of the 500 biggest companies in the United States), you won’t see a woman until No. 48: Irene B Rosenfeld, CEO of Kraft Foods. In a country where women make up 47 percent of the workforce, 3 percent of Fortune 500 CEO’s are female. In addition, women who worked full time earned an average of just 80 percent of what men earned in the same positions, according to the BLS.

But is salary disparity between genders the issue or is it something else?

In the Harvard Business Review blog, Avivah Wittenberg-Cox wrote: “Women represent one of the world’s biggest and most under-reported opportunities. The business world has been so focused on stories like the rise of China that it has not been invited to see that, much closer to home, business could be reaping the benefits of the rise of women. Companies and their business school feeders have been slow in adapting and profiting from this shift, and part of the reason is that media too often focus on small, sensational and misleading parts of the story, including aspects like the wage gap.”

Catalyst’s 2010 Pipeline’s Broken Promise report examining high potential graduates from top business schools around the world found that, even after taking into account experience, industry and region, women start at lower levels than men, make on average $4,600 less in their initial jobs, and continue to be outpaced by men in rank and salary growth. Only when women begin their post-MBA career at mid-management or above do they achieve parity in position with men - a situation that accounted for only 10 percent of the women and 19 percent of the men surveyed.

Whatever the cause, the BLS reports there are only a handful of occupations where women’s earnings are equal to or exceed men’s including construction and extraction occupations; special education teachers; installation, maintenance and repair occupations; life, physical and social science technicians; and counselors.

We wanted to know, what jobs pay women the most money? Here are 25 jobs where women earn $1000 a week or more, according to the BLS, and how those wages compare to their male counterparts’.

Pharmacists

Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,647

Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,914

Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 86.1%

Chief executives

Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,603

Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,999

Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 80.2%

Lawyers

Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,509

Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,875

Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 80.5%

Computer software engineers

Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,351

Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,555

Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 86.9%

Computer and information systems managers

Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,260

Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,641

Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 76.8%

Physicians and surgeons

Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,230

Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,911

Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 64.4%

Management analysts

Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,139

Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,391

Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 81.9%

Human resources managers

Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,137

Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,433

Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 79.3%

Speech-language pathologists

Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,124

Men – Median weekly earnings: *

Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: **

Computer and mathematical occupations

Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,088

Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,320

Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 82.4%

Computer scientists and systems analysts

Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,082

Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,240

Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 87.3%

Physician assistants

Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,077

Men – Median weekly earnings: **

Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: **

Medical and health services managers

Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,066

Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,504

Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 70.9%

Physical scientists, all other

Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,061

Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,535

Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 69.1%

Postsecondary teachers

Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,056

Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,245

Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 84.8%

Marketing and sales managers

Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,024

Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,601

Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 64%

Physical therapists

Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,019

Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,329

Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 76.7%

Occupational therapists

Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,016

Men – Median weekly earnings: **

Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: **

Registered nurses

Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,011

Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,168

Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 86.6%

Managers, all other

Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,010

Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,359

Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 74.3%

Psychologists

Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,004

Men – Median weekly earnings: **

Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: **

Computer programmers

Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,003

Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,261

Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 79.5%

Architecture and engineering occupations

Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,001

Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,286

Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 77.8%

Advertising and promotions managers

Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,000

Men – Median weekly earnings: **

Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: **

Education administrators

Women – Median weekly earnings: $1,000

Men – Median weekly earnings: $1,398

Women’s earnings as percent of men’s in same occupation: 71.5%

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree? Are males and females paid the same at your organization?

*No data or data that do not meet publication criteria.

** Data not shown where the male employment base is less than 50,000.

By Kate Lorenz

Publish Post

15 Jobs That Pay $50 an Hour – Hurry up

Though $50 won't make all your wildest dreams come true, it's no chump change, either. There's still a lot you can get for $50 these days: a haircut, dinner for two, a tank of gas, a 50-day supply of macaroni and cheese. It can buy a lot of life's necessities and simple pleasures.

Now, just imagine what you could do if you got paid $50 for each hour on the job. (Lifetime supply of mac and cheese, anyone?)

While it may seem like the kind of money only doctors and lawyers make, it is possible to earn $50 an hour in a variety of career paths. Here's a sampling of jobs that pay $50 an hour* (or $100,000 a year, based on a 40-hour workweek, with two weeks' vacation time).

1. Computer and information scientist

What they do: Computer scientists research everything from computer algorithms to programming languages and software properties. The goal of computer science varies, but objectives may include: improving the ease of computer use, expanding computer functionality and developing artificial intelligence.

Education: Most have a Ph.D.*

Average hourly earnings: $50.66*

2. Pharmacist

What they do: Pharmacists work in hospitals, drugstores and outpatient facilities. They dispense patient medication, ensure proper dosage, analyze possible drug interactions and provide information to patients.

Education: Doctor of Pharmacy degree (Pharm.D.)

Average hourly earnings: $51.27

3. Construction foreman/superintendent

What they do: These professionals oversee residential and commercial construction sites. They manage construction workers and coordinate project timelines and budgets.

Education: On-the-job experience; bachelor's degree preferred, but not necessary

Average hourly earnings: $50.14

4. Funeral director and embalmer

What they do: Funeral directors make plans for church services, wakes and burials. The embalming portion of the job title involves cleaning and sanitizing the body, and preparing it for burial.

Education: Licensing, two-year education program and apprenticeship required

Average hourly earnings: $52.47

5. Marketing manager

What they do: Marketing managers help direct a company's advertising, promotional and sales strategies, with the goal of improving the company's reputation and increasing its revenue.

Education: Bachelor's degree in business, communications, advertising or public relations.

Average hourly earnings: $50.81

6. Financial aid officer

What they do: Financial aid officers direct disbursement of student scholarships, loans and grants, with the goal of making school more affordable for students.

Education: Bachelor's degree usually required.

Average hourly earnings: $51,203

7. Securities trader

What they do: Securities traders typically work at investment banks, managing securities such as stocks, bonds, futures and options for individual and institutional investors.

Education: Most securities traders hold a bachelor's degree in finance or other business concentration. Often, securities traders must pass financial certification exams such as the Series 7 and Series 63 tests.

Average hourly earnings: $50.79

8. Behavioral psychologist

What they do: Behavioral psychologists study and treat emotional and behavioral issues by helping patients change their perceptions and behaviors, often through therapy.

Education: A doctoral degree is required to practice as a psychologist

Average hourly earnings: $50.36

9. Adult day care director

What they do: Adult day care directors manage day-to-day operations of the facility. Responsibilities may include overseeing employees and budgets, developing relationships with attendees and their families and planning activities.

Education: High school diploma required; bachelor's degree preferred.

Average hourly earnings: $50.64

10. Seismologist

What they do: Seismologists study, report on and predict earthquakes and seismic waves.

Education: An undergraduate degree in physics or geology is enough to get a foot in the door, though many seismologists have master's or doctoral degrees.

Average hourly earnings: $50.43

11. Judge

What they do: Judges preside over trials and hearings in local, state or federal courtrooms.

Education: Because almost all judges get their start as lawyers, law school is the most common educational path for judges.

Average hourly earnings: $49.99

12. Physicist

What they do: Physicists study the physical world, with emphasis on the properties and laws of nature such as mass, gravity, inertia and the composition of matter. Physicists may also apply their findings practically, and develop new medical instruments and engineering technologies, for example.

Education: Though entry-level positions can be found with a bachelor's degree, most physicists have a Ph.D.

Average hourly earnings: $51.76

13. Human resources managers

What they do: HR managers interview and hire workers, mediate employee complaints and act as information sources for employees.

Education: Bachelor's degree

Average hourly earnings: $50.73

14. General and operations managers

What they do: General managers are responsible for the overall operation of venues such as amusements parks, restaurants and hotels. They oversee things such as employees, guest relations, budgets, marketing and purchasing.

Education: High school diploma; bachelor's degree preferred.

Average hourly earnings: $53.15

15. Co-pilot

What they do: A co-pilot serves as one part of the two-part team that makes up an airplane cockpit crew. In-flight duties are usually shared between the more experienced pilot, also called the captain, and the less experienced co-pilot, also referred to as the first officer.

Education: High school diploma, pilot's license.

Average hourly earnings: $52.45

* Salary and education information from CBSalary.com and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Salary info from CBSalary.com based on average earnings in Chicago. All salary information reflects pre-tax earnings.

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By Kaitlin Madden

How do I go about getting the best salary... the best job offer?

Most job-seekers find this part of job-hunting the toughest  at least the toughest in the sense of getting an offer that you want. We worry about appearing too greedy or about not asking for enough. We worry about causing conflict when we don't even have the job yet. However, negotiation is part of the job-hunting process, and if you are determined to get the best offer possible, you really need to learn to get comfortable with it.

Key Salary Negotiation Strategies:

1. Delay salary and benefit negotiations for as long as possible in the interview process. You'll have more power to negotiate when the field of candidates has been reduced to just you when the employer is completely sold on you as the best candidate for the position.
2. Remember that you'll have your greatest negotiation leverage between the time the employer makes the original offer and the time you accept the final offer. Once you accept an offer, you have little to no room to negotiate.
3. Don't negotiate at the time the initial job offer is made. Thank the employer for the offer and express your strong interest and enthusiasm in the job, but state that you'll need time to evaluate the entire compensation package. Most employers are willing to give you a fair amount of time to review.
4. Do your research. The greatest tool in any negotiation is information. Make sure you have done a thorough job of determining your fair market value for the job you seek, the salary range of the job for this specific employer, and geographic, economic, industry, and company-specific factors that might affect the given salary.
5. Just do it. While a large percentage of corporate recruiters (four out of five in one study conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management) are willing to negotiate compensation, only a small percentage of job-seekers actually do so. You don't have to be an expert negotiator to get a sweeter deal; you just need to know the rules and strategies of negotiation.
6. Negotiate to your strength. If you are a smooth talker (an extravert), call the employer and ask for a follow-up meeting to discuss a counter proposal. If you communicate better in writing, follow our guidelines for writing a counter-proposal letter (below).
7. Always ask for a higher salary (within acceptable limits) than you are willing to accept so that when the employer counters your proposal, the salary should be near your original goal.
8. If the salary you're offered is on the low end and the employer has stated that salary is not negotiable (probably because of corporate salary ranges or pay grade levels), consider negotiating for a signing bonus, higher performance bonuses, or a shorter time frame for a performance review and raise. Always negotiate base salary first, and then move on to other elements of the job offer.
9. When presenting a counter-proposal to the employer, be sure and include a few benefits that are expendable so that you can drop them in a concession to the employer as negotiations continue.
10. Never stop selling yourself throughout the negotiation process. Keep reminding the employer of the impact you will make, the problems you will solve, the revenue you will generate. And continue expressing interest and enthusiasm for the job and the company.

by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.

Who Earns More Than The President of USA?

10 Jobs with better hourly pay

President Barack Obama gets a nice little salary. Certainly some CEOs, entrepreneurs and movie stars are earning millions (and in some cases billions) of dollars, so he's by no means the richest person on the planet with his $400,000 annual salary. And he gets some pretty sweet perks, a fancy plane, an amazing chef and one of the most famous addresses in the world.

But if you stop to think about all his job entails, he's never really off the clock. Although he takes vacations, he can't completely clock out as long as he is in office. Regardless of where he is, the Secret Service is monitoring his every move and he must respond to any crisis that arises. The only other job that requires you to be on call 24 hours a day without fail is that of a parent, and no one's paying you to do that, unfortunately.

We took Obama's salary (not including his perks) and divided it by the 8,765 hours in a year, to figure that he earns $45.63 per hour. Again, not too shabby, but considering what a president has to put up with,  constant danger, huge responsibilities, graying hair, people throwing shoes,  it's a tough gig.

Here are 10 jobs that, while important and demanding, probably don't have the same pressure as that of Obama's, and they pay more than he gets:

1. Computer and information systems managers are involved in technology administration for a company or organization. They work with leaders to ensure the company is meeting all goals and standards they have set for technology.

Hourly pay: $49.90

2. Dentists perform routine maintenance on your teeth and gums, ranging from preventive treatment to certain types of procedures. In other words, they allow you to smile with confidence.

Hourly pay: $66.54

3. General internists care for and treat adult patients for diseases or ailments relating to internal organs, such as heart or gastrointestinal issues.

Hourly pay: $55.61

4. Judges and magistrates preside over various legal and civil proceedings in order to assign awards or punishment based on the law.

Hourly pay: $59.95

5. Lawyers perform a wide range of legal duties, ranging from acting as counsel in a trial or working on behalf of organizations and corporations to ensure they are abiding by the law.

Hourly pay: $54.35

6. Marketing managers coordinate the promotion and marketing of a product or service for a company. They are involved in all marketing aspects for the company, from the initial brainstorming to the execution of the plan.

Hourly pay: $51.26

7. Post-secondary business teachers teach business courses in college and universities. Their students are typically working toward an MBA, although they might be studying any number of fields.

Hourly pay: $60.92

8. Post-secondary physics teachers teach post-secondary physics courses at universities and institutions and often perform research, as well.

Hourly pay: $57.76

9. Psychiatrists work with patients to diagnose and treat mental and behavioral disorders or conditions.

Hourly pay: $71.93

10. Securities, commodities and financial services sales agents sell stocks or bonds to investors in exchange for a commission. They are in constant contact with customers to see what stocks or bonds might interest them and find out how they want to proceed.

Hourly pay: $53.54

By Anthony Balderrama, CareerBuilder.com writer

How do I go about getting the best salary... the best job offer?

Most job-seekers find this part of job-hunting the toughest  at least the toughest in the sense of getting an offer that you want. We worry about appearing too greedy or about not asking for enough. We worry about causing conflict when we don't even have the job yet. However, negotiation is part of the job-hunting process, and if you are determined to get the best offer possible, you really need to learn to get comfortable with it.

Key Salary Negotiation Strategies:

1. Delay salary and benefit negotiations for as long as possible in the interview process. You'll have more power to negotiate when the field of candidates has been reduced to just you when the employer is completely sold on you as the best candidate for the position.
2. Remember that you'll have your greatest negotiation leverage between the time the employer makes the original offer and the time you accept the final offer. Once you accept an offer, you have little to no room to negotiate.
3. Don't negotiate at the time the initial job offer is made. Thank the employer for the offer and express your strong interest and enthusiasm in the job, but state that you'll need time to evaluate the entire compensation package. Most employers are willing to give you a fair amount of time to review.
4. Do your research. The greatest tool in any negotiation is information. Make sure you have done a thorough job of determining your fair market value for the job you seek, the salary range of the job for this specific employer, and geographic, economic, industry, and company-specific factors that might affect the given salary.
5. Just do it. While a large percentage of corporate recruiters (four out of five in one study conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management) are willing to negotiate compensation, only a small percentage of job-seekers actually do so. You don't have to be an expert negotiator to get a sweeter deal; you just need to know the rules and strategies of negotiation.
6. Negotiate to your strength. If you are a smooth talker (an extravert), call the employer and ask for a follow-up meeting to discuss a counter proposal. If you communicate better in writing, follow our guidelines for writing a counter-proposal letter (below).
7. Always ask for a higher salary (within acceptable limits) than you are willing to accept so that when the employer counters your proposal, the salary should be near your original goal.
8. If the salary you're offered is on the low end and the employer has stated that salary is not negotiable (probably because of corporate salary ranges or pay grade levels), consider negotiating for a signing bonus, higher performance bonuses, or a shorter time frame for a performance review and raise. Always negotiate base salary first, and then move on to other elements of the job offer.
9. When presenting a counter-proposal to the employer, be sure and include a few benefits that are expendable so that you can drop them in a concession to the employer as negotiations continue.
10. Never stop selling yourself throughout the negotiation process. Keep reminding the employer of the impact you will make, the problems you will solve, the revenue you will generate. And continue expressing interest and enthusiasm for the job and the company.

by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.