5 Careers with Starting Salaries Above $50,000

There are hundreds of jobs with a starting salary of over fifty thousand dollars.  A search on the Internet can turn up website after website listing jobs that have a starting salary of fifty thousand dollars or more.  For the purpose of this article, the five jobs listed have been taken from only one website which can be found at http://blogs.payscale.com/salary_report_kris_cowan/2008/07/top-10-list-of.html.
These careers were complied by payscale.com.  The jobs listed here are by no means the only jobs with a starting salary of fifty thousand dollars or more.  They are simply a list and description of 5 careers with starting salaries above $50,000.  They include Investment Banking Analyst, Physical Therapist, Nurse Practitioner, Software Engineer, and Electrical Engineer.  As you will see as you read further, the education required for each specific career varies.

Investment Banking Analyst

An investment banking analyst, also called a financial analyst, is one of the hot 5 careers with starting salaries above $50,000.  People who are good with numbers and adept at solving real world problems will soar in this career.  The gist of the job involves analyzing information that affects the investment programs of public and private institutions.  In other words, an investment banking analyst analyzes company stocks and makes recommendations to investors about whether to buy, hold, or sell the stocks.  Their main role is to help organizations or their clients decide how to manage their investments.  The average starting salary, depending on the name of the company and the location of the business, is $59,084.  This career has strong long time earning potentials that will be topped off with bonuses and benefits that can earn you double your starting salary in as little as five years.  A college degree is usually required in finance, economics, business administration, accounting, or statistics.  Most employers require at least a bachelor’s degree, but some require higher education such as a master’s degree or a professional designation such as a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).

Physical Therapist

Another one of 5 careers with starting salaries above $50,000 is a physical therapist.  The typical starting salary for this career is $52,573.  Specializing in a specific area of physical therapy, such as hand or back therapy, can significantly boost the starting salary and marketing potential for this career.  Physical therapists assess, plan, organize, and provide rehabilitative programs to improve mobility, relieve pain, increase strength, and decrease or prevent further damage for patients suffering from disease or injury.  There are two main roles for physical therapists.  The first is to help people who have been ill or injured return to a healthy life, such as an athlete injured while playing a sport.  The other is to assist people with permanent disabilities achieve the highest level of physical function possible by teaching them exercises that will help them manage their pain, such as a patient with cerebral palsy.  This career requires extensive training to become certified to help patients through recoveries at a safe and healthy pace.  Salary, again, is dependent on for whom you work and where the business is located.

Nurse Practitioner

Nurse practitioner is another one of 5 careers with starting salaries above $50,000.  With an average starting salary of $67,166 plus, nurse practitioners have one of the best starting salaries of any career.  Nurse practitioners stand by to attend patients when doctors are not able to see them.  Nurse practitioners give physicals, provide treatment and counsel patients, order and interpret test results, and recommend treatment for patients.  They can also prescribe medication and therapy, as well as assist surgeons during surgery or other medical procedures.  Nurse practitioners are nurses who have advanced academic and clinical training experience that allows them to do many of the tasks traditionally reserved for medical doctors.  To become a nurse practitioner, you must first complete a bachelor’s degree in nursing and pass the exams that allow you to become a registered nurse.  After working as a registered nurse, you must take additional nurse practitioner training which usually takes two years to complete.

Software Engineer

Software engineers design, write, and test computer programs.  These programs are detailed instructions written in special languages or codes that computers can understand, and the instructions direct computers to perform certain tasks.  Other job duties may include debugging software for clients and writing codes to create interface driven applications.  This is a hot field and definitely one of the top 5 careers with starting salaries above $50,000.  The average starting salary for a software engineer is $56,795 plus.  Although there are no specific academic qualifications for this job, most employers expect a certain level of academic training.  A bachelor’s degree is typically required, but some programmers may qualify with two year degrees or certificates.

Electrical Engineer

The average starting salary for an electrical engineer is $54,401 plus.  Electrical engineers focus on using electricity to transmit energy, and companies are always looking for ways to attract young electrical engineers.  Two areas of expertise in this career are electrical engineer and electronics engineer.  Electrical engineers design, develop, test, and supervise the manufacturing and installation of electrical equipment, electrical components, or electrical systems for various uses.  They design high tech products such as microwaves and cell phones.  Electronics engineers research, design, develop, and test electronic components for various companies using knowledge of electronic theory and materials properties. They may also design circuits for use in the telecommunications, aerospace, acoustics, or instruments and controls fields.  These engineers can be found wherever a company has a complex problem that involves electricity.  This career requires a minimum of a bachelor degree in electrical or electronic engineering, but typically a master’s degree or higher is usually preferred.

Each of these 5 careers with starting salaries above $50,000 is dependent upon several factors.  These include, but are not limited to, the location and size of the company, level of skill, level of education and training, and your experience in the field.  Your investment in the training and education required for these 5 careers with starting salaries above $50,000 could well be the best investment you ever make.