This Is The Top Job For Americans Hoping To Make Six Figures With No Experience

Dave_Berry · January 4

"... They found that in 2019, the highest-paying job for college graduates that required no previous work experience was being a pharmacist.

Roughly 64% of pharmacist job postings required no previous work experience in the field, while also carrying a median starting salary of $126,000 a year, more than twice the average wage in the US. Next up was another position in the health-care field: Nurse practitioner. 60% of job postings for nurse practitioners required no prior work experience, while advertising a median salary of $114,000. ...

... However, median salaries for these teaching jobs came in at just over $60,000." ...

https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/top-job-americans-hoping-make-six-figures-no-experience

cypresspat · January 4

Uh.... one should note that both pharmacists and APRNs have extensive clinical training hours before they can sit for any license exam. They are far from green and unexposed to the real world of working in their chosen fields. Not to mention the MANY years of schooling both require.

momofsenior1 · January 4

And both require more than a four year undergraduate degree.

ClassicMom98 · January 4

Agree with the above but wonder about their data. A high school teacher with a PhD and 30 years of experience has a salary of $65K here not counting the mandatory 5% pension contribution and the $1800/MTH family health premium (if they need it). And our police start out at $35K not $65K. I know we are low, but still...

Parentof2014grad · January 4

In pharmacy, wages are flat or falling. More and more competition for jobs. Many companies (retail at least) pay all their pharmacists the same—new hires, recent grads, long-time experienced employees. So relatively little increase from the starting salary. And yes, it takes several years of schooling beyond undergrad to be qualified in the first place.

Qtinfo · January 4

There are a few accelerated pharmacy programs that let students complete their undergraduate work and PharmD in as little as 5 years. (2 years of undergrad + 3 years for the PharmD.) These students can hypothetically have an advanced degree by the time they're 23.

socaldad2002 · January 4

One area where I see people making very good money with no experience (college degree or otherwise) is in residential and commercial real estate especially in large metropolitan areas.

If I could do my career over again, I would have got my real estate license, and buy, sell, and manage properties. I’m amazed at how much money some of my fiends are making in this business with no academic education.

By the way, being a pharmacist seems like a very boring job. And there is some risk. We had a local long time RiteAid pharmacist get fired who didn’t realize one of his staff was stealing OxyContin for 6+ months as he did not have the proper checks and balances in place to catch the crime.

sciencenerd · January 6

"Technically" pharmacists don't require work experience, but they get it through in school experience "working" at a pharmacy.

jym626 · January 6

Many professional jobs with built in clinical training/internships/residencies and subsequent licensure (think MD, DO, RN, Ph.D. Healthcare professionals) can make good starting salaries with “no experience”. Of course they have experience. And so do the pharmacists (BTW as others have said, there is a glut on the market and jobs are harder to come by, and the hours can be difficult).

doschicos · January 6

I've read that many pharmacist jobs are ripe for automation.

jym626 · January 6

The automation is largely in hospital settings, not yet in drugstores. But much of the work there is done by pharm techs. Only need one pharmacist to supervise hem.

saillakeerie · January 6

Pharmacists in general are a miserable lot. My wife was one of them. She gives what she calls public service announcements to suggest people do something else. Consolidation in retail is resulting in pay pressure and reduced hours (and no reason for good treatment of pharmacists). People going into pharmacy say they don't plan to go into retail so that won't be an issue but more than 1/2 the pharmacists work in retail so someone works there. Quotas for giving flu shots, keystrokes tracked for efficienc, spare minutes in the day to be used to check scripts in other stores, etc. Gloried cashier with a lot of knowledge that isn't really useful anymore.

Number of pharmacy schools has increased significantly (not quite doubled). Expected to outpace growth in jobs. A lot of legislation being pushed to allow techs to do what pharmacists had to do with a goal to reducing the number of pharmacists needed. Pay is high to start but doesn't grow much over career.

Like anything, just go into it with open eyes. Don't get lured in by high starting salary.

Teachers in my district average north of $80k. With 4 year degrees.

twogirls · January 12

Pharmacy jobs that require counting pills can definitely be automated, but from what I have learned recently...the work involved prior to counting those pills still requires knowledge of science...or at least I would hope so given the education that is required.

Pharmacy programs are now offering research paths in addition to the traditional route (dual paths). Maybe they always had this...I don’t know.

I agree that you need to enter into this field with open eyes, but I also think that the field is beginning to expand beyond traditional pharmacy. For example, there is a new field that is still in its infancy called “pharmacogenomics.” This is discussed in depth within several pharmacy school websites and is definitely a path that can be investigated by those who choose to enter this profession.

As with most things, keep your eyes wide open and be prepared to learn skills within your chosen profession to keep up with the times.

This Is The Top Job For Americans Hoping To Make Six Figures With No Experience

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