<p>dennis speaks the truth.</p>
<p>problem is idk what i truly want to do… :cries:</p>
<p>Pick a basic or common career, then branch out . i.e Doctor…then scientist…then vet…research…etc. Lawyer … then government. Just to give you an idea.</p>
<p>Airline pilots are usually very happy…</p>
<p>ooooh airline pilot that sounds cool… </p>
<p>**** i’m from pakistan, scratch that idea…</p>
<p>I temp at a big financial firm in NYC, and must say while you see people who seem generally happy, many are stressed-out and often irritable.</p>
<p>Doctors can make at least $200,000 first year out of residency if they dont go into private practice (at a hospital). </p>
<p>so yea.</p>
<p>I think that financial planners were rated as the happiest overall.</p>
<p>investment bankers…knocks on wood (thats what im doing)</p>
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<p>lol… ouch</p>
<p>I forget who said it, but there’s a famous quote that if you want to have the best society possible, make teachers, doctors, and policemen the highest paid occupations. 
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<p>what does it mean if a society makes actors, singers, and athletes the highest paid occupations?</p>
<p>We’re all going to die in giant ball of flame.</p>
<p><em>sigh</em></p>
<p>There’s no magic bullet for this - it’s what brings you joy individually. </p>
<p>I’ve worked in some blue-collar jobs early on and I found many lots of fun, with fascinating people. Plenty of satisfaction in a job well done, even if it’s installing equipment, carrying wood or mowing a yard. Heck, I made installing wiring in communications equipment a form of art with it’s perfection and grace. I thought it was cool.</p>
<p>I’ve worked in white-collar professional work for most of my career, and it has it can be great too. Plenty of satisfaction in a well-written paper, analysis or presentation. Cracking complex problems, finding the right key that unlocks a thorny issue - that’s cool too.</p>
<p>I’ve found wonderful joy in having kids. They’re a blast as well.</p>
<p>Yep, some folks are miserable, but frankly, that’s a decision they make every moment. </p>
<p>Life’s too short.</p>
<p>I read an article about management consulting, and the guy who was intervieved loved his job, because it’s different everyday and you are helping struggling companies fix their HUGE problems and as you help them you get to see the results, and the results have far reaching effects… employees of the company can rest easier with a healthier bottom line, the company contributes to society through charity, paying employees better wages, etc. Management consulting is actually a very satisfying career. I think any time you are helping people make positive impacts on their lives, you are satisfied… (i.e. psychology/social work is extremely satisfying).</p>
<p>311Griff, while I’m sure that’s what theoretically management consulting should be about, it frankly is quite often not the case. Many times after analysis of the client company’s strategies the conclusion reached is that drastic cost cutting would greatly benefit the company as a whole. As you probably know, this means employees getting laid off as a result of the consultant’s advice, something that does not sit well ethically with some of the management consultants I’ve spoken with.<br>
While managment consultants at top firms undoubtedly do greatly improve a company’s efficiency, this often comes at the cost of hard working peoples’ jobs. Furthermore the constant travelling, useless specialization in a specific industry (as opposed to the jack-of-all-trades approach of investment banking), and long hours have given me the impression that many management consultants (in fact all of them I’ve talked to, granted most of my friends are entry level associates), are not happy, and certainly do not think that they are helping people.</p>
<p>I don’t know if I trust the princeton review salaries…
my parents are doctors, have been for decades, and make less than half of those PR numbers :/</p>
<p>well it has a lot to do with where your family lives… if you live in a rural environment the salary isn’t gonna be as high as say someone practicing in new york city…</p>
<p>veggz, I was going off of an interview/story I read recently about the most satisfying careers… and one was management consulting. I did consider the possible job cuts recommended by consultants, and I see how that would be tough to swallow, except that sometimes you have to learn that decisions have to be made on the better of two bads… either the company goes bankrupt and possibly dies, or some people lose their jobs with layoff packages, and unemployment benefits until they find something else… this is the natural flow of business, and ethical or not, it’s unavoidable.</p>
<p>The story I read did talk about long hours, but the way the interviewee explained it was that the hours are flexible and his firm had a “do what it takes” policy, so if a family event came up, and the consultant could adjust his schedule accordingly, then by all means, they could take time off, etc. Nevertheless, one huge downside of consulting, IMO, is the unpredictability of client requests and requirements of your time.</p>
<p>Consultants travel a lot too, often they have to stay in a different city for an extended period of time and see their family just occasionally.</p>
<p>For myself, if I wanted a relaxed job, I’d just be a ancient history professor</p>