When I grow up

13 May 2008

This question has been a life-long debate in my life, so far. Well, I found a lil' thingy that would actually tell me how long (years) would I have to work for an average of 8 hours per day from Monday to Friday.

If you know that Hollywood's top stars can earn $20 million dollars per film and that the average time to shoot a movie is six months, you won't be surprised to see that their paychecks make the average person's income look minuscule in comparison. In fact, if these celebrities worked standard 8-hour workdays, it would take them less than seven days to earn $1 million.
In all likelihood, you and I – the little people – aren't making that kind of money. In fact, it will take some people their entire careers to cross the million-dollar mark even once.
With that in mind, we looked at a variety of jobs to see just how long it would take to earn $1 million working in each position. We used the median annual salary of each profession, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and broke down the earnings based on a 40-hour workweek.

Here are 30 jobs with earnings anywhere from below minimum wage to six-figure salaries and how long it would take to earn $1 million in terms of hours, eight-hour workdays and years.

Architects, except landscape and naval: $64,150*32,425 hours**4,053 days16 years

Automotive service technicians and mechanics: $33,78061,576 hours7,697 days30 years

Bartenders: $16,350127,226 hours15,901 days61 years

Bookkeeping, accounting and auditing clerks: $30,56068,074 hours8,508 days33 years

Carpenters: $36,55056,915 hours7,113 days27 years

Child, family and school social workers: $37,48055,494 hours6,937 days27 years

Choreographers: $34,66060,024 hours7,501 days29 years

Coaches and scouts at colleges, universities and professional schools: $37,53055,432 hours6,928
days27 years

Computer and information systems managers: $101,58020,475 hours2,560 days10 years

Computer applications software engineers: $79,78026,069 hours3,259 days13 years

Computer support specialists: $41,47050,150 hours6,260 days24 years

Dental hygienists: $62,80033,124 hours4,140 days16 years

Desktop publishers: $34,13060,938 hours7,618 days29 years

Elementary school principal: $82,41425,240 hours3,155 days12 years

Executive secretaries and administrative assistants: $37,24055,866 hours6,982 days27 years

Hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists: $21,32097,561 hours12,195 days47 years

Librarians, local government: $44,96046,254 hours5,783 days22 years

Middle school teachers, except special and vocational education: $46,30044,924 hours5,615
days22 years

Network systems and data communications analysts: $64,60032,154 hours4,032 days15 years

Personal financial advisers: $66,12026,896 hours3,932 days15 years

Photographers: $26,17079,491 hours9,935 days38 years

Pharmacists: $94,52022,007 hours2,751 days11 years

Physical therapists: $66,20031,417 hours3,927 days15 years

Police and sheriff's patrol officers: $47,46043,821 hours5,479 days21 years

Post-secondary teachers: $56,12037,064 hours4,633 days18 years

Retail salespersons, department stores: $19,610106,045 hours13,259 days51 years

Special education teachers, preschool, kindergarten and elementary school: $46,36044,863
hours5,608 days22 years

Technical writers: $58,05035,829 hours4,479 days17 years

Travel agent: $29,21071,225 hours8,900 days34 years

Veterinarians: $71,99028,893 hours3,611 days14 years

*Salary data based on median annual salary data as reported by the BLS.**Hours, days and years figures are rounded to the nearest whole number.

Therefore, I have decided to take uncharted paths and maybe opt for dental hygenist (but I hate looking at other people's teeth), an elementary school principal (I don't really know how to take care of kids) or an achitect (but I can't even draw an elephant). Looks like I have to just keep looking for better jobs that I could earn $1 mil in less than 20 years. (20 yrs cos I don't wanna take too long toget one goal done and I don't wanna spend the rest of my life toiling with not much return)

Signing out,
Job-seeker