$25-an-hour Jobs

www.careerbuilder.com ^ | October 2007 | Mary Lorenz

[Maelstorm]

$25-an-hour Jobs

By Mary Lorenz, CareerBuilder.com writer

If you get paid a salary, you probably don't give much thought to what you make on an hourly basis. Either the thought is too depressing ("That's all I make per hour?"), produces too much guilt ("That's how much the company spends every time I take a 'little' break to watch YouTube videos?"), or simply doesn't occur to you.  That said, $25 an hour may not sound like much, until you realize that the median household salary is $46,326 according to the 2005 U.S. Census Bureau, and that breaks down to about $22.27 per hour for a 40-hour work week. 

 

So who's making more than the average American at $25 an hour?

 

1. Market analyst -- $27.18/hour
Market analysts work in government agencies, consulting firms, financial institutions or marketing research firms, where they research and predict the sales potential of a particular product or service. A bachelor's degree is the minimum requirement for many jobs; however, a master's degree in a field such as business administration, marketing, statistics or communications will provide more opportunities.
Average annual salary: $56,541*

 

2. Chemist -- $25.16/hour
Chemists search for and use knowledge about chemicals to discover and develop new and improved products, processes to save energy and reduce pollution, and advances in fields like medicine and agriculture. A bachelor's degree in chemistry or a related discipline is the minimum educational requirement; however, many research jobs require a master's degree or doctorate.
Average annual salary: $52,333

 

3. Civil engineer -- $25.29/hour
Civil engineers plan, design and oversee engineering for building projects like airports, bridges, buildings and irrigation systems.  They often need a degree in civil engineering or certification as a registered civil engineer.
Average annual salary: $52,605
 
4. Social worker -- $25.06/hour
Social workers work for places like community centers, hospitals and penal institutions, where they develop programs to help individuals and groups enhance their personal relationships and social development.  Social workers receive accreditation through a four-year college degree program in social work and on-the-job experience.
Average annual salary: $52,119

 

5. Human resources generalist -- $26.90/hour
Human resources generalists work to improve working conditions within an establishment by identifying, evaluating and resolving problems in employee relations and work performance. A combination of directly related training and experience is typically required for carrying out the responsibilities for this job.
Average annual salary: $55,959

 

6. Architect -- $26.41/hour
Architects apply their knowledge of design to plan and supervise the construction of building projects according to their clients' needs and financial resources.  Architects need a degree from an approved school of architecture.
Average annual salary: $55,060 

 

7. Speech pathologist -- $25.05/hour
Speech pathologists specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of speech and language disorders and study the science of human communication. Practice requires a four-year degree in the field of health sciences.
Average annual salary: $52,105

 

8. Budget analyst -- $26.71/hour
Budget analysts review financial plans and help institutions prepare budgets, improve efficiency and lower costs. Budget analysts typically have at least a bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, business, public administration, economics, statistics, political science or sociology.
Average annual salary: $55,579

 

9. Detective -- $27.02/hour
Detectives carry out investigations to prevent crimes or solve criminal cases.  Detectives are appointed based on their eligibility under civil service regulations, their performance in competitive written exams and their previous education and experience. 
Average annual salary: $56,197

 

10. Physical therapist -- $25.68/hour
Physical therapists plan and administer medically prescribed treatment for patients suffering from injuries or certain diseases to restore function, relieve pain and prevent disability. A combination of training and experience is typically required to practice, as well as compliance with state licensing requirements. 
Average annual salary: $53,410

[Melinda in TN]

Everybody knows we don’t wear shoes in TN

~~~~~~~~

That was funny. You just wrap tobacco leaves around your feet and drink whiskey if you get cold, right?

Right! :-)

[eyedigress]

We are looking for the proper I-face now and need anyone with ATEasy experience that knows where to place System Layer commands vs Driver Layer commands. It’s not that easy.

[Myrddin]

Phone calls from jackasses are billable.

That is true if the call is pertinent to one of my contracts. Sometimes it's not billable, but maintaining a civil discourse has potential impacts on future business.

[Dinsdale]

Off topic but owning two pairs of each type and wearing them on alternate days will generally make each pair last about four times as long. (Gives them time to let the sweat dry between wearings.)

Not that I’m cheap or anything.

[eyedigress]

Probably reduces corns also. Good Idea. :^)

[SunTzuWu]

The only people who make more than 15 dollars an hour are shrinks, plumbers and electricians.. and they make closer to 80 dollars an hour.

Plumbing companies may charge $80 per hour but plumbers don't make $80 per hour. An employer must match the SS and FICA taxes deducted from employees paychecks. Workers comp. insurance and liability insurance is based on payroll. After you figure in truck payments, fuel, vehicle insurance, maintenance and overhead for the office, I end up with costs of around $67 per hour. Thats breaking even. I still must turn a profit after taxes. Thats why Plumbers, Electricians, Mechanics etc. charge what they do. I am not rich by any stretch of the imagination.

[Myrddin]

We are looking for the proper I-face now and need anyone with ATEasy experience that knows where to place System Layer commands vs Driver Layer commands. It’s not that easy.

ATEasy looks like a pretty easy tool to use. It is only useful in a shop where there is budget to purchase all the automated test equipment it controls. I think that may be a prime reason for having few candidates familiar with its use. I would look for candidates with LabView experience and spin them up on the ATEasy software.

[eyedigress]

You are right. I inherited this dilemma but any Agilent/HP experience works, only the visual is gone.

[Myrddin]

Customers pay the loaded or "burdened" rate to cover all the other expenses required to provide the service. Insurance, training, office space, electricity, networking, vehicles are figured into that rate. That rate is often 3 to 4 times the actual gross income of the employee for the service provided. My "burdened" rate ranges from $170 to $250 per hour. At the time I was being billed at $250/hour, I was covering for 4 Java programmers, 2 EEs and 2 C++ programmers. I worked 240 hours per month. In the end, the company folded up and never paid many of the contractors...including my company. Thankfully I wasn't one of the new hires traveling across country with my household goods in a moving van when that decision was made. That happened to about 50 people who had been hired.

[swmobuffalo]

But this can’t possibly be correct, everybody KNOWS that public school teachers make more money than anyone on the planet.

sarcasm off

[Grams A]

Best shoe repair place in “central” Houston - already 15 miles from me - moved 20 miles further away to suburbs because owners increased his rent to $4,500/month. That’s a lot of shoes for one guy to fix. New tenant-ANOTHER Crate & Barrell. Best butcher who used local farmers for meat source out of business and replaced by a Wal-Mart super store. Tough out there for the small guy who takes pride in work. Reliable cleaners - impossible to find and the list goes on.

[Prophet in the wilderness]

I guess if I can get my mom’s DSL modem and router back up and running, I might be able to do that.

[Myrddin]

I guess if I can get my mom’s DSL modem and router back up and running, I might be able to do that.

When I started with the Bell System in 1980, the ESS classes were taught at the Bell System School for Technical Education in Lisle, IL. I spent about 20 weeks there. The ESS trainees for 4ESS lived there almost a year before they were sufficiently competent to be turned loose. The original 1ESS was setup in the building. Core and ferrite sheet memory, discrete components in the processor frame, a 26-in disc drive that used a belt-driven by a washing machine motor and twin 256-head read/write heads. The program store was loaded over a 3 week period using aluminum plates with discrete ferrous metal squares for each BIT. It was extremely primitive. The processor frame was two 7-foot tall frames spread over 30-feet in length. It had 8K of memory. In comparison, the 1AESS processors occupied the top 24 inches of a single 7 ft bay and had 256K memory.

[Awestruck]

Well I’d call all that a real success story... some people just don’t know how to live on what they have, or save up for what they want.. I don’t think it’s always about how much one makes, but whether or not they know how to use it properly.

[Awestruck]

I was referring to what the author said..

[Awestruck]

must just be around here that electricians and plumbers live pretty well... because I used to be married to one, and we had a pretty good life, as did others that I knew in those professions.

[Awestruck]

No, I’m in a much less expensive part of the state...and why does everyone on here who hasn’t met me think I”m a man?

[kalee]

ping

[null and void]

Because, you, like me, have a sexually ambiguous screen name.

(I’m a guy, BTW)...

[mdmathis6]

RN’s with 10 to 20 years experience:27 to 40 dollars/hr in certain city hospitals here in Richmond, not counting night shift differentials. Starting RN’s run around 20!