The media, college career centers and well-meaning parents and friends have developed lists of high profile jobs that tell the world you’re important and bring a nice paycheck. For example, when others hear you say you’re pursuing a career in public relations, people ooh and ahh because they think your life will resemble the glamour and intrigue of Olivia Pope’s. But there are downsides to these “good jobs” that we never see. Many of these high profile jobs are not worth the long hours, the stress of finding clients or staving off other highly qualified, competitive professionals hungry for your position.
Careercast, a site dedicated to helping the job seeker find local and niche jobs, created a list of high profile jobs that aren’t worth it and a companion list of what they term “underrated” jobs that aren’t as competitive or stressful, but pay well. Take a look at the table below to see the difference between the higher profile positions and the lower profile positions.
This is good information for the college student trying to figure out what career to pursue or the unfulfilled professional looking to transition to something more desirable without sacrificing a paycheck.
Top Jobs versus Jobs with Higher Personal Satisfaction
In most cases, making a transition would require spending time with an experienced resume writer on how best to create a new resume geared towards the new position you’re targeting. For the college student, there are ways to frame your studies, internships and work experience on your resume and cover letter to show you are qualified for anyone of the positions in the low profile, higher satisfaction column.
Interested in discussing an update to your resume or cover letter, reach out to me via the contact us link in the footer below.
The best is yet to come,
Michelle