What is a good example of a “high-prestige but low-pay” type of job?
I’m sure that they are out there, but I cannot currently think of any.
Airline pilots were/are high prestige but many are regional commuters earning relatively little. They aren’t the big-haul captains making $140k a year.
And certain jobs like “movie actor or actress” sound glamorous but may actually pay little if you’re not a star.
Depending on your definition of “low-pay,” perhaps military officer or fire fighter.
Also, County Prosecutor (D.A.).
Yeah Military is the obvious one.
I actually thought Police Officers and Firefighters are pretty well paid nowadays.
Also the various minor rolls (grips, assistants, etc.) in filmmaking probably apply.
Computer games also to some degree. Generally even the developers are pretty low paid compared to equivalent non-games jobs, and artists and QA even more so.
Professional cheerleaders.
How about federal judges? From Wikipedia, “As of 2019, federal district judges are paid $210,900 a year, circuit judges $223,700, Associate Justices of the Supreme Court $258,900 and the Chief Justice of the United States $270,700.”
That may seem like a lot, but anyone at the level of a federal judge could earn many multiples of that salary in private practice.
If that’s the standard we’re going to use, then Vice President of the United States is as high-prestige as it gets but “only” pays $235,000 a year.
How about President of the United States? His salary is $400,000 a year, but that’s peanuts compared to, say, a CEO of a major company. Goodall’s salary is listed as $40,000,000.
I’m a former U.S. Navy officer. Under no circumstances can “military officer” be considered low pay. Keep in mind that the base pay for a person in the military only represents about 2/3 of their compensation. There are also numerous untaxed allowances including housing allowances (or being provided housing tax-free in lieu of receiving these allowances). Certain specialties also get various incentives and retention bonuses. Not to mention comprehensive medical care for the service member and their family at no cost.
For myself, when I got out of the military in the early 2000s after more than decade of active-duty service and started work as a engineer in the civilian world, I took a massive pay cut.
There was a time back in the 1970s (when I was an Army brat growing up in a military family) when the military was indeed under-compensated, but that has not been the case in a very long time.
Thanks for the clarification. I actually don’t know what an officer in the military makes per year. Googling, it looks like they can exceed $100,000. Not “low pay” but perhaps lower than their prestige level.
Similarly, most judges have more prestige but lower pay than successful attorneys in their jurisdiction. (but wouldn’t be considered “low pay” positions)
This for sure. The Minnesota Vikings cheerleader get paid something like $50 per game. Apparently they are expected to make additional money by making paid appearances at events ie. business openings, company functions, fairs & festivals, etc.
Some jobs might pay rather little on the actual paycheck, but the position does not merely give one prestige. That prestige can bring big bucks as a “guest speaker” at many events, or for product endorsements, and other goodies. Gotta remember to look at the entire package.
It was the mention of Supreme Court judges that made me think of it, but it applies to other jobs too, like military brass, and corporate leaders. I don’t know how much is available to people like the mayor of a small town, or an extra who happened to be in a famous movie.
[ETA: like what Hampshire said]
If you are a professor or a general and motivated to do so, I’m sure you can augment your salary by doing a little consulting on the side.
if you’re a general? No, you can’t, generally. If you are Active Duty, you need command permission to have a second income. A general office is extremely unlikely to be given command permission to do consulting work on the side - the potential for conflict of interest and the appearance of a conflict of interest would be huge. And the impact on the morale and good order and discipline of those under their command would be potentially crippling.
Now, a retired general officer, absolutely. In addition to their pension (generally half of their base pay at the last grade they served in) and veterans benefits, for a former general officer, positions on various boards, consulting fees, and appearance and speaking fees can be quite lucrative.
Hot Babe Photographer (back when you did that for Playboy or Maxim)
Excellent examples in the replies. Thanks!
I came in to suggest social worker. They are well-educated, don’t have to get their hands dirty, work in an office helping people, and make only $50-$65k per year.
I found myself nodding when I saw regional airline pilot, County Prosecutor, college professor (especially adjuncts), and cheerleaders.
Non-profits are famous for offering hard-working, driven and idealistic young professionals great job titles (“Managing Director”) and unconscionable pay. Senior executives do fine but the grunts are supposed to be glad to be paid anything for saving the world.
Congressional staffers, particularly the policy positions like Legislative Aides. Most of these people are using the job as a stepping stone into politics or lobbying, so high income isn’t necessary to attract motivated workers.
I have no personal knowledge of their income but I suspect, for certain definitions of “prestige,” male porn stars fit in the “high prestige, low income” bucket. .
Depends what your institutional contract permits.
And yet there are many, many eager and very well-qualified lawyers who’d be delighted to get a federal judgeship. Nobody goes into that part of the profession for the pay.