14 Extremely Underrated Jobs Where You Can Make Absolute BANK
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Recently, I asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell me about their cool, well-paying jobs that, surprisingly, a lot of people haven't heard about. Some of their answers had me wondering if I chose the wrong career path!
Here are 14 of their top answers:
Some responses are from this BuzzFeed post as well as this Reddit thread from u/rabahi.
1."I'm a personal chef, but I only specialize in weekly meal prep (I don't do dinner parties, cooking lessons, etc.). I created my own niche in personal cheffing, which no one else seems to do in my area, and it's gone really well! I started my own business in 2020 and have been pretty solidly booked since. I only work two to four days per week and charge between $300–$400 for two and a half to four hours of active cooking time, which equals approximately $100–$120/hr. (There is also some extra time needed for planning and ordering ingredients, but it's pretty minimal, and I get to do it at home in my PJs.)"
"So, for an average of 10–20 hours of work per week, the business brings in $40–$50k/year. It could be double or more if I wanted to work a 'full-time' schedule. There also isn't a lot of overhead with this line of work, since I cook in my clients' kitchens with ingredients I purchase on their behalf.
My schedule is Monday–Thursday from about 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. or 2 p.m. I never work Fridays or weekends. And if I want some extra time off, I just let my clients know I'm not cooking that day.
I didn't go to culinary school to do this. I worked in some bakeries then did some recipe development work for a large company. Once the pandemic hit, I realized I wanted a change and took a chance on starting my own business. I worked really hard to build my skills at home through lots of cooking and learning through YouTube videos. Then I focused on building a good website and branding for the business. You just need to show people you can do the job well and make sure they're satisfied, and they won't care you don't have a culinary degree (not one single person has ever asked about it).
If you want to do this working for someone else, you can expect only $20–$30/hr, though you might get some benefits like 401k match, health insurance, etc. If you can make it work, owning your own meal prep business can be an incredible experience!"
—Anonymous, 35, northeast USA
2."Intellectual property paralegal. We are ALWAYS looking for people, and if you can get experience in the foreign filing department, that's in high demand right now."
3."I am a surgical neurophysiologist. I evaluate and monitor the function of the central and peripheral nervous systems during complex brain and spine surgeries, along with any other surgeries that may put important neural structures at risk. We provide real-time feedback of neurological function to surgeons and help prevent nerve damage, paralysis, strokes, and more. We work mostly with neurosurgeons but provide our expertise for orthopedic, endocrinology, and cardiovascular surgeries as well."
"Most of the time, when I say what I do for work, people give me a blank stare. Starting salary for a training position at my company, with only a bachelor's degree, was $70,000. One year in, and my salary has already bumped up to $80,000. When I pass my board exams, my salary will increase by another $10k, and it will increase with more complex surgeries that I am able to monitor.
I have a bachelor's degree in psychology and a certificate in neurodiagnostic technology, which is how I found out about this position. However, most companies only require a bachelor's of science to be eligible for their training programs."
—Anonymous, 25, New Jersey
4."I'm a senior technical writer. I got my bachelor's in English with a minor in professional writing. During various times in my career, I've edited systems engineering documents, software user manuals, standard operating procedures, and a host of other documents. I also create templates and ensure the organization maintains a consistent voice and style across documentation. If you have a talent for writing and a very organized, analytical way of thinking, this is a career I’d recommend. I make $138,000/year after nine years in the field."
—Anonymous, 40, Tennessee
5."I groom cats. I make $100/hr plus tips as a self-employed groomer. No dogs. I was tired of the administrative attitude of working in healthcare, so I decided to work on something that I love."
"Pros — good money, flexible hours and days, groom at your place or theirs, get to meet some great people, and people really appreciate how removing mats can make their cat feel so much better.
Cons — You need lots of patience, you will sometimes get bitten or scratched (if bitten, must take antibiotics), and sometimes, you have to cancel and get medication from a vet because a cat is too stressed or dangerous to handle."
—Anonymous, 71, Ohio
6."Utility locator. It's recession-proof. Every excavator needs utilities located before putting a shovel into the ground. All through the COVID shutdown, I was going day after day working. It was a beautiful time, driving on the highways."
"Most have in-house training, and some are even unionized with great benefits. And all you do is paint the lines in lawns and the roads. There's a shortfall of workers in the field. Great time to get in now and above minimum wages."
7."I work as a union organizer, and it pays six figures and is on the low end of staff union work. The pay needs to be high because of how much time you spend away from home (some years not much, some years I'm only home on weekends for almost a year), the stress of 15-hour days in the field, etc."
"If you want to get into the field, the easiest way is to get involved with your union at work — take any training offered (health and safety, shop steward) especially."
8."Traveling CNC programmer/engineer. I started welding 12 years ago and built my skills along the way advancing with technology. I have some college (your basic core classes that don't apply to my field), [and I make] $160k a year on 40-hour weeks."
"[I also] travel the world, and 99% of my expenses are covered by the company. Two solid months of PTO a year. School can get your foot in the door, but experience gets you the real paycheck."
9."Tour guiding. I'm a water tour guide in Hawaii. I make four times what the average person my age makes. Half the time I'm chilling in the water or on the boat, the other half I'm a lifeguard, information dude, and boat flight attendant."
10."Underwater welding. I have several friends in that field in Southern California. They work six to eight months out of the year and make over $200k."
"They say it's really cool work, but it’s also dangerous AF. A great career, if that’s something you’re interested in, though."
11."I worked as a massage 'model' at a massage school. My job was to lay there and be massaged for a few hours while the students did their lessons or took their exams. It was £30 an hour, which isn't loads, but better than the £10 an hour office job I had before."
"Just to clarify, this wasn't a full-time job. It was fairly casual, probably between 4 and 10 hours a week depending on how busy the school was that week, and only for maybe three or four months."
12."Trucker! My father went back to school this year at 56. It was schooling only during weekends for, I think, six weekends. Trucking companies are so desperate for workers that he was hired as soon as he got his trucking license. He's now doing four weeks PAID training with the company, and he'll be making about $78k when he starts."
"The working time might not work for everyone, especially young parents, and if you don't have the physique or competence to drive a huge vehicle, it may not be for you, but he is super chuffed about it!"
13."Travel nurse, especially if you have ICU or ER experience."
"And I think that's awesome. My mom worked her ass off as a nurse through the 1980s and was paid a pittance. I'm glad nurses are better paid now, and traveling nurses earn $$. My cousin was a traveling nurse, and she's earned enough money to put herself through school to become a nurse practitioner. [I think] nurse practitioners will soon replace many of the duties family doctors/general practitioners do."
14.And finally: "I'd also say temp nurses make a lot. I’m an LPN. I worked at an inpatient addition treatment facility making $21/hr, right along side temp nurses from a staffing agency who were making $28/hr (the RNs were $40/hr). I was staff, doing the exact same job, but with added responsibilities. I quit, went to an agency, and was immediately assigned to an outpatient addiction treatment clinic making $30/hr. Their staff LPNs were making $23."
"I stayed for a year before leaving of my own accord."
Which other underrated, high-paying jobs do you think more people should know about? If you work in the field, how'd you get into it? Share your experiences in the comments!
Some entries have been edited for length/clarity.
