Learn More and Earn Higher Salaries

In February 2009, employers took 2,769 mass layoff actions involving 295,477 workers. The number of unemployed persons increased by 851,000 to 12.5 million in February, and the unemployment rate rose to 8.1 percent. Your high school diploma is useful. But a college degree decreases your chance of unemployment by nearly 50%. A two-year degree or even some college can have a positive impact on your ability to keep working, too. Set your sights on realistic goals by looking at the everyday occupations around you. Here is a list of the mean annual salaries of the 20 highest-paying jobs—most of them require extensive education.

• Physicians provide health care: $147,405
• Corporate controllers supervise the financial and budget departments: $115,818
• Engineering managers oversee the engineers: $100,038
• Corporate attorneys handle all legal issues that impact the company: $93,250
• Physicists observe the laws of physics: $93,073
• Systems and programming managers draw up plans for a computer network and security: $90,138
• Pharmacists fill prescriptions for patients: $89,564
• Marketing managers create the marketing plan for a company or organization: $87,038
• Financial analysis managers assess the state of financial investments: $86,739
• Lead computer programmers oversee a group of programmers: $80,182
• Lead systems analysts oversee a group of analysts: $79,479
• Personnel managers implement human resources policies: $77,984
• Benefits managers ensure employee benefits programs: $75,425
• Electrical engineers involve in the planning, development and creation of electrical equipment: $75,094
• Sales area managers are in charge of an organization's sales group: $73,146
• Chemical engineers use their knowledge of chemicals to handle any issues that arise during the production of chemicals or biochemicals or of products: $71,942
• Purchasing managers supervise purchasing agents: $69,980
• Mechanical engineers are involved in the creation, production and use of mechanical equipment and machines: $68,775
• Civil engineers oversee the design and construction of public structures: $61,681
• Computer programmers program and perform tasks: $60,682