Redditor YellowJellyCube wanted to hear about the jobs we can all do where the pay is good and the solitude is preferred, so they asked:
"What is the highest paying job that requires little to no interaction with other people?"
I write from home.
I avoid people constantly.
It certainly works for me.
Good Company
Well Done Applause GIF by MOODMANGiphy"I’m a data analyst, I talk to my dog more than people most weeks."
random-bot-2
"Sounds like you have good company."
PA_Dietitian
Heavy Objects
"Crane operator. Quarter mill a year to sit by yourself all day, with occasional requests to relocate heavy objects at or near the Earth's surface. But mostly, you sit and contemplate the view from up there."
pullin2
"Guy I used to work with was a retired crane operator. He drove a forklift at a manufacturing facility and all his money went to pay for his grandkid's college. Nicest guy on earth, and just loved every day."
"When he signed his name in the Union book to retire he was the most qualified crane operator IN THE WORLD. His last job was installing new HVAC units on the Empire State Building. The dude was making $500+/hr. 12hr days. 7 days per week (when on a site). That’s over $50k per week. He said it was all waiting and about 2-3 hours of work. Read tons of books. Sat alone all day."
Sometimes_Stutters
"Patent Examiner here. I go days without speaking to someone. And then it's usually only a 30min phone call."
AddendumDifferent719
"Hey, as a patent holder, I’ve interacted with you guys via my attorney. It’s a really strange thing to stretch a debate about a couple of words in a claim over a few weeks but I respect what you do."
porcelainvacation
Pipelines
"My friend makes good money testing pressure for oil pipelines in Alberta. Every morning he gets an email with where to go and run the test. He drives 2-6 hrs each way and plugs a machine on his pickup for a couple of hours, then sends the readings and drives home."
jimbosdayoff
Graveyard Shift
Halloween Skeleton GIF by Squirrel MonkeyGiphy"Graveyard security guard, on the graveyard shift."
Borykua
"They get to talk to lots of people they’re just all dead."
LF_redit
Why work in a graveyard?
At night?
Those are people who don't fear nightmares.
Road Rules
Double Take What GIF by LaffGiphy"Over the road truck driver can pay OK and is good for anti-social folk who want to avoid human contact most of the time."
woolash
"I’ve considered this option many times. Unfortunately, I have a low tolerance for stupid drivers."
Think_Profit4911
It Was Great
"My last job. Data Entry for a private aviation company. I worked in the basement with no windows. Typing. There was no need to talk to anybody. It was the worst, or so I thought at the time."
Squidstir
"I did a job like that. My dad worked for a company that supplied pipes and valves to oil refineries. When they switch a valve out, they had to record it on a paper form. Then someone had to take the papers and input them into Excel or something like that."
"So I used to get hired during my summer break to come in, sit in an empty office and input serial numbers and other info into an Excel spreadsheet. Was so incredibly boring, but I’d just listen to my headphones. It was great. I was also a night janitor at my college, so I’d work in the middle of the night and never had to talk to anyone. Glorious. Now I’m an elementary school teacher and I talk to people for 8 hours a day."
LittleWhiteBoots
3rd Shift
"Aerospace machine operator 3rd shift I see my boss on the last day of the month to discuss what work needs to be done for the following month. I don’t have anyone else that works in my little closed-off department room on my shift. I only see people when I come in as they’re leaving. I started the job 11 years ago at $57/hr I’ve moved up into a more serious department here and now I’m making $98.01/hr and there’s double time for overtime on Sundays."
tatted_gamer_666
From Home
"I used to know a guy who worked for a hedge fund. His job was to review all the accounting laws and make sure the firm was complying with them, as the laws are constantly changing. Pretty sure he made mid-6-figures and didn't have to interact much except for normal office chit-chat. These days you could probably work from home."
PMMeUrHopesNDreams
Back to Woof
"A friend of mine is a full-time dog walker. Been doing it for so long that he has keys to the apartments of people too busy to walk their dogs. Aside from the occasional hello, he mostly talks to dogs and makes close to 80k."
beardcloset
I love dogs.
But dog walking is a lot.
The rest of this list I may try.
Do you have any positions to add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.
Redditor ThurnisHailey wanted to discuss the careers that leave little to help the world, so they asked:
"What high-paying jobs contribute very little to society/humanity?"
Anti-Robinhood
Real Estate Realtor GIF by South ParkGiphy"My sister makes a lot of money in real estate. She helps rich people get even richer."
Ieatalot2004
"To be fair, most jobs are helping rich people get richer."
nBrainwashed
Useless
"As a marketing manager, I can tell you I have one of the most useless jobs in the world."
erose994
"What do you actually do as a marketing manager? I'm just curious."
bertolintus
"Mostly wrangle the opinions of 8,000 people who all think a project should be executed differently and all feel like it needs to be done yesterday. And pass that project through a complicated and overly bureaucratic system of approvals until it inevitably stalls out in a VP's inbox, and you have to send them 3 reminder emails just to get it done."
"Other than that... Talking to agencies (at least where I work, we outsource our graphic design, social media, and advertising work to third parties), building annual strategies, planning social media and email content, and occasionally getting to do something fun like writing a blog post."
"Oh, and managing budgets. But it's budgeting season right now so that's a touchy subject."
erose994
Data Collection
"Some of the best-paid people are figuring out how to collect as much data about you as possible to show you the best adverts. Or how to shave off milliseconds off a trading decision and build better arbitrage strategies to buy and sell the same thing millions of times."
Weak_Commercial_7124
The Middle
"IT middle management. I always thought they did nothing, then I was promoted to one and now I can actually confirm it."
"Do nothing, contribute nothing. Worthless."
RedditWhileImWorking
"I honestly think middle management is all about what you make it. If you're motivated and WANT to make things happen for the better, I think you generally can, but it's also very easy as a middle manager to just maintain the status quo and literally do nothing but collect a paycheck."
TinaBelchersBF
Complicated
people love GIFGiphy"Hospital administration. Obviously, hospitals are important and are complicated systems that need proper management, but any doctor, nurse, etc. can tell you that hospital admins aren't exactly looking out for your health and safety."
dancingbanana123
It's sad to learn hospitals are a scam. Tragic.
Office Time
Staring Episode 2 GIF by The OfficeGiphy"Administrators who spend a lot of time inside an office in calls or meetings but have very little to do with the hands-on work that actually advances stuff."
Ukhupa
Dirt
"I'm using a burner account. I'm a political strategy advisor which is code for opposition researcher. I work for a federal government party in my country. I research for gossip or dirt on our political opponents and feed stories to the media to disparage them and have us win elections. I feel all I do is make people more disenchanted with politics."
Clean-Elephant9363
Moochers
"During the pandemic, didn't you notice that the 'essential workers' were often paid minimum wage? Seems like the important jobs that actually keep everything running are not being paid much at all, most of the time. All the value of their labor is being sucked out of them by the wealthy moochers who just happen to own the company but never do any work."
Pipboypipboycheerio
Liars
dominic cooper preacher GIF by Amazon Prime Video UKGiphy"Megachurch preachers are evil AF."
MpVpRb
"The fleecing of gullible sheep is a story as old as humanity."
wittie2
Well, people certainly had some feeling about these career paths. What do you think? Do you have anything to add?
Redditor Iamyes_okwanted to hear from all the people whose jobs put them in a tax bracket a lot of us strive to be in, they asked:
"People who make 100k+ a year, how did you do it?"
Let me get a pen and paper because I need some wisdom on this.
There has got to be a way for a struggling artist to get financial security.
Drive
"Uber driver in NYC. 50 hrs driving is tough in city but at least they’re paying good, also it depends what type of car you drive, regular car (UberX) can’t make that much. And WAV cars which is only in NYC and pays 30% more for even UberX trips, if you got Wheelchair rider $15 bonus per trip. In addition there is Uber black, SUV and they make good money also but u need a luxury car." ~ scheduleIT
Hunkering Down
"8 years after college. Security Engineer." ~ prtekonik
"Similar, got a PhD and hunkered down for a few years to gain expertise in a well paying field. Sacrifice your time and social life to gain a valuable skill. And market yourself. You are a commodity. I sacrificed a few years to focus on school, but after that I’ve had a better than normal life."
"In fact, I have tons of time now and a high paying career. I was trying to say invest in yourself. And build a reputation as the best in your field. I can see where that last part might sound too capitalistic. But just have a reputation and skill set to move jobs as you like—and that require skills but branding yourself into someone companies want to hire can add to your flexibility and pay." ~ Regular-Violinist-71
Computer Science
"Electrical engineering undergrad, went back for a computer science Masters because the company I was working for was willing to pay for it. If all you're looking for is to cross the 100k threshold, just do well with an undergrad CS degree. Kids are hitting that straight out of college these days." ~ Mikeavelli
10 Years
"10 years in the Navy, working on electronics/RADAR. Now a DOD contractor. Still no degree, but I'm a little over half-way done." ~ T0BYs_Grundle
GiphyAll interesting ideas.
I couldn't be an electrician though.
I'd be burning down city blocks, not a good idea.
Finished Elsewhere...
"I was a journalist for a few years, making 55k at my last job. Then, I quit and did a three-month software engineering boot camp. Took 10 months to get a job offer after that, because of the pandemic economy, but that first job in tech paid 100k." ~ mfuechec
GiphyWork Away
"I wrote a buttload at first, but it really boils down to having a set of skills and knowledge that is both in demand and hard for others to obtain. Never stop growing and always find peers at your level and above your level to absorb knowledge, skills, and strategies from. I work in healthcare data, specifically the value-based care reform part of it. There are plenty of analysts I've worked with that are happy to cruise at 60-90k for 10 years because it isn't stressful."
"And there are others who are more ambitious and are hitting 200k+ before 10 years (by becoming leads or managers or principle analysts). Hit 100k after my 4th year and 4th job. Especially if you are young, there is no point in company loyalty if you're letting them gape your anus. Do what's good for you." ~ ST_POST_ACOLYTE
Top 10%
"I don't make $100K by my sister and BIL do."
"Sister: Director of Accounting and Finance at a multi billion dollar company. $160,000."
"BL: Partner at a large firm: $190,000. Once he becomes equity partner since he was promoted young his salary will be $300,000-$1M."
"Both graduated top 10% of their class and received highest honors in their masters." ~ CanadianCrownCorp
Be Competent
"I don’t make six figures but know a lot of people that do and one of the most common things I’ve noticed is when they meet someone that is more successful or more skilled than them they don’t see them as a threat or challenge. Instead of trying to compete and seem better they learn from them and don’t want to be better than they are right now, but want to be better than they are in the future." ~ Pristine-Ad-469
These Low Effort Jobs Have Surprisingly High Salaries | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
Have you ever worked one of those jobs that paid you to kinda sit there? If you have, you know the joy that comes with watching the entirety of Breaking Bad ...Privilege
"I’m 28. I could say it’s because of my degree, but really? My degree isn’t remotely worth 6 figures and the reality is because of my parents. Both my parents work in the entertainment/media industry and have for over 30+ years now. When I was applying for jobs out of college."
"My dad said he could simply get me a job (at a large, well known production company) because he’s very close with several people there. And he wasn’t lying. I did still do an interview, but in all reality that was really just a formality. They ended up training me for what I had to do anyway."
"I want to say I’m aware of the privilege I’ve had my entire life. I’m also aware that it isn’t this easy for most people. My parents haven’t always helped me out with EVERYTHING but I would be straight up lying if I didn’t admit that they’ve helped me with most things including where I work." ~ itsniceinpottsfield
"One month on and one month off, year-round. Good money and paid travel. Started out as a deckhand and worked my way up. Mostly on-the-job training and a few classes that I had to pay for along the way. Each class lead a raise in pay. My college degree in Forestry is largely irrelevant." ~ northstar42
Degrees Needed
"PhD in anthropology and moved into the field of UX (user experience, in the tech industry), getting a job as a UX designer (and now researcher) for a software company. I initially started grad school thinking I wanted an academic career, but as I was finishing I realized I needed a break from academia and learned about the booming field of UX."
"Was able to take a human-centered design course in my last possible semester of grad school, which allowed me to get some projects under my belt, learn some new methods and techniques, and pick up the lingo of the field. I went to a tech career fair on campus and got a callback from one of the companies I talked to, and the rest is history."
"Despite the memes about humanities and social sciences degrees being worthless, they're actually becoming quite valuable in the tech and design industries." ~ ThatNeonZebraAgain
Give & Take
"By giving a ton of crap about what I am doing. And taking a lot of crap and dealing with it." ~ blowafuse
"Yeah it is true that hard work and being good at your job is not a guarantee for success by any means, but it certainly helps." ~ redsfan23butnew
Doing Extra
"Overtime lots of overtime. With my high school diploma I’m currently welding on some of the baddest vehicles on the planet." ~ Various_Mind_5467
Bulletproof
"Be right. Take the time to become an expert. Care about your work, and the people you work with. If you become stagnant, leave. Help yourself, and your employer all the time. Become un-fireable." ~ gehuffman
bulletproof machine gun GIF by Warner ArchiveGiphyJust did them to do them really?
"Honestly some times it’s just pure luck. A lot of people on here giving the 'worked my butt off, studied hard' etc. and that’s all well and good, but sometimes it’s luck as well and making the right moves. Sure, I have a masters degree but honestly I don’t feel like I worked all that hard on either of them. Just did them to do them really? (Paying for it now though with loans)."
"In the end I just figured out every weird job I had was basically sales at the end of the day. Then I parlayed that I to sales type work. And applied to industry that pay well (pharma, med device) got completely lucky to get into that and just keep working when I’m there. I honestly feel like I’ve gotten lucky along the way and ended up here… that may be a crappy answer to some, but it’s honest." ~ BraveCat45
Bottoms Up
"I can't speak for myself but my fiancé. No college degree but he worked his butt off and slowly moved up. Started at the bottom entry level of his industry and learned everything he could, got promoted, did the same again and again and again and ten years later became a director of operations. Hard work does not always pay off but his did and he is still working his ass off to learn as much as his can." ~ Not_Quite_B
Get Ready
"Be prepared. I'm going to sound like a tight a**, but when I worked a laborer job, I took any course offered. I did my job, didn't complain and was prepared. Every promotion I got, I could outline what I had learned. I worked hard, but had work life balance. But nothing was beneath me. Some jobs were pretty gross, but I did them with a cheerful heart and just kept getting promoted. But I learned money isn't everything. I have enough. Now it's about family and positive experiences." ~ cisco54
I'm Crafted
"Discovered a passion for technology in the late 70s/early 80s. Threw myself into it and kept learning. It's been my craft for almost 40 years and has served me well. I don't do it for money. I do it because I genuinely love building systems and automating processes. The money comes because I love what I do." ~ barrywalker71
Women Roar
"Graduate degree in the sciences. Being a female in a traditionally male industry. Working hard. Tolerating bureaucracy and bullsh**. Not being thin skinned. Knowing which fights to pick. Learning the office politics and using them." ~ Raggmommy
walking stick jungle GIF by Katy PerryGiphySay Hello...
"Started as a customer service rep taking phone calls. Figured out how to get top performing and focus on the metrics that leadership thought mattered. Played the corporate game, climbed the ladder. Took about 10 years to make it to a Sr Analyst/Consultant level and have my first $100k year."
"The best part is, I have no student loans and maybe $10k in debt not including my home loan. Not sure how realistic that is anymore since so many entry level positions are being outsourced, but for me hard work and perseverance has paid off." ~ Beholder84
Get It...
"Lots of college and hard work. I didn’t have as much fun as a lot of my friends and put my life on hold about 8-10 years longer than they did (for marriage/kids/house). I also moved to cities where I didn’t know anyone to take the best offers." ~ mtaa4
All plausible ways to gain some pennies.
Let's see what we can accomplish.
Money, money, money... it's a rich man's world.
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