Let us get this straight: introverts are not shy, nor do we hate people. We also aren't any weirder than others are. Our brains are just wired vastly different from most of the people. While the extroverts get their energy and excitement from socialization, risk-taking, and adventures, we get ours from within, and an excess of these external stimulants drain the vitality out of us. We recharge by withdrawing from people and enjoying our quiet times. That’s why you may find us most of the time in coffee shops, museums, or libraries, embracing solitude.
And this makes living in such a social country like Australia quite challenging for us. This is a country where barbecues, office parties, and drinking out with your work mates are the norms. Fortunately, there are jobs out here that do not require us to interact with people 90% of the time. Occupations that will allow us to toil alone in an enclosed office or isolated fields. If you are one of us, you better take note of these.
Annual salary: $65,000 per year
Required training/degree: A bachelor’s degree in a field such as zoology, biology, wildlife biology, or ecology.
A zoologist’s line of job can be pretty diverse, ranging from tending for a zoo to caring for sanctuary animals to research and drug development. But the thing is, you only deal with animals from the furry to the scaly, and they won’t engage you in small talks.
Annual salary: $90,000
Required training/degree: A bachelor’s degree in Library Science, Education, or History.
As an archivist, your job is to sort, classify, and catalogue historical materials, documents, or works of arts. You will usually work in museums, libraries, or research centers. These lines of work are what some people will find extremely boring. But as an introvert, you will find these amusing. You will have the opportunity to learn about history, art, or science on a first hand basis, coming straight from the sources of knowledge themselves.
Annual salary: $116,000
Required training/degree: A bachelor’s degree in Geoscience.
Geoscientists either spend their entire time on the field, surveying the site, gathering data, and collecting samples. When they are not out there, they tinker in their laboratories, analyzing said samples, cataloguing, and writing researches. Each day is filled with wonders of discovery, learning, and realisations.
Annual salary: $57,000
Required training/degree: A bachelor’s degree in Computing, Information Technology, or Computer Science.
Computer programming is another intricate task. Programmers usually spend entire days in front of computer screens, building software programs by manipulating codes to the best of their knowledge and whatever programming language they use (yes, computer programs have their own specific languages). It is so challenging that Internet memes have already been made out of it by programmers themselves to make fun of their otherwise arduous jobs.
Annual salary: $78,000
Required training/degree: A bachelor’s degree in Economics
Economics might be a social science, but as someone in the field, social interaction will be the last thing you do. You will be working either in the Government, corporations, or the academia, translating and analysing numbers, extracting patterns, solving complex problems, and analysing human behaviors to paint a bigger picture of their actions and possibly predict the future.
The only time there will be human interaction is when you speak with your clients or superiors to communicate your findings and reports, and these would not take an entire day.
Annual salary: $65,000
Required training/degree: A bachelor’s degree in Mathematics
Not all mathematicians end up lecturing in front of the class. Some of them spend their days inside offices and research centers tinkering with numbers, predicting patterns, and exploring the world of data, facts, and figures. Mathematicians usually work in the fields of astronomy, economics, software and hardware development, and the academe. But you may also find them in robotics, medicine, climate study, and national security.
Annual salary: $51,000
Required training/degree: A bachelor’s degree in Radiology
No, radiologist is not the person who operates the x-ray machine. That is the radiographer. A radiologist is a specialised physician who interprets and analyses results from x-ray, CT scan, MRI, and ultrasound examinations to detect and diagnose certain illnesses, which he/she will then forward to the general physician or the relevant specialist. These people mostly have no patient interaction and deals only with a secretary, a few nurses, and other doctors, which do not always occur.
When we were kids, most of us either wanted to be doctors, lawyers, accountants, and or bankers. We looked up to people who walk the paved streets of commercial centers wearing well-tailored suits and sporting leather brief cases. There weren’t many kids who dreamt of becoming wants to be wants to be mining workers, construction managers, crane operators, as these labourers are always greasy, dirty, and living a life of financial struggle.
Turns out, we got the world wrong. We have unfairly placed these labourers in bad light. Blue-collar workers have a repertoire of benefits the white-collared employees can only dream of. While some of us corporate slaves waste our lives away in our office cubicles, these manual workers are enjoying the day-to-day challenge of their jobs and appreciates the world as it is.
We rounded off some of these perks. So that if you feel like going for the blue-collar path is the best for you, then you don’t have to feel apologetic about it anymore.
Let us eliminate this on-going stereotype first, that manual workers and labourers are living inferior financial lives compared to the office-bound ones. This is not true for most occupations anymore, as they are now taking home upwards of $70,000 and even reaching $165,000. By comparison, average white-collar salary in the country is $73,000 annually, and a chunk of that hard-earned money has to go to settling your university loans.
In blue collar jobs, you will not have that dilemma, it’s because…
The world is continually changing. The technology we rely on today will be considered obsolete in two or three years from now. That’s why it is important to continue upskilling and training to catch up with the times, get ahead of others, and increase your salary.
This is good news since blue collar employees can attend trainings, obtain scholarships, and get certificates for affordable fees. And sometimes these may be settled by the Government completely. This way, you don’t have to go through sleepless nights worrying about your student loans since they are inexpensive.
Sure, companies can have the number crunching, customer service, and administrative jobs be performed by a person from the other end of the world, but good luck doing that with the tasks of repairing the pipe lines or driving the trucks.
This is one reason why blue collar jobs never run out in the country. They just keep coming. They have to be performed personally by people who are actually in the area. Also, you won’t wake up one day finding that your job already belongs to another person from another country with more economical labour rates.
And it also helps that Australia’s industries are on a roll right now with the boom in certain sectors like construction services, food processing, gas transport, and organic farming. We are seeing a secure future here.
Do you know what is the most prolific killer threatening our lives these days? The office chair. Sitting for eight hours straight causes increase in body fats (which results to heart problems in the long run) weakened muscles, lung inefficiency, increased risk of incurring diabetes, digesting issues, bad posture, and even cancer. No wonder, white collar people will tend to counter this by going straight to the gym or yoga sessions after their nine-to-five grind.
Most of the manual labourers, on the other hand, do not have to do this. Their job is already physically demanding, they are already working their muscles, pumping their hearts, and exhausting their lungs while at work. These people will only sit during their lunch or their short breaks. After that, it is non-stop walking and lifting and toiling again. After their shift ends, they just rest or pursue whatever hobbies they enjoy.
And speaking of hobbies…
Work-life balance is the Holy Grail of corporate life these days. A career cornucopia that we have yet to attain as employees and workers. The advancement of technologies allowed our work and off-work environments to merge into a heaping mass of constant confusion and ruined priorities. Smart phones and social media permitted us to attend to home duties while at work and check and write office emails while at home. There is no way to distinguish the two anymore.
The blue-collared workers’ line of work remains unchanged over the years. Most of them still have to perform things manually; repairing equipment, drilling on surfaces, and operating machines. They do not have to be wired constantly to computers and smart phones and work chat rooms. So once their work ends, they don’t have to worry about it anymore until the next day’s punch in.
As a white collar employee, it is not strange to feel like just an item on the huge company spreadsheet. After all, the corporate infrastructure is so technical, cryptically embedded within annual reports, and surrounded by hunky terms like debenture stocks, yield curves, volatility, residual values, and such. It is hard to paint a picture of how your grind actually contributes to the overall progress of the company.
On the other hand, if you work on the construction, you will see as the building gets slowly completed. The metal sheet mechanic sees the piles of steel plates they have tirelessly worked on get higher and then be delivered. The locomotive repair officer can witness as the train whistles again and move on the tracks after fixing it. And the service or welfare worker can see the people he/she has helped become happy and satisfied.
Blue collar workers end their shift with a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment because they have a firsthand perspective of what they have shared towards realizing a common goal. This is what drives them to look forward to the next day’s work because they know it is another opportunity to contribute again.
With the unemployment rates going down and manufacturing and consumer spending numbers going up, we have reason to believe that Australia is at its highest economic surge in the recent years. And riding on this wave of prosperity are the women who courageously tried their hands and end bringing home the highest salary this year. The 20 highest paying jobs for women this 2016 is topped by law professionals and then further dominated mostly by those in the medical field. A law or medicine degree really is your path to financial success.
The arbiters of the court took home the most expensive metaphorical bacon on this list. And to add more good news for the womankind of the law, Australia has just named Susan Kiefel as its first female High Court chief justice, a position held by men for 113 years.
Contrary to popular belief, a neurosurgeon’s s expertise isn’t limited to the brain, but they also treat disorders that involves the spinal cord, peripheral nerves, and the extra-cranial cerebrovascular system.
Australia holds one of the highest standards when it comes to plastic and reconstructive surgery. The guidelines are constantly being updated to keep up with the times and ensure patient safety.
No, these merchants do not time travel. Futures refer to financial contracts providing the buyer an obligation to acquire an asset (and the seller an obligation to sell an asset) at a predetermined future date and price.
Vascular surgeons deal with problems with arteries and veins.
Many people confuse the two (and understandably, there is an overlap). A gynecologist specializes in the medical care of women and their reproductive system. While an obstetrician deals with the surgical care of women and their children during pregnancy, childbirth and post-natal care.
Gastroenterologists are also among the highest paid medical practitioners in the UK, USA, and Canada.
While magistrates perform almost the same role as a judge, magistrates have lesser powers and handles only small and minor cases.
Anaesthetists and anesthesiologists are the same. The latter is an American term.
An ophthalmologist (Eye M.D.) specializes in eye and vision care and can perform. Not to be confused with optometrists and opticians (both not on this list). The former provide primary vision care via sight testing and correction to the diagnosis, treatment, and management of vision changes. The latter designs, verifies, and fits eyeglass lenses and frames