The highest paid professions in the world

Wages vary widely from one country to another, and even within the same country, but some jobs pay enough to live comfortably and retire comfortably.

To find the highest paying jobs in the world, we compared average salaries in the US, UK, Germany and Canada using statistics from PayScale.com, data from Career Profiles and other sources.

The list does not include the highest paid athletes or the highest paid actors in Hollywood, as their incredibly large salaries are the result not only of skill and long training, but also of active PR and enormous popularity, which is unattainable for representatives of most professions.

10. Air traffic controller

xhhfucseHighest salary: $155,000

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is responsible for the employment of such experts in the United States. Air traffic controllers are responsible for the safe operation of private and commercial airlines.

Primarily, the responsibility is to coordinate the movement of aircraft in the airspace (all aircraft must be at a safe distance from each other). Typically, a team of air traffic controllers works together and is responsible for coordinating the takeoff and landing of aircraft, providing buses to the gates at the airport, and communicating with pilots and warning them of bad weather conditions.

To become an air traffic controller, you must enroll in a special program approved by the FAA and pass all the tests. Exceptions can be made only for those who already have experience in the aviation or military fields. Typically, you need four years of training, three years of experience, and your application to take the exam.

If you are selected and pass the exam, you will undergo 12 weeks of training, after which you will receive the specialty of route developer. And only after 2-4 years of work in this specialty, you will receive the profession of air traffic controller.

However, as information technology develops, the demand for air traffic controllers is falling. Therefore, it would be wiser to consider one of the professions that will be in demand after 2020. Or choose one of the most unusual professions in the world if you like originality and creativity.

9. Chief Engineer

pfzfn5hhHighest salary: $190,000

Chief engineers have a wide range of duties and great responsibility, which explains the high pay for their work. People with higher education and 5 years or more of work experience are hired for this position.

The highest salaries are for chief engineers from Canada. There they are paid about 190 thousand dollars. In the USA, the work of representatives of this profession is estimated at 156 thousand dollars annually, and in Germany and England - at 176 thousand and 136 thousand dollars respectively.

8. Corporate lawyer

u0vu2b2jHighest annual salary: $195,000

Corporate lawyers work as in-house attorneys for a company. They coordinate relationships with contract law firms, advise business leaders on the legal implications of business practices, review commercial agreements and contracts, and ensure compliance with industry regulations.

In the US, a good corporate lawyer can earn an annual salary of $195,000, in Germany he will receive up to $190,000, and in the UK - about $160,000.

The highest paid corporate lawyers in Canada boast annual salaries of $130,000.

7. Psychiatrist

krfktiztHighest salary: $216,000

Psychiatrists overseas are paid very well to keep people “sane and clear-headed.” It’s the best and highest-paying hourly job. The average hourly salary for a psychiatrist in the U.S. is $85.35.

According to forecasts by the American publication Career Profiles, the demand for psychiatrists will remain very high in the near future. Psychiatrists specializing in geriatrics, children and other subspecialists will be in greater demand than generalists.

And we completely agree with this, because although the science that studies mental disorders arose much later than the disorders themselves, it will disappear only along with humanity.

6. Orthodontist

qqqqrvunHighest salary: $327,000

Perhaps being an orthodontist in Europe and the USA is a little less prestigious than being a neurosurgeon or an anesthesiologist, but representatives of this profession do not complain about low salaries.

However, the training period for performing such a complex job is 7 years or more,

5. Neurosurgeons and general surgeons

g3xpg3vrHighest salary: $396,000

Dealing with the complications of the human brain is not easy, so neurosurgeons are worth every penny they earn. Their colleagues, general surgeons, also do not complain about low salaries.

But along with the respect and big money, they deal with the stress of saving lives every day, because if a neurosurgeon or surgeon makes even the slightest mistake, he or she can kill a patient or leave them disabled for life.

This is the path that a person who chooses medicine as his path in the USA will have to take:

  1. four years of study at a university with a pre-med focus;
  2. 3 years of medical school;
  3. from 3 to 7 years of residency training, depending on the chosen specialization.

There is also MD/PhD, which is additional postgraduate training for up to 5 years, but it is chosen by only a few doctors who want to thoroughly understand all the intricacies of the profession.

Even general surgery and minor operations require additional formal training and many years of experience. Of course, to begin the long and thorny upward path, a bachelor's degree is enough, although it is preferable to choose biology or another science, since here you can gain general knowledge for admission to medical school.

Despite the fact that the profession of a surgeon is one of the highest paid professions in the world, everything is not so simple and not cheap. More than 80 percent of medical school graduates have financial debt for their education.

4. Anesthesiologist

shpzqgy0Highest annual salary: $410,000

Doctors who administer anesthetics before, during, or after surgery or other medical procedures earn more than their Aesculapius colleagues. Thanks to anesthesiologists, people do not experience pain during surgeries and recover safely from anesthesia. Incidentally, anesthesiologists are also responsible for pain relief during childbirth.

In the United States, an anesthesiologist can earn more than $410,000 per year. In the United Kingdom, an anesthesiologist's salary can be up to $275,000, and in Germany, it can be up to $300,000. The salary for an anesthesiologist in Canada reaches $300,000 per year.

Interestingly, doctors in the United States are often given such privileges as a parking space near work, free meals, and various insurances, which include protection from lawsuits from patients.

In Russia, anesthesiologists are paid, on average, 540 thousand rubles a year or 45 thousand a month. And they can only dream of such salaries and privileges as their foreign colleagues.

3. Aircraft captain

z4hs2onqHighest salary: $452,000

If you love to travel, then becoming a pilot and eventually an airplane captain is the best job in the world. It will allow you to move from one place to another and get a high salary for it. Not to mention that piloting an aircraft is a prestigious and highly respected occupation.

Such high salaries are a consequence of the highest qualifications and the very great physical and moral burden that falls on the shoulders of airliner commanders. After all, they are responsible for the lives of hundreds of people during each flight. And many flights take place at night and last five hours or more.

In addition to high salaries, American pilots have a number of privileges. For example, free flights on planes of any airlines in the USA and with large discounts on planes of many foreign airlines. The same discounts, reaching 90% from the cost of the ticket, are given to the pilots' families (wives, children, parents).

2. General Director

feqab3ouHighest salary: $430,000 and up

People who are responsible for setting or formulating a company's policies are called chief executive officers of a public or private sector organization.

They are the ones who coordinate, plan, and direct the company's activities at the highest level. And given the hard work they do to keep their company afloat, CEOs deserve the pay they receive.

Of course, their income can vary greatly depending on the business, but overall they are quite generous.

1. Bank director

enf030wuHighest salary: $20 million

Here is the answer to the question of what profession is the highest paid. Being a director is good, but being a banker is better. And the best thing is to be a bank director in the USA, because in this position you can earn on average 2.1 times more than they pay in comparable financial companies in Europe.

According to a study conducted by the Financial Times and the consulting company Equilar, four bank directors in the United States received $20 million each in 2016. And the highest salary for the head of a European bank was $14 million.

One possible explanation for the large wage gap is the higher profitability of American banks.