Jobs For Smart People
See how you can train for a great-paying career that will fully utilize your brain power.
By Chris Kyle
Smart people come in all shapes and sizes.
So do smart career choices.
A bright NFL quarterback, for example, can read a defense and understand its strengths and weaknesses, all in the blink of an eye.
It's called spatial intelligence, and it's the same skill that graphic designers use to imagine smart visual solutions that their clients want but can't articulate.
[Search for Graphic Design schools near you now]
The bottom line: intelligent people - you know who you are! - are well-suited to certain careers.
These six careers, for example, can be smart options for smart people.
1.Accountant
2.Medical Manager
3.FBI Agent
4.Registered Nurse
5.Computer Systems Administrator
6.Teacher
Keep reading to learn about how you can get into one of these jobs. You'll be smarter for it…
#1 - Accountant
Accountants need to have more than just a knack for numbers. They should also have sound reasoning skills, since the simplest answer is often the right one when dealing with even the most complex calculations.
Education: A quick mind isn't enough to become an accountant. Formal training matters too. Fortunately, there are plenty of accounting and finance programs that can prepare you for a career as an accountant. A bachelor's degree is the most common entry-point into the profession.
Average Pay: $67,430
[Find Accounting and Finance schools now]
#2 - Medical Manager
Health care isn't just big business; it's also incredibly complex. As a result, medical managers need a sharp mind and keen business sense to keep up in this ever-evolving industry.
Education: Some medical managers have technical backgrounds, while others are experts in areas like finance or team-building. To qualify for most management roles, you'll need to earn a bachelor's degree in an area like health care administration, followed by an MBA.
Average Pay: $90,970
[Search for Health Care and Business schools now]
#3 - FBI Agent
While it probably comes as no surprise that the FBI is looking for smart recruits, it may startle you to learn that it's not only bright law enforcement types who are in demand. Computer specialists, language experts, accountants, and lawyers are just a few who regularly become FBI agents.
Education: While work experience is highly valued, a bachelor's degree is required. Common majors include information technology and accounting. Majoring in a foreign language is also a plus.
Average Pay: $73,170
[Search for Bachelor's degree programs now]
#4 - Registered Nurse
Registered nurses are among the most educated in the health care industry. Knowing what to do and when to do it is crucial, as is the ability to communicate effectively with patients and their families, not to mention the doctors you are assisting.
Education: Most registered nurses have a bachelor's of science in nursing. Accelerated programs are available to those who already have a degree. Additional training options include an associate's degree in nursing and a nursing diploma.
Average Pay: $66,530
[Find Nursing degree programs near you]
#5 - Computer Systems Administrator
Getting called a geek in the computer industry isn't an insult; it's a compliment. The good news: figuring out the most efficient way to share and store information may not be as complicated as rocket science, but it's still highly prized in today's digital world.
Education: An associate's or bachelor's degree can help you get your computer skills up to speed. Employers look for brainy applicants well-versed in areas like computer science, network administration, and IT & information systems.
Average Pay: $70,930
[Find IT degree programs now]
#6 - Teacher
The best teachers are gifted communicators and motivators who enjoy healthy discussions and debate. If you want to be a teacher, you'll need to be able to take complex subjects and present them in a straightforward way.
Education: While the temperament of a teacher may be a natural gift, formal training can provide you with the necessary academic background and teaching certification. It's best to begin with a bachelor's degree. From there public school teachers need to get certified. And keep in mind that a master's degree can help increase your pay and employment opportunities.
Average Pay: $55,150
[Search for Teaching programs].
*Average salary comes from the U.S. Department of Labor, using 2009 median salary information. For salary purposes, data for "Federal government criminal investigators" was used for FBI agents; data for "Secondary school teachers" was used for Teachers.
Quoted: http://education.yahoo.net/articles/jobs_for_smart_people.htm?kid=1F337
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
Three Entrepreneurs Who Ditched Corporate America
Three Entrepreneurs Who Ditched Corporate America
by Elaine Pofeldt
Monday, February 28, 2011
It's one thing to fantasize about leaving a steady job. It's quite another to trade those hard-to-replace perks like paid vacations and corporate health insurance for a fledgling business that faces all kinds of challenges. We asked three entrepreneurs who left corporate America -- and haven't looked back -- how they did it. Here's what they learned.
Be Über-Analytical in Your Business Plan
Name: David Kostman, 46
Previous profession: Managing director, Lehman Brothers
Startup: Nanoosh, a chain of three organic hummus bars in Manhattan launched about three years ago.
Startup capital: "A few million dollars" for four restaurants (one of which closed -- the company is preparing to re-open it in another location), from personal savings and private investors.
Key challenge: Securing space. "It's known that most first-time restaurants fail," he says. "Even if you give landlords good financial guarantees, they don't want to lease the space."
What happened: Drawing on his experience in business operations, Kostman collaborated with two partners -- a friend with experience in the restaurant industry and a chef -- on a business plan for a chic but informal restaurant that would capitalize on Americans' increasing appetite for hummus. "It was the most analytical business plan ever conceived for a hummus restaurant," says Kostman, who delved into details from the best procedures for maintaining the consistency of the food to the most effective human resources policies for attracting and retaining staff in a high-turnover industry. He often had to meet with his partners at midnight because he was still working 12+ hour days and traveling every week at Lehman Brothers. (He left Lehman in 2008 before the company went belly up.)
While it took months of diligent research with brokers to get a lease for his first restaurant, it has become easier to secure new space now that he has a track record.A detailed business plan that outlined everything necessary to make the concept scalable was the key to getting the chain off to a strong start, says Kostman.
He used his own money to launch the first restaurant; when that succeeded he turned to outside investors in his professional network with confidence. Today his chain has sales in the $5 million to $10 million range.
Market Early, Market Often
Name: Scott Belsky, 30
Previous Profession: Associate at Goldman Sachs
Startup: Behance, a website that lets artists and other creative professionals develop multimedia portfolios, market and sell their work online, and look for job opportunities. The 15-employee site, founded in 2006, makes money from advertising, paid job postings, and from sales of its proprietary project management software designed specifically for creative types.
Startup Capital: Belsky bootstrapped the business, paying his startup team with equity and reinvesting money from sales of his project management system to build his site.
Key challenge: Building credibility for his brand-new product with users. It differed from existing sites that showcase artists' portfolios by allowing its members to judge each other's work and compete for the greatest visibility on the site.
What happened: Belsky started assembling a team to build a site in 2006 while attending Harvard Business School, often feeling like he spent more time in New York City than on campus. "I was pretty much living two lives," he says. Instead of hitting the job market to look for a job similar to the one he left in investment banking, he plunged into the startup scene. "It was scary," he says. "When I was working at Goldman Sachs, everything was taken care of," says Belsky, who left Goldman to attend Harvard.
Instead of keeping his idea under wraps, Belsky blogged about it and touted it at technology meetups in the New York City area. "Most ideas never happen, and I realized I needed accountability and feedback from others in order to have any chance of pushing these ideas to fruition," he says. Artists started posting their work in 2007 and employers began hiring them the same year. Belsky kept in touch with those who initially found work on the site and asked them to spread the word to their colleagues; word of mouth soon helped it take off. By 2009, thanks in part to partnerships with sites such as LinkedIn to showcase its members' work, Behance began hearing from big companies such as Nike and Apple, both of whom wanted to advertise on Behance to find creative talent. Belsky says his revenue is now in the "multiple millions" and while he's received offers for investment, he staying independent for now.
Hustle More Than Everyone Else
Name: Juliet Huck, 48
Previous profession: Art director at a litigation support company
Startup: TheHuckGroup, an L.A.-based graphic design firm that helps attorneys make their case in court with persuasive materials such as charts and graphs.
Startup capital: $10,000 to $12,000
Key challenge: Unlike many competitors, Huck takes a more compelling, marketing-inspired approach to her materials and consults with clients on how to best explain the story behind the data. It was not easy, initially, to sell potential clients on the new approach. "I don't fit into the box of litigation graphics," she says.
What happened: In 1999, Huck quit the litigation firm where she had worked as an art director for seven years. She was tired of producing the same bland charts and graphs and the higher ups rebuffed her suggestions to liven them up.
Fortunately, Huck was in the habit of squirreling away savings, and didn't have to worry about paying her bills immediately. She wrote a business plan, using a template she found online, which helped give her focus and apply for a $50,000 SBA-backed loan from her bank to get set up.
But business didn't exactly come walking in the door. It took three months of networking to get her first client. Her graphic storytelling approach was hard for many to envision, so she set up in-person presentations and spoke at industry associations to spread the word. "I was educating people on a new form of trial support and design," she says. Her first big break came when a colleague referred her to a project with a law firm that paid a $20,000 a month retainer for five months.
As the word spread about her services, sales took off and she hired her first employee in 2000. Today, she brings in $2.4 million in annual revenue, is making a profit and has nine employees working from offices in Los Angeles, Chicago and Ormond Beach, Fla. The best part: Her work is never boring. She has provided litigation support to more than 70 clients, including Eagle County, Colorado on the Kobe Bryant case
Quoted: http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/112213/three-entrepreneurs-who-ditched-corporate-america?mod=oneclick
by Elaine Pofeldt
Monday, February 28, 2011
It's one thing to fantasize about leaving a steady job. It's quite another to trade those hard-to-replace perks like paid vacations and corporate health insurance for a fledgling business that faces all kinds of challenges. We asked three entrepreneurs who left corporate America -- and haven't looked back -- how they did it. Here's what they learned.
Be Über-Analytical in Your Business Plan
Name: David Kostman, 46
Previous profession: Managing director, Lehman Brothers
Startup: Nanoosh, a chain of three organic hummus bars in Manhattan launched about three years ago.
Startup capital: "A few million dollars" for four restaurants (one of which closed -- the company is preparing to re-open it in another location), from personal savings and private investors.
Key challenge: Securing space. "It's known that most first-time restaurants fail," he says. "Even if you give landlords good financial guarantees, they don't want to lease the space."
What happened: Drawing on his experience in business operations, Kostman collaborated with two partners -- a friend with experience in the restaurant industry and a chef -- on a business plan for a chic but informal restaurant that would capitalize on Americans' increasing appetite for hummus. "It was the most analytical business plan ever conceived for a hummus restaurant," says Kostman, who delved into details from the best procedures for maintaining the consistency of the food to the most effective human resources policies for attracting and retaining staff in a high-turnover industry. He often had to meet with his partners at midnight because he was still working 12+ hour days and traveling every week at Lehman Brothers. (He left Lehman in 2008 before the company went belly up.)
While it took months of diligent research with brokers to get a lease for his first restaurant, it has become easier to secure new space now that he has a track record.A detailed business plan that outlined everything necessary to make the concept scalable was the key to getting the chain off to a strong start, says Kostman.
He used his own money to launch the first restaurant; when that succeeded he turned to outside investors in his professional network with confidence. Today his chain has sales in the $5 million to $10 million range.
Market Early, Market Often
Name: Scott Belsky, 30
Previous Profession: Associate at Goldman Sachs
Startup: Behance, a website that lets artists and other creative professionals develop multimedia portfolios, market and sell their work online, and look for job opportunities. The 15-employee site, founded in 2006, makes money from advertising, paid job postings, and from sales of its proprietary project management software designed specifically for creative types.
Startup Capital: Belsky bootstrapped the business, paying his startup team with equity and reinvesting money from sales of his project management system to build his site.
Key challenge: Building credibility for his brand-new product with users. It differed from existing sites that showcase artists' portfolios by allowing its members to judge each other's work and compete for the greatest visibility on the site.
What happened: Belsky started assembling a team to build a site in 2006 while attending Harvard Business School, often feeling like he spent more time in New York City than on campus. "I was pretty much living two lives," he says. Instead of hitting the job market to look for a job similar to the one he left in investment banking, he plunged into the startup scene. "It was scary," he says. "When I was working at Goldman Sachs, everything was taken care of," says Belsky, who left Goldman to attend Harvard.
Instead of keeping his idea under wraps, Belsky blogged about it and touted it at technology meetups in the New York City area. "Most ideas never happen, and I realized I needed accountability and feedback from others in order to have any chance of pushing these ideas to fruition," he says. Artists started posting their work in 2007 and employers began hiring them the same year. Belsky kept in touch with those who initially found work on the site and asked them to spread the word to their colleagues; word of mouth soon helped it take off. By 2009, thanks in part to partnerships with sites such as LinkedIn to showcase its members' work, Behance began hearing from big companies such as Nike and Apple, both of whom wanted to advertise on Behance to find creative talent. Belsky says his revenue is now in the "multiple millions" and while he's received offers for investment, he staying independent for now.
Hustle More Than Everyone Else
Name: Juliet Huck, 48
Previous profession: Art director at a litigation support company
Startup: TheHuckGroup, an L.A.-based graphic design firm that helps attorneys make their case in court with persuasive materials such as charts and graphs.
Startup capital: $10,000 to $12,000
Key challenge: Unlike many competitors, Huck takes a more compelling, marketing-inspired approach to her materials and consults with clients on how to best explain the story behind the data. It was not easy, initially, to sell potential clients on the new approach. "I don't fit into the box of litigation graphics," she says.
What happened: In 1999, Huck quit the litigation firm where she had worked as an art director for seven years. She was tired of producing the same bland charts and graphs and the higher ups rebuffed her suggestions to liven them up.
Fortunately, Huck was in the habit of squirreling away savings, and didn't have to worry about paying her bills immediately. She wrote a business plan, using a template she found online, which helped give her focus and apply for a $50,000 SBA-backed loan from her bank to get set up.
But business didn't exactly come walking in the door. It took three months of networking to get her first client. Her graphic storytelling approach was hard for many to envision, so she set up in-person presentations and spoke at industry associations to spread the word. "I was educating people on a new form of trial support and design," she says. Her first big break came when a colleague referred her to a project with a law firm that paid a $20,000 a month retainer for five months.
As the word spread about her services, sales took off and she hired her first employee in 2000. Today, she brings in $2.4 million in annual revenue, is making a profit and has nine employees working from offices in Los Angeles, Chicago and Ormond Beach, Fla. The best part: Her work is never boring. She has provided litigation support to more than 70 clients, including Eagle County, Colorado on the Kobe Bryant case
Quoted: http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/112213/three-entrepreneurs-who-ditched-corporate-america?mod=oneclick
A Holy Leader
In this life, God calls everyone to either lead or follow, in various circumstances, at different times. however, if or when we are called into leadership, it is important that we do so by through the strength God provides, as seen in 1 Peter 4:11: "If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ." Even as we are called to lead others, we are also called to be led by the Holy Spirit.
David and Saul provide great examples of what it means to be led by the Spirit of God, and what it means to be led by the world. David never ceased to trust that God was capable of rescuing him from his enemies, whether they were lions, bears, giants, men, or nations. Saul, however, let himself be filled with jealousy. He saw what David had, and he wanted it. But instead of focusing his attention on the source of David's joy - that is, God- Saul instead focused his attention on the physical man, David.
Concerning the difference in leadership between these two men, Jonathan Dodson suggest, "The ultimate contrast between these two men was not their appearance or experience; it was their spirit. We're told (in 1 Samuel 16:13-14) that the Spirit rushed upon David, while the Spirit departed from Saul." God may challenge us to be leaders of men and women on this Earth, but we are all meant to follow His Spirit, wherever it takes us.
Living Life
David and Saul provide great examples of what it means to be led by the Spirit of God, and what it means to be led by the world. David never ceased to trust that God was capable of rescuing him from his enemies, whether they were lions, bears, giants, men, or nations. Saul, however, let himself be filled with jealousy. He saw what David had, and he wanted it. But instead of focusing his attention on the source of David's joy - that is, God- Saul instead focused his attention on the physical man, David.
Concerning the difference in leadership between these two men, Jonathan Dodson suggest, "The ultimate contrast between these two men was not their appearance or experience; it was their spirit. We're told (in 1 Samuel 16:13-14) that the Spirit rushed upon David, while the Spirit departed from Saul." God may challenge us to be leaders of men and women on this Earth, but we are all meant to follow His Spirit, wherever it takes us.
Living Life
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