Pharmaceutical grads, PTs, nurses, engineers, accountants without CPA, financial analysts, all make 50k starting, some more. They secured their job at least a semester ahead of time. This is good for us young people(maybe not so in the aviation industry) since the economy is on a big rebound on hiring since the .com boom. The progression of pay for some of those professions like the accountant who gets his CPA two years out of college will be a senior management position before 30 making 90k plus, and more in the top firms. My younger brother just graduated and is starting his accounting job at at top firm will be making 55k plus 3 weeks of vacation, usual 401k, and some health benefits. That's the good. The bad is that he will be working 80plus hour work weeks(including Saturdays and possibly Sundays for invidividual audits no joke) for about 4 months out of the year for busy auditing and tax season. So he'll total at most 4 days off each month during those months. The other 7 months he will still be clocking at least 50 hours to build up credit hours to qualify for the CPA as a junior accountant, sorta like time building while flight instructing. He will also bring home work like lawyers do. This will take up two years. He has also has a 4 hour commute total each day to and back. Yes you may get weekends off most of the time but it's not like you go in and work your standard 9-5 and go home. With their salaries they are actually working more than you think sometimes. On the other hand I have another older friend who is finishing up his masters and will be taking on a network security position at the NSA for the gov't. He says he'll be working the cushy standard 9-5 with all the benefits you can imagine starting probably around 60-70k, though he hasn't been told yet. It took home close to two years to get this gig and numerous interviews that many don't pass. That's some of the reality going on in the job market these days. 55k is a lot compared to a first year regional FO but they have their issues to worry about as well. You see it on wall street all the time. They are payed very handsomely but many are working like dogs. This is a very competitive world as I see it.

But with other occupations like teachers in my area, social workers, cops(with exception of state patrol), firefighters, no way do they start out as such high salary.

Clap for my first post!