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StreetDoc67 · 09-13-2009, 08:54 PM

At least we make more than carnies.

http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/career-arti..._wage_jobs-969

10 Surprising Minimum-Wage Jobs
by Bridget Quigg, PayScale.com

The U.S. federal minimum wage recently increased 70 cents from $6.55 to $7.25 per hour. Who will be affected by this boost? Cashiers and fast food workers? Yes, but some minimum wage jobs also come with surprisingly hefty responsibilities.
From preschool teachers to hospitals aides, there are many people in critical roles whose salaries don't necessarily reflect the importance of their professional contributions. You may be surprised to find out who's making the bare minimum.

1. Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)

Bottom 10% earn: $8.79 per hour
U.S. median salary: $11.41 per hour
Job description: Assess injuries, administer emergency medical care, and extricate trapped individuals. Transport injured or sick persons to medical facilities.

An EMT may pull you from a car wreck and keep you alive on your way to the hospital -- and maybe for as little as $9 an hour? New EMTs must be brave, decisive, compassionate, and knowledgeable. Fortunately, their salaries go up after they get some experience under their belts.

2. Pharmacy Technician

Bottom 10% earn: $7.88 per hour
U.S. median salary: $9.93 per hour
Job description: Assist pharmacist in preparing and dispensing medication. Prepare dosage medications for dispensing into bottles and unit dose packaging. Collect patient information for prescription and billing. Select, prepare and stock medications.

Do you find all of those little pills confusing when you have more than one to take? Your local pharmacy technician processes hundreds of prescriptions a day and absolutely must keep the blue ones separate from the green ones. The wrong dose or medication can have possibly fatal consequences. These folks deserve a big thank-you for the work they do, but they'd likely settle for a raise.

3. Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)

Bottom 10% earn: $8.12 per hour
U.S. median salary: $9.81 per hour
Job description: Provide basic patient care under direction of nursing staff. Perform duties, such as feed, bathe, dress, groom, or move patients, or change linens.

When grandpa or grandma requires full-time care in a facility, or you end up in the hospital for surgery or an extended stay, a CNA might be the person you interact with most and rely upon for your essential needs. Plus, these dedicated individuals also often provide a little human interaction when the hours in the hospital seem too long.

4. Preschool Teacher

Bottom 10% earn: $8.19 per hour
U.S. median salary: $10.50 per hour
Job description: Instruct children in activities designed to promote social, physical, and intellectual growth needed for primary school in preschool, daycare center, or other child development facility. May be required to hold state certification.

Have you ever been at a preschool or daycare facility and thought, "Wow, that teacher is so patient and caring." That's because preschool teachers are responsible for a group of active, inquisitive kids who get hungry, have occasional meltdowns, or don't feel like sitting down -- all day long. These folks are critical to your child's development and education. And, they may not make enough to support themselves without a second job or income.

5. Amusement Park Ride Operator

Bottom 10% earn: $7.49 per hour
U.S. median salary: $8.74 per hour
Job description: Perform variety of attending duties at amusement facility. May operate amusement concessions and rides.

You wouldn't be surprised to buy a hot dog at the fair from a young person making close to minimum wage, but what about the person running your favorite ride -- the one with all the loop-dee-loops, drops and spins? It's surprising that these workers don't make much more than their concession-stand counterparts considering the complexity of some of the rides they're operating.

6. Line Cook

Bottom 10% earn: $7.25 per hour
U.S. median salary: $8.98 per hour
Job description: Prepare and cook food in a restaurant. Duties of the cooks are limited to preparation of a few basic items and normally involve operating large-volume single-purpose cooking equipment.

In the fast-paced work environment of a restaurant kitchen, line cooks ensure that meals are prepared to the chefs' exacting standards. Often these folks have completed pricey degrees at culinary schools and this is their first job after graduation. They're skilled with knives and the finer points of making a cream sauce. Yet, their wage is sometimes better suited to heating up a frozen dinner.

7. Lifeguard

Bottom 10% earn: $6.89 per hour
U.S. median salary: $8.18 per hour
Job description: Monitor recreational areas, such as pools, beaches, or ski slopes to provide assistance and protection to participants.

Do you have the strength and skill to pull a drowning person from a crowded lake and resuscitate them? Lifeguards must be able to perform this important task, plus spend long hours getting kids to stop running on the edge of the pool and make sure lap swimmers share their lanes properly. Lifeguards literally help everyone stay alive.

8. Nanny

Bottom 10% earn: $7.51 per hour
U.S. median salary: $10.31 per hour
Job description: Attend to children at schools, businesses, private households, and child-care institutions. Perform a variety of tasks, such as dressing, feeding, bathing, and overseeing play.

Most people agree that you can't put a price tag on a parent's work because it takes full focus and energy to do well. So why is it that nannies often earn so little for taking care of those same children? From getting kids up, dressed and fed in the morning to making sure they arrive on time to piano lessons and soccer practice, nannies often exhibit the exceptional patience and resourcefulness needed to keep a family running.

9. Automobile Mechanic

Bottom 10% earn: $7.78 per hour
U.S. median salary: $10.95 per hour
Job description: Repair automobiles, trucks, buses, and other vehicles. Master mechanics repair virtually any part on the vehicle or specialize in the transmission system.

When you take your car in to be repaired, you expect the mechanic -- whether brand new or a seasoned pro -- to quickly identify the problem and get your car back on the road again. It's complicated work that requires a great deal of knowledge, skill, and attention to detail. In time, most mechanics earn more for their toil.

10. Tax Preparer

Bottom 10% earn: $7.16 per hour
U.S. median salary: $9.15 per hour
Job description: Prepare tax returns for individuals or small businesses without the background or responsibilities of an accredited or certified public accountant.

What you do or do not tell Uncle Sam during tax season is very important for your bank account and your peace of mind. Maybe you do your own taxes, but many people trust their tax returns to someone else. A tax preparer enters all of your data into your forms before an accountant double-checks their work. It's an important job that needs to be done right.

NOTE: While pay rates vary from state to state, the jobs listed generally pay at or near minimum wage. Included, as well, is a job description from PayScale.com that lists job duties and the national median hourly rate a person makes in their first year on the job, according to PayScale.com. Some people earn less than this rate.

Ditch Doc · 09-13-2009, 10:04 PM

New EMS recruitment ad: It opens with a hungry EMT with flies on his face...

"For only 30 cents a day, you too can support an EMT"

scribble · 09-13-2009, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ditch Doc

New EMS recruitment ad: It opens with a hungry EMT with flies on his face...

"For only 30 cents a day, you too can support an EMT"

I almost shot corn flakes and sliced banana out my nose.

CombatMedic · 09-13-2009, 10:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scribble

I almost shot corn flakes and sliced banana out my nose.

OUCH

But that was so freaking funny. Just have to ask which uniform would they wear. Can we get Suzanne Summers or Forrest Wittaker (sp) to do the commercial for us.

Mogollon · 09-14-2009, 10:50 AM

Is this specific to EMT's, a combination of EMT's and paramedics, or specific to paramedics. Unfortunately, with a surplus of EMT's and people lined up to volly in some areas, I can see these low wages. I remember making just above minimum wage as an EMT. Clearly, one of the concepts that galvanized me to go to college, hit the books, and obtain a degree in a better paying field.

fire medic 328 · 09-14-2009, 12:15 PM

Mogollon has a valid point about the surplus of EMT's with the accelerated EMT program the 3 EMT programs in my area are putting out roughly 90+ EMT's a year telling all the students that as soon as they get a license they will have a job. Unfortunately most services that pay well around here have such a low turn over that there is almost no jobs to be had. the service I work for has only had 4 full time openings in the past 2 years. As long as services are having people beg to come to work for them even at low wages the pay will not go up.

I am curious if the wages were figured based on basic - paramedic all averaged together.

lerue · 09-14-2009, 02:32 PM

We are the same here, my daughter has sat and passed the paramedic entry exam 3 times and still can't get in to college as the skill mix for our area is at maximum. It is very disheartening for her as she wants to progress. At least the money is better. When I started with the service we were below what would now be considered a minimum wage, and I had to take on a couple of jobs outwith to survive.

**anthonyt** · 09-14-2009, 02:52 PM

I remember when I was working as an EMT in the privates... We made $7.25/hour. One day we drove by a White Castle (For those of you who may be unfamiliar, its a burger chain that sells those mini burgers, or sliders some might call them.) On their marquise they were advertising, for job openings, for hourly employees, starting at $11.00 full time, and full benefits.

My heart sank a bit, when I realized that I could make more money flipping burgers, than I could providing medical care. Private EMS pay has always blown!

PSYCtest040 · 09-14-2009, 04:29 PM

Money???? We make money in this gig? Huh, that's news to me. The commercial agency I work for I'm right near the listed average and that is after fours years of service. One of the county agencies I work for, I make more per hour than some paramedics at said commercial. To bad that county agency won't hire full time medics and EMT's.

bakerotfd · 09-14-2009, 08:33 PM

are you guys serious!? I started out making $17.80 as a a basic EMT and I am now at $21.30 as a EMT-I. I wouldn't even get out of bed for less than $16.00 an hour.

09-13-2009, 08:54 PM	#1
StreetDoc67 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 1,394 My Mood: Rep Power: 75	EMT's - Surprisingly Low Wages. Who Knew? At least we make more than carnies. http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/career-arti..._wage_jobs-969 10 Surprising Minimum-Wage Jobs by Bridget Quigg, PayScale.com The U.S. federal minimum wage recently increased 70 cents from $6.55 to $7.25 per hour. Who will be affected by this boost? Cashiers and fast food workers? Yes, but some minimum wage jobs also come with surprisingly hefty responsibilities. From preschool teachers to hospitals aides, there are many people in critical roles whose salaries don't necessarily reflect the importance of their professional contributions. You may be surprised to find out who's making the bare minimum. 1. Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) Bottom 10% earn: $8.79 per hour U.S. median salary: $11.41 per hour Job description: Assess injuries, administer emergency medical care, and extricate trapped individuals. Transport injured or sick persons to medical facilities. An EMT may pull you from a car wreck and keep you alive on your way to the hospital -- and maybe for as little as $9 an hour? New EMTs must be brave, decisive, compassionate, and knowledgeable. Fortunately, their salaries go up after they get some experience under their belts. 2. Pharmacy Technician Bottom 10% earn: $7.88 per hour U.S. median salary: $9.93 per hour Job description: Assist pharmacist in preparing and dispensing medication. Prepare dosage medications for dispensing into bottles and unit dose packaging. Collect patient information for prescription and billing. Select, prepare and stock medications. Do you find all of those little pills confusing when you have more than one to take? Your local pharmacy technician processes hundreds of prescriptions a day and absolutely must keep the blue ones separate from the green ones. The wrong dose or medication can have possibly fatal consequences. These folks deserve a big thank-you for the work they do, but they'd likely settle for a raise. 3. Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Bottom 10% earn: $8.12 per hour U.S. median salary: $9.81 per hour Job description: Provide basic patient care under direction of nursing staff. Perform duties, such as feed, bathe, dress, groom, or move patients, or change linens. When grandpa or grandma requires full-time care in a facility, or you end up in the hospital for surgery or an extended stay, a CNA might be the person you interact with most and rely upon for your essential needs. Plus, these dedicated individuals also often provide a little human interaction when the hours in the hospital seem too long. 4. Preschool Teacher Bottom 10% earn: $8.19 per hour U.S. median salary: $10.50 per hour Job description: Instruct children in activities designed to promote social, physical, and intellectual growth needed for primary school in preschool, daycare center, or other child development facility. May be required to hold state certification. Have you ever been at a preschool or daycare facility and thought, "Wow, that teacher is so patient and caring." That's because preschool teachers are responsible for a group of active, inquisitive kids who get hungry, have occasional meltdowns, or don't feel like sitting down -- all day long. These folks are critical to your child's development and education. And, they may not make enough to support themselves without a second job or income. 5. Amusement Park Ride Operator Bottom 10% earn: $7.49 per hour U.S. median salary: $8.74 per hour Job description: Perform variety of attending duties at amusement facility. May operate amusement concessions and rides. You wouldn't be surprised to buy a hot dog at the fair from a young person making close to minimum wage, but what about the person running your favorite ride -- the one with all the loop-dee-loops, drops and spins? It's surprising that these workers don't make much more than their concession-stand counterparts considering the complexity of some of the rides they're operating. 6. Line Cook Bottom 10% earn: $7.25 per hour U.S. median salary: $8.98 per hour Job description: Prepare and cook food in a restaurant. Duties of the cooks are limited to preparation of a few basic items and normally involve operating large-volume single-purpose cooking equipment. In the fast-paced work environment of a restaurant kitchen, line cooks ensure that meals are prepared to the chefs' exacting standards. Often these folks have completed pricey degrees at culinary schools and this is their first job after graduation. They're skilled with knives and the finer points of making a cream sauce. Yet, their wage is sometimes better suited to heating up a frozen dinner. 7. Lifeguard Bottom 10% earn: $6.89 per hour U.S. median salary: $8.18 per hour Job description: Monitor recreational areas, such as pools, beaches, or ski slopes to provide assistance and protection to participants. Do you have the strength and skill to pull a drowning person from a crowded lake and resuscitate them? Lifeguards must be able to perform this important task, plus spend long hours getting kids to stop running on the edge of the pool and make sure lap swimmers share their lanes properly. Lifeguards literally help everyone stay alive. 8. Nanny Bottom 10% earn: $7.51 per hour U.S. median salary: $10.31 per hour Job description: Attend to children at schools, businesses, private households, and child-care institutions. Perform a variety of tasks, such as dressing, feeding, bathing, and overseeing play. Most people agree that you can't put a price tag on a parent's work because it takes full focus and energy to do well. So why is it that nannies often earn so little for taking care of those same children? From getting kids up, dressed and fed in the morning to making sure they arrive on time to piano lessons and soccer practice, nannies often exhibit the exceptional patience and resourcefulness needed to keep a family running. 9. Automobile Mechanic Bottom 10% earn: $7.78 per hour U.S. median salary: $10.95 per hour Job description: Repair automobiles, trucks, buses, and other vehicles. Master mechanics repair virtually any part on the vehicle or specialize in the transmission system. When you take your car in to be repaired, you expect the mechanic -- whether brand new or a seasoned pro -- to quickly identify the problem and get your car back on the road again. It's complicated work that requires a great deal of knowledge, skill, and attention to detail. In time, most mechanics earn more for their toil. 10. Tax Preparer Bottom 10% earn: $7.16 per hour U.S. median salary: $9.15 per hour Job description: Prepare tax returns for individuals or small businesses without the background or responsibilities of an accredited or certified public accountant. What you do or do not tell Uncle Sam during tax season is very important for your bank account and your peace of mind. Maybe you do your own taxes, but many people trust their tax returns to someone else. A tax preparer enters all of your data into your forms before an accountant double-checks their work. It's an important job that needs to be done right. NOTE: While pay rates vary from state to state, the jobs listed generally pay at or near minimum wage. Included, as well, is a job description from PayScale.com that lists job duties and the national median hourly rate a person makes in their first year on the job, according to PayScale.com. Some people earn less than this rate.

09-13-2009, 10:04 PM	#2
Ditch Doc once a truckie.... Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Redneckia Posts: 1,383 Rep Power: 63	Re: EMT's - Surprisingly Low Wages. Who Knew? New EMS recruitment ad: It opens with a hungry EMT with flies on his face... "For only 30 cents a day, you too can support an EMT" __________________ I am no longer disgusted, just amused. www.ditch-doc.blogspot.com

09-14-2009, 10:50 AM	#5
Mogollon Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Back in the United States Posts: 246 Rep Power: 22	Re: EMT's - Surprisingly Low Wages. Who Knew? Is this specific to EMT's, a combination of EMT's and paramedics, or specific to paramedics. Unfortunately, with a surplus of EMT's and people lined up to volly in some areas, I can see these low wages. I remember making just above minimum wage as an EMT. Clearly, one of the concepts that galvanized me to go to college, hit the books, and obtain a degree in a better paying field. __________________ He lives vicariously through himself.

09-14-2009, 12:15 PM	#6
fire medic 328 Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: the mobile ghetto Posts: 281 My Mood: Rep Power: 22	Re: EMT's - Surprisingly Low Wages. Who Knew? Mogollon has a valid point about the surplus of EMT's with the accelerated EMT program the 3 EMT programs in my area are putting out roughly 90+ EMT's a year telling all the students that as soon as they get a license they will have a job. Unfortunately most services that pay well around here have such a low turn over that there is almost no jobs to be had. the service I work for has only had 4 full time openings in the past 2 years. As long as services are having people beg to come to work for them even at low wages the pay will not go up. I am curious if the wages were figured based on basic - paramedic all averaged together. __________________ The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

09-14-2009, 02:32 PM	#7
lerue Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Tayside Scotland Posts: 776 My Mood: Rep Power: 35	Re: EMT's - Surprisingly Low Wages. Who Knew? We are the same here, my daughter has sat and passed the paramedic entry exam 3 times and still can't get in to college as the skill mix for our area is at maximum. It is very disheartening for her as she wants to progress. At least the money is better. When I started with the service we were below what would now be considered a minimum wage, and I had to take on a couple of jobs outwith to survive. __________________ Laughter is the best medicine unless you have asthma then it would probably be ventolin. Time flies like the wind, but fruit fly's like bananas

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09-14-2009, 02:52 PM	#8
anthonyt Super Moderator Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 1,132 My Mood: Rep Power: 82	Re: EMT's - Surprisingly Low Wages. Who Knew? I remember when I was working as an EMT in the privates... We made $7.25/hour. One day we drove by a White Castle (For those of you who may be unfamiliar, its a burger chain that sells those mini burgers, or sliders some might call them.) On their marquise they were advertising, for job openings, for hourly employees, starting at $11.00 full time, and full benefits. My heart sank a bit, when I realized that I could make more money flipping burgers, than I could providing medical care. Private EMS pay has always blown! __________________ Anthonyt Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase temporary safety, deserve neither liberty, nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin It is a grand mistake to think of being great without goodness and I pronounce it as certain that there was never a truly great man that was not at the same time truly virtuous. -Benjamin Franklin

09-14-2009, 04:29 PM	#9
PSYCtest040 "Epi makes you stupid" Join Date: May 2006 Location: Can't sleep, clowns will get me. Posts: 6,524 My Mood: Rep Power: 182	Re: EMT's - Surprisingly Low Wages. Who Knew? Money???? We make money in this gig? Huh, that's news to me. The commercial agency I work for I'm right near the listed average and that is after fours years of service. One of the county agencies I work for, I make more per hour than some paramedics at said commercial. To bad that county agency won't hire full time medics and EMT's. __________________ "For the first year after school you will be, at best, a mediocre paramedic but one hell of a basic." My Mentor

09-14-2009, 08:33 PM	#10
bakerotfd Are f'n kidding me? Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Maine Posts: 785 My Mood: Rep Power: 68	Re: EMT's - Surprisingly Low Wages. Who Knew? are you guys serious!? I started out making $17.80 as a a basic EMT and I am now at $21.30 as a EMT-I. I wouldn't even get out of bed for less than $16.00 an hour. __________________ I can be found in the confessional booth of "THE CHURCH OF POOR LIFE CHOICES" for 24 hours every third day.