A Physician assistant (PA) is a health professional licensed to practice medicine with physician supervision.  They are not doctors, but they are near enough to smell (and reap) the six-figure salaries.

What do Physician’s Assistants do?

Physician’s Assistants must be supervised by medical doctors, but the law does allow PAs to make medical decisions and provide a variety of services, including taking medical histories, performing physical exams, ordering and interpreting laboratory tests, diagnosing and treating illnesses, counseling patients, assisting in surgery, setting fractures, and prescribing medications.  In addition to treating patients, PAs’ responsibilities may also include education, research, and administrative services.

Most PAs are medical generalists who work in primary care, family or internal medicine, pediatrics or obstetrics and gynecology.  However, many PAs specialize in fields, such as cardiovascular surgery, orthopedics, and emergency medicine.

For whom do Physician’s Assistants work?

PAs report to doctors, but they work in virtually every health care setting, including hospitals, physicians’ offices, HMOs, correctional institutions, military installations, VA medical centers, nursing homes, public health agencies, community clinics, research centers, urban/rural health clinics, health care education and administration offices, and industrial medicine clinics.  PAs can even be found in concierge/private physician firms like the one in the hit cable TV show Royal Pains.

You could be Divya, the genius PA on Royal Pains

What do Physician’s Assistants earn?

A first-year PA earns an average of $70,000, while a PA with at least 2 years of experience earns an average of $80,000.  The top 10% of PAs earns more than $102,000/year, and a 2007 salary survey conducted on behalf of the American Association of Physician’s Assistants found that a small number of PAs earn more $1 million or more (Don’t go crazy with the latter stat, these PAs likely own businesses that generate the bulk of their salaries).

How do you break in?

Being a PA does not require a college degree, though you must complete some college-level courses.  And, those with a college degree will be favored in program admissions, hiring and compensation.  All PAs must complete an accredited PA program and pass a licensing exam.  PA programs typically take 24-27 months to complete–12 months of classroom time followed by 12-15 months in a supervised clinical rotation.  Most PA programs are full time, though a few colleges and universities have begun to offer part-time programs that allow career-changers to keep their day jobs during the classroom phase.  The average cost of a PA program is $25,000-$30,000/year (pricey, but cheaper than med school).

There are actually several pathways to being a PA.

Pathway 1: No College Degree

This is a relatively new path that is open to high school graduates.  Students complete core college requirements (anatomy, psychology, chemistry, physics) in a pre-professional phase and move into the professional phase for training as a PA.  Most of these programs are operated by community colleges and state universities that award both bachelor’s and master’s degrees upon completion, but some programs award a bachelor’s or associates degree.  These programs take substantially longer to complete (up to 5 years if you earn a masters degree).

Pathway 2: With College Degree

If you’ve already earned a college degree in an unrelated discipline, or you earned your degree years ago, you will have to pass a few core college-level courses (same as above) and complete an accredited masters-level PA program.  Some programs allow you to work as a PA (an internship or rotation) while you earn your masters.  Most require you to take the GRE or MCAT to enter.

Pathway 3: With Masters Degree

If you’ve already completed a master’s program, you will still be required to take a few courses to enter a PA program.  But, you may be able to test out of, or skip, some courses, thereby shortening your classroom time.  You’ll still need to complete the clinical requirements.

Job Opportunities

Demand for PA’s is growing due to the shortage of medical doctors and nurses in the U.S.  In areas where people have limited access to care, PAs can make house calls, test, diagnose and treat patients, and write prescriptions.

Search currently available PA Jobs

PA Job Link

Resources

Accredited Entry-Level PA Programs by State

Summary of State Laws Governing PAs

Physician’s Assistant Education Association

Physician Assistant National Certifying Exam (PANCE)

PA Programs for High School Grads

• Riverside Community College District http://www.rcc.edu/academicPrograms/physicianAssistant/index.cfm
• Seton Hill University http://www.setonhill.edu/academics/pabs/admission.cfm greensburg, pa
• Gannon University
• University of Cumberland
• New York Institute of Technology

Post-Graduate PA Programs

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What kinds of jobs exist in the Audio Branding field?

Audio Branding brings together a unique mix of jobs, all bound by a common interest and expertise in music.  Jobs in the field include Sound Designers, (or Sound Engineers), Brand Managers, Music Directors, Music Marketing Managers, Music Licensing Managers, consultants, songwriters, DJ’s, composers, arrangers, producers, digital audio editors, musicians, performers, and audio archivists.

What is an Audio Branding Manager?

Let’s start with the job that is the namesake of the field, the Audio Branding Manager.  The Audio Branding Manager is the person in charge of ensuring that the sounds or songs associated with a business, product or service is consistent with the image s/he is trying to cultivate in the minds of people who might buy what his client/employer is selling.  For instance, if you were buying a Bentley, you would expect everything about the experience to be luxurious, posh–the music played in the dealership, the CD that comes with the car, the voice and all of the sounds made by the entertainment/communications system.  Someone has to select those sounds and music.  That’s what the Audio Branding Manager does.

What do they do?

To wade deeper into the Audio Branding field, let’s look at the person who designs or creates the sounds and music that’s ultimately associated with a business, product or service–the Sound Designer.  A sound designer goes a step further than the Audio Branding Manager.  S/he actually creates the sound you hear when you power up your computer, when you play your favorite video game, press a button on a medical device or a piece of musical equipment, or even open the door of your car.

Other job descriptions:

• Music Directors – Music directors do the same thing as Audio Branding Managers, except they generally work for the business that produces a certain product/service not for an advertising agency (like the Audio Branding Manager).
• Music Marketing Manager – Music marketing managers market, or attempt to sell, the music of a band(s), or a library of music, to advertising agencies, businesses, music directors, and audio branding managers.
• Music Licensing – Sells the right to use music (not to own it) for a specified period or project.
• Songwriters, Composers, Arrangers – These are the creators of jingles, theme songs, and movie/TV scores.  Songwriters write.  Composers add instrumental pieces.  Arrangers determine the voice, rhythm, tempo, etc., of a composition or song.
• Performers, Musicians, DJs – They bring the music and sounds to life.
• Producers – Integrates sound design, scores, and songs into a TV show, movie, commercial or event.

For whom do they work?

Those working in the Audio Branding field work for a variety of organizations, but most work for advertising or marketing firms, or directly for the people or businesses that produce a product/service, i.e. production companies, car manufacturers, design firms, event planners, performers and record companies.  Michaelangelo L’Acqua, now the Global Music Director at W Hotels, is a great real-world example.  L’Acqua used to work as a copywriter for an ad agency, and then as Tom Ford’s musical director at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent.  He also scored and licensed music for nearly 200 commercials.

L’Acqua aside, others in the field work for consulting firms or as independent contractors (studio musicians, producers, jingle writers, sound designers and consultants).

How much do they get paid?

Pay varies widely in this field depending on who you work for and how important music is to their brand.  A small consulting firm may pay mid-$40′s-$50′s for an audio branding manager with 1-3 years of experience, but a large advertising agency or an entertainment company may pay six figures.  There’s a huge gap between entry-level and L’Acqua-level pay.  Audio branding specialists who’ve managed to amass a decade in this field, and lots of brand-name clients, can demand $200,000 or more.  Others in the field, like sound designers earn an average of $72,000 per year (about $60,000 for video game sound designers); music directors earn an average of $62,000; and music licensing managers earn an average of $40,000.

How do I break in?

There are a few entry doors here:  (1) The Intern Route – This is the most effective route, especially if you want to work for an entertainment company or an advertising agency; (2) The Artist Route – Create a song or beat that others want for their product or production, (3) The Expert Route – Go to school to become a sound engineer or brand manager (marketing), and offer your services to artists, brand managers, businesses, etc.

The Intern Route is best if you’ve got no experience in the field, and if you want to work for a company that’s hard to break into.  The Artist Route is best for songwriters, musicians, performers, DJ’s, producers.  You can partner with marketing managers, music licensing managers, and others to get your stuff in front of brand managers and businesses.  And, the Expert Route is best for those who are most interested in the technical aspect of the business–finding sonic solutions and using sophisticated electronic equipment.

To get started, explore these educational programs:

• Vancouver Film School – Sound Design for Visual Media (1 Year)
• Savannah School of Advertising & Design – B.F.A., M.A. and M.F.A. in sound design
• Berklee Conservatory of Music – Music Synthesis Degree/Diploma Program

Current opportunities

The best places to dig around for internships and contract work will be sonic branding firms like RumbleFish and Greenlight Studios, advertising agencies, and production companies.  Target event producers, gaming companies, and other businesses where music or sound is important.

Sound Designer Jobs

Brand Manager Jobs

Music Director Jobs

Music Licensing Jobs

Music Marketing Jobs

Musician Jobs

Digital Audio Jobs

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What is an Asset Hunter?

An Asset Hunter, also known as an Asset Specialist, Asset Recovery Agent, Asset Forfeiture Specialists, Financial Investigator or Fraud Investigator, is someone who finds hard-to-find, and often illegal, assets hidden by dirty cops, hedge fund managers, mobsters, and divorcing couples.

What does an Asset Hunter do?

Asset Hunters scour financial and other records, put swindlers under surveillance, and use whatever legal means available to them to reclaim the spoils of crime and return it to victims.  For some asset hunters, it’s as simple as following a crook around for a few months; for other asset hunters, finding well-hidden assets requires pouring over cooked books, traveling to exotic places and getting too close to scary people.

The exact mechanisms through which Asset Hunters find and seize assets varies depending on the Asset Hunter’s specialty.  An Asset Hunter with a background in forensic accounting might focus on finding anomalies in financial documents and transactions.  An Asset Hunter with a background as a DEA agent might use elaborate undercover operations, and an Asset Hunter with a background as a customs agent might monitor shipments.

Additionally, Asset Hunters generally specialize in a type of asset hunting, i.e. international money laundering, high-net worth divorces, tax fraud, or drug cases, and may also run business units that liquidate, or sell, recovered assets in order to pay fraud victims.

For Whom Asset Hunters work?

Asset Hunters generally work as independent contractors or for private law enforcement firms, but they may also work for the government and for attorneys’ offices.  These Asset Hunters contract their services to the government, to attorneys, to divorcing couples and anyone else with a legal right or need to find hidden assets.

Asset Hunters may also migrate to the dark side and work for wealthy scam artists in search of good places to hide their assets from the Tax Man and their ex-wives.  In this case, Asset Hunters, help their clients hide their assets from investors, spouses, the government and other asset hunters.

How much do Asset Hunters earn?

The average Asset Hunters earns $30,000-$60,000 per year, but those in senior positions, those who own their firms, those with law or accounting degrees, and those with many years of law enforcement experience can easily earn six figures.  Asset Hunters who own full-service asset recovery firms that find, reclaim and liquidate assets, you can earn millions because you’ll earn a percentage of the sales in addition to your investigation fees.

Who might love it?

Anyone who’s ever wanted to be Robin Hood.

To break in…

Most Asset Hunters come to the profession as former FBI, DEA, IRS and customs agents; defense attorneys; and private investigators.  But, having a background in forensics, accounting, auditing, technology (hacker), and collections are also great preparation for asset hunting.

Get More Info

AssetForfeitureWatch – Source of news, information and training for law enforcement professionals and others working in the asset forfeiture field; producers of the annual Asset Forfeiture Global Conference.

Association of Certified Asset Forfeiture Specialists – Provides training and certification to asset hunters

FBI Asset Forfeiture Programs – Information on the FBI’s Asset Forfeiture/Victim Witness Unit hires agents to work in health care fraud, white collar and drug crime investigations.

Current Asset Hunter Job Openings

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What is a Landman?

A Landman is the person who ensures oil and gas and other energy companies secure the right to use, drill on or pump through property owned by individuals, businesses and governments.

What does a Landman do?

A Landman researches who owns the land, or the minerals, water, lumber or other precious resources on or beneath the land, and then negotiates leases between landowners, mineral or resource owners (mineral owners own the rights to the resources on or beneath the land, but don’t own the land) and energy companies.  Landmen work in the field, spending a great portion of their time in courthouses and archives and in the homes and offices of landowners and resource owners.

In addition to researching titles, landmen trace ownership of land and mineral rights, research patented mining claims, source water, acquire temporary right-of-way, buy leases and negotiate deals.  A Landman must be a skilled and determined researcher, an able negotiator and proficient in state real estate, mining and mineral laws.  Senior landmen also prepare deeds, affidavits, notices, releases of leases and land and leasing reports.  They also arrange probates, manage claim-staking projects, coordinate multi-rig drilling.

A Landman must have excellent communication skills because the job requires that s/he interface with landowners, geologists, government officials, attorneys, engineers and energy company executives.

A typical job description for a Landman includes some or all of the following:

Responsibilities:

• Researches and documents farmouts, leases, rights-of-way, joint ventures and other types of oil and gas agreements;
• Supports in-house title in gathering, organizing and analyzing title documents and performing internal title updates;
• Coordinates between the different sections of the land department;
• Provides administrative support and record keeping to the title section; and
• Provides assistance to the drilling and operations land staff.
• Prepares lease agreements, records rental receipts and performs other activities necessary to efficiently manage Company properties;
• Prepares and facilitates the execution of specialized lease documents;
• Participates as a team member of the development team for a geographic region; and
• Coordinates and distributes work assignments for contract personnel for lease acquisitions.
• This position requires an individual who is experienced in the exploration and production business and well versed in all types of transactions, including farm-ins and farm-outs, joint ventures, acquisitions, dispositions, swaps, etc.
• Lease Checks
• Leasing with reports updated weekly
• Land Reports
• Runsheets and Abstracts
• Title Curative

Required Skills

• Working knowledge of Tax Maps, Farmline and topo maps and property deeds
• Working knowledge of deed plotter programs and chain of title programs
• Ability to effectively handle multiple tasks at one time

Required Experience

• Associate’s degree in land management, paralegal studies or related field or at least two years of related land experience which demonstrates a knowledge of title curative, right-of-ways, oil and gas lease documents, farmouts, mineral severance oil and gas contracts, joint ventures and courthouse research

For whom does a Landman work?

A Landman can work as a contractor or as an employee for environmental consulting firms, mining and energy companies, nonprofit organizations and city/state governments.  Most landman work in Colorado, Louisiana, Texas, West Virginia or Oklahoma, though the growth of wind energy is creating opportunities in North Dakota, Kansas, South Dakota, Montana, Nebraska, Wyoming, Minnesota, Iowa, Colorado, New Mexico, Idaho, Michigan, New York, Illinois, California, Wisconsin, Maine and Missouri.

They work for companies including Halliburton, Schlumberger and Oceaneering, BP, Chevron, Reliant, Green Mountain energy, and Hilcorp.

How much does a Landman earn?

A Landman earns $150-$450 per day as a contractor, or $50,000-$80,000 per year.  A senior landman with a bachelor’s degree and 5 or more years of experience can earn about $88,000 per year, and a landman with a law degree can earn six figures.  The “Average Salary” chart to the right shows the average salaries for landman jobs currently posted online.  As you can see, salaries are considerably higher than the industry average.

Who might love this career?

Lawyers who want a career change, paralegals who want to specialize, and anyone who enjoys research, interacting with a variety of people in a variety of roles, and spending lots of time in hotels and motels in small towns.

What about this career doesn’t suck?

The Landman job is one of those rare jobs that can work for a person who prefers to work alone and for a person who considers themselves a people person.  Landmen can wear jeans to work.  They get paid to be friendly to landowners, but also to be shrewd negotiators.  They get to work as little or as much as they like, taking on projects that last one day or several months.  A mid-career Landman can work 6 months out of the year and earn more than $80,000 per year.  And, if that’s not enough, the market for landmen is heating up with the growth of the clean energy (wind, natural gas, water and solar) industry and America’s race to become energy-independent.

To break in, …

To break into the landman field, you’ll need to earn at least an associate’s degree or paralegal certification.  You’ll need to learn everything you can about real estate, mining and mineral rights laws in your state.  Get a legal primer.

To earn top pay, you’ll need at least a bachelor’s degree and a landman certification from the American Association of Professional Landman (AAPL).  The lowest level certification requires a BA or 4 years of experience in landwork.  Learn more about certification.  Landman with law degrees earn the highest pay, and can move into real estate or oil and gas attorney positions and earn $200,000 or more per year.

There are plenty of organizations offering landman education programs.  Some of them are credible.  None of them are required.  But, it’s best to begin with home study courses from AAPL and/or with college/university courses in petroleum land management, energy management, real estate law, paralegal studies, legal research, geology, and clean technology (wind, water, solar or other natural energy sources).  The AAPL offers scholarships to students enrolled in approved petroleum/energy management programs at Texas Tech University, University of Calgary (Canada), University of Louisiana at Lafayette, University of Oklahoma, University of Tulsa (OK), and Western State College of Colorado.  Learn more about the Landman Scholarship Trust or download scholarship application.

If you want to test your interest and skill level as a landman, try researching the mineral rights for the land on which you or your parents live.

Current Landman Job Openings

More Information

To learn more about the energy industry and about landman job opportunities, visit the following sites.

American Association of Professional Landman (AAPL) – Professional association and certifying organization

International Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) – Trade association that provides career information, networking and job opportunities

IPAA Job Board

Petroleum land management, energy management, geology and other education programs

Landman101.com – General information about the landman career

Petroleum Landman School

National Association Petroleum Executive (NAPE) – A twice-a-year event that serves as a marketplace for the buying, selling and trading of oil and gas prospects and producing properties (added in 1998) via exhibit booths. Excellent networking and job-hunting opportunity!

Minerals & Mining Law Primer

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I’m captivated by this position for two reasons–it’s amazing potential for success and it’s equally amazing potential for failure.  If Killefer succeeds, she will help transform our government into a more efficient and accountable institution (instead of the lumbering giant I wouldn’t trust with cottonballs).  If she fails, the media will dowse her in flames and watch her spin for months and, just as she falls to the ground in a heap, they’ll admit they never expected much anyway.

So, what is a Chief Performance Officer?

The White House’s Chief Performance Officer is a first, so the details of the position are still a bit sketchy, the goals a bit lofty.

Here’s what President Obama said about the new CPO:

Let’s see what we’ve got.

To whom does the CPO report?

What we know for sure is that the CPO will work closely with Peter Orszag, head of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and Rob Nabors, Deputy Director of OMB.  The reporting structure is not clear, but the CPO will need the authority to declare powerful people’s pet projects dead.

What exactly does a CPO do?

The CPO is responsible for the following:

• Streamlining government processes
• Eliminating inefficient processes, systems and practices
• Evaluating thousands of government programs, ensuring those that do not cost-effectively deliver the intended results are eliminated or restructured
• Overhaul the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART)
• Build management capacabilities
• Develop metrics that work across programs and allow the public to track the government’s progress
• Convince Cabinet Secretaries and other key staff to buy into a more efficient, more accountable, more transparent government

What does it pay?

2009 White House Salaries have not been published, but based on 2008 salaries, the CPO will earn approximately $160,000-$172,000.

To break into a CPO position, you’ll need…

Since this is new territory, we can only study Nancy Killefer’s steps.

Education: Killefer holds a B.A. from Vassar College and an MBA from MIT.

Work Experience: Prior to accepting the Chief Performance Officer position, Killefer was a Sr. Director in McKinsey & Company’s Public Sector Practice in Washington, DC.  She joined McKinsey in 1979 and specialized in developing strategies and improving organizational effectiveness for government clients.

From 1997 to 2000, Killefer served as Assistant Secretary for Management, CFO, and COO at the United States Department of the Treasury.  She returned to McKinsey in 2000.

What about this job doesn’t suck?

C.H.A.L.L.E.N.G.E.

CPO Job Opportunities

Unfortunately, the White House Chief Performance Officer is one-of-a-kind.  But, there are a few similar jobs.

Chief Performance Improvement Officer, Commerce, Patent & Trademark Office

Performance Improvement Consulting Jobs

Chief Operating Officer Jobs

Business Process Improvement Jobs

Organizational Improvement Jobs

All Performance Improvement jobs

Most Intriguing Job in the Obama White House is a post from: Careersthatdontsuck.com

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