Best jobs for saving the world

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12. Civil Engineer

best jobs, jobs helping others, civil engineer
Median pay: $74,700
Top pay: $110,000
10-year job growth: 24%
Total jobs: 170,000
The job: Masterminds behind the nation's bridges, roadways, water and sewer systems and other public works, civil engineers design infrastructure that's critical to our daily lives. You get to leave your mark while enjoying a workday that requires creative, hands-on problem solving. Although the economic slowdown may curb new construction, there's still strong demand for engineers to maintain and upgrade existing infrastructure as populations grow. If you care about public safety, enjoy working outdoors and have a flair for building things, this may be the job for you.

How to switch: Earn a bachelor's degree in engineering to start. If you want to bid for government contracts, offer your services to the public, or perform consulting services, you'll need to be licensed as a Professional Engineer (find info about the process at ncees.org).

Quality of life ratings:
Personal satisfaction Benefit to society Low stress Flexibility
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Do Civil Engineers have great jobs, or what?
From the November 2011 issue
Notes: All pay data from PayScale.com. Median pay is for an experienced worker (at least two to seven years in the field). Top pay represents the 90th percentile. Job growth is estimated for 2008-18. Total current employment level is estimated number of people working in each specific job.

Sources: PayScale.com, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and MONEY research
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Using Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts for 7,000 titles, MONEY and compensation experts PayScale.com identified jobs requiring a bachelor's degree that have strong growth prospects, and eliminated any with fewer than 10,000 positions nationwide, plus those requiring advanced degrees that take more than three years. More

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