10 surprising minimum-wage jobs
November 16, 2009 · Tagged with Career and Work
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.