9781422276921

marijuana positions over the next several years. Here are some reasons why a career in the marijuana industry is a good idea. Good pay. Salaries for marijuana industry professionals are good overall—especially for those who work in research, own or manage successful cannabis dispensaries, or offer legal and consulting services to cannabis businesses. For example, dispensary owners can earn $100,000 to $1 million, or upwards of six figure salaries or more depending on the size of their facility and the number of clients served. Dispensary managers earn salaries that range from $70,000 to $100,000 or more. Some careers (such as budtenders and bud trimmers) pay lower salaries, but workers in these jobs can advance to positions that offer better pay. Rewarding work environment and many career options. The marijuana industry offers many types of work environments, including farms, growing facilities, cannabis dispensaries, laboratories, and offices (for marketing, information tech- nology, legal services and other workers). Jobs can’t be offshored. Many marijuana industry careers involve hands-on work at farms, dispensaries, and laboratories that require the worker to be on-site to do his or her job. As a result, there is no chance that your position will be offshored to a foreign country. Job opportunities are available in most U.S. states and more than twen- ty-five other countries. Although you will not find a marijuana-related job in every state or country, there are many places that offer jobs. If you want to break into the industry, you can move to states or countries where the use of cannabis is legal. By the time you finish reading this book, you’ll learn about more than forty careers in the marijuana industry, the educational paths you can take to prepare for the field, key skills for successful marijuana workers, typical salaries, methods of career explo- ration, reasons why the marijuana industry is expected to continue to grow, and much more. But you don’t need to select a career right now. Check out the careers in this book to learn more. If a few careers seem especially interesting, try to learn more by talking to people in the field, watching videos of people in these jobs (YouTube is a good resource), and visiting the websites of marijuana industry associations. Good luck with your career exploration!

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