Also called: ALJ, Hearing Officer, Adjudicator
Decides disputes involving government agencies, like Social Security benefits or workplace safety fines.
ALJs hold hearings that look like mini-trials but in a conference room. A Social Security ALJ might hear eight cases a day from people asking for disability benefits. Others decide cases about immigration, labor, or environmental fines.
Federal ALJs earn ~$150-200k; state hearing officers earn less.
Professional degree (MD, JD, DVM…), about 10 years after high school. JD, bar license, and usually 7+ years of legal experience.
Ways in: 4-year college, Professional school. Training cost: Over $150k.
Majors to look at: Political Science, Public Administration, Economics, Philosophy.
Growing slowly (about 1% over 10 years). BLS judges and hearing officers overall.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. AI drafts decisions and summarizes medical files for high-volume benefit cases, so each judge may handle more hearings.
Classes: AP U.S. Government, AP English Language, Psychology, Statistics.
Official data: O*NET occupation 23-1021.
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