It looks like Al Gore will be shopping for a new job in January - but we encourage the would-be president to consider a few alternatives to politics as he (belatedly) starts his job hunt.

1. Who knows, Al might turn out to be an entrepreneur after all! Perhaps he should open up a romantic bed & breakfast establishment with wife Tipper, where middle-aged couples will be encouraged to openly display their commitment and love. (Nashville, Tennessee might be a nice locale).

SALARY: Innkeeper Julie Becker of Byrn-Roberts Inn in the historic section of Nashville says due to Gore's fame, he could probably turn a profit in six months. As for start up costs in the Nashville area, he and Tipper could buy an old farm house for about $100,000 and spend another $250,000 renovating it to top-notch B&B standards. She recommends that Gore provide at least eight rooms in his inn, as there will be probably be long waiting lists.

BENEFITS: No commute, gets to work side-by-side with his lovely wife of 30 years. Can make his own rules and bend them as he sees fit.

2. Form a comedy duo with Bill Clinton, who also will be out of a job come January 2001. Gore can play the straight man to Bill's funny guy, as he has for the past eight years.

SALARY: Penn & Teller can command $469,350 for a two-week stint, based on one show per night, all sold-out performances at MGM Grand's Hollywood Theater in Las Vegas. Surely a Clinton-Gore marquee can manage that.

BENEFITS: Everything Bill touches (harrumph) turns to gold. Entertainment personalities do well in office (if Gore wants to contemplate another run in 2004)

3. Go back to Vanderbilt University and finish his theology degree at the Graduate School of Religion. Next stop: ministry.

SALARY: The average salary for a senior pastor in Tennessee is $85,000, which includes housing, utilities, retirement and insurance, according to the 1999-2000 National Church Staff Compensation Survey.

BENEFITS: Mom Pauline Gore will be so proud.

4. Become a national spokesperson for Paxil, a prescription drug that helps ease social anxiety.

SALARY: Gore could probably get SmithKline Beechem to pay him big bucks to promote the drug.

BENEFITS: Gore can prove he's human, and make money at the same time.

5. Join the French Foreign Legion, the unofficial asylum for people kicked (or voted) out of society.

SALARY: In the first few months of service, a recruit will receive a little less than 2000 francs a month--about $270--which translates to $3,240 a year. Ouch. However, it is important to note that in addition to this stipend, a legionnaire is clothed, fed, housed, and medically insured.

BENEFITS: Gore can leave the bitterness of the election behind. The Legion promises to "protect you from your past and if required give you the chance of a new life and a new identity - many men who wish to join are running from their past, but what they do not realize is what they're running towards. The Legion is no place for the faint-hearted. It can be the most mentally stressing experience that a person can go through." Note to Gore: Bring extra Paxil.

~ 6. Go back to Vanderbilt University and finish his law degree. Maybe he'll even get to argue a case before the Supreme Court.

SALARY: A first-year associate at a major law firm can make close to $200,000, which is equal to or more than his $181,400 Veep salary. But if Gore were able to bypass the required eight years and instantly achieve partner status, he could make $3,105,000 at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and $2,050,000 at Cravath, Swaine & Moore.

"Gore will probably lose faith in the court system after the election," says June Eichbaum, who heads the Major, Hagen & Africa legal placement agency. Eichbaum opines that Gore is "such a policy wonk," he "might go work for a think tank or tackle policy reform." But in the event that Gore does go into law, says Eichbaum, he might do well at the tech-savvy Venture Law Group in California.

BENEFITS: Money, prestige - and he can elongate his name to former Vice President Albert Gore, Jr. Esq.

7. Rumor has it Gore is being considered for the next president of Harvard University, his alma mater.

SALARY: According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, Harvard University President Neil L. Rudenstine earned $342,599 for the 1998-1999 academic year. That salary is below the median salary of $393,288 for other top-tier research universities. Last year's highest paid was Judith Rodin at the University of Pennsylvania at $655,557.

BENEFITS: Get back into academia, where many people--including Bill Clinton--have always said he belongs; will finally have an attentive audience of other cerebral types waiting with bated breath on his every word.

8. Get his investigative reporter job back from the Nashville Tennessean.

SALARY: According to the Society of Professional Journalists, the median salary for a daily newspaper journalist in 1999 was $35,180. Another reputable source, the Newspaper Guild, says as a reporter in nearby Memphis, Gore could expect to make $46,393.36 a year.

BENEFITS: Gets to go back to his roots, look around and try to figure out where he went wrong, see his old buddies (and ask why they didn't vote for him).

9. Write a book about what NOT to do if running for president.

SALARY: Two years after he lost his presidential bid for the White House, Bob Dole wrote the best-selling book Great Political Wit: Laughing (Almost) All the Way to the White House. Doug MacKinnon, Bob Dole's press secretary, says that Al Gore could expect to do well with an advance on such a book (though he wouldn't reveal how much Dole made in an advance or in royalties).

BENEFITS: Put his experience to good use by letting the rest of the country learn from his mistakes; prove that he's not a sore loser.

10. Grab the CEO spot of the Sierra Club.

SALARY: Carl Pope, CEO and executive director who runs the day to day aspects of the organization, gets $138,103, including benefits.

BENEFITS: May be able to prevent oil drilling in Alaskan wilderness.