Today’s Top Careers
2008 and Beyond
These days, what makes a great career? Is it a high salary, unique job perks, or the chance to make a difference? All of the above, it seems—and career experts say that job seekers have more opportunities than ever to find their niche in today’s fast-paced, ever-changing culture.
“Hundreds of new careers that have never existed before are being created every decade,” says J.T. O'Donnell, career coach and author of a nationally-syndicated career advice column and the guidebook "Find Your Career Path: A Revolutionary Guide to Career Satisfaction" (Blue Tree, 2005). “Gone are the days of choosing a career path and following the course. Nowadays, you've got to map the course yourself.”
But in what direction should you go? Here, experts share a list of eight hot, up-and-coming fields, and how to get started in them.
The Internet
Thanks to Google, eBay, YouTube and MySpace, what began as clever ideas in the minds of computer whizzes have sprung into multi-billion dollar empires. The Web has become essential to almost every industry and field. “An entire new breed of Internet-based companies will continue to emerge every several years as we recognize paradigm shifts in technology and consumer adoption,” says Nicholas Aretakis, a career coach specializing in Gen Y-ers and the author of "No More Ramen: The 20-Something's Real World Survival Guide” (Next Stage Press, 2006). “This trend will continue, [since] content is created that develops a significant user base, and then advertising, sales, and partner services evolve.”
Companies everywhere are allocating resources to developing effective Web sites, says O’Donnell. She points to Web analytics as a specific, cutting-edge job choice. “Companies need people who can make their sites easy to navigate and visually impactful, so Web analysts need to understand human psychology and also be slightly obsessed with the Web,” she says. “A coordinator position with a keyword-driven marketing and Web analytics firm may earn somewhere between $30,000-$40,000, starting out, depending on where the job is located," she adds. With more experience, Web analysts can expect to earn an average of between $52,000 to $75,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Though degree programs vary (and positions usually depend on experience), degrees in computer science and Web design or two-year multimedia certificates are advantageous to a Web career.
Sales
A career that continues to stay on the cutting edge of opportunity and rising salaries is sales. According to author and sales strategist Martyn Lewis, who has been working with salespeople for 30 years, the reason for this is simple: Sales jobs follow trends in the economy. “Companies now—more than ever—are recognizing the value of salespeople,” says Lewis. Indeed, a 2007 ManageSmarter.com compensation survey reports that last year, top sales performers saw a 3 percent increase in total compensation to $161,501; low-level performers (those just out of college) were up 10 percent to $70,994.
“Opportunities are especially hot within the high-tech and information technology sectors, where smart new people are needed to help educate consumers about rapid-pace product development,” says Lewis. He also points to online advertising as a reason for the job boom. In the Internet age, companies are investing money into developing online ads sales departments, which, in turn, is creating an abundance of new jobs.
”There’s a myth that sales people have to be good at fast-talking and have this larger-than-life personality. To be successful in sales today, you need to be organized, and be a good listener who can understand people,” he says. You also need a formal education—usually a degree in communications or marketing.
Health care
The past decade has seen an overwhelming surge in demand for workers in the U.S. health care system. According to the BLS, in the last year alone, health care companies have added 377,000 jobs.
According to the health care employment firm Martin Fletcher, the most up-and-coming positions in this exploding field are nurses, anesthesia practitioners, pharmacists, oncologists, lab technicians, and positions at nursing homes or in long-term care. With starting salaries averaging at $40,000 (and much higher for post-secondary education graduates) the field is lucrative, and offers plenty of room for advancement. Additionally, thousands of tuition assistance programs exist for those who want to enhance their education in the healing arts.
Physical therapy
One medical specialty that will remain a hot career is that of physical therapy–the BLS names it as one of the top 10 fastest growing occupations requiring only a bachelor's degree. Starting salary averages at $60,000, and advancements in education automatically translate into pay increases and bring that number into six figures.
Physical therapists make a real difference in the lives of others, which leads to job satisfaction according to a worker satisfaction study by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. Physical therapists ranked second (only to clergy) in both job satisfaction and general happiness. In this study, more than 75 percent of the therapists surveyed reported being very satisfied with their jobs.
Management
The hit comedy TV show “The Office” best illustrates the next career that O’Donnell predicts will be hot in the years to come. “Most humor is rooted in truth,” says O’Donnell, citing Steve Carrell’s character on the show, Michael Scott, as evidence that “people just don’t believe in managers anymore, there’s a lot of frustration.” She says that effective managers—those who are adept at developing talent and managing teams of people—will grow increasingly valuable to companies as the baby boomer generation retires.
Degrees in psychology, communication, and organizational design lend themselves to a career in company management. “Rarely will someone get hired right out of school to manage others, but one method is to get into a company that has a very clear track to management in a relatively short period of time (ie. you work in a company that has lots of branches like a bank, staffing company, car rental company, etc.)," he explains. "These places will have strong training programs and a set way for you to learn management on the job. Though salaries depend on the field, most first-year managers can expect to earn at least $40,000.
Education
”There's no question that education—particularly teaching—is and will continue to be a hot career for years to come,” says Daniel Lauber, a career expert and author of numerous career guides. The draw to this field is not the high starting salaries (most teachers start at around $35,000, though it varies by state and by school district) but the large number of available jobs.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), more than 500,000 teachers (or 16 percent of the workforce) turn over annually, either due to retirement, school transfers, or career changes. Among the greatest teaching needs are in bilingual and special education, mathematics, science (particularly the physical sciences), computer science, English as a Second Language and foreign languages, according to the American Association for Employment in Education.
Attaining a teaching degree is also now more feasible than ever. “There are hundreds of alternative routes to teaching programs run by school districts, states, universities, and non-profits,” says Lauber. “All 50 states have some type of alternative route to teacher certification, funded by the No Child Left Behind Act.” Programs like Troop to Teachers, a referral assistance and placement service for military personnel interested in teaching, or Teach for America, a national corps of recent college graduates and young professionals who commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools, are viable options for those who may not be able to afford college.
Ecoscience
And finally, no forward-looking list would be complete without mention the environment, a vitally important and popular issue where job opportunities are beginning to flourish. “Green is going to be huge, and not just in terms
of environmental degrees,” says O’Donnell. “The big trend in organic, unprocessed foods and lots of other eco- and health-friendly services makes green-focused science and engineering degrees a good bet, too.”
Employment of environmental engineers, for instance, is expected to increase much faster than the average for all occupations through 2014 (source: BLS). Starting salaries are usually significantly higher in science or engineering; earnings begin at least $50-$55k for entry level positions.
Words for the future
If they wish to stay employable long-term, says O'Donnell, the next generation of worker needs to be thinking of ways to be a true subject-matter expert. "Identify a niche in the world of work that will let you leverage your strengths and keep you in demand.”
by Debbie Strong
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