50 Top Careers for 2011

The following is a summary and this writers thoughts on a tweetchat on 12-7-2010. The discussion was with Alexis Grant tweeting as @USNewsCareers.  Here are the results:

How do you determine what careers/industries make the list?
Our list is based on job-growth projections from the Labor Department. We look for jobs with above-average incomes, and high job satisfaction, etc. Those job-growth projections are a great measure of stability, they tell us how much growth is expected between 2008-2018. We also talked with people who work in these jobs to gather anecdotal evidence about employment prospects and job satisfaction.  The report excludes careers that don’t have large numbers of positions, because they provide opportunity only for small number of people.  The list looks to diversify in terms of category and education requirements to offer a wide variety of solid jobs. USNewsCareers uses the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics to determine the initial numbers but all of the factors are taken into consideration.  They also analyze past lists and many of the careers transfer onto the list from year to year.  One participant said, "...if (the list) changed too much from year to year, they would be great jobs, not careers."

If you are searching for a career that isn't on USNews list, you can go to www.bls.gov/oco or to http://www.onet.onlinecenter.org/ .  O*NET is a useful site as it gives a total picture of the career path as well as similar titles.

Seven careers that were removed from the list this year were: loan officer, funeral director, cost estimator, plumber, landscape architect, security system installer, market research analyst.  Some of these were affected by the economy.
The new seven included:
Athletic trainer – http://bit.ly/h0jFnL. Largely b/c of high demand in high schools.
Interpreter/Translator – http://bit.ly/gYiohJ. I find this one fascinating – high demand because of global economy.
Sales manager – http://bit.ly/gF2o9f. This job is recovering along with the economy. Highest median salary of $97K
Education admin – http://bit.ly/fBTQfk. For example, a high school principal. Ranks high 4 job satisfaction. 
Heating, Air conditioning and refrigeration technicians did well partly because of demand for green energy compliance. 
For the full list:http://usnews.com/careers Check this link: http://ht.ly/3l9Xg

Many participating in the discussion were amazed that Funeral Directors were being booted from the list because you cannot predict when people will die and with the aging of the Boomers, there should be a large prospect for that career field.  Perhaps tho, the Boomers are living longer and "flying in the face of death".

The question was raised about whether entrepreneurs should be on the list?  Thoughts on this were that isn't everyone who starts a business an entrepreneur?  Isn't everyone who is an entrepreneur performing multiple careers at one time - CFO, COO, CEO, marketing, sales, and on and on. But while entrepreneurs are a growing path for many people, in fact, they are often sole proprietors.  Employment data is much more difficult to calculate on sole proprietors.

What top skills are hiring managers looking for?

Skill sets! As part of each career profile, we’ve included tips and advice for people who work in the industry on landing a job. Look for this advice at the bottom of each profile.  Hiring managers are looking for achievement oriented people who can do for their company what they have done for others. They want to see multi-talented individuals - but who still fit the "mold".  Know what your skills are and how you can apply them. Not only do you need the right skills, but  be able to fit within the new corporate culture and team. Along with job-specific skills, many hiring managers said “people skills” are also super important – being able to communicate. You can also see USNewsCareers slide show with advice for landing jobs on our list:http://bit.ly/gmfCSP.  

For some jobs, having business savvy was also cited as helpful. Besides job skills, soft skills are important - things like communication, team work, conflict resolution and about 10 others.  Soft skills are so vital in the business world. if you don't have them, you wont get far. Many employers prefer someone who displays these skills - they can't teach someone (workplace skills) but, they can teach job skills. Even the president of Southwest Airlines says "that you can teach skills, but you can't teach behaviors". You can hire for attitude and train for skill. Because no one career is right for everybody, USNewsCareers include 50 jobs on their list, with variety. Hiring managers are interested in people who can solve their companies problems.  Being able to explain how you helped your previous company achieve their goals will be a good selling feature for you.

This article was given as a resource - Inside the Hiring Manager's Head at the Job Interviewhttp://ow.ly/3lp75
Strong speaking skills + strong work ethic most sought in#jobseekers by employers per NACE studyhttp://on.wsj.com/grThmX 

One participant asked "Does anyone have a good list of hard skills for each industry/sector or know where I could find one?"  My answer to that would be use O*NET.  Here are the skills needed for an athletic trainer for example.

What jobs are in the most demand?

A good way to measure demand is with job-growth projections.  It tells how many positions are likely to be created between 2008-2018. To put this all in perspective, the average expected growth for all jobs based on data from BLS from 2008-2018 is about 10 %.

• Using job-growth stats from Labor Department: 
• Biomedical engineer is at the top for percentage of growth at 72%.
• Neetwork architects – 52 %
• Health care jobs - Dental hygienist = 36%, physician assistant = 39%
• Athletic trainer – a job that’s new on the list this year – 37%
• HVAC (also new on our list) - 28%.
• Leisure & Hospitality -12% 
• Professional & Business Services - 11% 
• Information - 10%

Illinois has a website - www.illinoisworknet.com that features a Key Sector area explaining the high-growth, high demand sectors for Illinois that include Agriculture, Healthcare, Information Technology, Manufacturing, and Transportation/Distribution/Logistics. 


Several participants sited career paths in IT - especially web developers, health care, and manufacturing. One poster said their hiring expectations for 2011Q1 is the most optimistic in two years. 


The best place to find the skill shortages in the marketplace is to track the volume of ads on job boards by sector/discipline. A good article re: skills not matching job openings:http://nyti.ms/h6HKsZ There are plenty of other articles out there. 

So many unemployed individuals have skills that are no longer in demand. Our economy has changed so fast and new skills are needed.  Workforce Investment Act (WIA)funds will help unemployed individuals learn new skills and can be targeted toward high-growth, high-demand careers.  If you are a lifelong learner, you will continue to build skills/attitude being able to keep up with the rate of change in workplace. People will have to adapt. Just as one example wind turbine repair technicians will have only  50% of the personpower needed by 2015 to maintain the wind turbines that are on-line right now. That doesn't take into consideration the effort to increase wind power into the future. 

Which careers on the list give a great salary for little education? 

Another article from USNewsCareers was: 10 jobs that offer a big bang for your buck: http://bit.ly/eGuh60

• Sales manager jumped out at Alexis, since you need a bachelor’s degree for a median annual salary of $97K.http://bit.ly/gF2o9f
• On the health care side, dental hygienists make about $67K with associate’s degree and license. 
• Physician assistants need 2-year associate’s degree plus certification, to bring home paycheck of $84K.
• Gaming managers - who work at casinos, make about $67K after vocational or dealer school, plus certificate.http://bit.ly/e5NZG5
• Meteorologists also do well, bringing in median of $85K with a bachelor’s degree. http://bit.ly/gKMRPH

Certifications and licenses are becoming more important, it shows you can actually do the work vs. take a test.
Service industry jobs are here to stay. It is one of the longest professions around.
One poster shared that you can research markets by asking what skills employers rate most important soft skills or hard skills. Alternately you could use a LinkedIn or a Twit poll.

One problem about which we have been hearing here at KCDEE is that employers want people with experience, but those who are retraining into new career fields may not have experience in their chosen new career field.  My question would be - How can you meld your transferable skills with your newly learned skills to impress upon a potential employer that you would be a great hire?

Which of the jobs on the list most interests you as a career path? 

Whichever career path you seek - technician, exec, etc., it is good to be proactive, knowledgeable, forward-thinking about your chosen industry. 
 
Some closing thoughts and resources that were offered include: 

• You miss 100% of the shots you never take- T. Paulson
• Read "The Hidden Job Report" to find jobs before they are advertised. http://t.co/s4E2IDm 
• 10 smart ways to use #socialmedia in your #jobsearch:http://bit.ly/e8ZMyK   
• This is a copy of the transcript for  #Careerchathttp://bit.ly/hgMvSo 

If you would like to participate in upcoming Tweetchats, you will need a twitter account. Then go to www.tweetchat.com.  Log-in using your twitter account enter the hashtag #Careerchat and type away.  Let me warn you that the conversation is fast and furious and you can miss things as you type your thoughts, but they are full of useful information.

Knowing How to Learn

At a recent Manufacture America conference, a variety of panels addressed topics that included growth opportunities, sources of capital, product development and innovation, internet marketing, connecting to tax incentives, and connecting to new skills workforce retraining.


The overall theme seemed to be human capital. Fewer people are required to do the jobs of several individuals as the economy has created a leaner employee base for many companies. Within the discussion about supply chain the panelists mentioned that talent acquisition and retention of a skilled workforce is necessary to maintaining a tight supply chain. One of the impediments to many manufacturers is innovation and the response of their employees to the newest technologies. To overcome that "bump in the road" we need a workforce trained in science and technology as well as young workers who are adept in soft skills - showing up to work on time and staying all day, showing a work ethic, and providing strategic thinking and thought leadership.

There will be a shortage of engineers, both mechanical and electrical in the United States. One way to overcome that is to promote technical schools and actively recruit for math and science in elementary and secondary schools.

The overall theme in the session on workforce retraining was as long as people "know how to learn" that manufacturers will be able to advance into the new technologies. For every 10 workers that were in the workforce, they are only being replaced with 3-7 workers. The people that are hired today are being required to have more and more skills to fill a "multi-function" position. The term "purple squirrel" comes into play with this. Employers are looking for those elusive purple squirrels - a singular multi-talented individual to fill one job that requires 15 skills.

The mention of soft skills came up in that same session. What employers want is someone who has the ability to spell, perform math functions, read and comprehend in English, be able to have a personal interface, possesses management and/or supervisory skills, be thought leaders, and be able to learn or know actual job skills.

Again, by exposing young people to what the manufacturing world has become, we may be able to compete globally with our workforce in the advancing technological economic climate.