The 50 Best Careers of 2011
Consider these high-opportunity jobs as you look for your next paycheck
By
Alexis Grant from USNews
It pays to be smart when choosing your career, particularly now that the job market
is (slowly) improving. With the recession officially over, anyone who's
out of work or eager to change jobs is on the lookout for
opportunities. But where, exactly, are the jobs? Which occupations offer
decent salaries, quality of life—and are likely to stick around for the
next decade?
Our list of 50 Best Careers answers those questions. We've
highlighted dozens of high-opportunity professions—careers you may want
to consider as you decide where to look for your next paycheck. Based on
job-growth projections, salary data, and other factors like job
satisfaction, these occupations span a variety of industries, so you can
find the right position for you no matter what your interests.
What's new on the list this year? Several of our picks reflect the
recent uptick in the economy, while others are long-time contenders that
finally muscled their way onto the roster. With an aging baby boomer generation, healthcare continues to make a strong showing. All of the healthcare jobs on last year's list have made the cut again this year, plus two new positions: massage therapist and athletic
trainer. While the field of athletic training doesn't offer the sheer
number of positions as nursing or dental hygiene, it outranks nearly all
other healthcare occupations for expected job growth.
[See Tips for Landing Jobs on Our List.]
Technology positions
also account for a good chunk of our top-choice careers. Computer
support specialist joins the ranks this year with upward trending
employment numbers. Education administrator, which ranked particularly
high for job satisfaction, made it onto our lineup of social service jobs. In the business category, we added sales manager, an occupation that's making a comeback along with the economy.
On our creative and service jobs
list, heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration technician is new
this year, largely because of its high expected job growth.
Interpreter/translator, an occupation that's increasingly in demand as a
result of globalization, also made the cut.
To come up with this year's list, U.S. News
considered job-growth projections from the Labor Department, estimates
for 2008 to 2018, the most recent data available. We narrowed it down to
occupations that are expected to add jobs at an above-average rate over
the next decade, as well as those that provide an above-average median
income. Sales manager makes the highest median annual salary on our
list, nearly $97,000. Computer software engineer, physician assistant,
meteorologist and education administrator all bring in median average
salaries in the mid-$80,000 range.
We also considered, where possible, data on job satisfaction,
turnover, and impending retirements, which crank up openings in jobs
that may have only slightly above-average employment growth. We talked
with labor and industry experts as well, gathering anecdotal evidence
about employment prospects and job satisfaction. We excluded careers
that lack a statistically significant number of positions and therefore
provide opportunity for only a small number of workers. When necessary,
we favored jobs that would help diversify our list in terms of category
and educational requirements, since not everyone wants to work in
healthcare or go to school for six years.
[See 10 Smart Ways to Use Social Media in Your Job Search.]
Most of the jobs that were cut from the list this year showed a
higher-than-average unemployment rate or shrinking employment numbers
during the last few quarters. From the creative and service jobs
category, funeral director, plumber, security system installer, and
landscape architect got the boot. In business, we cut market research
analyst, loan officer, and cost estimator.
Of course, no one job is best for everyone, and everyone has their
own ideas about what makes a job great. "You have to like what you're
doing or you're not going to be successful at it," says Emily
Bennington, who helps college graduates transition into careers through
her company, Professional Studio 365. At the same time, "if you're not
getting paid to do it, you're not going to love it for very long."
Qualities that make a job desirable also change with the times and
circumstances. Tom Smith, director of the General Social Survey,
conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago,
expects his next set of job-satisfaction data to show that workers
value stability more than they did before the recession. "Occupations
that have greater job stability perhaps have improved in the public's
evaluation," he says.
[For more career advice, visit U.S. News Careers, or find us on Facebook or Twitter.]
Even as hiring picks up, the odds can seem daunting to job seekers.
In a struggling economy with a 9.6 percent unemployment rate,
competition is stiff even for some jobs that made our list. For every job opening
in September, there were about five unemployed people, according to the
Labor Department. While that's an improvement from 6.2 people for every
job opening in November 2009, the most recent peak, "it's still a very
tough job market," says Steve Hipple, an economist at the Labor
Department. During the three years before the recession, the rate
averaged 1.7 unemployed people for every job opening.
Others like John Challenger, CEO of outplacement company Challenger,
Gray & Christmas, are more optimistic. "The whole environment has
changed," says Challenger, who talks daily with companies that are
hiring, as well as job seekers. "(It's) certainly not gang-busters by
any means ... but it feels like springtime compared to last year's
winter in the job market."
Whether you're out of work or your job has simply fallen out of
favor, you'll likely find an occupation on our list that suits you. For
each profession, we've offered a summary of what you can expect on the
job, as well as advice from hiring managers and people who work in that
industry about how to land one.
Here's our list of the 50 Best Careers of 2011—click each job to learn more:
Business Jobs:
Creative and Service Jobs:
• Curator
• Heating, air conditioning and refrigeration technician
Healthcare Jobs:
• Physical therapist assistant
Social Service Jobs:
• Clergy
• Emergency management specialist
• Marriage and family therapist
• Mediator
• Medical and public health social worker
Technology Jobs:
• Environmental engineering technician
• Environmental science technician
| Topic | Replies | Likes | Views | Participants | Last Reply |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interested in a career in counseling/mental health? | 0 | 0 | 149 | ||
| Google takes on LinkedIn with its own job-search platform Hire | 0 | 0 | 459 | ||
| The 11 Best Recruiting Videos Ever | 1 | 0 | 768 |