If you are on the prowl for rewarding careers in 2011, I know what you’re thinking: With the economy in the can, where am I going to find a job to make the payments on my personal island?
Well, I’ve got some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that you’ll probably have to put that island on eBay. The good news is that there are still plenty of top careers out there, each of which are growing faster than most other jobs out there.
Everyone knows how tough it is to start a new career. But for some jobs, there are more opportunities than others. In fact, there are ten possibilities to keep in mind for the upcoming new year. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projected these careers to have the highest rate of growth for next year and beyond.
Top Careers for 2011
10.) Athletic Trainer
Basics: If you love helping others stay fit, keep athletic training in mind for your next career. Athletic trainers use their specialized medical training to help prevent and treat sports injuries. Any sports institution, from professional basketball to your local gym, has an athletic trainer on hand to make sure that everyone is training the way they are supposed to (e.g. not skateboarding on the treadmill).
Education Needed: Typically, athletic trainers have at least a bachelor’s degree, which can be in athletic training or related field, such as exercise science. Many trainers also have masters and doctoral degrees. In addition to this, most states require athletic trainers to be certified, usually through an exam.
Everything Else: For stats on the job growth, typical salary, and an interview with a professional athletic trainer, go to our athletic trainer career profile.
9.) Biochemist and Biophysicist
Basics: Although these scientific fields make writers such as me extremely panicked, biochemistry and biophysics are needed in this world, and their need is growing every day. Biochemists study the molecular and chemical process that make life possible while researching new medicines, while biophysicists apply physics, such as electrical and mechanical energy, to understanding living things. Although there are other specializations in the biology field, these two have the highest projected job growth for the future.
Education Needed: All biochemists and biophysicists needs a PhD in their given field in addition to their undergraduate coursework, although a bachelors or masters degree may be sufficient for some jobs in applied research and management.
Everything Else: For stats on the job growth, typical salary, and other pertinent information, go to our biologist career profile.
8.) Skin Care Specialist
Basics: Someone has to take care of those bikini waxes for the upcoming summer, and that person is a skin care specialist, or an esthetician. They do a heck of a lot more than that, though; estheticians are responsible for beautifying and enhancing your skin, in addition to providing services such as facials, massages and chemical peels. They also trained to identify skin conditions. Skin care specialist are employed at any place where skin needs diagnosing, such as spas and physicians’ offices.
Education Needed: Although the requirements for practicing skin care vary depending on the state, most specialists need to be licensed by the state after going through a cosmetology program.
Everything Else: For stats on the job growth, typical salary, and other pertinent information, go to our esthetician career profile.
7.) Physician Assistant
Basics: Who would want to be a physician when you can be a physician assistant? Physician assistants perform the same kind of duties that doctors do, and many of them can even work independently from their physician. Physician assistants can wear many medical hats, from working in surgery to emergency medicine. Since the educational ladder for physician assistants is shorter than a fully-licensed physician, this career is perfect for those looking to start a new career in the healthcare field.
Education Needed: Physician assistants earn either a bachelors degree or a masters degree in physician assistance, depending on what prior education and experience you have. These two-year programs are intensive, though, and the competition can be fierce.
Everything Else: For stats on the job growth, typical salary, and an interview with a physician assistant, go to our physician assistant career profile.
6.) Medical Scientist (excluding Epidemiologist)
Basics: Have a knack for research, but want to help people at the same time? Then medical scientist is a career right up your alley. These professionals study human diseases and conditions in order to understand their causes and find cures/treatments. Medical scientists can be found in research laboratories at hospitals, universities, or private pharmaceutical/biotechnology companies, and some work directly with patients (so you can help actual people instead of being stuck behind a microscope all day). And don’t worry: even though medical scientists might work with dangerous materials, they aren’t normally exposed to unsafe working conditions (unless you really want to become a real Spiderman).
Education Needed: Medical scientists need to have a PhD in a biological science to work in the field, although some earn a medical degree, and some others even earn both.
Everything Else: For stats on the job growth, typical salary, and other pertinent information, check out the BLS medical scientist profile.
5.) Financial Analyst
Basics: Every company loves money, but most don’t know what to do with it. Financial analysts are the ones that tell them exactly that. They use complex mathematical formulas (most of which would make my head explode) to advise a company on its investments. In a time in our history where executives seem to be walking home with more money than the company even has, financial analysts are in high demand.
Education Needed: A bachelor’s degree in finance, economics, business, or accounting can get your foot in the door at a company. Some financial analysts also have advanced degrees for high level positions, and many states also require analysts to be licensed.
Everything Else: For stats on the job growth, typical salary, and other pertinent information, go to our financial analyst career profile.
4.) Personal and Home Care Aide
Basics: Not everyone can take care of themselves, and personal and home care aides are the ones that help them. Also called homemakers, caregivers, companions, and personal attendants, these professionals work for various public and private companies, and they are responsible for duties around the house, such as housekeeping. Due to the rising level of elderly citizens, home care aides will be needed more and more.
Education Needed: While some states require personal and home care aides to undergo formal training, the majority of these professionals learn their craft through on-the-job training. This is ideal for someone looking to start in the healthcare field right away without any experience.
Everything Else: For stats on the job growth, typical salary, and other pertinent information, go to our personal and home care aide career profile.
3.) Home Health Aide
Basics: No, this isn’t a repeat in information: home health aides play a different but equally vital role as personal and home care aides. While the latter provide household services, home health aides typically tend to the person directly, performing medical tasks such as checking the client’s pulse and temperature and assisting with braces and artificial limbs.
Education Needed: Similar to personal and home care aides, home health aides go through on-the-job training for their job, a perfect route for those wanting to help others in a limited timeframe.
Everything Else: For stats on the job growth, typical salary, and other pertinent information, go to our home health aide career profile.
2.) Network Systems and Data Communications Analyst
Basics: Be it for good or bad, people nowadays live and breathe on the internet, and they need other people to make sure that internet is running smoothly. Network systems and data communications analysts do exactly this, designing, testing, evaluating, and performing a million other tasks with network systems that most people have no idea are necessary to keep their online Scrabble game going.
Education Needed: Network systems and data communications analysts typically have a bachelor’s degree in computer science, information science, or management information systems (MIS), all of which can offer a concentration in systems and network administration.
Everything Else: For stats on the job growth, typical salary, and other pertinent information, go to our network systems and communications analyst career profile.
1.) Biomedical Engineer
Basics: Relax, it’s not as difficult as it sounds. …Okay, maybe it is, but that doesn’t make biomedical engineering any less viable for your next career. Biomedical engineers use medicine, biology, and engineering to develop procedures and devices that solve medical and health-related problems. For this field, you would get to help people on an even larger scale than other healthcare fields, and bonus: you get to work with specialized lasers.
Education Needed: Most biomedical engineers move into the field from another area of engineering, such as mechanical or electrical. Then, a graduate degree in biomedical engineering is recommended for even an entry-level job.
Everything Else: For stats on the job growth, typical salary, and other pertinent information, go to our biomedical engineer career profile.
Can’t find your favorite career on the list? The BLS put together a list of the top 50 careers, so take a look at that as well. However, if you’re looking for Dictator of Island, I don’t think it made the cut.
