Where the Jobs Are

[pennypinch]

Jobs are pretty scarce right now unless you are in one of the fields that I am about to mention. According to an article that I read, six fields are growing fast.

1. First is nursing. They expect the demand for nurses to swell quite a bit between now and 2030. People ages 65 and older will make up 19% of the population by then and they foresee the need for more nurses. The demand for them has already began.

2. Next are network systems and data analysts. It is the second fasted growing field in the United States. Basically what they do is design and build the systems that we use to connect to the web, from work or home. Pretty important work and as technology grows, this occupation will too.

3. Third in line is software engineers. They build business software, operating systems, develope games and apps and so on.

The impressive growth of the smart mobile industry over the past few years will only add fuel to the fire of the impressive job prospects for application developers, as smartphone users have come to expect increasingly advanced software applications to justify the increased expense of their phones.

Wish I had went into one of these fields! I know nurses make good money and I bet the other two occupations do as well.

[2cents]

I completely agree with the all three of the fields you mentioned, and this isn't the first time I wished I studied something other than English and Music in college. Smart phones have really exploded in the past few years, and I don't think we've seen anything yet. The amount of useful (and, alas, useless) applications is growing by the day, and we need database managers just to keep up with all of the creativity out there.

You mentioned six fields, though, do you happen to know the other three?

[moneysense]

I think I would add dentistry, pharmacists, coroners, and undertakers to that list of where the jobs are. They are fields that are always going to need workers.

But the ones mentioned are all mostly specialized fields. What have you got for people out there that dont have the formal educations?

Are there jobs worth having for those that dont make it to college or trade school? Or are they becoming a thing of the past?

[pennypinch]

I apologize for not being able to add in the other three fastest growing jobs. I was having major internet issues and had to hurriedly get my post submitted before I lost everything. Technology sometimes! For the life of me I can't find my source information to add the other three.

If I am not mistaken they were all specialized fields moneysense, and unfortunately I do believe that getting a good job with just a highschool education is becoming extinct. In one way thats a good sign because that means that young adults are more willing than not to expand their education beyond highschool. Therefore there are more jobs in expertise fields. On the downside that means if you can't afford a college education you are possibly screwed.

That is just my opinion and of course isn't set in stone but as my oldest daughter is now at the age where we are looking into college and different fields of work, I am noticing that more often than not, you have to have a college education, four years- not even two years anymore. Otherwise you just might be flipping burgers or waiting in the unemployment line for a long time. (There is nothing wrong at all with flipping burgers, it just doesn't pay all that much)

[moneysense]

You are right, jobs today are more than ever seeming to be in specialized fields or are something you have to take a specific course for.

Like a Medical Transcriptionist takes a year or better to complete but is a job in which people are very needed at this time.

It used to be that you could get into the coal mines just simply cause your dad worked there, no training needed. Steel Mills were basically the same way, but here in our valley they are becoming a thing of the past.

Contracting jobs and roofing jobs are jobs guys can get as general laborers and they just seem to have to have experience in roofing etc to get these jobs.

You are so right when you say theres nothing wrong with flipping burgers, but it doesnt pay much and most people that work doing that have another job to supplement that one.

[2cents]

It's really too bad because not everyone is cut out for college academics, and not everyone can afford it. I see this as a symptom of the problems of our education system as a whole, as the burdon of education is now falling to our 4-year and 2-year institutions and not our high schools. We will always need plumbers, mechanics, morticians, carpenters, etc, and there is nothing a four-year college can provide these fields that a solid apprentice-ship program cannot. What a four-year school can provide is a little break from the real world--something everyone should have a chance to have, because once you're in it, you can't ever get out.