Unless you’re one of the lucky ones that knows what they want to do when they grow up at birth, then finding the perfect career path is never an easy decision.
Always keep in mind that finding your dream job often comes after having a variety of experiences in different industries before settling into that perfect fit.
I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I was a baby per se, but I’m fortunate to have stumbled into becoming a financial planner.
It has by far been the job of my dreams and thus far the only real career job I’ve had. I don’t consider my time in college selling vitamins at GNC a real “career job”. 🙂
The economy, social trends and technology have a great deal to do with the jobs that are available. Keeping on top of career trends and the areas that offer the most growth is one way to choose the path that will provide the most opportunity and stability.
Here are a few of the best career opportunities in industries that are expected to see growth in the next few years. This list may motivate you to spruce up your resume.
1. Human Services
Human service careers can range anywhere from direct care positions to social work, behavioral services or case management. The social service arena is anticipated to be a one of the fastest growing industry in years to come. Many entry-level human service jobs may not require a degree, whereas more specialized areas such as case management or behavioral services will require some formal education.
It is no secret that most human service jobs are not get rich quick careers but they may offer other perks and benefits that can offset salary, making the industry an excellent long term career choice.
2. Personal Care Aid
A personal care aid is an essential position in many organizations providing social service or medical services. Looking into opportunities at local agencies will often yield many job opportunities. While entry level positions may not pay a lot to start, there is often promotional opportunities, training programs, tuition reimbursement and low cost health insurance that offer a great benefit to employees.
If helping people is up your alley, taking a closer look into this type of job may open the door to a perfect career fit. The need for personal care aids is one of field that offers job security, regardless of the changing economy.
3. Information Technology (IT)
Technology changes so quickly that most businesses, large and small, need someone who knows their stuff to keep up with the inner workings of computer systems, networks and troubleshooting. All businesses use some form of technology to function on a daily basis. IT workers are behind the scenes in almost every arena from human service organizations to schools, banks and even the local library.
The skills necessary to work in this field do not always require a degree. Some organizations may not advertise for IT positions, so you may need to do a little digging or cold calling to find out where these best kept secret positions may be available.
Keeping your web site updated and building that new computer system for your brother may come in handy on your resume when its time to find your perfect IT position.
4. Medical Professionals
The term medical professional encompasses a wide spectrum of careers from a Certified Nurses Aid, to a lab technician or medical transcriptionist to Physicians Assistant (PA) or a Doctor. Much like the human service arena, getting your foot in the door in an entry-level position may lead to other more lucrative opportunities in the medical arena.
photo credit: Alex E. Proimos via photopin cc
The medical field is one of the fastest growing fields today and is anticipated to remain one of the highest paying and most in need of qualified workers.
5. Registered Nurse (RN)
The need for medical services is expected to grow as life expectancy has increased and the trend towards healthy living continues. Registered Nurses are among those jobs that are expected to be in high demand over the next 10 years and the need for RN’s never seems to subside.
Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses, Certified Nurses Aids and Home Health Aid positions will continue to offer job opportunities in home care, at doctor’s offices as well as in the hospitals and human service agencies.
6. Work at Home Opportunities
It seems that there is no end to the advertisement for work from home opportunities. In fact, the option to work from home or telecommute either full time or part time is becoming more popular, even in traditional business models. The idea of working in your pajamas with a cup of coffee in hand and no boss seems really attractive to most people.
While there are many viable work at home opportunities, it is essential to do your homework before entering into any work at home arrangement. Medical transcription, freelance writing and photography, travel agent, typing and editing are a few of the common work from home opportunities that exist out there.
7. Management Positions
Management positions exist in every career arena. Where there are people to manage there must be a manager. If organizing a team, supervising the day to day operations of a business, store or project appeals to you; a management position may be a good choice. There are endless possibilities for skilled managers in every facet of the workforce.
The service industry, fast food chains and local supermarkets often advertise for managers on a regular basis. This is a great stepping stone to gain management experience at a decent rate of pay. Many fast food restaurants also offer management training programs or on the job training.
While a job at a fast food chain may not be your ultimate goal, many people over the years have used this as a stepping stone to build skills and make money, others have turned it into a lifelong career.
8. Landscaping and Design
If you dream of working outside in the fresh air or helping people make the perfect flower selection for their perennial garden, the landscape industry offers many opportunities to grow your green thumb. From the corner farm stand to nurseries and area greenhouses to owning your own company, the opportunities to work in the industry are endless.
Landscape design and lawn care careers can range from mowing lawns to designing the flowerbeds at a golf course. As more work and family demands are put on people, homeowners will often hire out when it comes time to designing the front yard landscape or putting tulips around the pool for a family picnic. Depending on where you live this position may be seasonal.
9. Travel and Tourism
Regardless of the economy, everyone loves to travel and most people enjoy it even more when someone else does the planning. Working in the travel and tourism industry may mean being a travel agent, organizing group tours at a local museum or being a hotel manager.
Some areas of the industry may require some level of specialized training that can be obtained either through a degree program or by gaining entry level experience. This type of career is often overlooked but has potential in terms of salary, flexibility and advancement opportunities.
10. Health and Fitness
A career in the health and fitness arena can encompass a variety of job opportunities. Working at a health club or gym, teaching a class, or becoming a personal trainer are among a few possibilities in the industry that provide experiences for future career moves. Becoming certified to teach a fitness class such as cardio kickboxing, Zumba or karate can often be lucrative as well as fun.
Health and fitness services are in high demand as society strives to be healthier. Businesses insurance companies and even smaller employers often offer incentives for people to get fit and be healthy. A healthy lifestyle leads to fewer medical expenses for employers and also opens up the door for many employment possibilities.
11. Web Site Design
Technology, as we know, is something that is not going away, rather it continues to move more and more quickly, opening up a need for people to manage it. Those businesses without a web site are at a disadvantage in today’s society. Being able to design, build and maintain web sites is a service that is and will continue to be in high demand.
While it may not be advertised as readily as other positions, it is a necessity for most businesses to have a resource for web site management. This is often a position that can be done on a contractual basis or in a full-time capacity.
12. Transportation Careers
Everyone needs a way to get from here to there; be it by car, bus, plane or train. We should not forget all of the job opportunities that lie within the area of transportation. From flight attendants to taxi drivers to the manager of the local bus station, the transportation arena offers many facets of careers.
Many of these opportunities are often behind the scenes. The need for alternative transportation will increase as gas prices increase and people travel farther from home for work and pleasure. Many positions in transportation offer non-traditional hours and flexibility as well as an opportunity for growth.
13. Retail Positions
The retail and service industry is expected to see growth in the years to come, offering a wide range of retail jobs from front counter work to production manager to floor sales. It is expected that as the economy recovers retail careers may be at the top of the list of fastest-growing jobs.
While this may not seem like a lucrative career out of the gate, but often many retail positions offer growth opportunities, job security, the ability to travel and the chance make a good commission.
14. Construction and Trade Jobs
The industry of construction is expected to see growth over the next 10 years. Unfortunately, it is not expected to bounce back to where it was prior to the recession, but the need for construction and specialized trade workers is making a comeback. This opens up a wide range of job opportunities.
As the economy recovers businesses and individuals look to do expansions, home improvements and renovations, so this industry is expected to see a steady rate of increase. A career in construction or a specialized trade such as carpentry, masonry, plumbing, heating and building can offer many opportunities for those with varying levels of education, experience and training.
15. Administrative Support Positions
All offices have a need for someone to support the day to day operations such as taking calls, filing, organizing meetings, preparing reports and managing routine tasks. It is expected that this type of career will see a growth spurt, offering an array of promising job opportunities in the upcoming years.
As technology advances and businesses have to trim expenses, having someone to organize the operations is essential for every business to be successful.
16. Financial Services – My job!
It’s a pretty well-known fact that in the financial services industry advisors are getting older which leaves a shortfall of younger advisors to take their place.
Families will always be a need of financial planning and insurance services and, most importantly, a trusted individual to help them out. While competition will be fierce, there will be plenty of opportunities with independent firms and life insurance companies for aspiring advisors to get their foot in the door. You can read more about what it takes to get started as a financial advisor.
Best Career For Your Future
Are you positioned in your career for what the future has in store? If not, you have time to make the necessary changes to be able to take advantage.
But won’t many jobs be affected by automation and robots in future?
Hi Samar – Possibly, but I think some of the fear or robots eliminating jobs is overblown. Certainly it can happen with repetitious jobs, but any job that requires steady human ingenuity is going to need a human to do the job.
Under the heading RN’s, the licensed practical nurse may not need to be included in this list. Obamacare is affecting this. I have a friend who is an LPN. He was downsized to two days a week – apparently from Obamacare – apparently they don’t want LPN’s (as opposed to RN’s). This happened very recently in a major city.
Great list, Jeff! It’s very interesting to note that work at home opportunities made it to the top ten and financial services on the 16th position.
I think most of these jobs are spot on, other than construction. I don’t see that one coming back nearly as strong as the others on this list. However, if you are a independent construction contractor with enough cash reserves to ride out the economic roller coaster, this can be a fairly lucrative career.
That’s interesting. I didn’t know that financial services would be 16th on the list! Either way, I’m still really interested in further pursuing my career in this industry. I’m currently looking into getting a financial designation/s at icf (www.ibf.com) to help set me apart from my peers. Do you have any advice for me? I can use any advice that I can get. Thanks.
Great list! There is one I’d think twice about, though, and that’s #7 (Management), and here’s why. If you check out this chart constructed from BLS statistics by the St. Louis Fed: http://bit.ly/smalller, you’ll see that over the past few decades employment at large employers (read: those use the most managers) has been dwindling, both in absolute numbers and in percentage of workforce.
Of course, management jobs will never go away entirely, but it’s probably not the rosiest in terms of future prospects, either…
There is a big need for those in the medical field. I am currently a home health aide and there’s a big need for those right now.