Top Jobs of 2013

With the holiday season upon us, and the end of the year drawing near, we often find ourselves feeling gratitude, a swell of love and appreciation for all of our loved ones and our many blessings, and looking ahead to 2013 and all it has to offer.

I thought the best way to welcome the New Year would be to explore some of the positive areas of growth in the jobs sector. This Forbes article, written earlier this month, highlights the top jobs of 2013.

The article is based on a study conducted by CareerBuilder and Economic Modeling Specialists, Intl. (EMSI). The projections are based on the occupations that have expanded considerably and have added the most jobs to the market since 2010.

The job that shows the greatest growth projection is Software Developer. Since 2010, 70,872 jobs have been added, demonstrating a growth rate of 7%. Software developers typically have a bachelor’s degree in computer science and their average pay is $90,530 a year. The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects a 30% increase in software developers by 2020.

Here’s a run-down of the top jobs, but you can find more information by reading the entire article:

1. Software Developers (Applications and Systems Software)
2. Accountants and Auditors
3. Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists
4. Computer Systems Analysts
5. Human Resources, Training and Labor Relations Specialists
6. Network and Computer Systems Administrators
7. Sales Representatives (Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific)
8. Information Security Analysts, Web Developers, and Computer Network Architects
9. Mechanical Engineers

For more information on these jobs, search for them in O*NET. You will find tons of excellent job-related information at this site.

Happy Holidays from all of us here at jacksonCAREER and may 2013 bring much personal and career prosperity!

What if money were no object?

Here’s a great discussion topic for this Tuesday morning: What would you do if money were no object?

For those of you who haven’t yet chosen a career, this may be an interesting way to guide your career search and exploration process. It could be a fun activity to engage in to get you thinking about the options.

You might choose to pursue that career as a sports coach, a Walmart greeter, a doctor, a fashion designer, a tour guide on some far-away tropical island, a chef, or an astronomer.

Some of you might decide to spend many years in school pursuing that profession that you have always dreamed about. With money being no object, you could spend years in school without having to worry about debt.

I’d like to share a video with some further insights on this topic….take a look.

Of course, the advice in the video is inspiring and admirable. For the most part, I would completely agree with it. I can’t help but wonder though, as the narrator implies, does the money really come later? Will it come at a cost? Does it even matter?

More importantly, are there other factors we should also be considering when we choose a career?

My opinion is YES!

Choosing a career that you feel passionate about is probably the most important factor, but please remember the other factors too. Including (but not limited to):

• your ability (it would be ill-advised to become a gymnastics coach if you yourself do not have tremendous skill at this sport)
• your personality (you might want to avoid being a Walmart greeter if you don’t like interacting with lots of people)
• your education (you can’t become a doctor without first acquiring many years of education)
• your location (you may have trouble launching your career as a fashion designer in a rural town; therefore, are you willing to move or commute if the opportunity arises?)
• your values (if family life is very important to you, you may want to consider the effect of being far away from loved ones or whether you would like raising a family on a distant tropical island)
• your preferences (if you want to become a chef in a busy restaurant, you may want to think about the possibility of working long hours on evenings and weekends)
• the opportunities available to you (if you want to be an astronomer, consider that the demand for this type of niche career may not be incredibly high)

After weighing all of these factors, and more, hopefully your passion and drive to pursue your dream career are still strong. I certainly don’t want to dissuade anyone. I just want to make sure that you consider the factors.

Luckily our career assessment, the Jackson Career Explorer, highlights jobs that match your interests but also includes a section in the report called Exploring my Options that allows you to answer some important questions related to other factors in the career decision process.

I’d love to hear what you would do if money were no object. I’m curious about the diversity of responses. Please share!

Looking forward to continuing this discussion…

The Top 10 Jobs of the Future

I’ve read many articles and discussion topics lately of people sympathizing with recent grads starting out on their career paths in today’s tough economy. Granted, it’s not the smoothest time to be graduating. Jobs in some industries are scarce or very competitive to enter. By the same token, we’ve heard that highly skilled workers are in demand. As students and new college grads, you just need to know what skills are needed and where to focus your energy (and your studies!)

We know that STEM careers are in demand (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). This has been a hot topic lately.

But it never hurts to see another list of career ideas to inspire you or help steer you in the right direction. Today’s post features the Top 10 Job Opportunities of the Future according to 24/7 Wall St.

Suggestions  include a variety of jobs such as Glazier, Optometrist, and Environmental Science and Protection Technician. The nice thing about this article is that it projects future job openings and provides the median annual wage for each job.

Take a look at this list and see if one of these careers works for you and meets your interests.

If you’re unsure about your interests, let us know. We have a pretty neat career exploration tool to share with you.