Best jobs in 2012

This time of the year you will probably find quite a few articles on the best jobs of the year. Despite the bad economy 2012 will be no different although many of the jobs will sound familiar such as health care and technology. Besides best jobs there are also the stressful jobs and the top jobs for women. They are definitely worth checking out.

 

• From AOL: Best bets for jobs in 2012. The list starts out with biomedical engineering that should reach job growth rates of over 72 percent between 2008 and 2012. Engineering is always a good bet for job growth. Two of the top ten are in technology while the other positions are filled with retail, customer service and three entries with the health care industry. Retail comes in at number 10. 
• Forbes has a list of the most stressful jobs in 2012. Not surprisingly the top spot enlisted military soldier followed by firefighter and airline pilot. The rest of the list is Military general, police officer, event coordinator, public relations executive, C EO, photojournalist and taxi driver. I thought that a taxi driver would have been a little higher up on the list. 
• Monster.com has a best job list for 2012 as well. The first listed is an actuary, who helps determine insurance rates. It pays very well at 137,000 although I can imagine that it would probably take a while to get to that level. A security consultant Is next on the list followed by a physician’s assistant. It seems that you see more and more physician’s assistants in doctor’s offices which is probably why it is on the list. The last three are marketing consultant, biomedical engineer, and financial planner. (there was only six on the list) 
• Forbes also has a list for the top jobs of 2012 for women. The top position goes to secondary education which should have a 15% growth rate in the coming years. Anthropologist is the second on the list which is surprising because I ever remember it ever being on any top job list that I have seen. But I imagine that it would be very rewarding but the number of openings wouldn’t be that great. The rest of the list also has some interesting choices as well such as oceanographer, clergy and geoscientists.
• CareerBuilder.com also has a list that is pretty much the same as the one from AOL

Older workers competing for jobs

No one has to tell you that the competition for available jobs is fierce. Employers that are hiring find that they have plenty of folks vying to work for them. Just having the experience and the education wouldn’t really guarantee anything unless you are in a field that seems to always have job openings like the health industry or some technology fields. And if you are older and competing for jobs than you might think that your experience will win out over younger job seekers, of course that isn’t always the case.


What advantages does the older worker have?

Experience is probably the biggest advantage that older workers have and that isn’t just pertaining to work it also includes life experience that is gained by being in the workforce for so many years. they are seen a lot over the years and that makes them a valuable asset to any company.

Reliability is another feather in the hat of older workers. They see the whole picture and understand how important it is to be considered as someone who can be relied on. They know and appreciate that work is important.

A common misconception is that older workers are too set in their ways to learn anything new. That’s nonsense just because they have become a little older that doesn’t mean that they can’t learn anymore. There are lots of older folks that are going back to school today.

Just remember that you have a lot to offer any employer no matter what age you are.

Feel free to comment and please subscribe to my RSS Feed

Thanks

Fresh start to your job search

Another year ends and hopefully the one that just ended was a great one. You accomplished what you wanted and you were satisfied. You found that job that you wanted too. That doesn’t sound like last year does it? Well the New Year is upon us and as always the first thing that you need to do is stay positive because you have to believe that 2012 is your year of accomplishments! This is the year that you will find that job that you are looking for.


Forget 2011?

Well you don’t want to completely forget last year you need to remember enough to learn from it. You might have found some things that didn’t work very well and other things that were beneficial during the year. The key is not to dwell on the bad things or mistakes that occurred.

Start 2012 with a plan

You probably already have a job search plan but now is the time to reevaluate it. Are you spending too much time in one area and not enough in another? Maybe this year you can concentrate a little more networking and leaving your comfort zone. Or even a little creativity in your resume might also help.

You should also reexamine what type of work that you want to do. Are you heading in the right direction or is it time to change your course?

The New Year is a wonderful time to restart your job search with vigor and optimism.

Feel free to comment and please subscribe to my RSS Feed

Thanks

Worker shortages

It’s hard to believe that there some companies that have a hard time filling positions in this economy. Unemployment has been high for several years and it doesn’t look like that will change anytime soon so you wouldn’t think that finding workers would be that much of a problem. And the problem isn’t just in the United States it’s all over the world. Every year Manpower conducts a global survey to determine the degree of talent shortage. This year was quite surprising.


Why are there worker shortages?

It basically comes down to skills and experience for the right employment fields. Unfortunately the folks who are unemployed usually don’t have the right skills or experience to fill the vacant jobs of some employers. Certainly education and training can help but getting experience, as most folks know, is tricky since most employers wouldn’t hire someone that doesn’t have any experience, they want someone to fit in immediately into a job position. It is an old dilemma for job seekers.

What jobs need workers?

According to manpower the number one employment shortage is finding technicians which has lead the list for the past four years, followed by sales representative and skilled workers. South and North America are the leading regions of needed employees.

How to fix all this?

If there was an easy fix to this problem it would have be done years ago. Everyone knows that some jobs are difficult to fill and they probably also know that education and training would greatly reduce the talent shortage. The problem of lack of experience is probably the biggest problem and the hardest to deal with especially if companies don’t hire people right out of school.

Hopefully in the near future education will be directed to fill employment gaps and employers will give inexperienced workers a shot.

Feel free to comment and please subscribe to my RSS Feed

Thanks

North Dakota Boom Town

Are you adventurous and wanting to take a chance for a high paying job, then you need to head toward North Dakota! Like the gold rush days of California, job seekers are moving north to hopefully find employment and a big paycheck. And like the gold rush days, there will be challenges to overcome before you discover the mother lode of big money.


Not everyone can just up and move to find a job. If you have a family with ties to a community through schools or relatives then it might be terribly difficult to sever that connection. But if you are young and without obligations then moving might be for you, of course if you are older without obligations it would work for you as well.

In the western part of North Dakota oil, two billion gallons in reserve, creates thousands of jobs not only in the oil fields but in the non-oil producing economy. While large numbers of folks have raced to North Dakota to find work they also have found that it is very hard to find a place to live because they small town there are equipped for the number of folks moving in. While there is a housing shortage there is also the problem of overcrowding which leads to a strain on public utilities and traffic jams.

How long will the good times last in North Dakota? No one really knows for sure but it should be around for quite a while but the jobs will probably be filled up a lot faster.

Feel free to comment and please subscribe to my RSS Feed

Thanks

The reality of retirement jobs

In case you haven’t heard the economy is not doing too well and although there are signs that things are getting a little better a full recovery could take quite a while. And even after that “recovery” things wouldn’t be like they used to. A good many types of jobs that existed 20 or 30 years ago will probably vanish due to either outsourcing or technology changes of course that’s not to say that there wouldn’t be new jobs being created. But with those new jobs comes new skills that need to be learned. If you are retirement age you have also realized that the money that you have saved up probably wouldn’t be enough to live the life that you want to live. So what do you do? Get a retirement job.


When folks talk about retirement jobs that are referring to employment fields that they weren’t in prior to their official retirement, you know jobs where you make a little money without the stress. Retirement jobs don’t have to be full time, in fact if you are on social security you can only work so many hours.

When you consider a retirement job think about what type of job you would like to do. Is it something where you are helping out folks? Maybe a caregiver job would be ideal to make a few extra dollars and you would be helping someone else out at the same time. Or are you interested in meeting new people, working part time in a store whether it is small or large is a great way to meet folks.

You can also try temp services where you wouldn’t be doing the same thing over and over again. The temp services also allow you to work whenever you want.

Another option is to volunteer, although you wouldn’t get paid you will certainly have the benefit of helping others out.

Feel free to comment and please subscribe to my RSS Feed

Thanks

Things beyond your control and the unemployment rate

Last week the latest unemployment rate came out and surprised quite a few people. At 8.6 percent it is the lowest that it has been in quite a while. Of course this isn’t cause for celebration because 8.6 percent is still way too high and the number of jobs being filled each month is relatively low.


This recession has been particularly brutal in not only how long it has been going on but also the general feeling of despair that seems to be everywhere in the country. Even though things are getting slightly better nobody is sure that the economy won’t slip back into a recession anytime soon. You have to keep in mind that there are things going on in other parts of the world that having a negative effect on our economy, things that are beyond our control.

Even though you may be working hard to find a job, doing all the right things like networking, researching and studying the job market, you probably will still find it difficult in finding employment. As stated earlier there are things out there such as the financial problems in Europe and business uncertainty over here that have an effect on how long it will take to find a job. It is important to realize these things because you don’t want to think that you are doing something wrong in your job search. Just keep it in mind when you see the unemployment rate going down in the future.

Another thing to remember is that the unemployment rate is an estimate (or guess) of how many folks are actually out of work. So you should take the number with a grain of salt.

Feel free to comment and please subscribe to my RSS Feed

Thanks