Fast Company: Top Jobs for 2009

Another Interesting read I came across on Fast Company regarding 8 Job Areas that they think will be in vogue for the year 2009. 

An Excerpt: 

In 2009, the job market will be full of contrasts: some industries will be eviscerated while others face shortages of workers. The good news is that despite the recession, there are still real jobs to be had. The bad news is that you may have to change fields to find one.

The trick to job hunting in 2009 will be to figure out how your skill-set can translate across industries, says Elaine Varelas, a managing partner at Boston-based outplacement firm Keystone Partners, so that you're not confined to searching one sector of the economy. "People are frustrated because it's taking them a while to assess the job market," she says. "They'll have to figure out other things they can Ð and want Ð to do." Successful job-seekers will be the ones who can figure out how to take skills learned in one kind of job and translate them into assets in others.

Click on the link to go to the article:

Happy Reading!

The Top 25 Jobs for 2005-2009: FastCompany.com

Here's an interesting and well researched article from fastcompany.com, written by Matt Quinn. It is essentially more pertinent for the U.S Job market, but a good read nevertheless.

Here's an excerpt:

"Clearly, you want to pick a career that's in high demand. Because job growth is so important, we weighted our index 35% toward the Bureau of Labor Statistic's projected job growth data through 2012.
Money also matters. We based our salary range -- an indication of the opportunity for salary growth -- on the difference between the 10th percentile earnings and the 90th percentile earnings for a given job, also based on BLS data. This gives a picture of where you might end up in relation to where you started. The greater the divide, the better the score. Salary range was also given a 35% share of the total index score.
A great job, in our opinion, also requires a good deal of investment in education. Our education score is based on what percentage of those working in the field hold a college degree according to BLS data. We weighted this 20%.
Finally, a great job needs to give you room to run. How innovative and creative can you be? How open to new ideas are people in your profession? We turned to Dr. Kevin Stolarick to help determine how creative workers can be in a given field. We weighted this 10%."

Here's the full article:

The Top 25 Jobs for 2005-2009

Happy Reading!

Is Your Job Choice Influenced by Your Role In School?

I came across this interesting article by Reuters on the Yahoo News site. Here's an excerpt:

"Thirty-nine percent of 6,000 full-time workers questioned in a survey said their experiences in high school had an impact on their career.

Geeks gravitated toward engineering and retail jobs. Athletes tended to work in the transportation industry, while former cheerleaders, who were more likely to reach vice president level, were drawn to careers in travel and insurance.
Cheerleaders also had the second highest level of job satisfaction, after teacher's pets, at 76 percent.

"These are enthusiastic individuals, they're strong motivators. They know how to get others excited about projects. You can see how that enthusiasm and motivation can translate into a role where you're in charge of managing a large department or whatever it may be," said Jennifer Grasx, of CareerBuilder.com which conducted the survey.

Former members of student government earned the most money and tended to work as directors or managers. Twelve percent reported making $100,000 or more, and nearly half had a salary of $50,000 or more. But they were also the most dissatisfied with their career progress."

This study, albeit a relatively small one, does bring to light the role that childhood choices and exposures possibly play later in one's professional life (the role of the same in one's personal life is ofcourse well studied and documented). I think it is thus paramount that a child be allowed to discover for him/herself where his/her natural interest and competence lies, so that there is a greater possibility of a successful and more importantly, a greatly satisfying professional life later.

The article:

Teacher's pet or jock? School roles influence job choice

Happy Reading!