Best Careers for 2007: Get-Ahead Careers for the New Year

[Herman Munster]

http://biz.yahoo.com/special/career122706_article1.html

Doctor. Lawyer. Business executive. Most people planning a career aim for professions they know the most about. But those aren't always the best jobs. In its Best Careers 2007 guide, U.S. News has sifted through trends in the economy and the workplace and has identified 25 professions that will be in growing demand as baby boomers age, the Internet becomes ubiquitous, and Americans seek richer, simpler lives. All of the jobs offer a great mix of pay, status, and quality of life. Many are not surprising, such as engineer, pharmacist, and dentist.

But many others might be. Even though anybody can do a Google search, for instance, librarians will be needed more and more to help us navigate all that digital information. Audiologists will find plenty of work helping aging boomers retain their hearing. And did you ever consider how satisfying life as a politician might be? Making a difference for constituents "has been the greatest joy of my life," says California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Not surprisingly, nine of the 25 careers in the U.S. News list are in healthcare. Physician is one, although the lengthy training and thicket of regulations governing medicine are dimming the allure. Other healthcare jobs require far less training, have better hours, and offer the same satisfaction that comes from caregiving. Optometrists, for instance, typically work predictable hours, and they regularly watch patients walk out the door in better shape than when they came in. Physician assistants are rapidly replacing doctors as primary-care providers, and they earn healthy salaries with far less schooling. Science-minded high achievers might consider becoming a medical scientist instead of a doctor, since advances in genetics and other disciplines are leading to a revolution in preventing and curing disease. U.S. News also identified a number of desirable careers in the nonprofit and government sectors, where job security is usually strong. School psychologists work hands-on with kids, from disabled to gifted. Urban planners help design communities wisely. Higher-education administrators and professors work in highly stimulating job environments–college campuses–and get to keep learning themselves. Many such careers appeal to people who want to make a difference.

The list also takes into account the trend among employers to outsource jobs that can be done more cheaply in low-cost countries like India and China. That's one reason a lot of popular computer-related jobs no longer make the cut. Not long ago, it seemed like a smart move to become a website developer or software engineer. But the market for those jobs is softening, as American firms send much of the work to India and China, where armies of programmers and software engineers crank out code for far less than their American counterparts. Other jobs, however, can't really be done by somebody overseas. Occupational therapists, clergy, and management consultants, for example, work directly with clients, which requires personal presence and a human touch. Those careers are very resistant to being moved offshore.

[Nikki Stone1]

1. What this article is basically saying is that service jobs, which can't be moved, are best bets

Anything else is vulnerable.

This is really sad:

"Not long ago, it seemed like a smart move to become a website developer or software engineer. But the market for those jobs is softening, as American firms send much of the work to India and China, where armies of programmers and software engineers crank out code for far less than their American counterparts. Other jobs, however, can't really be done by somebody overseas."

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

2. This is so true. Instead of the U.S. trying to excel and be the benchmark in

innovation, making our products, foods, materials, IDEAS, extremely desirable to the rest of the world, we are now vying to be the biggest Wal Mart in the world economy.

Sad, indeed. MKJ

[Nikki Stone1]

3. At some point, probably not in our lifetimes, this will all level off

The price of labor will eventually have to rise.

Then what?

[durrrty libby]

4. Kicked for time