When planning a career, whether it is straight out of college or when considering a career shift, everyone needs some kind of guideline to move ahead. Here’s a look into some of the best careers for the future, which you can consider provided you have a suitable amount of interest in these fields.
The Difference Between a Job and a Career
Jobs develop you. A career is what you develop over time. You may perform any kind of job, with or without an education. However, a career is the culmination of all the jobs you have done, all the skills that you have learned, and all the knowledge you have gained, that helps you perform in a field that you are passionate about.
The term ‘future’ is relative. What exists now may become obsolete in five years. And things you’ve never heard about before may boom and give you a whole new area of interest. The only way to keep up with this constant change is to equip yourself with soft skills that can be applied to any field, new or existing, so that you can consider a career start or a career change with ease. These skills include problem-solving, critical thinking, analytical skills, the ability to interact with different communities (perhaps language skills), and adaptability. These are the essentials of a base in any career. Technicalities can always be learned, of course depending on the career field you have chosen.
Irrespective of what comes and goes, there are certain careers that will always do well, and others where there is always scope for growth, and even others where there is scope for the development of completely new careers. Here’s a lowdown on careers that exist and could possibly exist in different fields.
The following data (excluding the section “Careers that Don’t Exist… Yet”) has been collated from the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
The Future Looks Bright For…
1.Healthcare
While doctors, physicians and surgeons are unlikely to face a dearth of jobs, there are other areas in the healthcare sector that are booming. The BLS indicates the addition of 4 million jobs to this industry by 2018. With a rise in the life expectancy of the elderly, the demand for people and facilities to care for them is likely to increase. Within this industry, there are a few areas that BLS projects will boom in terms of the number of jobs created. If you are interested in making your career in healthcare but are unsure of which area to pursue and what job opportunities are available to you, the following are the top jobs in this field.
Registered Nurses
Why it’s Expected to Grow: Technological advancements result in the ability to treat more and more health problems, the aging population requires more people to care for them, and the emphasis on preventive care is growing.
Job Description: Patient care, educating them about ailments, administering medication as per doctor’s orders, providing support to patient’s family
Education Required: Associate’s/Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing, License (National Licensing Exam)
Projected Growth: 26%
Number of New Jobs (2010-20): approx. 712,000
Medical Assistants
Why it’s Expected to Grow: As demands for patient care and treatment by physicians and doctors increase, they will require more assistants to take care of administrative and clinical duties.
Job Description: Administrative and clinical duties, taking vital signs, coordinating patient information using relevant software, taking blood samples
Education Required: High School Diploma, Certification (optional)
Projected Growth: 31%
Number of New Jobs (2010-20): approx. 527,000
Audiologists
Why it’s Expected to Grow: Ear problems are a problem for most in their old age, and youngsters too, as they are constantly exposed to loud noise levels. They require professionals who can treat these problems efficiently. The advancement in technology related to hearing aids will spur the requirement for audiologists who can prescribe, dispense and fix them.
Job Description: Diagnosing and treating hearing problems as well as problems related to balance in patients
Education Required: Doctoral Degree in Audiology
Projected Growth: 37%
Number of New Jobs (2010-20): approx. 5,000
Home Health/Personal Care Aides
Why it’s Expected to Grow: The aging/disabled population requires a large amount of assistance to carry out daily activities. Further, hiring home health and personal care aides is less expensive than living in a hospital or assisted living facilities. These factors combined will result in a massive growth of jobs in this field.
Job Description: Help disabled or older patients carry out daily activities such as bathing and preparing meals, administer medication (in some cases), and provide companionship
Education Required: High School Diploma with On-the-job Training, Certification (depends on employer)
Projected Growth: 70%
Number of New Jobs (2010-20): approx. 1.3 million
Diagnostic Medical Sonographers
Why it’s Expected to Grow: As an alternative to the detection of medical conditions without invasive procedures or exposure to radiation, the continuously evolving field of ultrasound imaging will require more and more professionals over time. Diagnostic medical sonographers will be needed to handle and maintain the latest imaging equipment.
Job Description: Use imaging equipment to diagnose medical conditions in patients after assessing their basic history. Also provide initial findings to doctors.
Education Required: Associate’s Degree in Sonography/Radiologic Technology, Professional Certification, License (mandatory in some states)
Projected Growth: 44%
Number of New Jobs (2010-20): approx. 24,000
Occupational Therapists
Why it’s Expected to Grow: Illnesses related to aging such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease require a substantial amount of occupational therapy. With medical advances, individuals who survive life-threatening injuries and illnesses are likely to survive longer, thus requiring to be trained for independent survival.
Job Description: Help individuals with disabilities and injuries by providing therapeutic measures to empower them to perform daily tasks independently
Education Required: Master’s Degree in Occupational Therapy, Certification (Optional)
Projected Growth: 33%
Number of New Jobs (2010-20): approx. 37,000
Physical Therapists
Why it’s Expected to Grow: Seniors today are more active at their age than previous generations. Even younger individuals are prone to serious injury as they lead a sedentary lifestyle. All these factors contribute to the necessity of physical therapists and their increasing demand.
Job Description: Enable pain management and movement for individuals with chronic pain and injuries, by creating rehabilitation programs that provide exercises to increase strength and relieve pain
Education Required: Doctoral Degree in Physical Therapy, License
Projected Growth: 39%
Number of New Jobs (2010-20): approx. 78,000
Biomedical Engineers
Why it’s Expected to Grow: As medicine advances, so do the demands placed on it. Biomedical engineers will be needed to help engineer body parts that are needed by individuals undergoing hip and knee replacements, for example. They will also be needed as people seek the best treatment they can get to maintain a healthy lifestyle, even if it means getting artificial organs.
Job Description: Designing products such as artificial organs, and machines that enable the diagnosis of health problems
Education Required: Bachelor’s Degree in Biomedical Engineering
Projected Growth: 62%
Number of New Jobs (2010-20): approx. 10,000
Marriage and Family Therapists
Why it’s Expected to Grow: As lifestyles evolve, so do relationships. Some degenerate, and these require the aid of a marriage/family therapist to survive. As the population increases, so does the requirement of mental health counselors who can enable people to remain rooted within their relationships while trying to cope with the outside world.
Job Description: Provide family-centric counseling and therapy to individuals as well as relationships by addressing issues such as low self-esteem, lack of support from family members, divorce, stress, and addictions
Education Required: Master’s Degree in Counseling, License
Projected Growth: 37%
Number of New Jobs (2010-20): approx. 59,000
2.Language and Communication
Language and communication experts are essential professionals in any field, be it healthcare or construction. The BLS indicates the addition of 106,000 jobs in this field by 2020 (13%). With the growing number of mediums necessary to maintain a public image, this field is sure to boom at least for the next 10 years.
Public Relations Managers
Why it’s Expected to Grow: The demand for increased visibility among a plethora of upcoming and already existing brands will generate numerous jobs for public relations managers. The growth of social media as yet another platform for image development will add more to this field.
Job Description: Create and maintain a public image for brands/employers by writing press releases, promotions on social media platforms, and the like
Education Required: Bachelor’s Degree in Public Relations/Journalism/Communications/English
Projected Growth: 21%
Number of New Jobs (2010-20): approx. 69,000
Instructional Designers
Why it’s Expected to Grow: E-learning is an exceptionally fast-growing field. With this comes the demand for professionals who can design the vast amount of content that is required for the process, and ensure that it is designed thoroughly to facilitate easy learning. Further, rapid growth of technology requires a rapidly evolving curriculum to keep up. Instructional designers will make this happen.
Job Description: Design material that can be easily learned for educational purposes by using graphics and associated aids
Education Required: Bachelor’s/Master’s Degree in Instructional Design/Education
Projected Growth: 28%
Number of New Jobs (2010-20): approx. 217,000
Interpreters and Translators
Why it’s Expected to Grow: As the world becomes a melting pot of different cultures with people and businesses from different countries migrating to others, the need for interpreters and translators is expected to increase. Globalization and advancement of international relations generates a greater need for these professionals. Growth is best in the more popular languages throughout the world such as Spanish, French, and Mandarin.
Job Description: Interpret (spoken/sign language) and translate (written language) information from one language to another while keeping in mind the culture of the language
Education Required: Bachelor’s Degree/Proficiency in English and One other Language, Professional Certification (optional)
Projected Growth: 42%
Number of New Jobs (2010-20): approx. 25,000
Content Creators
Why it’s Expected to Grow: Content creation is not limited to writing anymore. Any writer (be it technical, creative, social, or copy) requires to be armed with more skills such as graphic and video creation. For those armed with these skills, there is no limit to the number of jobs they can find in this field.
Job Description: Creating different types of content, including multimedia, to express, explain or market it
Education Required: Bachelor’s Degree in Communications/Advertising/Creative Writing/Graphic Design/Filmmaking
Projected Growth: Data Unavailable
Number of New Jobs (2010-20): Data Unavailable
3.Marketing
With the entry of social media and the Internet revolution, the necessity to create and maintain an online presence is increasing at a rapid rate. The marketing sector has rarely faced major setbacks, and it appears to remain steady in the future too. This means that the demand for marketing professionals is always going to be high. However, keep in mind that marketing professionals are expected to have knowledge of online marketing as well, which includes social media and internet marketing. These individuals are expected to be able to keep up with changing trends as well strategize better ways of maintaining a position in the field due to increased competition.
Market Research Analysts
Why it’s Expected to Grow: The need to analyze consumer trends among increasing competition is rising massively. Not only corporates, even social and non-profit organizations will increasingly use market analysis tools to gather data imperative to their success.
Job Description: Study local, national and international markets for the efficiency of a product and/or service and its potential reach, while also understanding consumer needs and catering to them by communicating this information to companies
Education Required: Bachelor’s/Master’s Degree in Market Research/Communications/Economics, Professional Researcher Certification (PRC) (optional)
Projected Growth: 41%
Number of New Jobs (2010-20): approx. 117,000
Marketing Consultants
Why it’s Expected to Grow: Analyzing the data provided by research analysts and implementing it to introduce products and market them requires a specific breed of professionals, i.e. marketing consultants. Increasing competition only implies that the number of jobs in this sector is likely to soar.
Job Description: Develop unique and effective methods of introducing and marketing an existing or newly launched product
Education Required: Bachelor’s/Master’s Degree in Marketing, MBA (optional)
Projected Growth: Data Unavailable
Number of New Jobs (2010-20): Data Unavailable
E-Commerce Marketing Directors
Why it’s Expected to Grow: As the need to create and maintain an online presence increases, e-commerce marketing directors with the knowledge of traditional and modern marketing techniques will be needed to fill these positions.
Job Description: Develop a strong online presence for companies based on thorough research of SEO and social media trends
Education Required: Bachelor’s/Master’s Degree in Business Administration, relevant experience in an IT field
Projected Growth: Data Unavailable
Number of New Jobs (2010-20): Data Unavailable
Social Media Managers
Why it’s Expected to Grow: Direct communication between a company and its customers/clients has become almost mandatory nowadays. Giving and receiving feedback, answering queries, and promotions are all quicker and direct on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Google Plus.
Job Description: Analyze target audience, research media trends, cater to time zones all around the world, create engaging social media content, and market the company by creating a strong presence on all social media platforms
Education Required: Bachelor’s/Master’s Degree in Digital Arts/Marketing/Communication and/or relevant work experience
Projected Growth: Data Unavailable
Number of New Jobs (2010-20): Data Unavailable
4.Information Technology
According to data collected by the BLS, the information technology sector is set to see a huge surge in employment opportunities with a projected 22% growth. In the period between 2010 and 2020, almost 758,800 new jobs are expected to be added to the industry. This is bound to create a demand for specialized workers who can meet the needs of associated industries and businesses looking to adopt latest technologies. The top jobs in the sector are listed below.
Information Security Analysts
Why it’s expected to grow: Cyber attacks are a huge threat to most organizations and the frequency of these attacks is on the rise. There will be a need for experts who can come up with innovative preventive methods to keep hackers away.
Job Description: Planning and taking care of security measures to protect a company’s network, developing security standards and practices for the organization, recommending enhancements to the company’s network security
Education Required: Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or Programming
Projected Growth: 22%
Number of New Jobs (2010-2020): approx. 65,700 jobs
Applications Engineers
Why it’s expected to grow: Most industries are increasing their dependence on computer systems and applications. There is a huge demand for dedicated applications and systems that can be used on the growing number of devices out there.
Job Description: Creating computer programs, developing applications according to various specifications, developing systems that run the applications on various devices
Education Required: Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science
Projected Growth: 28%
Number of New Jobs (2010-2020): approx. 143,800 jobs
Database Administrators
Why it’s expected to grow: There is expected to be a demand for database administrators to organize and make data presentable so that is it easily understood by analysts. Also with the increase in use of electronic records, more databases will be needed, and thus, administrators.
Job Description: Creation of database according to user needs, its efficient administration and maintenance
Education Required: Bachelor’s Degree in Management Information Systems
Projected Growth: 31%
Number of New Jobs (2010-2020): approx. 34,000 jobs
Computer Systems Analysts
Why it’s expected to grow: With the rising need for advanced computer systems, analysts who can work on short-term projects to design these systems will be needed.
Job Description: Determine IT systems for organizations, analyze computer systems and their effectiveness, design and install new systems
Education Required: Bachelor’s Degree in computer related fields
Projected Growth: 22%
Number of New Jobs (2010-2020): approx. 120,400 jobs
Cloud Administrators
Why it’s expected to grow: According to Forbes, cloud computing is expected to generate as many as 14 million jobs in the next 5 years. With more and more companies looking at moving their on-premise servers to a cloud solution, the need for cloud administrators is only expected to grow.
Job Description: Define cloud structures for companies, set up the service in line with specified requirements, and manage cloud infrastructure
Education Required: Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Information Systems or related fields
Projected Growth: 26%
Number of New Jobs (2010-2020): Data unavailable
5.Finance
The expected growth for the finance industry is about 9% in the period between 2010 to 2020 which is to result in as many as 310,300 new jobs. Growth is expected to be highest in securities, commodities, financial investments, and related occupations. This is due to an increasing population and the diverse range of financial investment options available.
Financial Advisors
Why it’s expected to grow: The primary reason for the growth in this field is the increase in aging population and the need for expert advice regarding financial investments. With private companies and governments facing financial shortfalls, employee benefits may reduce, and financial planning will become important.
Job Description: Discuss client’s financial goals, educate them about financial services and investment options and help them plan for special events and unplanned circumstances
Education Required: Bachelor’s Degree in Finance, Program in Financial Planning, appropriate licenses, Certified Financial Planner certificate (optional)
Projected Growth: 32%
Number of New Jobs (2010-2020): approx. 66,400 jobs
Financial Analysts
Why it’s expected to grow: With the growth in the number of financial products and investment portfolios becoming more complex, there is expected to be a growth in the need for experts who understand products and investment plans.
Job Description: Recommend investments, evaluate data, business trends, financial statements and expenses, propose investments according to prospects, and project earnings
Education Required: Bachelor’s Degree in Finance or related field, License from Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Chartered Financial Analyst Certificate
Projected Growth: 23%
Number of New Jobs (2010-2020): approx. 54,200 jobs
Certified Public Accountants
Why it’s expected to grow: Recent financial crises have brought to notice the need for an increased focus on accounting, and this need is expected to increase further. Stricter laws and regulations also mean that more organizations will need accountants who can match the new standards.
Job Description: Keep accounts, plan taxes, provide consultancy for individuals, corporations or governments
Education Required: Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting, License from state’s Board of Accountancy
Projected Growth: 16%
Number of New Jobs (2010-2020): approx. 190,700 jobs
Internal Auditors
Why it’s expected to grow: With tighter lending standards and stricter regulations, the importance of audits will grow as organizations will need to prove their creditworthiness.
Job Description: Check for misuse or mismanagement of funds in organization, create methods to detect and eliminate fraud
Education Required: Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting or Internal Auditing
Projected Growth: 16%
Number of New Jobs (2010-2020): approx. 190,700 jobs
Cost Estimators
Why it’s expected to grow: The outlook for growth in this field is extremely high because more and more companies are looking for experts who can project accurate costs to ensure that services and products are as cost-effective as possible.
Job Description: Prepare estimates, identify factors that affect cost, evaluate profitability for organizations, develop in-depth plans to ensure cost-effectiveness
Education Required: Bachelor’s Degree in Finance
Projected Growth: 36%
Number of New Jobs (2010-2020): approx. 68,000 jobs
6.Environment
In the next few years, green careers and jobs are expected to have one of the highest growth rates. With an increasing concern for depleting resources and a polluted environment, the need for specialists who can guide us in having greener surroundings has become all the more important. While the exact figures for expected growth in the field are unavailable, experts remain positive about its outlook.
Alternative Energy Experts
Why it’s expected to grow: The importance of alternative energy solutions is becoming increasingly important. Hence, it is necessary to find experts who can provide us with the requisite know-how to use these sources of energy.
Job Description: Design energy efficient operations, monitor energy consumption by organization, collect data regarding energy conservation, consult with clients regarding energy management systems and sustainable energy options
Education Required: Bachelor’s Degree in Green Energy
Projected Growth: Data Unavailable
Number of New Jobs (2010-2020): Data Unavailable
Environmental Engineers
Why it’s expected to grow: The necessity to clean up contaminated sites and create projects and utilities that preserve the environment will ensure that there is need for experts who can provide the required expertise.
Job Description: Create environmental investigation reports, design resource protection projects, consult with environmental redressal and improvement projects, consult with corporations and governments about procedures for cleaning of polluted sites
Education Required: Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Engineering
Projected Growth: 22%
Number of New Jobs (2010-2020): approx. 63,000
Environmental Scientists
Why it’s expected to grow: Public interest in hazards faced by the environment is growing but there is also a growth in the demand that is being placed on environmental resources. This is expected to result in a huge job market for environmental scientists who can develop plans to meet the necessary standards and understand