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Consumer Action by Stacey L. Bradford (Author Archive)
3 Industries With Strong Job Growth
(Page all of 2)
Updated on August 18, 2008.
IT WAS ONLY a matter of time before the turmoil hitting the credit markets and housing industry started to take its toll on hiring.
More than 500,000 workers were handed pink slips through July 2008, according to a survey by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Among the hardest hit industries, the financial and automotive sectors shed more than 100,000 and more than 63,000 jobs, respectively. New York was hit the hardest losing a total of 84,782 positions year to date.
The unemployment rate sits at 5.7% as of July 2008 (back in 2003, it hit an annual average of 6%), but many industries, including health care and technology, are still hiring, according to Monster.com's (MNST) March employment survey. Regionally, the top growth markets according to online classified ads, include Pittsburgh, followed by Houston and Dallas.
If you've recently been laid off or are simply looking for greener pastures, here are some industries (beyond health care and technology) that are looking for workers.
Green-Collar Jobs
You don't need to have an environmental engineering degree to land a green job. John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, says people with job skills ranging from accounting to project management are being hired to help firms adopt new green initiatives, including carbon emissions reduction, and create more environmentally-friendly products.The growing adoption of new alternative energies, such as wind and solar power, is also propelling job growth, says Challenger. While the bulk of the opportunities are in manufacturing, companies will also need to fill management and back-office functions as well, especially as demand for solar panels and wind turbines increases.
Sales
When the economy slows, companies still hire folks who can generate revenue, says Jennifer Grasz, a spokeswoman for CareerBuilder.com. Even a firm that is laying off employees in one area will continue to invest in its sales division, she says. According to CareerBuilder.com, there are currently more than 100,000 sales positions advertised on its web site. The site also found that 27% of companies that employ folks in sales plan to add more full-time workers to their rosters during the third quarter. Only those who work in technology have brighter prospects, with 37% of IT employers looking to add full-time workers.Fortunately, if you work in sales, you can usually transfer your job skills from one industry to another fairly easily. If you're good at developing relationships and selling one product, you'll likely succeed at selling another. So if you've lost your job as, say, a mortgage broker, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to land a position pushing software or health-care services. (See our sidebar for tips on transferring job skills from one industry to another).
Government Jobs
Here's one for the baby boomers. The government is looking to fill 193,000 "mission-critical" jobs in almost every division from the Department of Homeland Security to the Internal Revenue Service. Eighty percent of these positions fall into five categories: security, protection, compliance and enforcement; medical and public health; accounting, budget and business; engineering and sciences; and program management/analysis and administration.John Palguta, of the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, says government workers are retiring in droves and Uncle Sam needs to hire people with deep experience to fill mid- and senior-level positions. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management and the Partnership for Public Service estimate that 550,000 federal employees will leave the government over the next five years, most of them due to retirement. Thanks to hiring freezes and downsizing during the 1990s, there simply aren't enough qualified internal candidates to fill the openings.
For opportunities in your area, check out USAJOBS.gov, the federal government's official job site.
IF YOU LOSE YOUR JOB in an industry experiencing a downturn, it may be time to look for work in a different sector. While it may seem impossible, it's not as hard as you may think. Indeed, 40% of workers successfully switch industries when changing jobs, says Challenger, Gray & Christmas's Challenger.
Here are some tips to help you land a position in a new field.
Go back to what you used to know
Your best bet is to look for a job in a sector that you've worked in before, says Stephen Viscusi, author of "Bulletproof Your Job: How to Ride Out the Rough Times and Come Out on Top at Work". The advantage is that you already have direct experience on your resume and you understand what potential employers are looking for. While interviewing, describe skills you've acquired in your current industry and explain how they could benefit your future job performance.Tailor your resume
More employers are using computer software to weed through potential applicants. If you don't have direct industry experience, it can be tough to make it through the initial cut. One way to trick the system is to include your desire to switch industries in the "objective" section on your resume, says Viscusi. Another helpful tip: Include the vernacular the company uses on its web site and in the job description on your resume.Take stock of your skills
Identify your skills, then figure out how they apply to a new industry. If you work in accounting, this should be pretty straightforward. But if you're in sales you may need to think a bit more broadly. In this case, your skills really lie in business development, relationship building, marketing and closing a deal, explains Challenger. To reinforce those skills, choose a former customer as a reference who can illustrate how you won his or her business and maintained it.Also See:
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