At the height of the recession, a sample of American workers showed that more than half believed that they were in a state of stagnation among practitioners and showed signs of work-related stress. But with high unemployment and little hiring, what can they do about it? Little. Not surprisingly, “a recent survey conducted by Manpower on labor force indicators, 84% of employees plan to look for a new position next year. Last year it was only 60%, as reported by CNNMoney.com. "
This is a staggering number - that the vast majority of American workers are not satisfied with their work. How does this affect their performance, collaboration with team members, increased work requirements and overall attitude? They may not be positive for the companies that use them.
Most likely, you are a part of this (huge) majority. What are you doing to turn your job into a long-term career? What is the next hot job related to your current field or will a new career require a new degree? Some of the newest jobs reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) are nursing practitioners, teachers of natural sciences, search engine optimization strategies, commissioning agents (which is related to the energy efficiency of buildings — one of the new green jobs) and financial restructuring specialists. But the professions with the largest increase in the total number of new posts, to which the BLS projects will be added between this and 2018, are registered nurses, home helpers, customer service representatives, food industry workers and employees, personal care at home, retail. sales assistants, general clerical workers, accountants and auditors, nursing assistants and mid-level teachers.
A few things jump out of the latest BLS predictions. First, out of the 20 fastest growing jobs, 10 are related to healthcare. Secondly, besides nurses, accountants and teachers, jobs designed to add the majority of workers are relatively low-skilled and low-paid jobs that do not necessarily require a degree in college. The US labor market has a large segment. The highest growth rates are in specialized, technical and professional fields and in low-skilled positions. While average jobs, such as real estate agents, production managers, travel agents and insurance insurers, are projected to have a small increase — perhaps through a solution. While a holder of a 4-year college level will earn 89% more of his life (on average) than those who do not have a diploma, this does not guarantee a “large cash” specialist's target potential. Many of these areas will require high-tech studies, masters and even doctor degrees, for example, biomedical engineers, network systems analysts, medical scientists, biochemists, biophysicists, veterinarians, etc.
The key is to determine what you really want to do in your long-term career path (what your strengths are, where you will succeed and what you really love to do), create a plan for how to get there, what additional education you will need, what intermediate steps you will need, and start from this path. Just changing jobs for a change will not force you there. Develop a plan and keep a goal in sight.
