Best Jobs
The best jobs in general may not be the best jobs for you. Discover how you can find the best jobs to suit your own aspirations, talents and interests.
How to find Green Jobs
Green jobs, also known as green collar jobs, and usually relate to the environment and protecting it from various forms of human pollution. Various initiatives have been set up to encourage the creation of green jobs and there are online boards and newspaper ad sections devoted to green jobs.
Green jobs cover quite a variety of areas, including recycling, sustainable energy production, construction of environmentally-friendly homes and office buildings, preservation of green spaces and protection of animals and plants in their natural environments.
The US government has been emphasising the importance of green jobs and creating programs to increase the number of these available. If you are considering looking for a green or environmentally friendly job, how do you go about finding one?
Secondact.com offers 6 tips to help you. Here are the first two:
Interested in an eco-friendly career? Here’s some advice for starting your search
1. It’s easier to track green job resources.
In 2010, U.S. green jobs accounted for 2.4 percent of the country’s employment, according to a March 22 report from the BLS. The federal government began tracking statistics on green employment two years ago and since then has developed resources to help job seekers learn about green jobs, including the Green Careers section on the labor department’s website. Job hunters can use the section to look up employment and salary data for 202 occupations and get information on degrees and other training.
2. Location matters.
If you’re looking, look where jobs are most prevalent. Vermont has the highest ratio of green jobs to the general work force, with 4.4 percent of all jobs in the clean economy, according to the BLS green jobs report. The District of Columbia ranks No. 2, with 3.9 percent of positions classified as green jobs. More states are tracking green jobs and creating websites to share information. The Green Careers section of Minnesota’s ISEEK career website, for example, spotlights the state’s green industries and lists openings. Job hunters also can take self-assessment tests, find out what skills they’d need for various green occupations, and learn more about training, internships and volunteering. Maryland set up this Green Job page on the state’s Labor Department website to share information on jobs and training. Californians, who hold 338,400 green jobs, can explore eco-friendly occupations on sites such as GreenJobsCalifornia, California Green Jobs Corps and the California Energy Commission’s Clean Energy Jobs site….More at 6 Tips for a Green Job Hunt – SecondAct.com
You will also find that many newspapers now have ad sections dedicated to environmental jobs and you can find these online as well. Search for “environmental jobs in. . .” and then add the city or state in which you want to work.
More Reading
Categories: Best Jobs Tags: environmentally-friendly jobs, green jobs
Jobs In Information Technology
Jobs in Information Technology
If you are out of work and in search of a job, you may be considering jobs in technology. And technology is without doubt one of the trends which keeps on growing. As soon as you have bought one gadget, it’s out of date and gadgets which might have seemed like luxuries not so long ago, are now becoming essentials for the majority of the population.
Not everyone has an iPad or similar device, but almost everyone has a mobile phone – and that includes children. Families may only be able to afford one car, but it’s likely that they have 4 or 5 mobile phones. And many people use mobile phones to access the internet. So they may not have internet access at home, but use a mobile device to get online.
There is no doubt that technology will continue to develop and the industry will expand, whatever state the economy might be in at the moment – and however grim the forecast.
But what does this mean in terms of jobs and employment?
For those of you who are technically minded, this is definitley a field to consider. If you are just starting out and about to embark on a degree or other form of training, these are, according to computerworld.com, some of the best opportunities in this field are for: programmers, project managers, help desk and network professionals and people who specialize in web 2.0 technologies.
You can read the article here:
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/358381/9_Hot_Skills_for_2012?taxonomyId=14&pageNumber=1
But What If You don’t have a Degree in IT ?
If computer-related jobs are expected to experience massive growth, is it possible to work in this field without having the training for a high-tech career? You will have been aware of this trend for some time, but if you don’t have a technical background or the cash to get one, you may have skipped over technology as an option for a career.
If you do have a reasonably technical mind, but lack qualifications and knowledge, there is a lot you can learn on your own, with the help of online courses (many are free) and books from the local library. This could help you learn skills like programming and webdesign without having to take a college degree.
Before you start, do a search to find out which skills and programs are in demand and likely to continue to be in demand for some time. Things change very quickly and you don’t want to spend time and money learning something which is obsolete as soon as you have mastered it.
You could also find a local student to help you out. A few sessions shouldn’t cost too much and will help you find out if you would enjoy learning and using technical skills, and
And What if You Aren’t Very Technically Minded?
The increased application of technology in daily life also creates more jobs in sales and if you enjoy teaching, there is plenty of scope for educating people in how to use the latest inventions. These jobs do require a certain amount of technical knowledge, but their main focus is on other skills and you can specialize in one small area. Of course, technology moves incredibly quickly and you’ll have to keep up. So you’ll have to enjoy ongoing learning!
And for those of you who truly hate technology, how about helping people deal with the increased stress that technology causes? This seems to be more topical than the time-saving benefits which were talked about so much in the past!
The rapid growth of the internet has led to many new opportunities, not only for young computer geeks, but also for people of all ages who want to make a living from home. Many internet-related skills are therefore in demand, from teaching beginners how to surf and send email, to programming and designing websites.
Depending on age (despite laws against age discrimination, computer-related jobs tend to go to younger workers) and ability, jobs in these areas can be in full-time employment, on short-term contract or on a freelance basis. Anyone with internet skills can use them to build their own online business or help other people build theirs.
And if you don’t like the internet, how about organizing internet-free activities for families? With kids spending so much time in front of computer screens, it’s good for their health, both physical and mental to have something else to do. And it’s important for families to do stuff together.
So even if you hate technology, with a little creative thinking you can cash in on the fact that jobs in information technology are on the increase.
Categories: Best Jobs Tags: jobs in information technology
Best Jobs for the Future
What are the Best Jobs for the Future?
Doing some research to uncover the best jobs for the future is a really important aspect of your search for a job.
As a first step, it is a good plan to look for the industries which are growing at the moment and which are predicted to have continued growth as far as possible into the future. Of course, no one can guarantee that an industry will continue to thrive, especially in the tough economic times we are experiencing at the moment.
[adsenseyu1] But although we live in an uncertain world, there are some things which are certain – people will continue to have babies, people – both adults and children will go to school or college and people will die. And of course,most people will pay taxes for a large chunk of their lives.
So although we can’t be certain of anything on an individual level, we know that in general these activities will continue. So any jobs within related fields will be likely to continue.
Now, I know that the idea of becoming a funeral director or a tax accountant probably doesn’t appeal to you, and you may not have the money to train to be a doctor or nurse, but don’t worry. If you dig a little deeper you will find plenty of jobs associated to the main trends we’ve just looked at.
Large companies in any industry and hospitals, schools and colleges employ workers in many different capacities and so if you work in admin, maintenance, catering or any of the other peripheral activities associated with a large enterprise you can still focus your search on growth areas.
So let’s take a closer look at some of the areas where growth is taking place right now.
Specific Fields offering the Best Jobs for the Future
As technology is moving forward at such a fast pace, it is a pretty safe bet that jobs which involve a lot of technology will continue to grow. But you have to remember that it’s important to keep up to date. When I was a t college, I remember so many people saying that once they finished their degree, they were never going to study again. Might have worked then, but not now!
So you do need to enjoy technology as you will need to constantly brush up on your skills to include the latest gadgets, software programs and systems within your area of expertise. These days, it is crucial that you are prepared to continue learning.
Think about all of the technologies which we use automatically every day but which didn’t even exist 5, 10 or 20 years ago. And look at how computers, phones and other machines we take for granted are getting not only increasingly sophisticated, but also smaller and cheaper.
In fact, more people in the world now use mobile devices than use computers. Many who live in third world countries don’t have access to computers or laptops, but do have their own mobile phones.
And then there is social media – thousands and thousands of people use sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter on a daily basis. For many, it has become an essential part of their lives and this trend has lead to businesses targeting social media users in their marketing.
Health Care and Related Industries
Health care is big business and growing rapidly because so many people are living longer. You don’t need to be a doctor or nurse, although if you have the funds, the time and entry qualifications, these are definitely professions to be considered. Like just about everything, they are changing fast and once your initial training is over you have to be prepared to continue learning.
What if you are interested in health, but don’t have the means or inclination to study medicine or nursing?
There are plenty of other options available to you. Think about the fact that people are living longer and then consider what that means, both for individuals and society in general. It means that people need to stay fit, keep active into old age. So there is plenty of scope for exercise classes or clubs aimed at older people, alternative treatments for ailments which tend to affect the older generation and long term care for those unable to look after themselves.
Helping People Set up a Business or Find a Job
But career opportunities related to the ageing population aren’t limited to the area of health . Pensions have been hit hard recently and if you are going to live for 30 or more years after you retire (or had hoped to retire) you are going to have to have some sort of income. This means that teaching people how to set up their own businesses, get established as a writer (if you are familiar with publishing on Amazon). The internet has made it possible for people from all walks of life to create a business.
And for those older people who do have plenty of money, many are fitter and healthier than in previous generations and they are looking for interesting and different ways to spend their money
They may have the opportunity to travel for the first time in their lives and are looking for trips which will meet their requirements.
At the other end of the scale, young people are having a hard time finding work. I had a hospital appointment last week, which co-incided with the public sector strike here in the UK. I was chatting about the situation to the young woman who took my blood. She said that she could only work part time because older workers were hanging on to the full time jobs. They didn’t want to, but fears about their pensions meant they had to.
If you can provide training or advice to help young people get a job or teach skills which are in demand, you could carve out a niche for yourself. And then young people with kids need affordable childcare and after school activities for their children.
For many people, the solution to the jobs crisis will be self employment. So if you have the talents and skills to help them get started, you could do really well as a consultant.
These are just some of the areas in which jobs and business opportunities are available to you now and which should last well into the future. I will be going into more detail on these in future posts. So stay tuned and if you have any other areas you’d like me to cover, let me know. Just leave a comment or send a message via the contact us page.
Categories: Best Jobs Tags: best jobs for the 21st century, best jobs for the future
