Hey Graduates, Did You Choose Wisely? Today’s Hot Jobs
Careerbuilder set out to discover the hot jobs of 2013, and found that bachelor’s degrees are all but guaranteeing graduates a career in several high-growth fields. The following three made their list of just five fields that are booming right now.
Software Developer
This career field has seen 7 percent growth since 2010. I’m not surprised to see it at number one on their list, and I’m also not surprised to see the median income at over $90K. The shortage of STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering and Mathematics) candidates in the workforce is not hot off the presses news. We’ve known about this shortage for a while, and the gap is only slated to grow.
According to the latest Bayer Corporation Facts of Science Education survey, 89 percent of recruiters in this year’s survey report that competition is fierce to fill open STEM jobs with four-year STEM degree holders. Additionally, new hires with two- and four-year STEM degrees are “as” or “more in-demand” for non-STEM jobs than new hires without STEM degrees who have traditionally filled these jobs.
Market Research Analyst
This career field has seen 10 percent growth since 2010. This is another high-growth field that most of us could have seen coming. We have an insane amount of ways to collect an insane amount of data and information these days…but no one really knows what to do with it.
The rise of big data and the proven effectiveness of its implementation in every aspect of business is hard to ignore. Business Intelligence Specialist, Ashley Rowe, reported on research done by US News in 2013:
“In December, there were more than 25,500 job ads posted online for Market Research Analysts, a 28% increase over the same time last year. This position scores a 78 on our Hiring Scale (out of a possible 99, with 99 denoting the hardest-to-fill), which means Recruiters are likely to experience difficulty sourcing talent.”
Meeting, Convention and Event Planner
I’m going to be honest, this one I didn’t see coming (maybe because I’m in the software field). This field has seen 10 percent job growth since 2010 and reports a median annual salary of just under 50K. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics :
“Employment of meeting, convention, and event planners is expected to grow 44 percent from 2010 to 2020, much faster than the average for all occupations. As globalization increases and businesses continue to recognize the value of professionally planned meetings, the need for meetings and events is expected to grow.”
Growth in this particular field is a very positive economic indicator. Event planners were hit ridiculously hard during the height of the economic recession in 2009. Corporate events were among the first discretionary spends to go, so we saw a 40 percent increase in unemployment insurance claims for conference and event planners. However, this field is back in a big way, with good economic times on the horizon.
Well, if you’re in the right field, a bachelor’s degree might just be all you need for a decent amount of job security right now. That being said, it was just a matter of 5 years ago that the outlook on some of the fields mentioned in Careerbuilder’s study didn’t look quite so promising. Best of luck to all the new grads out there (especially in the fields not mentioned)!