Careers to count on
PAY AND PERKS: $45,000 to $150,000. Producing tangible change is a source of job satisfaction for many.
TRAINING: Most traffic engineers have a B.S. in civil or electrical engineering or computer science. A master's degree and state certification are often helpful. -Andrew Curry
HEALTH TECHNOLOGIST
TESTS, TALK, AND HAND-HOLDING
By the time Laurie Wescott of Clio, Mich., finished her training in a radiologic technology program, four hospitals were wooing her with job offers. It's no surprise. As an aging population hits its twilight years, hospital visits and diagnostic testing are rapidly rising. Those tests require plenty of people to administer them--such as the lab technician who analyzes slide specimens and the ultrasonographer who monitors pregnancies. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that job slots for 39,000 more radiographers--those who take X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs--will open up over the coming decade. And demand is also surging for workers who can perform other tests, such as nuclear medicine procedures and electrocardiograms.
For many technologists, the lure of the work is both the art of mastering the machinery and helping patients navigate the tests. Wescott, 26, says that people are often claustrophobic inside the tubelike MRI machine, and she finds it gratifying when she can calm them. "You talk them through before each scan and . . . they're so glad you got them out of there, you get a big hug."
PAY AND PERKS: $20,000 to $60,000. Job spinoffs include selling imaging instruments and training other technologists.
TRAINING: Typically requires two to four years of training at colleges, vocational-technical schools, or hospitals. -Rachel K. Sobel
TRUCK DRIVER
THE LIFELONG LURE OF THE OPEN ROAD
If he took all of the rig work available to him, 48-year-old truck driver Jeff Beyer's biggest worry would be running afoul of the federal limit on consecutive driving hours, now set at 70 hours over eight days. Instead, Beyer, who owns his rig, chooses to keep a more moderate schedule, typically spending two weeks on the road before returning home for five days to New Tripoli, Pa. Yet as Beyer has discovered, trucking offers more than the prospect of steady work. Since he set out 25 years ago, the business has changed: Cabs equipped with laptops and global positioning systems have replaced roadside grease pits as communication centers. Today, drivers are far more independent. "We call them managers of rolling profit centers," says Feegeebee Parrish, a recruiter for Swift Transportation. "They manage their own time and money, with no one telling them where or when to go."
Roughly 80 percent of all finished products in the United States ride on a truck at some point. Analysts project the national fleet will need to grow by 25 percent in the next decade to keep up with demand. One bonus to the competition: As companies court better drivers and truckers chase higher salaries, even rookie drivers will be able to land jobs.
PAY AND PERKS: Newcomers: $30,000 and up. Veteran drivers: $40,000 to $60,000. Flexible hours are a big plus.
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