Careers to count on
Looking for a job that is a sure bet? Well, don't assume that security equals drudgery. Professions in which jobs are projected to be plentiful for years to come are surprisingly diverse and satisfying. They include speech-language pathologists who help kids in school and truck drivers who tinker with onboard laptops. Here are eight of the nation's most secure career tracks:
FORENSIC ACCOUNTANT
SHERLOCK HOLMES, MEET ENRON
Not since gangster Al Capone was nabbed for tax evasion have forensic accountants been so squarely in the public eye. The bloodhounds of bookkeeping sniff out fraud and criminal transactions in corporate financial records. And they're now blessed with expanded opportunities. Business losses in a slow economy and the recent spate of corporate collapses--think Enron--have executives scurrying to hire forensic accountants to prevent and investigate money-sucking crimes, and prepare for court cases. Nearly 40 percent of the top 100 accounting firms are expanding their forensics and fraud services, according to Accounting Today, and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners has grown from just 5,500 members in 1992 to 25,000 in 2002. It's not a job for dullards in green eyeshades, either. Timothy Anglim, president of the Forensic Group LLC, says the "thrill of the hunt" excites accountants, as does "regenerating an enterprise that may have been written off. . . . You can turn an enterprise around single-handedly." Superman CPA, maybe?
PAY AND PERKS: $30,000 to $110,000 and up. Gumshoe gumption can lead to high-level careers at law firms, corporations, and government agencies such as the FBI.
TRAINING: B.S. in accounting, plus two to four years of accounting experience. A Certified Public Accountant license is almost always required. -Samantha Levine
SPEECH PATHOLOGIST
LEARNING THE LILT OF LANGUAGE
Wendy Wingard-Gay, a speech-language pathologist in York, S.C., plays the guitar and sings to her students. Carol Ecke breaks out the crayons in her Great Falls, Mont., classrooms. Both women recognize that working with young children requires imagination. "All the kids like to be entertained," says Ecke. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) diagnose and treat speech disorders, swallowing disorders, and language disorders (picture toddlers who fail to develop language or stroke victims with impaired speech). Roughly half are based in schools, where they often carry heavy workloads: Ecke works in three public schools. Other SLPs toil in hospitals, nursing homes, or private practice.
The demand for speech therapy is anticipated to grow along with rising school enrollments and the burgeoning elderly population. Many schools already face a pressing shortage of bilingual SLPs. Medical advances also ensure that more premature babies and stroke and trauma victims will survive, many of whom are at risk for speech or language problems. And disability laws oblige schools to provide speech-language therapy to kids who need it.
PAY AND PERKS: Median salaries: $42,500 for schools, $45,000 for private practice. Surveys show high job satisfaction.
TRAINING: Some 230 schools offer accredited master's or doctoral programs. A master's degree and clinical fellowship are required for certification. -Holly J. Morris
TRAFFIC ENGINEER
UNDAM THAT TRAFFIC JAM
For millions of Americans, girding for gridlock is a teeth-grinding daily ritual. And with more cars on the road every day, engineers and other professionals trained to reduce traffic congestion are finding plenty of job opportunities. One enticement: Transportation engineers can quickly produce results, on city streets and interstate freeways. "I wanted to find a way I could physically make the world better," says 24-year-old rookie traffic engineer Britt Thesen. Her work in San Francisco--planning bus lanes, putting speed humps on residential streets, and timing traffic signals--sounds disarmingly simple, but to harried commuters and concerned civic leaders it can provide overdue relief. As the population density of cities and suburbs increases, traffic gridlock is likely to generate new jobs for sociology and political science graduates, too. They will work with engineers on behalf of neighborhood groups seeking solutions to sprawl and congestion.
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.
TRAINING: A six-week driver-training course is recommended before testing for a commercial driver's license. -Dan Gilgoff
TECHNICAL SECURITY
SLEUTHING WITH THE KEYBOARD KOPS
After September 11, many companies, suddenly worried about lax security, fired their information security specialists who drafted corporate cyberpolicy. At the same time, however, managers started doling out raises and job offers to the keyboard-tapping operators who actually implement firewalls and investigate electronic break-ins--the so-called technical information security specialists.
"It's a total growth industry," says Steve Gibson, an online security expert who heads a research corporation in Laguna Hills, Calif. Gibson finds that U.S. businesses are waking up only now to the risk that "corporate espionage, night watchmen taking bribes, and employees leaking secrets have all transferred from the physical to the electronic world."
One somewhat quirky benefit of the job: Security techies get to snoop. "It's fun finding a way to hack the system," says Larry Perry, chief operating officer of Network Security Corp., "and then finding a way to plug the hole." That challenge isn't likely to dissipate soon, at least not with fears of cyberterrorism on the rise. "As long as there are unscrupulous people," adds Perry, "there's no shortage of information security jobs."
PAY AND PERKS: $35,000 to $45,000 to start. Experienced specialists earn $60,000 to $90,000. Work has puzzle-solving potential.
TRAINING: Some colleges offer courses in information security; a computer science degree is a plus. Experience is more valued than classroom hours, but national training centers like the System Administration, Networking, and Security Institute offer certifications that can bump up salaries by $10,000 or more. -D.G.
SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST
A BALM FOR THE BLACKBOARD JUNGLE
Rosario Pesce has been busy since September 11. First, the Cicero, Ill., high school psychologist "found all of our Arab students to make sure everything was OK with them," he says. Then, as part of a national crisis team, he traveled to the Family Assistance Center set up for World Trade Center victims at New Jersey's Liberty State Park. There he saw a wrenching scene: Families looking for remnants of lost loved ones were instead picking up urns that contained remains from ground zero.
September 11 upped the demand for Pesce's work, which has long included advising students grappling with depression, running support groups for pregnant teens, and testing for learning disabilities. Pesce, who was the national school psychologist of the year in 2001, also helps negotiate personality conflicts between students and teachers. It's no secret that many schools are already hard pressed to find teachers and counselors. And the rise in depression among adolescents and added federal money for mental health counseling has boosted demand for school psychologists as well. The profession, moreover, is facing an imminent brain drain as nearly one third of school psychologists are between ages 51 and 60, according to a recent survey, and thus approaching retirement. "If you're looking for a job where you'll make a difference and have great security for the next 25 years, this is it," says Ted Feinberg of the National Association of School Psychologists.
PAY AND PERKS: Average salary, $50,000; nearly 30 percent earn between $50,000 and $100,000. School psychologists take summers off.
TRAINING: Most states require a master's degree and on-the-job training. Others require a Ph.D. in education or psychology. -Anna Mulrine
AUTOMOBILE TECHNICIAN
GREASE MONKEYS ARE GETTING TECHY
Scott Brown, owner of Connie & Dick's Service Center in Claremont, Calif., knows why skilled automobile technicians are hard to find. Inevitably, says Brown, the "nonacademic" kids in high school get pushed into industrial arts, the talent pool for potential mechanics. But the work these days at his garage, Brown says, isn't "industrial arts as much as it is computer science and computer programming." Most major systems in modern autos have an electronic component, so talented technicians tend to be more than just self-taught "car nuts." Nearly 2 of 3 auto mechanics now have an Internet connection at work.
Brown took two months to fill a recent opening for a mechanic at his shop, despite the poor economy. One tip about the job: Some auto technicians find that toiling at an independent shop--with its diverse variety of cars--is more challenging than the comparatively repetitive work at a dealership.
PAY AND PERKS: $25,000 to $30,000 to start; master mechanics at luxury auto shops can earn up to $100,000. Half of employers provide a retirement plan, and three quarters pay all or a portion of health insurance premiums.
TRAINING: Technical school or community college followed by apprenticeship at a shop; most employers look for certification from the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence. -James M. Pethokoukis
This story appears in the February 18, 2002 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.