Good careers for 2006
To learn more
U.S. Department of Defense: www.todaysmilitary.com
Read: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Careers in the U.S. Military by Bill Harris.
Administrative assistant/secretary. Many of my clients crave being the right-hand man–er, person–and this career affords that opportunity. Ignore Hollywood portrayals of the overworked, abused secretary; this can be a fine career. Trusted administrative assistants may have quite a varied workday: draft a letter, appease a client, conduct research on the Internet, plan a luncheon, create a PowerPoint presentation, organize the boss's file system, prepare a spreadsheet, and screen mail and calls. And unlike the boss, admins are usually out the door at 5 p.m., with little or no work to take home. Plus, in major cities, a good admin can earn $70,000 to $90,000. And increasingly, bosses allow their admins to work at home at least one day a week.
To learn more
OOH profile: www.bls.gov/oco/ocos151.htm
International Association of Administrative Professionals: www.iaap-hq.org
Read: The Administrative Assistant by Brenda Bailey-Hughes
Photographer. As with most artistic careers, to succeed you must have talent and be a dedicated marketer. One of my clients, for instance, makes a living as a photographer by taking close-up action photos of children playing soccer or baseball or competing in karate matches, then selling them to the proud parents. To be competitive, a photographer must be expert at using Photoshop to edit digital images and taking advantage of the Web for sales and marketing.
To learn more
OOH profile: www.bls.gov/oco/ocos264.htm
Professional Photographers of America: www.ppa.com
Read: 2006 Photographers Market by Donna Poehner
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