20 Hot Job Tracks When Baby Boomers Retire
Note: Average salaries for 1995. Sources: Adweek Salary Survey, American Association of Advertising Agencies, Virginia Commonwealth University Ad Center
ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT: Editor A handful of years ago, when digital editing of film and video began to replace splicing and dicing, some feared that the speed and ease of working on a computer would put many editors out of work. Instead, their ranks are swelling. Translating images and sounds into bits and bytes means that scores of variations are possible for each scene. On a blockbuster film, it's not unusual for dozens of editors to work around the clock to satisfy a perfectionist director's need to see many possible combinations of shots. It takes only a few clicks of the mouse to try that final scene from several angles, and with five differently hued sunsets.
HOT TRACK SALARIES (AVERAGE) ENTRY LEVEL: $35,000 MIDLEVEL: $65,000 TOP: $90,000 and up
TRAINING. Experience on the computer counts far more than a degree. Many have started as a production assistant and cajoled a friendly editor into teaching them the editing skills.
RUNNER-UP HOT TRACK. Digital animator. Studio execs say there's a dearth of people who are both artistically talented and technologically literate.
WHAT ENTERTAINMENT JOBS PAY ACTOR (SPEAKING PART): $500/day* MUSICIAN (REGIONAL ORCHESTRA): $400/wk* BALLET DANCER: $610/wk* CHOREOGRAPHER (FILM): $3,000/wk BROADWAY DIRECTOR: $80,000+ PRESIDENT (PRODUCTION CO.): $153,700
Note: Average salaries for 1995-96. *Minimum rate, +plus royalties, includes bonus. Sources: Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, American Federation of Musicians, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Edgewise Communications, Hope Reports, Motion Picture Editors Guild, Screen Actors Guild, Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers
CONSULTING: Management Consultant Gone are the days when outside experts advised top managers what to reorganize and then moved on. Downsized companies need more guidance; management consultants today find solutions to problems at all levels of a company--and move in to see the changes through. A consultant might devise and implement a scheme to attract new customers in Tokyo, for example, or to update a client's computer system, a task that could take as long as two years. Many consultants are busy now with the year 2000 problem: that the "00" designating the year in certain computer programs will be recognized as 1900 instead of 2000. From 1989 to 1994, the number of management consultants in America nearly doubled, to 120,000. The consulting firm Ernst & Young has boosted recruitment by 25 percent in the past year.
HOT TRACK SALARIES (AVERAGE) ENTRY LEVEL: $60,000 MIDLEVEL: $80,000 TOP: $1,000 and up
TRAINING. A bachelor's in business, accounting, computer science; an M.B.A. in labor relations, finance or management is a plus.
RUNNER-UP HOT TRACK. Coach. This mentor/taskmaster/motivational speaker/therapist is brought in by downsizing companies to counsel victims.
WHAT CONSULTING JOBS PAY ANALYST (ENTRY): $30,000--$70,000 STRATEGIC PLANNER: $68,112--$95,959* CONSULTANT: $50,000--150,000 SENIOR CONSULTANT: $90,000--$250,000 SENIOR PARTNER: $150,000--$500,000
Note: Average salaries for 1996 including bonuses. *Median for 1995. Sources: Association of Management Consulting Firms, Coach University, Consultants News, Ernst & Young, Institute of Management Consultants, National Bureau of Professional Management Consultants, Stevens Institute of Technology
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