20 Hot Job Tracks When Baby Boomers Retire
RUNNER-UP HOT TRACK. Pharmacist. In the next few years, pharmacists expect to spend less time dispensing drugs and more time counseling patients, especially the elderly.
WHAT HEALTH CARE JOBS PAY DIETITIAN: $25,064 STAFF NURSE, RN: $36,140 SPEECH THERAPIST: $37,284 NURSE PRACTITIONER, RN: $49,200 PHARMACIST: $51,480 PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT (PRIMARY CARE): $53,963 PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT (SURGICAL): $56,264 OPTOMETRIST: $68,510
Note: Median salaries for 1995. Sources: Amer. Assn. of Medical Assistants, Amer. Health Information Mgmt. Assn., Amer. Hospital Assn., Amer. Pharmaceutical Assn., Bureau of Labor Statistics, Medical Group Mgmt. Assn.
HUMAN SERVICES: Case Manager An AIDS patient lives alone. Her friends and family visit as often as they can but not often enough to take care of the grocery shopping and trips to and from the doctor. Increasingly, that becomes the province of these social workers, who assess the needs of their clients and line up the necessary counseling, education, medical help or legal aid. Besides the chronically ill, clients range from the elderly to children with severe emotional disabilities. Insurers, health care organizations and individuals all see hiring case managers as a way to organize care and thus keep the costs down. Managed-care organizations, most of which now have case managers on staff, control over 70 percent of the group-health-insurance market--a 23 percent jump since 1992.
HOT TRACK SALARIES (AVERAGE) ENTRY LEVEL: $17,000 MIDLEVEL: $21,000--$30,000 TOP: $52,000
TRAINING. An undergraduate degree in social work is required. Top-paying jobs go to those with a graduate degree. Students must pass a written test to receive a state license.
RUNNER-UP HOT TRACK. Residential counselor. Group homes are multiplying to assist the mentally ill as the government continues to shut down mental institutions.
WHAT HUMAN SERVICES JOBS PAY RESIDENTIAL COUNSELOR: $32,500 PROBATION OFFICER: $36,400 MANAGED-CARE SOCIAL WORKER: $39,600 MENTAL HEALTH SOCIAL WORKER: $39,600 FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SOCIAL WORKER: $44,000 INDEPENDENT PRIVATE PRACTITIONER: $49,700
Note: Average salaries for 1995. Sources: AIDS Services of Austin, Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Association of Social Workers, National Organization for Human Services Education
INFORMATION SERVICES: Webmaster From Auburn University to Z Technologies, every organization in every industry seems to crave a presence on the World Wide Web. The number of Web sites in April 1996--145,000--represents a sixfold increase over the previous year. At smaller companies, the webmaster tapped to maintain a site may handle the creative as well as the technical duties--designing graphics and writing content. But the main job is to keep the system humming--to clear up the wreckage when the server crashes, say, and no one can reach the site.
HOT TRACK SALARIES (AVERAGE) ENTRY LEVEL: $35,000 MIDLEVEL: $70,000 TOP: $100,000 and up
TRAINING. Novell has just launched the first training program, conducted in one-to-five-day sessions at its education centers. The job is so new that background matters less than computer skills and agility online.
RUNNER-UP HOT TRACK. Cyberlibrarian. Corporate America's greed for online information has created a need for specialists to find and analyze data.
WHAT INFORMATION JOBS PAY PROGRAMMER (JUNIOR): $34,000 PC SUPPORT SPECIALIST: $35,000 PROGRAMMER/ANALYST (SENIOR): $43,000 DATABASE ADMINISTRATOR: $45,000 JAVA PROGRAMMER (INTERNET): $60,000--$80,000* SOFTWARE DESIGNER (SENIOR): $67,000 ELECTRONIC-MARKETING MANAGER: $80,000--$100,000* CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER: $150,000--$200,000*
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