Hottest Careers of the future [Archive]

sanjeevmalik

May 26th, 2004, 01:17 AM

Just in case the link disappears after some time, I have copied the text for your convenience.

Solid state LED technology will make the light bulb a thing of the past. Voice over Internet Protocol will spell a revolution in telephony. Ever more powerful microchips and ever faster chip-to-chip interfaces will allow for new applications in anything from systems management to cinema-quality computer games.

Joshua Livestro writing in Tech Central Station (techcentralstation.com) (techcentralstation.com)

You have to keep an eye on the market all the time if you have to survive. Take note of the growing trend, try to guess the areas where the demand is going to be and equip yourself for the job market . You can’t go wrong.

Outsourcing has proved to be a much abused necessity for not merely the US , but also the world. On one hand, it has seen a flow of jobs from the richer to the low-cost countries and on the other hand it has meant much needed savings for western countries. But more important in the long term, it has helped to create new business opportunities, in the tech sector and elsewhere.

A lot more jobs have been created and ultimately it has left people in the West free from doing regular work and rather invest on new cutting edge jobs.

Technology, undoubtedly remains the single-most successful revolution of this generation and ultimately most white-collar jobs will lie in this sector. But while looking for jobs , remember, versatility is winning out over specialisation. The more flexibility and variety you can offer an employer, the better are your chances of getting hired, says Monte Enbysk writing in bcentral.com.

Some of the field which are going to hire techies in the future include:

Biotech : There are a wealth of opportunities in this industry, ranging from building, managing and researching databases for information about drugs and disorders to entry-level biotechnicians. "Bioinformatics," or biotech data mining, is a particularly strong market because of increasing investment in genomics, says Alan Kearns, president of TalentLab, an executive search firm with offices in Ottawa and San Diego.
Venture capitalists plugged $40 billion into biotechs in 2001, and these companies have traditional IT needs as well.The sector is expected to have 500,000 jobs or more by 2010.

Health-care tech : A lot of retrofitting of hospitals right now, and a real demand for people to get new technology implemented," Paradiso says. That includes wireless network specialists, system administrators and tec hnical support.

Information security: Master's degree programs are now being offered in information security, and graduates are getting jobs, Also, "sophisticated, senior-level people" with solid experience are being sought to design, build and test security devices and solutions of all kinds, for consumers and businesses, she says. "IT's biggest gains are in security; people are in demand here." A related area — disaster recovery planning — also is growing.

Networking experts : Networking pros with expertise on the leading software and hardware platforms are in high demand right now. The reason? Companies are seeking to expand their e-commerce offerings, but rather than splurge on larger capacity, they're looking to make their existing networks more efficient. IT pros who can configure software and/or hardware networks for optimal performance are wanted by companies.

Data warehousing: It is hot at the moment. "Anything to do with it is hot," says Manpower's Willman, whose company provides staffing services worldwide. What is data warehousing? It's the design, construction, maintenance and management of databases — generally those storing mission-critical business data — for businesses of all sizes.

Java development : This area is making a strong comeback, though in a different way than in the past. Java development traditionally has been used for e-commerce and Web development. Now the heavy demand is for Java development in-house, for companies' internal processes and production environments

Web-related programming : Here's another area that once was big for startups and consultancies but since has shifted into the corporate mainstream.

"The demand for Web programming jobs now is mostly inside traditional, conventional companies. Many are starting to learn how to use the Web better," says Craig Newmark, a programmer who founded Craig's List, the San Francisco-based bulletin board for tech and other jobs.

Business development: This field has become increasingly pronounced in a down economy. Companies of all kinds need people who can develop new customers and markets, but especially so in the tech industry , where technical skills and business skills don't always go hand-in-hand. BusinessWeek also talks about some in-demand jobs.

Engineers: building new products as Web applications and cutting-edge chips.

Management consulting : Helping companies build or maintain technology systems.

And, all said and done, they may not be hi-tech, but software jockies are here to stay. I(author not me) started by quoting Livestro. Though most tech gurus say that the telecom sector can’t be expected to yield too many jobs, Livestro says since the mobile market is booming in India and China -- two countries with the largest population in the world – the mobile sector is also bound to throw up good job opportunities

sanjeevmalik

June 7th, 2004, 08:27 AM

Business Intelligence: Research from Gartner Inc. and other firms suggests that it’s a very good time to be doing BI—at least, as an alternative to working with other technologies. IT professionals who are employed on a full-time basis and who are developing business intelligence solutions should feel reasonably secure about their prospects in the current environment.

Healthcare professionals: Include highly educated and trained physicians; pharmacists and nurses (college degrees and specialty training), dental hygienists (associate's degree) and home health aides (relatively little training and no college degree.)

Jobs Requiring Physical Contact: Other than healthcare pros, janitors, gardeners, dentists are the jobs that will remain in the US. Foreign-born workers may do them, but they'll have to move to the US.

High-End Jobs: They'll be working on architecture, strategy, project management and business processes.

Service-oriented jobs: like financial planners, information technology consultants, pharmacists, accountants, teachers. Though here also the IT consultant and accountant jobs have started getting off sourced.

Sales: jobs are also not liable to get off shored.

Software Architects: Yes, we know that after the low-end jobs, more and more high-tech jobs are getting outsourced. But one job that no one is willing to outsource is the software architects.

One of the main things that companies refrain from outsourcing is proprietary knowledge that gives companies competitive edge.

By 2008, the IT workforce situated in the United States will be 25 percent smaller than it is today, according to Gartner. But the workers who remain will be more important to the business than ever.

System architects, technology experts and researchers: who design and build the company's most important and complex software are the ones that are perhaps never going to be replaced.