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Smart Money Picks 10 Rising Careers
jonathanjo writes "Smart Money announces the ten hot jobs they see rising in the next decade. Among them, many familiar to slashdotters (wireless engineer) and several of those are of dubious ethical value (data miner, IP lawyer). "Forensic Accountant" even made accounting sound cool! But why oh why did I give up on being an Adventure Travel Guide to be a web designer? D'ohh!"
Sheesh, enough with the lawyer bashing already.
Lawyers are just people like the rest of us with a job to do - sometimes their clients are wrong, sometimes right.
Next time you're up against the RIAA in court, I'd like to see you decline a lawyer on the grounds that the job is of "dubious ethical value".
I know it's oh so trendy to constantly attack the legal profession, but really. Grow up.
Judging from the Flash advert on the page, CHIROPRACTOR might be a promising career! Ouch!
"Ask me about Loom"
When you eschew a profession because you don't like what is going on in that part of the industry, you throw away a chance to make a difference from within.
/. or sending a few pennies to the EFF. If you really want to make a difference, study the law, pass the bar, put yourself in the position to affect change.
You aren't going to change things sitting on your ass posting on
I have been pwned because my
Don't go anywhere near the "top 10". 5 million high school and college guidance counselors will be herding the sheep into those fields in a few months. You could be a savant in one of those fields, and it won't make a damn bit of difference if the resume is lost in the flood.
our IP Lawyer's (2) account for 20% of my company's yearly revenue.
MARIJUANA, SHROOMS, X: ONLINE?! - E
Politician - here's the career of the past, present and future!
-- Faré @ TUNES.org
Reflection & Cybernet
If you're going to work for the Man for 30+ years, you'd be better off finding out what you really love to do, and work towards being the best that you can be at that. Anything else says you're just in it for the money. That's certainly not a crime, but it will probably show in your work when compared to someone who really does love what they do.
Just my US $0.02.
My pick would have to be inmate.
tcd004
Is this the guys who show up to the Enron crime scene.
Next week on CSI:Accountantcy the team will look at A.Anderson and then the Bush budget
Get your Unix fortune now!
I seem to remember reading a Scientic America article a while back (I'd link but the charge for old article IIRC) about fuel cells and the problems with mass producing them.
They work great and all for the space station and other speciality circumstances but they rely on a platinum core and therefore are quite expensive. Moreover, they had some statistics regardding how there simply wasn't enough platinum in the world (since it is so rare) for even the small amount needed for fuel cells if they were to go in every car.
I remember reading too that it was quite unlikely that any other element possessed similiar enough properties to build a fuel cell with too.
So I think it is a tad premature to say Fuel-Cell Engineering is going to be the next "hot job."
int func(int a);
func((b += 3, b));
Did Mikey plan those bombings?
He was convicted on 9/11/91...
Check it out here
I'm not suprised that Bush (or the Fox News Facists) hasn't sent him to Cuba since he is a follower of the Nation of Islam.
Get your Unix fortune now!
why oh why did I give up on being an Adventure Travel Guide to be a web designer?
Because you had no native talent for actual programming?
[dodging thrown objects]
Eh, what do I know. I got an English degree.
--saint
It seems to me, that if you truly enjoy what you do and are ,indeed, proficient in your field->you're already on the right path. I'm a case-in-point to that very statement. I didn't even graduate H.S.(Overexaggerrated rebelliousness)-But, because I enjoy what I do, and am damn good at it, I bring in more than most college grads. The "Hot Job" is what you make it.
The one job that they didn't mention, which is EXTREMELY hot right now, is pharmacy. The booming number of elderly and the decreasing number of pharmacists has made the field extremely hot. I have even heard advertisements on the radio for pharmacists to switch to a different drug store. New pharmacists make can make aroun 90K a year.
Come play Heroes of Might and Magic Mini online.
I see the theme to the next ten Budweiser commercials here ;-)
This song is dedicated to you, Mr Intellectual-Property Attorney
Follow me
Bioinformatics sounds hot and it's certainly getting the hell hyped out of it at the moment, but from first hand experience, it can get pretty frustrating at times. What they don't mention in any of the glowing reports on the industry is the frequent brain explosions than can be caused by putting biologists and computer scientists in the same room for prolonged periods of time. Maybe it's just where I work and everyone's an asshole (or I'm an asshole), but trying to get the researchers and the computer guys to agree on anything is a fucking nightmare.
I guess this is the same in any branch of IT (instead of biologists and programmers each trying to clobber each other into submission, it's your banker or manufacturing customer)...and I guess I'm especially sensitive to it at the moment. Oh well...something for newbies into the field to think about.
Bioinformatician, that is one COOL name.
:-)
Well, we are indeed extremely cool. That can't be argued
;) that aside...
How benficial are these results? Who's to say it won't change in 5 years? What makes these hot, amount of money you can make?
As people have already said, I do expect that eventually the field will be flooded now that there are actual degree programs in it. Today most of the people in bioinformatics are either biologists that have always been computer geeks (such as myself, programming Apple ]['s starting in sixth grade, but getting a doctorate in microbiology) or computer scientists who have managed to read enough biology papers to understand the subject (such as my boss).
Basically, bioinformaticians are needed because molecular biology has entered the era of large scale experiments generating gigabytes of information. The traditional way of analyzing results by hand just doesn't work anymore -- it's a similar problem to what other fields of study such as radio astronomy have been facing for some years now. The difference is that biological information is more applicable to both the human quality of life and commercial gain than astronomy and so there going to be much more data to be analyzed.
If you truly read "Scientific American"->you'd have read the article in the May 2002 issue in the "Innovations" section about a company called "Millenium Cell". They've come up with a clever fuel cell system utilizing Borax which reacts with a catalyst to produce the hydrogen needed. This combo makes it much safer to fuel up your vehicle or whatever else you're powering.
Any one of these markets could collapse at any time and many look like those who hold the jobs command such high salaries becasue they are fairly obscure.
Make a note of what happened to those who started their CS education when programming was the "hot job" in '98 and '99.
Soesn't seem quite so hot?
Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes. --E. W. Dijkstra
What do they do, count body parts? *ewww*
10. Paper shredder
9. presidential intern
8. respiratory infection nurse
7. experimental microbiologist
6. teacher (never makes any list, except for lowest paid/hardest working)
5. suicide bomber
4. Real World participant
3. political leader
2. President of Accounting
and the number 1 thing that didn't make the list...
1. bank manager for offshore accounts (not FDIC insurred)
Why read the article when I can just make up a snap judgement?
Just remember that you'll be spending at least 1/3 of your hours for those next 30+ years plugging away at work. If you pick something based on it's *supposed* high demand, that's fine, but don't expect to enjoy going to work. You might wind up becoming another whiner who is always bitching about their job.
Another thing to keep in mind is that these predictions are made by quite fallible human beings. They're akin to the sub-.200 hitters of the technology forecasting crowd.
Go with your passion, and your life will be a lot richer and more fulfilling. I'm sure such a sentiment isn't cynical enough for many people out there, but in my experience, it's true.
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
Hot jobs tend to be only hot in the short term. It's like deciding, right now, what clothes you are going to wear the rest of your life based on what is currently hot. Look at the web deseigners that only learned web deseign. They had a good run but unless they picked up more mainstream computing skills along the way they are probably looking for a job. Now they are lokking at someone in thier late twnties/ early thirties with a skill that has a glut of qualified individuals - all because it was the "hot job" of the moment. Now take a database person. It's not a hot job and probably never will be a hot job (i'm not talking data mining but deseigning/implementing/maintaining SQL databases). On the other hand demand is pretty high and will continue to be pretty high.
It is important to remember when making these lists they look at NOW, not the long term viability of the job.
------- Sorry about the spelling, I suffer from two problems. Dyslexia makes it difficult to spell well, lazy makes it
Never fight naked, unless you're in prison...
Oddly enough, not a one of them calls themselves a "bioinformatician", preferring the more vague "computational biologist".
Well, "computational biologist" has the advantage of being analogous to "computational chemist", a career with a good 30 year history to date. Additionally, some think that "bioinformatics" sounds too applied seeing how "informatics" is often used to describe the practical aspects of computing, such as networks and databases.
Well, someone has to provide jobs, and business certainly doesn't appear up to the task.
Shoddy products, poor customer service, wasted budgets, inept management, constant layoffs. Eventually former employees will get fed up (and they probably already are) and start their own companies.
A Renaissance of Entrepreneurship is precisely what the economy needs. Not more cubicles.
Things I was unaware of until the article's author enlightened me:
- Bioinformatics == Computational Pharmacokinetics
- Designing sophisticated algorithms requires only "familiarity with computer technologies" (I suppose being a professional astronomer requires only "familiarity with telescope technologies" too)
- Bioinformaticians need graduate training in a biological science. This one scared the heck outta me... I *thought* I was a bioinformatician, but my graduate training is in computer science. Come to think of it... the great majority of 'bioinformaticians' I've met at conferences were CS grads. I must have been tricked into attending those fake bioinformatics conferences...
- Journalists don't need to bother researching or providing pesky 'facts' in their articles anymore. Its OK to just make stuff up... right off the top of your head.
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
/^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
wireless engineer here - little under three years experience
Wireless engineer? I looked at your resume, and it appears that you've done some web page design and sysadmin work. I don't mean to belittle your accomplishments, but according your your resume, an RF engineer you are not.
Resume tip: web design buzzwords are OUT. They're actually big minuses on a resume. Start over and try to elaborate problems you've solved, money you've saved the company, and products you've developed. Remove the "co-" shit, and take credit for your work. Don't be bashful. Remove the stuff you did 5+ years ago, or at least exaggerate the hell of it to match your current experience. This isn't entirely disingenuous if you've got the goods to back it up.
Also, make a few different resumes. HR folks spend about 2 minutes per resume trying to find something that catches their eye. So make a half-dozen resumes, each for a very specific position that you can fill. Don't mess around with the job boards - do your research and contact specific companies. Broad resumes that cover every possible position will NOT catch their attention. Research as many companies as possible - find out what they're currently developing, how well they're doing, and where they're hurting. Address their needs directly, and you will get the job.
Let's see, I'm a software contractor now so I could switch that over to AI programming, but I also ride my bike to work through rush hour traffic in Boston every morning, so could I be an Adventure Travel Guide too?
Outdoor digital photography, mostly in New Engl
Well, except for the rare athletic, daring, and adventurous ChemE (all three of them ;), maybe being an Adventure Guide is out...
:(
But ChemEs can do the rest!
Seriously, graduating with a ChemE degree, I can pick from four of the 'hot' jobs listed:
IP Lawyer, Bioinformatician, Fuel Cells, or Data Mining.
Really, data mining & bioinformatics are basically the same. Bioinformatics assumes you have a working knowledge of biology & biochemistry and can apply it to computer programming. But, it is much easier to learn biology than it is to learn data mining. But, without a very good mathematical background (Partial Diff Eqs, etc), you can kiss being an exceptional data miner out the window.
People underestimate the utility of mathematics.
Salis
Favorite
I really hate the over-inflated titles that computer mechanics keep giving themselves. I'm sick of seeing business cards for Software Engineers and Network Architects.
So what's next? Computer Surgeon? Information Astronaut? Why not go the whole nine yards and call yourself a Software Deity or Network Visionary?
I want to see some realism in titles. The person paid to maintain legacy COBOL should be called a Code Janitor. The person who designs networks should be called a Network Foreman. And anybody who writes code should be called a Software Author.
But please, enough with the self-aggrandizing titles.
Visit the Arcade Restoration Workshop @ http://www.arcaderestoration.com
How can anyone accuratly predict what the top 10 jobs will be in this decade. Does anyone have a list of so-called hot jobs from 1992? I doubt they mentioned anything dealing with e-commerce.
Uninformed people complain about software patents because they are "bad." No one ever quantifies "bad" or defines "bad." They simply label patents as "bad." What these people reason from is the flawed premise that because something is easy to copy (i.e. - I can write code to do that) that it is unworthy of protection. They could not be further from the truth.
Without IP laws there will be no innovation. History discloses thousands of inventions that are easy to copy. It is precisely because someone CAN copy an invention, getting the benefits without the development costs incurred by the original inventor that the patent and other IP laws exist.
Flame away ... I'm expecting a karma hit. But I'll keep writing those software patents and suing the theives (yes -- THEIVES) who infringe them anyway.
Laws affecting technology will always be bad until enough techies become lawyers.
When I was a lad, I was quite good at catching lizards and spiders and creepy crawly things. Fifteen years after I decide on a career in IT, I tune into Animal Planet and they've got several folks on there who make a living catching the biggest damn lizards you've ever seen, along with all sorts of other creepy crawly things. If ONLY someone had TOLD me!
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Everyone can take the hot jobs and shove them up their ass.
If you want some real jobs with growth potential for the future, here's a real list.
1.Terrorist
2.Undertaker
3.Disney Congresswhore
4.Presidential Oil Rig Tech
5.Media Manipulator
6.Political Aide Professional Killer
7.Infomercial Producer
8.College Athlete
9.Fuck You
10.Hot Jobs List Maker
Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life.
Mod it up your ass, I'm pegged at 50.
I want to be a Corporate Visionary Strategist, so I can prove my mom wrong -- you can get paid for daydreaming all day.
c-hack.com |
All we ever hear about are obviously bogus software patents--ones that ignoring the "software" issue, are just new patents on old ideas. Do you have some examples of good software patents, describing a new, non-obvious software invention? Either ones you've worked on or just others you've run across...
--
Benjamin Coates
See, CNE, MCSE, the crop of lawyers that graduated in the 90s etc. etc.
Display some adaptability.
Get an engineering degree, this will allow you to enter nearly any field. if yoy want to continue in the tech field get your ms/phd in engineering, but if you want to make more money and can read and write well or are interested in managing people, get your law degree or mba.
Very few engineers enter these areas, and you can make aton of money. Your engineering degree shows that you can think rationally and logically, skills which apply to other areas than design.
Most engineers aren't engineers their whole lives, at some point they move on to management, as your knowledge isn't as up to date (unless you keep it up to date via classes degrees etc). Getting an advanced degree in something else just opens more doors.
Bring back the old version of slashdot.
Gimme a break. This is just snobery. Are you a PE? What's that? There is no professional engineer testing given by the NSPE for CompEs? Most MechEs and some EEs wouldn't consider you an engineer either then.
Most CS guys call themselves engineers because that's what most of them do--engineer computer software. They aren't doing theoretical research in the field of algorithms or other pertinent fields, they're designing and building complex systems.
As for different mindset, different coursework, where did you go to school? I have a BSE (and now ME) in CS, that was granted to me from an ACM accredited institution. I took digital design classes, automata, diff eq, physics for eng, and many of the classes that the CompE guys took. Those guys had more specialized hardware courses, as I'm sure you did, like heat transfer and signals, and I had DB theory, compiler theory, etc.
Now, certainly there are still non-accredited so-called CS programs that grant BS degrees through arts and science schools, but before you scoff at the guy who calls himself a software engineer, keep in mind he might have more credits earned from the engineering college, and if you earned your degree in four years probably more co-op time, than you.
(Disclaimer - I have a coupla CS degrees)
A colleague last week remarked how any degree with the word "Science" in it is anything but, and is just trying to sound more impressive. Hence, "Social Science", "Political Science", and "Computer Science".
Not that I agree being a CS-type, but it made me think...
Too bad patent examiner didn't make their list. Eisntein would be proud.
interesting. anonymous, coward, gee, I wonder who you could be.
anyway, what's the matter with weasel's posting in forums from work? How is it different than a cigarette break? getting up to get coffee? stretching? how is it different from any kind of break?
furthermore, I don't know about you but many people often continue work extra hours from home (oh, yeah, sallaried employees don't have "hours"), have to have cell phones and pagers to keep in touch with work 24 hours a day. So what's your point again?
I think weasels that never accomplish anything and are years late on their promises is a much bigger problem!
-pyrrho
Taken from Smart Money: