Kiplinger's 10 Best College Majors for Lucrative Careers

Have you seen this list from Kiplinger?  Still trying to decide on your next career move?

The careers on this list are evaluated based on:

• salaries (median salaries below)
• training and education (look closely at education and training)
• projected increase in the number of jobs available

1. Pharmacist and Pharmacology ($105K)

2. Nursing ($48K)

3. Transportation Science and Technology ($68K)

4. Treatment Therapy Professions ($62K)

5. Chemical Engineering ($86K)

6. Electrical Engineering ($86K)

7. Medical Technologies ($58K)

8. Construction Services ($65K)

9. Management Information Systems ( $71K)

10. Medical Assisting Services ($54K)

Of course I always caution that just because the numbers ($$$$) look good to you doesn't mean it is the career for you.  This list is a good place to start your research.

Five Reasons Not To Change Your Career

I read this article today and thought Graham Hart, had a good perspective on some of the career myths that guide our decisions as we ponder changing careers. He sarcastically titles the piece, "Five Reasons Not to Change Your Career."

Reason 1: I am too old for a career change!
The article reminds us that Ray Kroc didn’t start McDonalds until he was 52 years old and Henry Ford was in his forties when he started Ford Motor Company. The fact is there is still projected a significant global talent shortage over the next few years and so there may still be opportunities.

Reason 2: No time to study!
Changing careers definitely takes additional training - sometimes! In many cases this one is about motivation rather than time. In other words once the decision is made, people find the time - especially since education is increasingly accessible online.

Reason 3: I'd change; but I don't know to what!
As Graham says, this is one of those circular arguments that hold us back. The kind of argument we play over and over in our minds - 'I would change careers, but I don't know what to change to and as soon as I find out, I will make the change." Here is the issue, most people do not take the time, take the steps or use the tools to find out. Tools like career assessments such as the Skills Profiler mentioned, career coaches, mentors and research can help.

Reason 4: I am stuck because there is nothing else I can do!
The tools I suggested before in the previous answer - career assessments, career coaches, mentors and research - are all ways to help you discover where else you could be great.

Reason 5: I can't afford to change!
This is a tough one! Sometimes you have to think about whether or not the stress of being in the wrong job or career is tolerable. In other words - for your next career move, think about how you would feel if you were stuck in that role for a long time in a recession. In other words, can you outlast the recession in your existing role, especially when you don't know how long the recession will last.

Additional career article - Are These Career Myths Holding you Back?

Graham Hart is an Executive Coach and runs BestCareer-4You.com

Lawyers Search for Alternative Careers

Yesterday I wrote about seeing the possible upside of being laid off.

Dee, an attorney, stopped by and shared her comments. I followed Dee's comments to her blog - Power Of Attorney: Not Happy Hour At The Bar where she shared some insight for lawyers looking for a career makeover and searching for alternative careers.

Her piece made me think about all the professionals who think the grass is always greener on the other side; who think that happiness is just a higher paying career away.

If I had a dime for every time I have heard a disheartened professional say that if they just had a better paying career, they would love it more - I would be rich. Turns out that lawyers, a career with significant compensation, can struggle with career choices too.

I really appreciate Dee making it clear that changing careers is not only about following dreams and passions. One real dilemma Dee highlights is the need to balance following one's dream, as hefty student loans hover over every career decision. I agree with Dee that there is too much banter sometimes from career coaches who dangle the carrot of the perfect career, if you just dream hard enough. We all know it takes more than "wishin and hopin" and I think Dee captures that well.

Read Dee's complete post here - Lawyers Search for Alternative Careers.

Laura Bush Planning her "Career" After the White House

I saw Laura Bush on Meet The Press this past weekend with Tom Brokaw as she talked about her work with the women of Afghanistan.

As Mrs. Bush outlined much of what she had done in her role as First Lady to champion the cause of women globally, I sensed she was preparing for her new life and "career" beyond the White House.

Didn't think about it until just now, but does one refer to being First Lady as a career?

Whether you call it a career or not, her transition from the White House to whatever she does next will be pretty similar to career transitions made by many women every year.

November is National Career Development Month!

The theme this year is "Inspire Your Career, Develop Your Dreams". If your current career is getting the better of you, there is no better time than this month to start making some new choices towards achieving career nirvana.

Of course, as we all know, this is a tough time to make the choice to leave your current employer, if you don't have to. If you are unsure where to start you might want to consider the 30 activities I shared with my blog readers last November 2007, one for each day.

Here they are again:
Day 1 - Career Change Requires a Positive Attitude
Day 2 - Analyze Your Job
Day 3 - Evaluate Your Skills
Day 4 - Grab a Career Book
Day 5 - Focus on Training
Day 6 - Start Reading Career Blogs and Articles
Day 7 - Start a Career Journal
Day 8 - Start Working on a Career Portfolio
Day 9 - Get a Handle on Workplace Stress
Day 10 - Join Your Alumni Association
Day 11 - What's in Your Personnel File?
Day 12 - Enhance Technical Skills at Work
Day 13 - Thinking About Starting a Business
Day 14 - Join a Professional Association
Day 15 - Rejuvenate Your Contacts
Day 16 - Volunteer!
Day 17 - Create a Kudos Folder
Day 18 - Research Upcoming Job Fairs
Day 19 - Update Your Resume and CV
Day 20 - Explore Career Assessments
Day 21 - Job+Holiday=Stress; Get Some Perspective this Season
Day 22 - Look for Work Life Balance
Day 23 - Are career Myths Holding you Back?
Day 24 - Share your Resume and get Feedback
Day 25 - Learn About Informational Interviews
Day 26 - Identify 2-3 Career Options
Day 27 - Identify Gaps in Skills and Competencies
Day 28 - Register with 3 Employment Websites
Day 29 - Put Your References on Notices
Day 30 - Spend Time with a Career Coach

Career Assessment Help for Changing Careers

I discovered this career assessment, Rocket Career, for those who might want to switch careers.

Of course no career assessment or career test will guarantee what one should be or not, but the feedback can always reaffirm ideas you may have about your next step.

The assessment will take you only a few minutes and here is a portion of my results.

Innovative & Risk-Taking - Your percentile ranking is 90
"I wonder what would happen if..." is your mantra, and you need a career with an element of risk to get you out of bed in the morning. You're willing to experiment, to learn by acting and doing. Your continual questioning of the status quo reflects your need to find a better way to do what people do now or a new way to do what others don't even realize needs doing. Yours is an entrepreneurial, "start-up" personality. You like to test boundaries, and your innate confidence means you're well placed in careers where power is at issue--business, politics, sales. Since you're willing to take the risks that pay off in tangible rewards, you need a career where money--or its equivalent--is the measure of success.

Creative & Free Form - Your percentile ranking is 60
You need an artistic or imaginative element in your work in order to find the career that fits. Your powers of visualization are strong, as is your ability to see patterns and trends long before others do. Though you can be impatient with restriction, you need to master the conventions of your art in order to find the structure that gives you true freedom of expression. Express yourself you must, and if you find a career that lets you set your own schedule, so much the better. Your productivity and your enthusiasm go hand in hand, so while others may be content to work for money alone, you won't find the right job till you're in a career that gives you joy.

Second Jobs, Postponing Job Changes and Going Back to School

Expect more of the same for 2008 quarter four, says the latest Career Builder survey of 3000 HR professionals and 6000+ workers nationwide.

Job losses on Wall Street and the ultimate trickle down effects will continue to affect employment rates for the rest of the year. With the September unemployment numbers expected to be higher than the August 6.1%, employees are anxious about the future.

"Employers are maintaining a conservative approach to recruitment as they maneuver through a weaker economy that has produced its share of casualties," said Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder.com. Ferguson also shares that IT and Healthcare still show solid job growth even though employers are planning to add fewer workers in quarter four.

Survey highlights:

- 21% of workers who found a new job in 2008, said the job search took four months or longer.
- 5% of employers said their companies required employees to take an unpaid leave of absence in the past six months as a cost-saving measure.
- 9% of workers have taken on second jobs in response to higher prices, food and healthcare. 24% are considering getting a second job.
- 38% of workers are postponing active job search and say will stay with existing company for another year at least.
- 41% plan to stay with their present employers until retirement.
- 34% percent of employers reported they are having a hard time finding qualified candidates in highly-skilled areas.
- 26% of workers plan to go back to school to obtain a degree, certification or other training.

Of those who plan to go back to school, 32 percent want to pursue a bachelor’s degree while 10 percent are going back for their MBA and 12 percent are going back for a master’s degree in another field.

Source - Career Builder Industry Trends Survey, September 2008

Making a Smooth Transition Back to the Workplace

Check out this conversation on Blog Talk Radio that I had with Roxanne Ravenel of the Job Search Strategy Lab. Our discussion was primarily about career reentry tips for jobseekers who want to make a smooth transition back to the workplace after an absence.

Career Coward's Guide to Changing Careers - Piotrowski

I read The Career Coward's Guide to Changing Careers by Katy Piotrowski, M.Ed and thought you might like it as well.

Here are some of the questions the book addresses, which I know might be on your mind as you consider a career change.

-How will you identify a new career?
-Where do you research new careers?
-How to make the decision about what to pursue?
-Why do you want to make this change
-How can you make the transition successfully and as painlessly as possible?
-What excites you now and why now?
-Did something change in your life that is inspiring this new direction?
-How do you build a bridge from where you are in your life to your new career
-What about risk, rewards, payoff, how much time? Burnout?

What I loved about the book?
Good tips, quick read, easy to go back to certain pieces, reuseable, samples and worksheets!

It's my recommended reading this month!

Going Back to Work and Negotiating Salary

Rule of thumb for salary discussion in the interview - Wait for employers to bring it up and avoid being dragged into that discussion before you have had a chance to sell yourself.

Per Jack Chapman, author of Negotiating Your Salary: How to Make $1000 a Minute,

"Salary negotiation is all about timing. The time to talk about salary is when they say they want you for the job. Before that, it’s a moot point...Don’t give them a chance to eliminate you based on salary."

Read They Like You, They Really Do - Taking the Fear Out of Salary Negotiations

Blogging Your Way to Career Change

I recently read a blog post at JibberJobber- "Blogging to Bigger Job Opportunities - Interview on FoxBusiness.com".

Jason Alba, Jibber Jobber.com CEO reflected on an article where Alba was quoted about blogging as a career tool to find career opportunities.

Jason rightly says, "Being one of the subject matter experts (SME) or thought leaders in your space is a powerful thing."

In my blog comment, I wrote that creating a positive web persona is important if one wants to use blogging as a route to a new career. Internet research reveals several blogs written by job seekers. A few bloggers wrote negatively about prior bosses and companies where they had interviews. Some bloggers trashed certain professions and careers completely.

Job seekers have a hard time explaining a negative web persona in the interview.

Jobseekers need to be aware of the long term effect on their careers of the persona they present on the web through:
-Networking sites like Facebook,LinkedIn and Spoke.
-YouTube videos.
-Meetup community networks.

As another blogger, wrote - "Your blog IS your brand!"

Creative Job Search Strategies for Career Changers

This article from Resumes2Work offers job hunting strategies for Career Changers and Career ReEntry professionals.

Most people who have made the decision to change their careers face the same problem:
How can I get hired when I don't have relevant experience?

It is true that not many companies will hire you as a graphic artist if you simply send a resume outlining your ten-year career in tax accounting! Even the best resume cannot hide the fact that your previous work experience has not qualified you for the position you seek.

The good news is that there are ways to gain entry into your chosen profession.

As Nicholas Lore explains in his exceptional career change book, The Pathfinder, "you gain admittance into any group, social or professional, by creating agreement." In other words, people are accepted into a group (or career field) because other people agree they belong. Agreement is developed through the things we say, the way we act, the knowledge we have etc. If a struggling, unpublished writer says "I hope to be a writer some day," she has already made it clear that she does not consider herself to be a writer. Others will agree with her categorization and accept that she is not a writer. But if she writes every day, submits short stories to small publications, attends writer's conferences and writes free articles for websites and local newspapers, she is now beginning to create agreement that she is, indeed, a writer.

The goal therefore is to become your new profession. Don't wait until someone hires you before you think of yourself as a computer programmer. Start to think of yourself that way now. Begin gathering the knowledge and experience you will need. Surf websites and chat rooms. Join associations and networking groups. Talk to other programmers. Read books. Practice. And most importantly...Read more

Louise Fletcher is President and Co-Founder of Blue Sky Resumes, which provides job search assistance, resume writing services and online portfolios for game industry professionals.

America's Aging Workforce

Experts estimate that by 2020, one in three workers will be 50 or older. Additionally, many of America's Baby Boomers, a third of the workforce, are set to retire by the end of the decade.

In today's global environment, employees are discovering that career skills developed earlier may becoming obsolete. Baby Boomers have to be open to career training to change careers or reenter the workforce .

Companies are tackling employee recruitment and retention to make sure they access and keep the top talent they need to succeed moving forward.

In a recent survey, Career Builder looked at one of the strategies that retail employers use to maintain their workforce. Nearly 19% of retail employers reported concern over the loss of intellectual capital at their organizations as a large number of workers transition from careers into retirement. Employers are increasingly attracted to the retired worker.

The survey reported that 28% of retail employers are likely to rehire retirees from other companies in 2008. This they say is due to a shortage of qualified workers.
Eleven percent of these retailers planned to provide incentives for workers at or approaching retirement age to continue their careers with the company.

What's your company doing?

Consider a Career Coach when Changing Careers

Erin Chambers shares six tips for using a coach to assist with transitions for baby boomers.

"Whether you're looking to get a promotion, strengthen your presence in the board room or figure out your next career move, calling in a coach may be just the ticket," says Chambers.

Check out the six tips here.

Which Resume Format Works Best?

The three types of resume formats widely acceptable are:

1. Chronological Resumes - Written with a reverse timeline where more recent items come first.
2. Functional Resumes - Written with emphasis on categorizing career experience in broad functional areas.
3. Combination of chronological and functional styles in one document.

Despite what you may hear from professional resume writers, there is no one right way to write a resume. These resume writing tips to help select the best resume format come from Peter Newfield, resume writer at Career-Resumes.

~~You are targeting a job that is a step up the ladder from your current position and you have at least three years experience in the field. Use a chronological resume.

~~You are targeting a job or career that is a lateral move and you have at least three years experience in the field. Use a chronological resume.

~~You are targeting a position in a different but somewhat related field where you would use skills that you have used in your current job. Use a combination resume.

~~You have a long, progressive career history in the same field and are targeting a lateral or upward career move. Use a chronological resume.

~~You are targeting a position in the same field but with significantly different required skills and job description. Use a combination resume.

~~You are military separating from the service and targeting a civilian job. Use a combination format.

~~You are in a technical field where you have used many different technologies, been involved in many projects, and have a broad array of skills. You are targeting a similar position or moving up. Use a combination format.

~~You have significant hurdles in your employment history such as large gaps, significant job hopping, or legal troubles and are targeting a position in your field. Use a functional format.

~~You are changing fields completely and your prior work history has no relevance to your new career (e.g. moving from computer programmer to chef). Use a functional format.

Evaluate Career Training Programs Carefully

Reported by: The Dallas Business Journal on 2/15.

The Texas Workforce Commission issued five cease and desist orders to health care career schools in McAllen and the Dallas area.

The schools are:
-The Esther Medical Tutorial & Nursing Review Center in Richardson
-The Vocational Training Education Center in Irving
-Career Advanced Medical Clinic and Training, in Dallas
-Merit Excellence Institute of Carrollton
-IF Tech in McAllen.

The Texas Workforce Commission claims none of the schools have obtained valid licenses or exemptions under the Texas Education Code.

"Students are paying large amounts of money for training, which will not allow them to be eligible to take the NCLEX licensing examination in Texas," said Mary Beth Thomas, director of nursing practice and education with the Texas Board of Nursing, in a release.

The Office of the Attorney General is responsible for enforcing the civil penalties of $1,000 per day per violation in instances when state agencies issue cease and desist orders. The Texas Workforce Commissions' Regulatory Integrity Division issued the orders.

Read more about Resume/Interview FAQs for Vocational students and grads.

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Have you thought about looking for a new job this year?

The third annual Franklin-Covey New Year's resolution survey actually had three job related issues in the top 10 resolutions for 2008.

-Develop a new skill or talent
-Work less, play more
-Change employment

The Career Journal offers a quick little questionaire about your satisfaction with your current career.

Check it out. Maybe you see things differently afterwards.

Advice for Changing Careers and Coping With Job Loss

As I write about General Motors' buy out offers to 74,000+ employees, I think about the changes to come in the lives and careers of these employees. Careers and employment will never be the same for these laid off workers even with cash payments of up to $140,000. Some of the displaced workers will welcome the buyout and others will not be happy with the pending career changes. CNN Money speaks to some of the difficult choices workers at GM will make.

"Those who leave (GM)and agree to sever all ties with the company - including giving up lucrative pension and health care coverage - will receive a lump sum of $140,000 if they have 10 years of service. They will receive $70,000 if they have less than 10 years of service."

These GM employees might perceive career changes or disruptions as a loss. These articles offer career advice on how to manage careers through changes like layoffs.

-10 Tips on How to Survive Job Loss
-Coping With job Loss
-Professionals in Transit
-Typical Reactions to Job Loss
-Financial Planning Association
-Job Loss can Lead to Depression

Changing Careers? Check Out LifeScript's Career Quizzes

Most of us like to take online career quizzes. We especially love them if they are short and will take us less than about 10 minutes to complete. Here are a few to bookmark at LifeScript.com.

There are certainly no guarantees that you will get any more than enjoyment out of these quizzes, but they certainly might be a good way to spend 10 minutes and break up a day.

LifeScript actually has other quick quizzes that might have little or no impact on your career choices, but fun anyway.

Parenting; Health; Money;
Fitness; Food & Diet

Is a Career Change in the New Year's Resolutions?

Franklin Covey has released the results from their 3rd annual New Year’s Resolutions Survey.

The survey polled 15,031 customers and discovered that the respondents’ top ten New Year’s resolutions for 2008 are ranked as follows: Three are directly related to employment, job or career. Number 4 and 6 could be closely related.

1. Get out of debt or save money

2. Lose weight

3. Develop a healthy habit (e.g., exercise or healthy eating)

4. Get organized

5. Develop a new skill or talent

6. Spend more time with family and friends

7. Other (Other (For me, "other" would include more concerts and more weekend trips without my computer)

8. Work less, play more

9. Break an unhealthy habit (e.g., smoking, alcohol, overeating)

10. Change employment

There is no time like the present to really embark on career changes or career adjustments. Keep in mind that the New Year gives you 12 months and stressing because you don't get it right in the first month, doesn't really help.

Take your time, stay positive and be deliberate.