Hot Jobs For 2009
Source: Jobfox

Predictions on new job trends for 2009 inspired by President-elect Barack Obama’s economic initiatives:

Construction
Initiative: Construction of roads, bridges, transit and rural broadband
1. Construction managers
2. Project managers
3. Civil engineers
4. Computer-aided drafting specialists
5. Telecommunications engineers

Finance
Initiative: Greater oversight of financial markets
1. Compliance accountants
2. Internal auditors
3. Tax accountants
4. Government regulators

Energy
Initiative: Energy independence
1. Electrical engineers
2. Mechanical engineers
3. Power grid managers
4. Biofuels chemists
5. Sales and marketing

Healthcare
Initiative: Healthcare modernization
1. Nurses
2. Information technology specialists
3. Bioinformatics specialists
4. Information security specialists
5. Software developers

Community Involvement
Initiative: Volunteerism and community involvement
1. Social workers
2. Administrators
3. Translators

Recruiters Confidence Improves
Source: ExecuNet Recruiter Confidence Index

Confidence in the Executive Employment Market — Next Six Months

The outlook for the top of the employment market in 2009 is beginning to show signs of improvement. ExecuNet’s Recruiter Confidence Index (RCI), which hit an all-time low in November, climbed higher in December, as executive search firms begin to eye the second quarter of 2009 with more optimism about assignment levels.

“While the uptick in confidence indicates that more executive recruiters are expecting an increase in assignment growth, the RCI remains below healthy levels,” says Mark Anderson, president of ExecuNet. “Looking ahead to 2009, the search industry is cautiously optimistic that executive level job growth will begin to rebound in the second half of the year. In the meantime, recruiters continue to report pockets of job growth in the Healthcare, Environmental, and Energy industries.”

Growing Metropolitan Areas
Source: Economy.com

According to Economy.com, metropolitan areas showing job growth include: Boulder, Colo.; Lafayette and Louisiana, La.; Bethesda, Md.; Jacksonville, N.C.; Binghamton, N.Y.; Oklahoma City; Okla.; State College, Pa.; and Brownsville, El Paso, Laredo, McAllen, and San Antonio, Texas.

CEOs of Smaller Companies Resist Downsizing

A survey of small firms by the Entrex Private Company Index found that 72 percent of CEOs are bucking the downsizing trend and plan to increase the number of employees they hire this year.

“Even better, respondents indicated they would maintain the current number of full-time employees — meaning zero CEOs suggest plans to decrease employment size in 2009,” the study found.

Hot-off-the-press from Jobbait.com:

If you’re considering moving to a recession-proof area, this may help you.  6 cities (metro areas) are recession-proof according to our analysis of the latest BLS data available on November 23, 2008:

1. Merced, CA
2. Grand Junction, CO
3. Billings, MT
4. Laredo, TX
5. Kennewick-Pasco-Richland, WA
6. Morgantown, WV

Another 29 are almost recession-proof.

To sign up (for free) to see all 35 recession-proof cities, including the total number of new jobs by specific industry in the last 12 months, go to www.jobbait.com.

A recent article in FORBES shows how these days, you can make green by being green. No longer do environmentalists need to take a vow of poverty before starting their careers. Global giants ranging from Google to General Motors are making room in the corner office for executives with titles like chief sustainability officer and chief environmental officer.

Environmental engineers are well positioned to profit from this trend. Demand is predicted to grow more than 25% over the next eight years and many of these engineers will make well over $100,000 a year. Many environmental engineers work as consultants, helping their clients find ways to decrease the environmental impact of their projects.

For those in law school, environmental law has a bright future. Environmental lawyers have the potential to earn just as much as their counterparts in other areas of law, with salaries exceeding $145,000 a year.

Those with a more creative bent may find an outlet in industrial design. Industrial designers have control over many elements of manufacturing from selecting the materials to designing the packaging, and they can directly impact the creation of environmentally friendly products.

Read the full article here: http://tiny.cc/EoRhz

No doubt it is a tough job market out there. However there are some bright lights in several established and emerging new industries that are worth checking out:

Manufacturing

Recently on the news you may have heard that manufacturing, which has been in steady decline in the USfor years, may experience a comeback. Rising prices due to increased transportation costs, coupled with the weakness of the dollar may stimulate onshoring. As a result, many large companies are opting to expand their facilities within the US.

Executive Level Jobs

Additionally, according to the US Dept. of Labor Statistics, nationwide in 2008, the industries expected to generate the highest number of future executive-level jobs are high-tech, healthcare, business services, pharmaceutical/medical/biotech, and     energy/utilities.

Geographic Areas

Also according to the US Dept. of Labor Statistics 2008, there are some States that are holding fairly steady growth for the majority of job sectors. They include Texas, Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma, New Hampshire and Colorado.

Green Collar Jobs

If you Google green jobs, you can spend hours surfing through dozens of new job boards designed for those who are interested in jobs dealing with sustainable issues and the new clean-tech economy. Companies you will find range from wind farms to solar and hybrid car manufacturers to green buildings and other renewable energy technologies.

And according to TIME Magazines article titled: What Is a Green Collar Job anyway, John McCain, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton all love green-collar jobs and claim their respective energy plans will create millions of new green-collar jobs in America.

A wise idea for the career industry changer in these market conditions is to evaluate those emerging and still-strong industries when strategically making a move.

I was recently reading a post by Pamela Skillings on her blog “Escape From Corporate America.” Not only does she offer some pretty unique but common sense advice for the corporate warrior ready to wave the white flag, she offers it with a healthy dose of humor. Her post “How To Get Started In Freelancing or Consulting, offers great advice for the professional who is exploring their options. I like it. Read it here.