Best Career Paths for the Coming 10 Years

Ladies and gentlemen,  it's high time we talked a bit about the most recommended careers for the next 10 years and maybe for the next decades.

It's commonly believed that it's hard to guess the future, but most of the job market experts tend to agree about a few career paths that should give good prospects for work.

But wait a minute - you must bear in mind that in order to succeed in a career, you must fit that career.  If you're restless you'll never do well in the  software industry.

If you don't do well with people, you'll never get along in a medical career.  If you can't express yourself well, you better avoid law school or a journalism career.

Furthermore, you should bear in mind that prediction may fail, and careers which have strong job prospects may let you down due to global changes  or economic crisis.

Finally, take into consideration that these predictions have been concluded about the job market n the USA.  Other western markets may differ a bit in their predictions, and non-western

market may differ significantly from these predictions.

So let's have a look at the top recommended career for  young people nowadays:

1. Denstist / Debtal Hygienist - remember to go to the dentist every 6 months for a a routine check and teeth polishing?  If not - please do.

Anyway, these professional can sleep very  peacfully at night, due to the fact that no human being can sleep peacefully without any teeth..

A dentist has to put up with long studies of 6 years and an hygenist has to deal with about 3 years of study.

Pros: work everywhere and always.

Cons: look at people mouths' all day long?

2. Registered Nurse (RN) - People nowadays live longer.  100 years ago the life expectancy of people in the US was less than 60 years.  Nowadays - 80 years. 

   Someone has to treat physically old & sick people, and these are the nurses.  They are the professionals maintaining the hosptital departments on daily basis.

Pros: contribution to society and  steady emplyoment.

Cons: hard work that you must be suitable to.

  

3. Computer network professionals - right now you're surfing the web. The network giving you this service needs frequent maintenance: servers, communication lines and gateways  tend to fall apart.

   These professionals work aroung the clock in order to keep the communication infrastructure steady and functioning.

   Thus there's a need of many professionals in this field.

Pros: a. work with people and computers alike.  b. relatively stable employment.

Cons: need to be a good service provider.

  

4. Physician - "Doctor, I'm sick, help me!". No life without doctors.  The long years of studies and the hard mental appects of the medical world prevent many people from joining the field.

   This makes sure every physician always has a plenty of vocational prospects, both as an employed professional or as a self employed professional.

Pros: a. The most prestigious career.  b. always employed.   c. always earns well.  d. high contribution to society.

Cons: a. a very long trainig.  b. mentally difficult - blood, sweat and tears are the daily routine.

  

 5. Software Engineer/Developer  -  these are Computer Science graduates who develop and improve software (programms, applications, websites, operation systems etc.) for you to use when you use

 the computer.  A computer without software is like a body without a soul.   Thus this witty and creative profession need a flow of well trained and highly experienced professionals.

Pros: a. highly employable (when you're young).  b. very challanging intellectually.  c. various career path available.  d. easy to be self employed. e. very high wages (compared to the general job market).

 Cons: a. very difficult studies, as Computer Science is one of the most challanging academic tracks.  b. working mainly with computer for long hours.   c. unstable job market.  d. age bias - difficult to get employed after you're 45.

 6. Physical Therapist / Occupational Therapist - These are professional who engage in rehabilatory medicine  i.e taking a disabled person and making him be capeable of improved physical functioning.

    They treat accident victims, born disabled people and injured athletes.  These professions require high patience for people and high level of empathy.

    Pros: a. Mentally very fulfilling.  b. Stable job market.  c. potential of being self-employed.

    Cons: a. Requires high levels of patience and empathy around people.   b. Sometimes requires physical effort.   c. Requires putting up with human suffering.

   

7. Civil Engineering - these are the professionals designing buldings, roads, piplines, sewage infractures, bridges, railways  and supervise their construction.

   This career is both technical and outdoors, as the engineers work mainly on site.

   Pros: a. Being an engineer without being indoors all day long.   b. Focusing on managing people and materials.  c. Potential of being self employed.  d. Wages above the average.

   Cons: a. Not everyone is for working outdoors.  b. Medium demand throughout recessions.  c. Not stress-proof.

8. Actuary - These professionals are expert to risk taking, especially in the insurance & banking industries.  They make for their employers/clients statistical calculation

   dealing eith the risk these clients take.  For example: they advice how much insurance policy should cost or should a person be insured at all.

   Pros: A good demand for workers in comparison to the number of people studying it.  b. Very interesting to realistic oriented people.  c. Potential of being self employed.  d. Good pay.

   Cons: a. Long years of study (5-6 years).  b. Can be very boring for non-realistic people. 

  

  

 Summary - as you've noticed, the job market tends clearly toward the medical or realistic professions.  It's important to be suitable for a career in order to succeed 

 but it's also important that the career will be stable and rewarding materially.  Good Luck!

16 Types Test and Your Career Choice

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to my new article "16 Types Test and Your Career Choice". In the last article I wrote about the necessity of psychological tests in the course of career counselling. These tests use to classify people to several personality type and by that advice them about their career. Today I'm going to present you one of the most popular psychological test, which is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).

This test examines 4 traits at a person and decides between 2 options for each trait: 1. Extraversion (E) - Introversion (I)

Extrovert are people who are action and people's oriented. They prefer to act straight away instead of thinking and planning. They know a little about many topics but none in depth. They prefer many superficial relationships rather than a few deep relationships. They get reassured by the presence and opinions of other people.

Introverts are thinking and ideas people. They tend to deepen into a few areas of speciality and don't scatter on many topics. They tend to have a few deep relationships and don't make many acquaintances. They get reassurance by spending time alone and contemplating.

2. Sensing (S) - Intuition (N)

Sensing people look superficially at data: if you told them about an article on the paper, they wouldn't (for example) suspect that the article may promote political agenda. When reading a post on the internet, they wouldn't bother to find out who published that information. If you told them something about yourself, they wouldn't contemplate why you told them that. They concentrate on the present with little contemplation on the future.

Intuitive people tend to link between ideas and produce a new idea. They tend to be suspicious about facts and dive inside the data in order to find the truth. They contemplate on new possibilities and idea and don't concentrate on the present. They manage well with theories and abstract ideas.


3. Thinking (T) - Feeling (F)

Thinking people make decisions based on facts and rules. They don't involve deep emotions in their decision making. They concentrate on getting maximal benefit in their decisions.

Feeling people make decisions based on emotions and feelings. They involve their feelings in their decision making. They concentrate on the human factor of the decisions.


4. Judging (J) - Perception (P)

Judging people tend to use their judging trait (thinking or feeling) much more than their perception trait (sensing or intuition). Perceiving people tend to use their perception trait (sensing or intuition) more than their judging trait (thinking or feeling).


Now, please go and test yourselves here: http://16typequiz.com/quiz.html

What are the main career paths for each personality type:

ISTJ (duty fullfillers) careers: Business Executives Accountants Detectives Lawyers Medical Doctors / Dentists Computer Programmers Military Leaders

ESTJ (guardians) careers:
Military leaders
Business Administrators and Managers
Police / Detective work
Judges
Financial Officers
Teachers
Sales Representatives

ISFJ (nurturer) careers:
Interior Decorators
Designers
Nurses
Administrators and Managers
Administrative Assistants
Child Care / Early Childhood Development
Social Work / Counselors
Paralegals
Clergy / Religious Workers
Office Managers
Shopkeepers
Bookkeepers
Home Economics

ESFJ (caregivers) careers: Home Economics Nursing Teaching Administrators Child Care Family Practice Physician Clergy or other religious work Office Managers Counselors / Social Work Bookkeeping / Accounting Administrative Assistants

ISTP (mechanics) careers: Police and Detective Work Forensic Pathologists Computer Programmers, System Analysts Engineers Carpenters Mechanics Pilots, Drivers, Motorcyclists Athletes Entrepreneurs

ESTP (doers) careers: Sales Representatives Marketing Personnel Police / Detective Work Paramedic / Emergency Medical Technician PC Technicians or Network Cablers Computer Technical Support Entrepreneurs Athlete

ISFP (artists) careers: Artist Musician / Composer Designer Child Care / Early Childhood Development Social Worker / Counselor Teacher Psychologist Veterinarian Forest Ranger Pediatrician

ESFP (performers) careers: Artists, Performers and Actors Sales Representatives Counselors / Social Work Child Care Fashion Designers Interior Decorators Consultants Photographers

INTJ (scientists) careers: Scientists Engineers Professors Medical Doctor Corporate Strategists Business Administrators Military Leaders Lawyers Computer Programmers

ENTJ (executives) careers: Corporate Executive Officer Entrepreneur Computer Consultant Lawyer Judge Business Administrators University Professors and Administrators

INTP (thinkers) careers: Scientists Photographers Strategic Planners Mathematicians University Professors Computer Programmers Technical Writers Engineers Lawyers Forensic Research

ENTP (visionaries) careers: Lawyers Psychologists Entrepreneurs Actors Sales personnel Computer Programmer

INFJ (protectors) careers: Clergy / Religious Work Teachers Medical Doctors Alternative Health Care Practitioners Psychologists Social Workers Musicians

ENFJ (givers) careers: Psychologist Social Worker Teacher Clergy Sales people Human Resources Politicians

INFP (idealists) careers: Writers Social Workers Teachers Psychologists Musicians Clergy

ENFP (inspirers) careers: Psychologist Entrepreneur Actor Teacher Politician Writer Television Reporter Computer Programmer Engineer

Summary - I've posted here the option of getting career advice by a very simple and prompt measure: the 16-Type test. I'd be happy to hear your reviews about this test an its reliability.

Why Do Most People Regret Their Career Choices?

Hi folks,  today I'm going to deliberate the issue most of us stumple on quite frequently along our career:   We're not satisfied with it!   We get up at the morning, brush our teeth,  drink coffee and maybe have a quick breakfast, and then - we move reluctantly  towards our car or bus for another day of not-so-bad-not-so-good  work.

So how many people are actually satisfied with their career?  In other words: out of 100 workers, how many would tell you they wouldn't change their profession or job?  Recent article have shown an astonishing figure: only 10% of the people in western societies are fully satisfied with their career.  The vast majority would change either  their profession or workng place.


Now, wait a minute: if  almost everyone is unsatisfied with their careers, we must ask ourselves what's going wrong with people's career choice?  How come almost every young man or woman take a choice which after a few years would become a source of exasperation for them?

I'll tell what I think and you will challange me if you don't agree:

1.   Peer & family pressure  - I'm sure most of you have noticed that young people tend to pick up careers common in their  surroundings, whether  their families or communties.  Very often one can stumple on an attourney whose father or uncle is also an attourney.  We all have met families of police officers where the grandfather, the father and the son  all wear blue uniforms from their early 20s.
 Well, this is a terrific source of troubles, as people who go into an unsuitable careers for them tend to have major difficulties in running those careers.   Suitability to one's career is not less important than the suitability to one's spouse.

2.  Choosing a career too early - it's hard to believe that a 20 years old man or woman can effectively choose a career at an age which in this generation is still highly immature.  Look at that this way:  a person in western societies spends 40-50 hours a week at work, usually much more than with the spouse.
Would you recommend a 18-21 years old person to get married?  most of you wouldn't.  So why do you think it's recommended to choose a career at such an age?

3. Overlooking the job & wage prospects  of a career - it's true that the job market sees changes in demand for different occupations, but along decades more or less the same professionals enjoy high demand and high wages.  It's widely believed that High-Tech (software & electronics) professionals and medical (doctors, nurses etc.) professionals enjoy prosperous job market along decades, while humanities graduates enjoy a medium job market.  This figure most probably is not going to change from now to about year 2040.
Many young people overlook the consequences of their  career choices in this matter.

4. Unawareness of one's true personality -  Let me tell you about my old friend Jenny.  When she was 20 years old, she began studying Library studies and worked as a library clerk in a college library.  Throughout her studies, she began feeling an uneasy sensation of shame: most of her  friends went to Engineering school as she was preparing herself for a career as a clerk.
Jenny was unaware of her level of ambition and caused herself a waste of time studying for a career which basically couldn't be fulfilling for her mentally.

5.  Thinking only about the money -  as Madonna's song says: "We live in a material world".  Today's young people tend to choose their career solely by the average annual revenue it might give them.  As choosing a career solely by interest while overlooking its job & wage prospects is ridiculous in my view, making decisions solely based on the material aspect is very problematic.   Why?  because a person engaging in an unsuitable career may retire after a couple of years from the career because of early burnout and opt for another career. 6. Not going through a professional diagnosis procedure - A professional career consultant has the full capacity of making a career choice from an irritating task to a straight forward one. Simple psychological test like the 4-type test or Holland test can give you a narrow range of recommended careers and moreover, a list of unrecommended careers. So guess how many people out of 100 go through career diagnosis? You've guessed it right: less than 20%. Summary - I've said enough. Now it's you - tell me what do you think, either by email (at the title of the blog) or by a comment. Cheers!

Home Business - Who Should Give It a Try?

Ladies and gentlemen, this week I'm going to discuss with you a relatively new field of employment - home business.  By this term I refer to a small business run from home.  This implies a business without a dedicated place (shop, office, workshop) being maintained for and generally without inventory being held for.

In this article I'll elaborate a bit on the following points:

1. What are the main business types relevant to a home business?

2. Advantages of running a home business.

3. Disadvantages of running a home business.

4. How to start a home business?


What are the main business types relevant to a home business?


1. Marketing - due to the fact that  most marketing campaign are carried out by phone or internet, there is a wide variety of marketing activities relevant to working at  home.  Examples to marketing businesses:

a.  Virtual store -  selling products online, as 10% of all commerce in the US gets performed through the internet.  The most prominent virtual store platform in recent years has been Ebay, where hundreds of thousands of merchants find work, many times in success.

b. Telemarketing - selling products of businesses online.  As it sounds, it's a great prospect of working at home, as its only infrastructure is a phone line.  The idea is that a business pays the marketer based on  successes.


c. Affiliate marketing - promoting products online and getting paid by successes.  This is done by  advertising products on sites and forums and promoting them by this.  The most prominent affiliate platform nowadays is Google Adsense.

2. Organizational home businesses


a. Event organization - help people run a party or a meeting at their garden  or at at a club.  Most people who need to run such events have no clue about this and get panicked.  This opens a wide prospect of employment for people with some organizational experience and motivation of working independantly.

b. Home arrangements - People nowadays tend to work long hours and need assistance in every aspects of their housekeeping.  Thus house cleaning, closet arrangement or  handymen services can be very lucrative.  Such businesses can be suitable to hard working people with some experience in such work.


c. Cooking - Many people just don't seems to have time for decent cooking.  Thus it's feasible to offer them cooking services, from sandwich breakfasts to familial dinners.  People who wish to engage in such businesses, need to have cooking experience and devotion to such kind of a business.


3.  Personal services businesses


a.  Information retrieval - many organizations need casual internet searching services, where experienced information specialists search the web for business, scientific or social information.  For example, engineering company would sometimes save engineer working hours invested in web search and give it  to information specialist who are often more web savvy.

b. Virtual Assistant - some business people hire assistants for  limited tasks such as: typing, phone call answering or  web searching.  This kind of  work lets the service provider work without any importance to physical location, and a wider range of service providers to the buyer.



Advantages of running a home business


Well, if you're over 18 years old and need me to tell you - I'm very sorry for you.   Anyway, I see a few main advantages to be your own boss and do it from the comfort of your home:

1. You don't have to maintain  a place - you don't need a shop or an office let alone not a workshop.  Your business is located at home and this saves you a fortune and increases drastically the survival prospects of your business.

2. You don't need inventory - this means that you don't hold stocks of merchandise that you don't need  to purchase beforehand and sell.  This feature gives you 2 advantages:  First, you don't need initial investment in order to form the business.   Second, the survival prospects of your business go up significantly.

 3. Less commuting -  while working from home, you travel much less (on average) than a person working otherwise.  The reason for this is obvious: you basically don't get out of home.  The average worker commutes hundreds of hours a year, which the home worker spares.


 Disadvantages of running a home business


1. Lack of social interaction - in many home businesses most of the work is done with a computer under little social interaction.  This can bring to feelings of social isolation and estrangement.  As the human being  a social creature, a home business owner should find complementary means of social interaction.

2. Limited range of business fields - most businesses can't be implemented at home due a need of space  for serving people or storing stocks.  The range of businesses relevant to an apartment is restricted to those who don't need a large space.

3. Can't attract customers by location - a shop or an office attract customers by the fact that they're located on a street and people go by them and are exposed to the services they offer.  A home business is basically invisible to the public because no one can see it.  Thus such a business needs to find complementary means of advertising itself.

Online Merchant - Another Option in Life

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm pleased to present you a new profession that might be appealing to you.  These profession employed over 1 million people across the world and is expected to grow in the coming decades.  I'm going to  relate to a few questions:

1. What is required from an online merchant?

2. What are the advantages and benefits of such work?

3. Who may be suitable for this kind of work?

4. Some statistics about this field.



 What is required from an online merchant?

Working as an online merchant, marketing goods online, sounds fun and easy but actually it's a profession to learn through the years.  The main abilities required from an online merchant:

1. Learning all the time - marketing online is a rapid developing field which evolves steadily in many directions and new niches.  Being able to keep abreast with these fast changes is crucial  for a successful online merchant.

2. Passion for the sale - an online merchant should wake up at the morning with the thought "what am I going to sell today".  Without this passion, you'll never last in this field.

3. Perseverance - like in every business, the online merchant must have the ability to wait even years till the income becomes significant.  This is not a field for people who seek a quick way for getting rich.  The process of  becoming a seasoned online merchant is tedious and frustrating, so you better take this point into account.


What are the advantages and benefits of such work?

Well, It's obvious, isn't it?

1. Totally independent - no boss, no colleagues, no office politics.  Just you - an army of 1 person.

2. No need for a location - no need for a shop or a workshop.

3.  No need for merchandize - you buy your stock when you receive orders from clients.

4. No risk of getting fired - you may earn a little but you can't be fired.

5.  No age bias - the term "age 40+" doesn't apply to this kind of a job.

6. No boredom -  you always learn new things and new techniques.


Who may be suitable for this kind of work?

When I think of this question, I can depict an online merchant as:

1. Merchant - likes and good at selling things.  Even on the Internet, a sale is a sale.   Merchandise is merchandise.

2. Likes working with computers - isn't selling online involving computers?..

3. Patient - success in sales requires time and experience.  It's not a piece of cake.

4. Little talent for sales - as in every career, talent can be useful..



Some statistics about this field:

So let's have a look at main statistical figures:

1. In the USA alone, there are about 90,000 online stores making at least  $1000 a month. out of these, about 55,00 stores make at least $2000 a month.

2. In the USA, the average annual income for a full time job online merchant stand at about  $65,000.  The hourly income is about $30.

3. The most successful niches in the USA involve the financial world: loans, insurance, credit cards, debt solutions etc.

4. About 10% of all shopping done in the USA - is done online!