WORKING IT
Techies and dentists most in demand
Job seekers looking for a career that offers steady employment, a good salary and longterm growth opportunities may want to start absorbing every bit — and byte — of knowledge they can about computers.
That, or learn how to wield a dental scaler.
According to U.s. News & World report’s comprehensive best Jobs of 2014 study, careers in health care and i nformation technology are your best bets when it comes to gainful employment.
In the annual report, released Thursday, j obs i n the health-care sector dominated this year’s rankings with seven in the top 10.
Dentist was No.3, followed by nurse practitioner, pharmacist, registered nurse, physical therapist and physician ranked fourth to eighth.
Tech jobs, though, filled the top two slots — No. 1 overall is software developer, followed by computer systems analyst. Web developer ranked ninth.
It’s the first time an information technology job took the top spot from one in health care, U.s. News stated.
software developer, in fact, jumped from No. 7 in the 2013 rankings thanks in large part to increasing demand as the use of mobile devices rises — job growth is expected to climb 23% by 2022.
“on our list, s of tware developer is a blanket job name for professionals who could work building applications or those who create operating systems, and they’re in high demand since companies want to expand and enhance their products, from cell phones to operating systems to mobile games,” Jada Graves, U.s. News & World report’s senior editor on careers, told t he Da i ly News.
“This is augmented by the fact that the unemployment rate for this type of work is really low and the pay is good.”
The outlook for health care professionals is stronger than ever, according to U.s. News. of the 100 jobs covered in the report, 38 were in the sector, which Graves said has more applicants than openings.
The repor t, available at money.usnews.com/careers/ best-jobs/rankings, also breaks down the rankings into specific categories.
Market research analyst is the No. 1 business job; school psychologist is the top social services job; and public relations specialist is the leading creative occupation.
To crack the top 100, the jobs were rated on such criteria as 10-year growth potential, median salary, employment rate, stress level and work-life balance.
Which explains why a job like nail technician — folks who give mani-pedis — made the list at No. 49.
While the median salary is low at just over $19,000, the growth outlook is pretty good at nearly 16% through 2022, U.s. News said.