Research Report: Top 25 Most Wanted Personal Brands of 2008
March 3, 2008 at 11:28 am | In Career Development, Personal Branding, Recruitment, news | 10 Comments
I’ve spoken about how there is an economic recession and how there were 70,000 job cuts in January, which is the most since March of 2003. Well, I have good news for the personal brands that are in demand by companies.
Jobfox has released their “Top 25 Most Wanted U.S. Professions” listing, and was nice enough to send it to me first. The winners are: software development, nursing, sales and accounting. This didn’t surprise me even for a second. I didn’t have much knowledge about nursing being a hot topic, but accounting majors have always been in demand and software is really big now for tech companies (growing market).
Robert McGovern, CEO of Jobfox, responds:
“These are professions that are thriving and will continue to be in demand for the foreseeable future. While hiring activity is reportedly slow in some industry sectors – construction and manufacturing, for example – companies continue to go after a host of high-impact professions requiring degrees or specialized skills. The best time for professionals to uncover great opportunities is when they don’t have to look. Once you’re in a position where you have to find a new job, you are no longer in the driver’s seat. When you are forced to taking a new job because you have to, it can be real damaging to long-term career goals.”
The top 10 most active professions
- Software Design/Development
- Nursing
- Accounting/Finance Executives
- Sales/Business Representative
- Administrative Assistant
- Corporate Finance
- Networking/System Administration
- Intelligence
- General Accounting
- Technical Customer Support
The climate for hiring remains steady overall, according to more than a 100 corporate recruiters:
- 43% of corporate recruiters say staff levels at their organizations will significantly or slightly increase during 2008.
- 19% say staffing levels will remain about the same.
- 21% say staffing levels will significantly or slightly decrease.
- 17% are unsure if staffing levels will increase, decrease or remain the same during 2008.
[Update] 30 fastest growing occupations for the year 2016 (Boston Globe)
This list was made possible by The US Bureau of Labor and their projections of the fasting growing career occupations. The total number of people employed in the US will have increased by 10% (15.6 million) between 2006 and 2016.
- Network Systems and Data Communications Analyst
- Personal and Home Care Aides
- Home Health Aides
- Computer Applications Software Engineers
- Veterinary Technologists and Technicians
- Personal Financial Advisers
- Theatrical and Performance Makeup Artists
- Medical Assistants
- Veterinarians
- Substance Abuse and Behavioral Disorder Counselors
- Skin Care Specialists
- Financial Analysts
- Social and Human Service Assistants
- Gaming Surveillance Officers and Gaming Investigators
- Physical Therapist Assistants
- Pharmacy Technicians
- Forensic Science Technicians
- Dental Hygienists
- Mental Health Counselors
- Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers
- Marriage and Family Therapists
- Dental Assistants
- Computer Systems Analysts
- Database Administrators
- Computer Software and Systems Software Engineers
- Gaming and Sports Book Writers and Runners
- Environmental Science and Protection Technicians
- Manicurists
- Physical Therapists
- Physician Assistants
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Dan, any mention about managers in any of those areas?
I can see individual contributors in those areas and assume that managers would be needed as well, but that’s an assumption.
This is good information.
Comment by Scot Herrick — March 3, 2008 #
@Scott – No mention of managers. My thoughts on that are that individual contributors do the bulk of the hands-on work, so they are more necessary than managers. A lot of middle managers are being laid off as we speak, to cut costs (their high salaries).
What do you think? Are you seeing this?
Comment by Dan Schawbel — March 3, 2008 #
I think team accountability is going to become more important than, say, department managers as they used to be defined…but can they really do away with managers completely? There will still be the need for someone to be a delegator, even in a team environment.
Then again, delegators can just step up, make themselves known as a personality within the team.
Still again, they’ll demand that manager status eventually, which is what I’ve seen in my workplace recently.
Comment by t h rive — March 3, 2008 #
@Thrive – You raise a good question. People need leaders..they need to bed led. People are fixated on others leadership and will join them, while remaining independent. There is a place for managers in this world, there just will be fewer of them.
Comment by Dan Schawbel — March 3, 2008 #
That’s right. I think your point is right about people ‘joining’, you need to admit to the same agenda as a manager, or else they’re just a ‘boss’.
p.s – new to your blog (stopped in maybe once before), I’ll have a look around.
Comment by t h rive — March 3, 2008 #
The manager position has gone several directions. For a long time, managers were considered as individual contributors who also happen to manage. There are good reasons for this.
Lately, there has been a resurgence in the manager who is really a manager. It is a profession, one meant to not only lead teams, but develop individuals on their team.
Right now, I’d say there is a good amount of both types of managers.
When interviewing for positions, it’s important to know what kind of management approach is being done in the company you are after.
Managers as individual contributors who also manage require a lot more work on your part to keep them updated, knowledgeable about your skills and career desires, and simply available to discuss issues. But they will leave you alone if you are doing well.
But, important to know which you are getting.
Comment by Scot Herrick — March 4, 2008 #
Good info and the comments are particularly interesting to me.
Keep in mind that it is the managers who are often polled for such hiring needs…for every manager there are X individual contributors. X is determined by the delegation ability of said manager.
When cuts are necessary, EVERYBODY must justify value for cost. Mid-management tends to be in a brand extension mode. Needs to be able to handle consolidation or become a “technical” skill contributor again – or gone.
Managers also need to learn how to communicate transferable skills and track strong industries – some industries or parts of the country are hiring a lot of mid managers and up today. Keep an eye on your environment folks. The vision of who you want to be is your greatest asset.
Comment by David Sandusky — March 4, 2008 #
Dan,
I love the quote you highlighted on “the best times for professionals to look…” I couldn’t agree more! Yet, everyone seems to wait. It’s very much along the same train of thought as Mackey and his “dig your well before your thirsty”.
I believe that’s a mantra for personal branding and networking. Professionals often “wait” until they are in need of something, or a connection or an introduction and then start looking to be “referrable” and to make connections – too late! Worse time to ask for something is when you’re desperate to have it – you appear hungry and hunting.
Interesting to see the fastest growing occupations. I would be interested in seeing the fastest growing businesses, too.
Thanks, as always, for great info and insight!
Maria Elena
Comment by Maria Elena — March 5, 2008 #
[...] heard on the radio this morning that nursing is the #2 most wanted profession in the U.S. So surely I will be able to find a job that I like, right? Right?So far I have applied to three [...]
Pingback by Kapachino » Blog Archive » The Job Hunt Begins — March 5, 2008 #
Great Post. We just did an article on our blog about how the Software Marketplace is not in a Recession and it will not be affected by it
Comment by .... — March 13, 2008 #