Top Ten Most Popular Careers for 2012

As societies evolve, the economic and employment markets change continuously. Changing population
ages, woman re-entering employment and medical advances have a dramatic effect on certain job
sectors, the most obvious of these being healthcare, housing and pensions.
Technological development has opened up a whole new field of jobs, while affecting the nature of almost
every area of our society, and particularly the workplace.
On a more local level, certain careers can suddenly become popular for specific reasons. TV shows on
interior design or veterinary hospitals can lead to a sudden interest in those areas, while media coverage
about skills shortages can prompt an interest in other areas.
Here are the top ten most popular careers for 2012 in the US, Canada and the UK. The numbers of
people entering employment in these areas is predicted to rise faster than in other career areas over the
next five years.

Top Ten Most Popular Careers for 2012 in the UK

Data Communications Analysts: More and more organizations now stay in touch internally and
externally with other sites via networked communications. Analysts are responsible for overseeing
the installation and maintenance of such networks, which are now becoming critical to the
economic and social infrastructure.

Marketing Officer: Once existing solely in the private sector, the marketing function is also now
an intrinsic aspect of organizational life in the public and voluntary sector. The development of the
Internet has served to add to the marketing role, meaning that marketing opportunities continue to
grow.

Software Engineers: The IT job sector grows in size as technological advances continue to be
made. Computerized systems are ever more present in every area of organizational activity.
Software engineers, who design and develop new applications to meet specific needs, are in ever
greater demand.

Medical Administrator: There is an increasing need for administrators and clerical staff in the
healthcare sector, which continues to grow.

Community Nurse: The development of primary healthcare sees more nursing activities taking
place in the local community than ever before. The openings for community nurses, who perform
non-surgical tasks in the home or other local settings, are increasing year on year.

Advertising Agency Account Executive: The media sector is becoming ever more specialized
and complex, with an increasing number of specialist publications, broadcast channels and online
media. An increasing level of targeted marketing through advertising is seeing growth in the
number of opportunities for advertising executives.

Customer Services Assistant: The growth of Customer Relationship Management has led to
the establishment of many more customer service teams, who are dedicated to responding to
customer queries and fulfilling services requested by the telephone or online.

Information Officer: Digital technology has enabled organizations to store more data more
efficiently than in the past. Consequently, more personnel are needed who can offer specialist
skills in operating database software and information networks, retrieving and disseminating
information as necessary.

Administrator: Secretarial jobs may be decreasing as the personal computer changes the shape
of office processes, yet administrative jobs are growing, largely due to the centralization of
organizational systems.

Engineer: There is a growing demand for highly trained, skilled personnel who are able to meet
the needs of the mechanical, electrical, electronic, automotive, biomedical and civil engineering
sciences.

Best Careers for the Future - what is the best future job career?
Many websites will try to tell you which careers offer the best prospects for the future. Their choices are
usually based on percentage growth statistics for recent years, which are a clear indicator of where the
numbers of jobs are increasing.
However, this does not reflect other concerns such as which careers pay best, which jobs are easiest to
obtain, which need the longest periods of undergraduate and postgraduate study, and so on. Despite this,
some general trends hold true on a general level.

Future career trends

It is no surprise that one of the fastest growing areas of employment in recent years relates to computer
technology. Technological advance and the continued integration of IT and digital communications into
the workplace throughout the private, public and voluntary sectors ensures that this trend will continue for
some time. Systems analysts, designers and developers, computer programmers, web developers,
consultants and information managers reflect the range of these career areas. Hardware engineers are
also needed, working in infrastructure construction and repair, fibre, cable, satellites, etc.
Another guaranteed growth area is the healthcare sector. The increasing number of healthcare jobs is
directly attributable to the growing age of the population people are living longer so there are more
people in the older age groups and the expansion of treatments available for medical conditions,
whether delivered in the primary healthcare sector or within hospitals. Consequently, there is also an
expansion in the number of administrative and support roles needing to be filled.
Other careers deemed to be hot future career prospects relate to areas of scientific advance, and in
particular the bio sciences, such as biotechnology. Tissue engineers and gene programmers have
been highlighted, but all skill levels are included as companies grow, so does their administration
infrastructure. Other new scientific areas include nanotechnology and energy technology.

Demographic changes are leading to other needs in addition to

healthcare. Teachingand tourism, training and development, and care of the elderly are all areas
where openings are set to increase, as are financial advisors.
Services that already exist will grow further as the population ages. Standard professions include
the legal sector, police, teachers, tutors, etc. Meanwhile, there is a general return amongst certain
income sectors of paying for domestic supportwith the services of maids and cleaners, drivers, etc. This
is increasingly common as the higher divorce levels yield more one-parent families.
New services are developing that are opening out into recognized career fields. Many of these are
provided directly to the consumer. Counselling and variouscomplementary therapies are obvious
examples, as well as physical training instructors and coaches.

Graduates: What is the best career for the future?

Unsurprisingly, growing numbers of openings for graduates exist in the areas identified above. IT
careers include network systems and data communications analysts, software engineers, network and
computer systems administrators, and database administrators.
Healthcare careers include physician assistants, physical therapists and dental hygienists. Additionally,
the relatively new area of forensic science technician is also a hot prospect. With additional vocational
qualifications, graduates could consider entering the healthcare sector as a registered nurse, nursing aide
or orderly, or a licensed practical or vocational nurse.
Preschool teaching is also a healthy employment area, as
is hairdressing andcosmetology. Paralegal and legal assistant openings are also set to grow in
number.
Graduate openings that currently offer most new jobs (as opposed to future career trends) are:

Accountants and auditors.

Applications software engineers.

Computer systems analysts.

Secondary school teachers.

Systems engineers.

Systems analysts.

Network administrators.

Employment and recruitment specialists.

Declining Careers

Unsurprisingly, the technological revolution has led to a downturn in a number of work areas. Declining
careers include traditional printing jobs, such as typesetting, which have been largely replaced by
electronic processes. Likewise, many secretarial posts have been lost to more general personal assistant
or administrator roles. Work relating to fax machines, telephone and telex operations has also declined,
as so many communication tasks are now fulfilled via the PC.
The opening up of the global marketplace has also brought about a decline in certain low-skill technology
jobs that are now based overseas. These declining careers include programming, customer call centres,
technical support and other services that can be provided by telephone or online workers. The same is
occurring with data entry and straightforward accounting or banking jobs. Much work is going to countries
such as India or Taiwan, where overheads and salaries are far lower.

Your choice of future career

Identification of future career trends is of some help when you are seeking a career direction. You now
know that it will help you to look for a career that requires a high skill level but which cannot be done
remotely. Therefore, you would be safest learning a skill or profession that requires your physical
presence such as a nurse, physician, dental hygienist, or hair stylist. Within the IT sector, it is safe to
assume that the majority of more complex jobs will stay onshore.
Ultimately, your choice of career must depend primarily on an assessment of your own skills, abilities,
personal qualities, interests, availability and geographical location. This is essential if you want to be
successful, no matter how good the prospects are in that area of employment.