Daily Aid 11: 5 job trends that will keep you employed

In the midst of all the economic news, you may be wondering what to do, especially if you’re just getting into college now or are thinking about what life after college will be like. While it’s impossible to predict the future with any level of accuracy (just ask a competent weather forecaster what next month’s weather will be), there are some trends that are incredibly obvious and good bets for your future.

Call this, then, eye on the economy and jobcast in one.

Trend 1: Oil

We’re going to run out of oil someday. That’s kind of a given, since dinosaur juice takes a long, long time to make, far longer than the rate at which we use it. Students who have a focus in sciences like mineral and resource exploration will do very well for years to come as we keep trying to find the next energy source while we tap out existing sources. If you can find new forms of oil while the world’s energy systems change over, you’ll do well.

Trend 2: Water

If you think oil is scarce, fresh water is going to become even more scarce. Why? Too many people for too few fresh water resources. There’s a lot of water on the planet, but very little of it is drinkable. Students who have a physics and chemistry focus, as well as mechanical and electrical engineering, will be sought after for projects dealing with water in all of its forms. How can we find or create more water?

Trend 3: Energy

Solar, wind, nuclear, biomass, take your pick. The world is starving for more energy, especially renewable energy with a low environmental impact. Specialists in photovoltaics, batteries, and turbines will be needed desperately by anyone and everyone trying to find improved, more efficient solutions to a never-ending hunger for energy.

Trend 4: Writing

Believe it or not, writing as a skill is becoming increasingly valuable as the pool of competent writers decreases. The ability to write in a focused, concentrated manner is a rare one, especially if you can communicate effectively. Writing skills cross over into dozens of different media, from television to blogs to YouTube. If you’ve got outstanding writing chops, opportunities will abound.

Trend 5: Marketing

Our communications systems are increasingly clogged with messages of every kind, from commercials to political ads to spam. If you’re the person who can cut through the clutter and get your message across with impact, there are a few thousand companies that would like to talk to you very soon. Marketing is more than business. It’s art, music, interactive, design, writing, and communications all in one. If you’ve got a specialty, a knack for any of these areas, you’re likely going to be employed for a very long time.

One of the lessons of the global networked economy is that the long tail and short head matter more than ever. Today, employers have a buffet of choices when it comes to finding talented workers, from regular hires to outsourcing to subcontracting to… well, you get the idea. The old rule of employers just hiring locally is long gone.

In the world of today and tomorrow, your job security depends on you being the very best at what you do. Find a specialty and become the expert in it, because that’s truly your only job security. The company you work with today, no matter how old or prestigious, may be gone tomorrow (Lehman Brothers comes to mind, 158 years old and bankrupt) but its top talent will find new work very quickly. Everyone else who isn’t a top talent will have a much harder time finding work.

---

Subscribe to RSS headline updates from:
Powered by FeedBurner

---

Did you enjoy this? If so, please consider subscribing for free to get it delivered to you. Subscribing for free means you don’t have to remember to download it every day.
+
+
+

Reminders

+ Financial Aid Podcast Show Notes at FinancialAidNews.com.
+ Free scholarship search secrets eBook at StudentScholarshipSearch.com/ebook
+ Free college scholarships contests!

+ Stafford loans | Other federal student loans
+ Parent PLUS loans at ParentPLUSLoan.com
+ Graduate student loans
+ Private student loans
+ Private student loan consolidation at StudentLoanConsolidator.com
+ FAFSA tutorials and free help
+ The Financial Aid Podcast is a publication of the Student Loan Network.