Cover
Story 2/18/02
Careers
To Count On
Looking for a job that is a sure bet? Well, don't assume that security equals
drudgery. Professions in which jobs are projected to be plentiful for years to
come are surprisingly diverse and satisfying. They include speech-language
pathologists who help kids in school and truck drivers who tinker with onboard
laptops.
Here
are eight of the nation's most secure career tracks:
FORENSIC ACCOUNTANT
Sherlock Holmes, meet Enron
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Not since gangster Al Capone was nabbed for tax
evasion have forensic accountants been so squarely in the public eye. The
bloodhounds of bookkeeping sniff out fraud and criminal transactions in
corporate financial records. And they're now blessed with expanded
opportunities. Business losses in a slow economy and the recent spate of
corporate collapsesñthink Enronñhave executives scurrying to hire forensic
accountants to prevent and investigate money-sucking crimes, and prepare for
court cases. Nearly 40 percent of the top 100 accounting firms are expanding
their forensics and fraud services, according to Accounting Today, and
the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners has grown from just5,500members
in 1992to 25,000in 2002. It's not a job fordullards in green eyeshades, either.
Timothy Anglim, president of the Forensic Group LLC, says the "thrill of
the hunt" excites accountants, as does "regenerating an enterprise
that may have been written off. . . . You can turn an enterprise around
single-handedly." Superman CPA, maybe?
PAY
AND PERKS:$30,000 to $110,000 and up. Gumshoe gumption can lead to
high-level careers at law firms, corporations, and government agencies such as
the FBI.
TRAINING:
B.S. in accounting, plus two to four years of accounting experience. A
Certified Public Accountant license is almost always required. -Samantha
Levine
SPEECH PATHOLOGIST
Learning the lilt of language
Wendy
Wingard-Gay, a speech-language pathologist in York, S.C., plays the guitar and
sings to her students. Carol Ecke breaks out the crayons in her Great Falls,
Mont., classrooms. Both women recognize that working with young children
requires imagination. "All the kids like to be entertained," says
Ecke. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) diagnose and treat speech disorders,
swallowing disorders, and language disorders (picture toddlers who fail to
develop language or stroke victims with impaired speech). Roughly half are
based in schools, where they often carry heavy workloads: Ecke works in three
public schools. Other SLPs toil in hospitals, nursing homes, or private
practice.
The
demand for speech therapy is anticipated to grow along with rising school
enrollments and the burgeoning elderly population. Many schools already face a
pressing shortage of bilingual SLPs. Medical advances also ensure that more
premature babies and stroke and trauma victims will survive, many of whom are
at risk for speech or language problems. And disability laws oblige schools to
provide speech-language therapy to kids who need it.
PAY
AND PERKS:Median salaries: $42,500 for schools, $45,000 for private
practice. Surveys show high job satisfaction.
TRAINING: Some 230 schools
offer accredited master's or doctoral programs. A master's degree and clinical
fellowship are required for certification. -Holly J. Morris
TRAFFIC ENGINEER
Undam that traffic jam
For
millions of Americans, girding for gridlock is a teeth-grinding daily ritual.
And with more cars on the road every day, engineers and other professionals
trained to reduce traffic congestion are finding plenty of job opportunities.
One enticement: Transportation engineers can quickly produce results, on city
streets and interstate freeways. "I wanted to find a way I could
physically make the world better," says 24-year-old rookie traffic
engineer Britt Thesen. Her work in San Franciscoñplanning bus lanes, putting
speed humps on residential streets, and timing traffic signalsñsounds
disarmingly simple, but to harried commuters and concerned civic leaders it can
provide overdue relief. As the population density of cities and suburbs
increases, traffic gridlock is likely to generate new jobs for sociology and
political science graduates, too. They will work with engineers on behalf of
neighborhood groups seeking solutions to sprawl and congestion.
PAY
AND PERKS: $45,000 to $150,000. Producing tangible change is a source
of job satisfaction for many.
TRAINING: Most
traffic engineers have a B.S. in civil or electrical engineering or computer
science. A master's degree and state certification are often helpful. -Andrew
Curry
HEALTH TECHNOLOGIST
Tests, talk, and hand-holding
By
the time Laurie Wescott of Clio, Mich., finished her training in a radiologic
technology program, four hospitals were wooing her with job offers. It's no
surprise. As an aging population hits its twilight years, hospital visits and
diagnostic testing are rapidly rising. Those tests require plenty of people to
administer themñsuch as the lab technician who analyzes slide specimens and the
ultrasonographer who monitors pregnancies. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
projects that job slots for 39,000 more radiographersñthose who take X-rays, CT
scans, and MRIsñwill open up over the coming decade. And demand is also surging
for workers who can perform other tests, such as nuclear medicine procedures
and electrocardiograms.
For
many technologists, the lure of the work is both the art of mastering the
machinery and helping patients navigate the tests. Wescott, 26, says that
people are often claustrophobic inside the tubelike MRI machine, and she finds
it gratifying when she can calm them. "You talk them through before each
scan and . . . they're so glad you got them out of there, you get a big
hug."
PAY
AND PERKS: $20,000 to $60,000. Job spinoffs include selling imaging
instruments and training other technologists.
TRAINING:Typically
requires two to four years of training at colleges, vocational-technical
schools, or hospitals. -Rachel K. Sobel
TRUCK DRIVER
The lifelong lure of the open road
If
he took all of the rig work available to him, 48-year-old truck driver Jeff
Beyer's biggest worry would be running afoul of the federal limit on
consecutive driving hours, now set at 70 hours over eight days. Instead, Beyer,
who owns his rig, chooses to keep a more moderate schedule, typically spending
two weeks on the road before returning home for five days to New Tripoli, Pa. Yet
as Beyer has discovered, trucking offers more than the prospect of steady work.
Since he set out 25 years ago, the business has changed: Cabs equipped with
laptops and global positioning systems have replaced roadside grease pits as
communication centers. Today, drivers are far more independent. "We call
them managers of rolling profit centers,'' says Feegeebee Parrish, a recruiter
for Swift Transportation. "They manage their own time and money, with no
one telling them where or when to go."
Roughly
80 percent of all finished products in the United States ride on a truck at
some point. Analysts project the national fleet will need to grow by 25 percent
in the next decade to keep up with demand. One bonus to the competition: As
companies court better drivers and truckers chase higher salaries, even rookie
drivers will be able to land jobs.
PAY
AND PERKS: Newcomers: $30,000 and up. Veteran drivers: $40,000 to
$60,000. Flexible hours are a big plus.
TRAINING: A
six-week driver-training course is recommended before testing for a commercial
driver's license. -Dan Gilgoff
TECHNICAL SECURITY
Sleuthing with the keyboard kops
After
September 11, many companies, suddenly worried about lax security, fired their
information security specialists who drafted corporate cyberpolicy. At the same
time, however, managers started doling out raises and job offers to the
keyboard-tapping operators who actually implement firewalls and investigate
electronic break-insñthe so-called technical information security specialists.
"It's
a total growth industry," says Steve Gibson, an online security expert who
heads a research corporation in Laguna Hills, Calif. Gibson finds that U.S. businesses
are waking up only now to the risk that "corporate espionage, night
watchmen taking bribes, and employees leaking secrets have all transferred from
the physical to the electronic world."
One
somewhat quirky benefit of the job: Security techies get to snoop. "It's
fun finding a way to hack the system," says Larry Perry, chief operating
officer of Network Security Corp., "and then finding a way to plug the
hole." That challenge isn't likely to dissipate soon, at least not with fears
of cyberterrorism on the rise. "As long as there are unscrupulous
people,'' adds Perry, "there's no shortage of information security jobs.''
PAY
AND PERKS:$35,000 to $45,000 to start. Experienced specialists earn
$60,000 to $90,000. Work has puzzle-solving potential.
TRAINING: Some
colleges offer courses in information security; a computer science degree is a
plus. Experience is more valued than classroom hours, but national training
centers like the System Administration, Networking, and Security Institute
offer certifications that can bump up salaries by $10,000 or more. -D.G.
SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST
A balm for the blackboard jungle
Rosario
Pesce has been busy since September 11. First, the Cicero, Ill., high school
psychologist "found all of our Arab students to make sure everything was
OK with them," he says. Then, as part of a national crisis team, he
traveled to the Family Assistance Center set up for World Trade Center victims
at New Jersey's Liberty State Park. There he saw a wrenching scene: Families
looking for remnants of lost loved ones were instead picking up urns that
contained remains from ground zero.
September
11 upped the demand for Pesce's work, which has long included advising students
grappling with depression, running support groups for pregnant teens, and
testing for learning disabilities. Pesce, who was the national school
psychologist of the year in 2001, also helps negotiate personality conflicts
between students and teachers. It's no secret that many schools are already
hard pressed to find teachers and counselors. And the rise in depression among
adolescents and added federal money for mental health counseling has boosted
demand for school psychologists as well. The profession, moreover, is facing an
imminent brain drain as nearly one third of school psychologists are between
ages 51 and 60, according to a recent survey, and thus approaching retirement.
"If you're looking for a job where you'll make a difference and have great
security for the next 25 years, this is it," says Ted Feinberg of the
National Association of School Psychologists.
PAY
AND PERKS: Average salary, $50,000; nearly 30 percent earn between
$50,000 and $100,000. School psychologists take summers off.
TRAINING: Most
states require a master's degree and on-the-job training. Others require a
Ph.D. in education or psychology. -Anna Mulrine
AUTOMOBILE TECHNICIAN
Grease
monkeys are getting techy
Scott
Brown, owner of Connie & Dick's Service Center in Claremont, Calif., knows
why skilled automobile technicians are hard to find. Inevitably, says Brown,
the "nonacademic" kids in high school get pushed into industrial
arts, the talent pool for potential mechanics. But the work these days at his
garage, Brown says, isn't "industrial arts as much as it is computer
science and computer programming." Most major systems in modern autos have
an electronic component, so talented technicians tend to be more than just
self-taught "car nuts." Nearly 2 of 3 auto mechanics now have an
Internet connection at work.
Brown
took two months to fill a recent opening for a mechanic at his shop, despite
the poor economy. One tip about the job: Some auto technicians find that
toiling at an independent shopñwith its diverse variety of carsñis more
challenging than the comparatively repetitive work at a dealership.
PAY
AND PERKS: $25,000 to $30,000 to start; master mechanics at luxury
auto shops can earn up to $100,000. Half of employers provide a retirement
plan, and three quarters pay all or a portion of health insurance premiums.
TRAINING: Technical
school or community college followed by apprenticeship at a shop; most employers
look for certification from the National Institute for Automotive Service
Excellence. -James M. Pethokoukis
