How to find a hot job in a tough market
In an attempt to raise educational standards for nurses, new registered nurses would have to earn bachelor’s degrees within 10 years to keep working in New York under a bill lawmakers are considering. (July 13, 2011) Credit: Charles Eckert
It's a topic you don't hear a lot about in a difficult job market -- hot jobs.
They include fast-growing high-tech jobs such as cloud developers and search-engine optimization strategists; business intelligence analysts, who use analytics to drive business decisions and customer service; registered nurses; "quality engineers" in manufacturing; health care administrators; and truck drivers, according to online job site CareerBuilder.com, which released a list Wednesday.
They are jobs that in many cases have more openings than applicants. With the stalled jobs recovery, the United States has about 4.7 applicants for every job, federal data show. By contrast, cloud development, which helps companies expand their computer capacity without the need for new infrastructure, has 0.32 active job seekers for every job opening nationally, or three openings for every applicant, the most of the hot jobs CareerBuilder listed. Every opening for a registered nurse has just 0.38 applicants.
Since last year's third quarter, clients of Lloyd Staffing in Melville have increased their demand for consultants and permanent employees with cloud computing expertise, said executive vice president Jason Banks.
"There is high demand for IT talent with true expertise in cloud computing," he said. "The trend is that the demand is outpacing the supply."
Demand for search-engine optimization specialists has been strong as companies try to drive more traffic to their websites and develop brand awareness through Internet marketing, Banks said.
Specialization and high tech are driving demand for "quality engineers" in manufacturing, those workers who design, install and evaluate quality processes, said Lori Farley-Toth, a vice president of Melville-based staffing company Adecco.
"It's about an industry really taking a leap by merging technology and best practices to do it faster and more profitably," she said. So job seekers, even with a manufacturing background, need to make sure they have updated skills and certifications, she said.
Registered nurses are in high demand, but that doesn't worry Susan Shevlin, an RN and assistant vice president of talent acquisition at the North Shore University-LIJ Health System too much -- for now. The hospital system has more than 10,000 nurses and a vacancy rate of less than 5 percent. But Shevlin expects that to change down the road.
"Today I am sitting pretty," she said. But she added, "I know that in a few years' time, more and more nurses are going to start to retire. . . . We're going to have additional vacancies coming into play."
