The ten hottest careers according to the US Bureau of Statistics are:
(*see below for what constitutes a ‘Hot Career’)
1. Computer software engineers – applications
2. Computer support specialists
3. Computer software engineers – systems software
4. Network and computer systems administrators
5. Network systems and data communications analysts
6. Desktop publishers
7. Database administrators
8. Personal and home care aides
9. Computer systems analysts
10. Medical assistants
* Ten Hottest Careers source: US Bureau of Statistics
What Do These Careers Have In Common?
Did you notice that nearly all of the ten hottest careers are either health care careers or computer science careers?
But before you think of getting a job from this list of careers, have a think about what really constitutes a hot career.
How Are the Ten Hottest Careers Obtained
Are they simply just the highest paying careers?
No, they’re not the highest paying necessarily. The ten hottest careers are simply the result of the Statistics Bureau identifying which jobs will have the greatest demand and reduced supply in the foreseeable future.
High career salaries are often identified as the most important aspect of a new career.
However, research suggests that it is not as important as most people think when it comes to overall job satisfaction.
What about types of jobs that you simply receive a great deal of personal satisfaction from and perhaps even have some fun along the way.
More and more people are looking for fun careers these days as the stress of many high paying jobs causes them to re-examine their career choices.
The ten hottest careers list above is hot because these types of careers supposedly offer better job security due to the projected strong demand in these job sectors.
But is job security the most important thing for you.
Job security doesn’t rate that highly when it comes to overall job satisfaction for most people.
Neither does the entry into one of the ten hottest careers listed above.
What Makes You Satisfied At Work.
So what do we know about job satisfaction?
Here are some facts that might constitute a good career change advice.
‘To business that we love, we eagerly arise and go to with delight”
-William Shakespeare-
We know from research that satisfaction at work is most commonly derived from the following factors:
- Workers want to feel respected (even loved) by their superiors
- Workers want to have interesting and challenging work where they feel they are using their natural inborn job skills, abilities and motivations
- Workers want to have autonomy.
They want to be given genuine responsibility and freedom in the workplace - Workers want to be fairly rewarded for their work
- Workers want to work in an environment where they feel their organization is making a difference in the world or in people’s lives
Click this link for the full results of my career survey –
“Job satisfaction: employed versus self-employed people”
Critical Component of Job Satisfaction
So although a job from the above list of careers may purport to be one of the ten hottest careers, and may bring greater job security, it doesn’t address any of the key components of known job satisfaction.
And there lies the problem.
We see that career salaries are certainly relevant to most workers but we only know that they want to be fairly rewarded.
This would indicate that we probably shouldn’t be focusing too much on the highest paying careers.
What we do know is that of the five satisfaction attributes above, the one that many workers regard as critical is the ability to work in a job where they can genuinely use their natural skills, abilities, and motivations.
Other research tells us that job performance is important in achieving satisfaction at work.
‘I just got paid handsomely for an hour and a half of work.
If you want to call it to work.
It was fun.
And here I am holding a big pile of dollar bills going “Gee this isn’t so bad”.
‘I mean, doing hair is about my second favorite thing in the world at this point and I’m getting paid for it.’
-Words from a hairdresser who had found her dream career
It’s the productivity or achievements an individual can accomplish at work that makes her feel satisfied and fulfilled.
So a primary goal in achieving worker fulfillment is to be in a job where you feel exceptionally productive and are personally achieving well.
And the best way to feel exceptionally productive is to be doing work that fits snugly with your inborn job skills.
This is why I have produced the dream career finder assessment to help people precisely identify their inborn work abilities.
Don’t Get Stuck In A Frustrating Career
What we also know from research is that up to 80% of people are in jobs where they are not fulfilled and not working in roles that match their innate abilities or gifts.
Our dream career finder helps you identify what your natural work abilities are.
This is an assessment instrument that has been proven to accurately uncover any person’s inborn motivations and how they relate to work.
Tremendous liberty is often experienced when you finally realize what your inborn abilities are.
Progressing from a career that you know has failed to bring any real accomplishments to a job which just seems to push all your right buttons is a wonderful feeling.
Follow Your Bliss
Is a person’s meaningful contribution associated with doing a type of work that is held in high regard by society?
Henderson’s research suggests it is more directly related to a person’s ability to be doing work where their interests and likes can be expressed.
Henderson found that participants had a passionate and unwavering commitment throughout their career to follow their interests, competencies and what they enjoyed doing.
“If a person is doing what they love to do, there is a logical conclusion that they will feel they are making a meaningful contribution ….”
Henderson, S (2000) Follow Your Bliss. Journal of Counseling and Development
A great deal of long term unhappiness occurs in people’s lives if they feel stuck in a job that is unsatisfying and going nowhere.
And this unhappiness inevitably flows over into other areas of life.
Many people receive a tremendous boost in their self worth by completing the Dream Career Finder as it reveals to them – often for the first time – where their god-given abilities lie and how this directly relates to their chosen career.
Another common aspect of worker satisfaction that isn’t in the above list is the desire to work in a job that is not too stressful.
One of the biggest issues in work today is the increased stress that workers are feeling and there is nothing more stressful or frustrating than working in types of careers that don’t fit well with your inborn gifts and abilities.
Investigating YOU Is the Key
The dream career finder uncovers your inborn abilities by examining achievements from throughout your life that you have enjoyed doing and felt you did well at.
The Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living
– Socrates
This works equally well for people who have achieved a lot as well as those who say they haven’t really achieved anything significant.
It works so well because these inborn abilities show up in your daily living whether you recognize them or not.
Because they are inborn, they just naturally manifest themselves whether a person knows that it’s happening or not.
This assessment is about uncovering those often hidden talents.
Even if a person comes from a very disadvantaged background, these inborn skills, abilities, and motivations will be able to be identified through the dream career finder.