Thursday, February 19, 2009

Hot Jobs in a Cool Economy?

The latest issue of Women's Health has an article called The Hottest Jobs Right Now, listing 5 jobs that they say "could lead to a richer, more rewarding future." Here's their list, along with their estimates of pay ranges according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data:

  • Eco Interior Designer: "helping home remodelers go green." Pay: $50,000-$82,000
  • Social-Media Marketer: helping companies harness the marketing power of sites like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Pay: $113,000-$144,000
  • Financial Advisor: considered one of the 10 fastest-growing careers. Pay: $82,000-$137,000
  • Natural-Foods Chef: helping busy people eat healthily or tailor their diet to allergies, weight loss, etc. Pay: $41,000-$65,000
  • Wellness Manager: Working with corporations who want to reduce their long-term costs by focusing on preventive care for employees. Pay: $95,000-$125,000

A sidebar article also lists these "low-stress" jobs for people who are looking for quality of life rather than a big paycheck:
  • Archivist
  • Museum Curator
  • Credit Analyst
  • Nursery and Greenhouse Manager
  • Set Designer
  • Soil and Water Conservationist

I'm not sure I can take all the salary estimates too seriously, and obviously most of these aren't jobs you can just waltz right into without some experience and training. Though I bet a lot of people will read this and say WHOOHOO, I could be a social media marketer!

Are there any readers out there who do any of these jobs? What do you think?

10 comments:

mattg said...

Those salaries for social media marketers are pretty outrageous. I personally think that the high number there does not represent any kind of actual business benefit or personal effectiveness, but more of just a complete lack of understanding (combined with the requisite amount of buzz) of social media on the part of business-types. Same thing happens anywhere there are under/misinformed buyers...

I also don't think "low stress" when I think "museum curator." I think "Phd, constant networking, Volunteering-for-years-until-somebody-offers-you-a-real-job, and Publish or Perish."

Anonymous said...

Considering that we are in the biggest Credit Crisis in US history since the Great Depression, how can "Credit Analyst" be a "low-stress" job??

Anonymous said...

$113-144k for social media marketers? Any company paying that is getting ripped off. The other salaries seem a little more likely.

Peachy said...

My aunt is programmer/IT person. Not sure how much she makes, but she was told to get on facebook, at least she gets paid for it.

Anonymous said...

ANY job is a "hot job" right now. And any job related to housing is dead rigt now. Dead. "Eco"housing? Its great that Obama put in a tax credit for energy efficient window installation but it would be better if everyone weren't losing their houses and/or could afford to blow 10K plus on new windows.

Miss M said...

Mr M - set designer. Unfortunately his primary work is making commercials. Definite downturn in that part of the market, right now he's working on a promo video for a big feature. There is still money in hollywood, just not as much. It's unsteady work, sometimes horrendous conditions and not at all low stress.

Anonymous said...

Why the hell is MTV spamming your comments??? Hope that person isn't making $113,000-$144,000 for their social media marketing efforts. :)

Jo said...

I don't think that credit analyst is a job with that much quality of life. I would find it stressful. Whether you are analyzing corporations or people as to whether they are worthy for a loan, it's a tough position to be in and some potential conflict of interest. I knew some corporate bill collectors whose title is also credit analyst, and that kind of job is stressful for sure.

Anonymous said...

I know a former soil/water conservationist. He is presently retired to the fishing pond and would dispute this article on low-stress and quality of life.

josie said...

i design sets for film and there is NO WAY this could be a low-stress job. besides the insecurity of a freelance lifestyle, it's extremely long days, physical labor, and TONS OF STRESS.