We don’t have to tell you the job market is tight. Or how important it is for job seekers to be setting themselves up with every possible advantage to make their resume pop.
Leaving aside the most obvious requirements like bachelor’s degrees and vocation specific licenses and certifications, we’ve lined up the must-haves for major fields in the American job market. In alphabetical order, here’s how to get ahead in 10 popular career choices:
Arts and Communication
For creative people, the name of the game is portfolio. Assembling a dossier of original work that displays your abilities is critical to landing a job as a journalist, photographer, musician for hire, an artistic job like a graphic designer or animator, or even an architect.
As far as the resume side is concerned, these days creatives are expected to wear a number of different hats. As media has become as much an online product as a real-world one, employers want people who can not only produce Web content but also edit, publish, publicize, and monetize.
Business
A few credentials stand out for those in management, business administration and services, and international business. The Certified Management Consultant (CMC) certification is a great one for management analysts. Unsurprisingly, bilingual (or even better, multi-lingual) job candidates are prized possessions in the international business job market.
For those with a bachelor’s in business administration, MBAs are still great to have, but we won’t go so far as to call them essential. As the field is already generalized, the essential cred you need will come via a certification or experience in the particular area you want to work.
Education
Oh, you haven’t heard? E-learning is kind of a big deal now, and this facet of education is a must-have for teachers who want to have their pick of teaching gigs. Just note the number of current teachers being trained in technology use and you’ll have a good idea how important this is to pedagogy today.
Whether it’s familiarizing yourself with hardware (tablet computers, smart boards, Active Tables) or software (Google Docs, iMovie, MimioStudio), educators should have an array of edutech tools in their arsenal.
Engineering
In just the past few years, the market for engineers has swung from picky to plentiful. Sustainability has become a hot area for a master’s and can be attained by anyone with a bachelor’s in one of the diverse engineering focuses. For mechanical engineers, the most prestigious certification provider is the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Process and manufacturing engineers should check out becoming Six Sigma Green Belts. For jobs in design and product development, don’t leave home without a portfolio of your previous engineering projects and designs.
Financial
Certifications are rampant in the field of finance…
Accountants, you already know you need to become a CPA to get ahead. The elite certification for actuaries is the Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA). Portfolio managers and financial analysts will want to look hard at the grueling, three-part exam that is the CFA (Certified Financial Analyst). For those in the banking sector, the American Bankers Association offers a host of worthy certifications, for everything from retail banking and lending to risk management.
Public Sector
Don’t write off this big chunk of the job market; public service accounts for about 17% of the entire U.S. workforce. A Master’s in Public Administration is generally the benchmark for the best public sector posts like city manager and public affairs director.
Volunteer work can be an especially apropos asset to mention on a resume for a job in the public sector. For work in criminal justice, you’ll have to have a clean background, because your personal history will definitely be checked.
Human Resources
HR is no longer the safe haven for paper-pushers that it was once thought to be. HR reps are taking on many more roles not previously associated with their field; a mix of management, marketing, and technology.
For example, drafting fail-safe social media policies are now under a HR employee’s purview. According to HR expert Dave Ulrich, today’s reps also have to be “strategic positioners,” which means knowing the business well enough to both advise credibly and bring on people who will benefit the company.
Information Technology
What should database admins, programmers, software engineers, systems analysts, and other IT guys and gals be looking to pump up their resumes? Just follow the money.
People with their Project Management Professional certification are highly sought, since it requires 4,500 hours’ experience with a college degree (and 7,500 without one). As tech security has become a major corporate concern and potentially huge liability, IT-ers with their Certified Information Systems Security Professional can write their own ticket. For a cert with no prereqs, Cisco offers the respected CCDA (Cisco Certified Design Associate) that attests to a worker’s mastery of all things network.
Law
Cool as it sounds to be a “master of laws,” recruiters have actually begun to advise most young attorneys against including LL.Ms on their resumes, as firms consider the advanced degree a sign of uncertainty or doubt about starting a career.
Instead, they recommend plain old experience as the best way to land a spot on a legal roster. Hiring managers are also united in their desire that new lawyers pass “Business 101” or the economics of the legal profession.
Marketing
The mantra for today’s marketer should be a paraphrase of Horace Greeley: Go Web, young man!
An online presence that facilitates relationships with customers is crucial to business big or small now, and marketers need to have proven experience or at least the ability to create that environment. Similarly, SEO is on its way out, replaced by content marketing — bringing customers valuable content they can use.
As a fairly creative field, marketing is not as concerned with certifications. That being said, a respected cert comes from the International Institute for Procurement & Market Research. CRAs (Certified Research Analyst), CREs (Certified Research Expert), and CRP (Certified Research Professional) are well-appreciated in the world of marketing research.
This is how to get ahead in the top 10 careers in the US. What would you add? What are your next steps?
For this post, YouTern thanks our friends at OnlineCollege.org!
About the Author: Melissa Venable, PhD is an Education Writer for OnlineCollege.org. Melissa’s background includes work in higher education – private, public, and for-profit – as an instructional designer and curriculum developer. Melissa is also an experienced instructor, academic advisor and career counselor. She is actively involved in research related to online education and the support of online students. Her work has been published in The Career Development Quarterly, TechTrends, the Journal of Computing in Higher Education. Follow Melissa on Twitter!
(Pic via getyourbigon.com)
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