Way too many people walk around grumbling "There are no jobs" when it ain't necessarily so.
Looking at what is so will help you figure out where the jobs are today. You start by asking: What are companies and consumers demanding? What needs to be addressed in our daily lives? Whatever that is, that's where the jobs are.
So for example, as companies focus more on quality, cost control, standardizing tasks and getting things done quickly, the need for project managers has grown.
As privacy, terrorism, infrastructure protection and overall rage in society become more prominent, security issues continue to grow -- and so will products such as surveillance cameras and professions such as guards, investigators and special agents.
Today we have a great need for alternative power and increased energy efficiency. Phil Angelides, chair of the Apollo Alliance, was quoted in a recent Time magazine article as saying, "between now and 2030, 75 percent of the buildings in the U.S. will either be new or substantially rehabilitated" and "our inefficient, dangerously unstable electrical grid will need to be overhauled. The jobs that will go into that kind of work can be green-collar" - positions that benefit the environment. These jobs will be in the industrial sector, not just in new technology fields like solar energy, he says.
Mechanical and electrical engineers, who "toiled in relative obscurity in the engine rooms of the digital economy, amid racks of servers and storage devices that power everything from online videos to corporate e-mail systems" are now in great demand, said a recent New York Times article.
These engineers used to just keep "computing power plants humming." But there is a big growth in data centers "to keep pace with the demands of Internet-era computing, their immense need for electricity and their inefficient use of that energy pose environmental, energy and economic challenges." So you're a hot commodity if you have "the skills to design, build and run a data center that does not endanger the power grid."
People are more health-conscious and they're seeking alternative care to address what ails them. According to one study, chiropractors, practitioners of Asian medicine and naturopaths will grow by 88 percent through 2010.
As people become more health-conscious and focused on preventing environmental problems, the demand for environmental engineers also goes up.
Since the health care industry is growing (because people are living longer for one), more workers will be needed to deliver health care and manage it. So there are jobs in medical and health-services management and in health care, such as medical assistants, physical and occupational therapists, surgical technologists and nurses.
As more world markets continue to open and competition increases, advertising, marketing and promotions jobs are growing.
Where are these jobs? All over. According to Indeed.com's list of the 50 most populous metropolitan areas with the most job postings per capita, San Jose, Calif., ranks No. 1, with positions like reliability engineer, research scientist and psychologist, to name a few. Washington, D.C., ranks No. 2 with jobs such as Web developer and security/vulnerability analyst. Jobs in Hartford, Conn., which ranks third, include care manager, market research director, CFO, and health data specialist. In Nashville, ranked 32nd, there are openings for patient services technician and sales representative. In Cincinnati, 34th on the list, jobs include project manager, paralegal, physical and occupational therapist and payroll analyst.
The world of work is evolving. It always has and always will. Once we were farmers, then manufacturers of products. Where's the need in our society today? That's where the jobs are.
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Andrea Kay is the author of "Life's a Bitch and Then You Change Careers: 9 Steps to Get Out of Your Funk and On To Your Future." Send questions to her at 2692 Madison Road, No. 133, Cincinnati, Ohio 45208; www.andreakay.com. E-mail: andrea(AT)andreakay.com.
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