11 Hot Fields for Hiring in 2011

Occupational experts like Laurence Shatkin, Ph.D., say that America is climbing out of recession and job opportunities are better now than they've been for a long time. But what does this mean for people hoping to advance their career? What can they do in 2011 to be strong candidates in the future job market?

Shatkin answers these essential questions in his book "2011 Career Plan: The Best Moves Now for a Solid Future." In it, he explains that the recovery is a steady upswing, not a hiring boom, and that people will need to be strategic about how and where they pursue employment.

"Jobs are not expected to be plentiful in 2011 or for several years afterward. In fact, we may see a repeat of what happened after the recession of 2001, when 39 months passed before employment rose back to pre-recession levels. This recovery is also a patchwork affair, with some industries bouncing back much faster than others. For example, in March 2010, while manufacturers were adding jobs, the news and information business was still losing jobs," says Shatkin. "That's why 'I'll find something' is not an adequate career plan for 2011. You need to choose a specific goal and develop a smart strategy to take advantage of the opportunities that 2011 does have to offer."

One career strategy Shatkin recommends is to focus on fast-growing fields, where job opportunities tend to be more plentiful than in fields where jobs are slow-growing or disappearing. According to Shatkin and information from the U.S. Department of Labor, the following 11 fields are projected to grow fastest through 2018.

1. Management, scientific and technical consulting services

Hottest jobs in this field: network systems and data communications analysts; industrial engineers; financial analysts; customer service representatives; and public relations specialists

2. Computer systems design and related services

Hottest jobs in this field: network systems and data communications analysts; network and computer systems administrators; accountants and auditors; computer software engineers, systems software; and computer support specialists

3. Social assistance, except child day care

Hottest jobs in this field: medical and public health social workers; special education teachers, preschool, kindergarten and elementary school; first-line supervisors/managers of personal service workers; occupational therapists; and social and human service assistants

4. Software publishers

Hottest jobs in this field: network and computer systems administrators; computer systems analysts; computer support specialists; market research analysts; and customer service representatives

5. Scientific research and development services

Hottest jobs in this field: biomedical engineers; network systems and data communications analysts; biochemists and biophysicists; medical scientists, except epidemiologists; and compliance officers, except agriculture, construction, health and safety and transportation

6. Health care

Hottest jobs in this field: physician assistants; physical therapist aides; speech-language pathologists; physical therapist assistants; and physical therapists

7. Employment services

Hottest jobs in this field: accountants and auditors; customer service representatives; construction laborers; computer software engineers, systems software; and computer software engineers, applications

8. Construction

Hottest jobs in this field: heating, air conditioning and refrigeration mechanics and installers; septic tank servicers and sewer pipe cleaners; telecommunications equipment installers and repairers, except line installers; purchasing agents, except wholesale, retail and farm products; and cost estimators

9. Child day care services

Hottest jobs in this field: preschool teachers, except special education; special education teachers, preschool, kindergarten, and elementary school; office clerks, general; kindergarten teachers, except special education; and first-line supervisors/managers of personal service workers

10. Advocacy, grantmaking and civic organizations

Hottest jobs in this field: network systems and data communications analysts; compliance officers, except agriculture, construction, health and safety and transportation; compensation, benefits and job analysis specialists; market research analysts; and customer service representatives

11. Educational services

Hottest jobs in this field: network systems and data communications analysts; self-enrichment education teachers; customer service representatives; loan counselors; and medical scientists, except epidemiologists

Shatkin reminds people to "keep in mind that these 11 fields are not the only fields where job opportunities will be available in 2011. They're fast-growing, but jobs can still be found in many fields that are not growing as fast even shrinking."

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By CareerBuilder

Million-dollar salaries are back at Infosys

Infosys Technologies is on a mission to mop up the top executive talent in the industry and is willing to pay the price for it. In three months, Infosys has shopped for at least four people in the million dollar-a-year bracket.

Big ticket hiring, which nosedived thanks to recession, appears to have made a strong comeback. The rest of the industry too seems to be looking up to Infosys in this regard.

Infosys HR chief Mohandas Pai agrees that fat salaries are back. “In the million dollar category, we have hired three to four people abroad in the last quarter whereas in India, we have hired 10 people in the $1,50,000-$2,00,000 bracket,” he said. Senior level management hiring at Infosys has been made across verticals in the technology and consulting business. “In the US, the hiring was done with the aid of the top five consulting firms and in India we followed a similar process,” he said.

"These people were not necessarily from the IT industry but with domain expertise in sectors like retail, banking and insurance,” said Infosys senior vice-president and global head (HR) Nandita Gurjar. The company refused to name the candidates. Gurjar added that senior management hiring has picked up in the IT industry overall and since people at senior levels come with domain expertise, the salary structures are typically higher as well. “During the slowdown, we hired around 2 to 3 a year at the top level,” she said. Meanwhile, Infosys has increased its lateral hiring targets for the full year to the highest ever, about 10,000 of the proposed 36,000 new hires will be laterals. The firm has already hired 2,400 laterals in the first quarter and expects to get on board another 3,000 in the second quarter to create the necessary capacity for capitalizing on the strong volume uptick.

Most companies refrain from disclosing the number of top hires. However, a cross section of headhunters FE spoke to said most top and mid-tier IT services firms were now hiring people at huge salaries.

BS Murthy, CEO, executive search firm Leadership Capital, said, “In the quarter ended June, the hiring of operational leadership has gone up significantly.” “Almost all IT services firms are hiring them, they are the practice heads, delivery heads, location heads, vice presidents and associate VPs. They form the largest leadership chunk in any firm and in a big IT services firm, there could...

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By Goutam Das, Debojyoti Ghosh for The Financial Express