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Best jobs and best moves for 2002
Ebony, Jan, 2002
THE September 11 attacks and weakened economy have put the once-promising job market on life-support, and for Blacks just entering the workforce or those forced to re-enter the workforce, finding the best job can be quite an ordeal. Unemployment levels have moved from record lows to highs that keep inching up. Gone are the days when a few candidates were applying for a few jobs.
Nowadays, the job market is flooded with new workers, experienced workers or those wishing to change careers. In short, it's an employer's market, and more competition for those top jobs could mean that you'll have to be more flexible in your job requirements.
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"Companies are being selective because they can be," says Verba L. Edwards, owner and president of Wing Tips & Pumps Inc., a Black-owned executive search firm in Troy, Mich. "This is my 15th year in the business, and the job market is probably the worst I've seen in years."
One salary survey shows that college graduates held their own in commanding top salaries this year. But as the economy continued to slow, getting a job got tougher, with companies expected to hire fewer college graduates, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers. In fact, many companies cut back on their on-campus recruiting efforts because they had already been flooded with many viable resumes.
"Businesses are in business to make money," says Ollie Stevenson, a career consultant and author of Career Success is Color-Blind. "That's the bottom line, and that's driven by what's going on in the economy."
The labor force is expected to hit nearly 155 million by the year 2008, and executive recruiters and career experts at historically Black colleges and universities say the best moves to make are the same time-honored moves that have worked for job-seekers over the past few years: Plan your job search, prepare for your job search, and network during your job search.
In planning your search, sit down with a list of jobs you will and will not do. Set aside two or three days out of the week to send out resumes and to go on interviews. When you've planned your job search, make sure you're prepared at every opportunity. Carry a couple of copies of your resume with you in clean, white envelopes and be prepared to give them to friends, relatives, and anyone else who can help you in your search. Network with those people who have the most to offer. Maybe some of their success can help you create your own!
For the most part, the best jobs and hottest fields remain a constant--engineering, computers, finance, health care. Find out what the strongest companies are in your desired field and gravitate toward those businesses. But you also have to look at the larger picture. In this time of war against a largely unseen enemy, many graduates are looking for ways to serve their country, creating a surge in interest in government jobs since the terrorist attacks. Job inquiries for the armed services and law enforcement have been particularly high. The CIA, for example, reportedly went from about 500 employment inquiries a week to more than 10,000 in the two weeks following the attacks. Entry-level salaries for positions such as linguists, engineers, biochemists and physicists range from $35,000 to $50,000, depending on your level of education.
Because the bottom appears to have fallen out of the online industry, with start-ups and long-time Internet companies closing their sites, those plugged into that field should be extra careful, experts say. Try looking at a company that has been in business for more than five years or look at one that is partnered with a "brick and mortar" company.
"There are still opportunities there [in that industry]," says Edwards, who worked as personnel director at General Motors for more than a decade before striking out on his own. "They are just fewer in nature."
For African-Americans looking for employment or looking to change careers, key qualities are leadership, flexibility, superior written and verbal communication skills, as well as the ability to listen and work on a team. Seek out new experiences and new people. Figure out what you're best at and go from there, says Stevenson, who lives in Houston.
"The only security is knowing what you have to offer and how to market it," Stevenson says. "Adopt a business mind-set--prepare to do whatever is necessary, right, honorable and moral to meet your goal."
In this increasingly tough job market, flexibility can make it or break it for you. You should be eager and willing to go where the job takes you. "We're talking about globalization, and you don't want to move across the street?" queries Samuel M. Hall Jr., career services director for Howard University. "[Companies] don't want to hear that. It's unrealistic."
RELATED ARTICLE: To help you in your career search, here is a list of the 10 best jobs for 2002 based on information from career experts and job-growth statistics:
1. Engineering
The engineering field is a very safe bet, with growth in starting salary offers, good benefits and job availability. Topping the list are computer engineers, whose ranks are expected to swell by more than 100 percent in the next six years. The average starting salary for computer engineers remained one of the highest, at roughly $53,000, for positions in software or hardware design. Mechanical, electrical, civil, industrial and chemical engineers are also in good shape.
