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CHICAGO (AP) -- If you've been fantasizing about becoming a farmer or rancher, time to pick another daydream. No other occupation category had a bigger decline, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Twitter strategist or massage therapist? Now you're talking.
The acceleration of the digital revolution, changes in consumer habits and an aging population are continuing to reshape the job market, employment projections by the BLS and other experts suggest.
A million new jobs are forecast to be created by 2018 -- good news for fresh-out-of-college grads as well as older adults looking for new lines of work. But with the occupational outlook ever-changing, they'd be well-advised to choose “hot” jobs in this high-unemployment market.
Health care, financial services, information technology and science occupations are expected to see some of the greatest demand.
And the fastest growth will be in areas that require years of specialized training or higher education. Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce calls that the shift to a college economy.
But you don't need a Ph.D. to get a job in social media or as a caregiver, among other hot areas. Jobs should be plentiful even in some areas that require just a few months of training, notes Michael Wolf, an economist with the BLS.
Here are five fast-growing jobs that may be of interest to a mixture of new grads and second-career seekers:
The number of accounting jobs is projected to grow 22 percent by 2018, according to the Department of Labor's Occupational Outlook Handbook, as companies put a premium on their finances.
Forget the green eyeshades stereotype. Accountants now do everything from audits and budgets to financial planning and analysis to advising companies as they create new products and services.
“The (old) role of counting the beans and vouching for the integrity of financial statements is just the minimum now,” says Jeff Thomson, CEO of the Institute of Management Accountants.
Attending graduate business school is the surest way to a lucrative accountant's position on Wall Street or with a major corporation. But those looking to restart their careers with a less costly option can complete accounting certification programs in less than a year and still average $100,000 once they are certified, according to the IMA.
Despite some layoffs and outsourcing of domestic jobs, work in the computer and IT-related fields continues to expand rapidly with no end in sight.
No IT occupation is hotter than network systems and data communications specialist. The government projections identified it as the No. 2 job in terms of expected growth over the coming decade, behind biomedical engineer and just ahead of home health aide.
Other booming IT occupations include computer software engineer, computer and information research scientist, network and computer systems administrator, and computer systems analyst.
The IT job market has become less volatile because technology has become so deeply embedded in businesses that they can't afford to lose their tech talent, according to Todd Thibodeaux, president and CEO of the Computing Technology Industry Association.
“IT jobs are readily available today in the U.S. and will be available in even greater numbers in the future as baby boomers retire and technology advances,” he says.
Massage is a young industry that's growing by leaps and bounds as more people learn about the benefits of massage therapy. It's used to treat ailments, reduce stress, rehabilitate sports injuries and promote general health.
Therapists typically work 25 to 30 hours a week and average $37,000 to $45,000 a year working in a chiropractor's office, a spa or a freestanding therapy business. It's physically and mentally demanding work, says Michele Merhib, founder of Elements Therapeutic Massage, a franchise business with 80 studios nationwide.
But job prospects are bright, the occupation lends itself to part-time and self-employed work, and training is relatively affordable. It typically costs $7,000 to $12,000 to get the 500 hours of education and training required by most states for licensing as a certified massage therapist, according to Merhib.
The number of massage therapists is projected to grow from 122,400 in 2008 to 145,600 in 2018 -- up 19 percent with more than 23,000 new jobs.
Jobs in senior care pay far less at $10 to $12 an hour than those of registered nurses and physician assistants, two of the most in-demand jobs in health care. But they are much easier to qualify for, and may be more plentiful as the 65-and-over population doubles from the current 37 million to 74 million by 2030.
Caregivers enable seniors to stay in their homes by assisting them with dressing, shopping, housekeeping, meal preparation, bathing and errands. They can get the required training to become a certified nurse's aide or home health aide through community colleges or other accredited programs.
Caregiving jobs appeal most to empty nesters and those looking to work 20-25 hours a week and do something meaningful, says Peter Ross, founder and CEO of Senior Helpers, one of the largest home care companies, with 6,000 caregivers nationwide.
“It's not a high-paying job, but it's an opportunity to make a difference in someone's life,” he says.
The social media field is starting to take off, jobs-wise, as companies embrace a new type of marketing. Recent college grads have the edge as employers seek members of the younger generation to help target that demographic.
Monica Wilson of Dartmouth College's career services office says she's seeing all kinds of job titles that emerged only recently: social media strategist, consultant, manager, director. Outsiders may titter at “Twitter consultant,” but it's a valued role for people who are knowledgeable about social media, adept at evaluating options and able to map out a customized social media plan for a company.
The pay isn't bad either. While many of the jobs available to college students or new grads are for social media interns, the average salary for social media jobs is $55,000, according to Simply Hired, a Silicon Valley-based search engine company that compiles online jobs databases.
Jun 07 05:33
NEW YORK (AP) -- A federal judge is thinking about appointing a referee to weigh claims of black and Hispanic applicants who claim New York City's Fire Department entrance exam discriminated against minorities.
Each applicant could have a hearing under the proposal by Brooklyn Judge Nicholas Garaufis (GEHR'-ah-fuhs).
The New York Post says that could further delay the long-running legal dispute. There could be thousands of claims.
The city is currently creating a new firefighter test that could be ready by December.
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Information from: New York Post, http://www.nypost.com
Jun 07 13:57
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DEARBORN, Michigan (AP) -- The Arab American National Museum officially launched an online exhibit Tuesday that aims to explore -- and overcome -- Arab stereotypes that have influenced popular culture for more than a century.
The exhibit, “Reclaiming Identity: Dismantling Arab Stereotypes,” includes commentary as well as paintings, books, films and sheet music showing Arab culture as exotic, uncivilized and threatening.
“We wanted to make the knowledge of how Arabs have been represented in culture more accessible to the public,” said Evelyn Alsultany, the exhibit's curator and an assistant professor at University of Michigan who teaches about representations of Arabs and Muslims.
“We're hoping people will leave the site with a vivid sense of this discrepancy between who Arab Americans are in their diversity and the actual limited, restricting stereotypes,” she said.
Alsultany said the first images of such stereotypes started to appear in the 1880s, about the time that Arabs began to settle in significant numbers in the United States.
The exhibit cites the 1893 World Fair in Chicago, which recreated Arab streets and customs. A book of photographs chronicling the fair included a depiction of the “peculiar manners of Egyptians” and refers to a girl's veil as an “unsightly disguise.”
Alsultany said the stereotype of “Arab as terrorist” began to appear in the 1960s, with the Arab-Israeli war. Such depictions have been common in movies during the past few decades, such as in 1994's “True Lies,” but films have a longer history of presenting women as belly-dancers and seductive-yet-veiled members of harems.
“A lot of times, we watch TV, we think to ourselves, `This is make-believe,”' said Alsultany, whose father came to the U.S. from Iraq in the 1960s. “I want to challenge that idea. I'd like for viewers to see there are impacts of these stereotypes.”
She said the effects include simple misperceptions, such as assuming all Arabs in the Middle East ride camels or live in tents in the desert. But stereotypes and overgeneralizations also can lead to mosque burnings and other crimes, as well as inform or influence U.S. foreign policy.
The website offers video interviews of Alsultany and other Arab-Americans, as well as examples of the community's contributions to U.S. culture and society. The exhibit also explores stereotypes of other groups, such as Jews, African-Americans and Native Americans.
“One of the things we all agreed on, we didn't want to give impression that this is unique to Arabs,” Alsultany said. “The creation of an `other' -- these stereotypes -- has happened over time to many groups.”
The exhibit took five years to develop and received financial support from several foundations, including the Ford Foundation, The Kresge Foundation and the Nathan Cummings Foundation, which describes itself as being “rooted in the Jewish tradition and committed to democratic values and social justice, including fairness, diversity, and community.”
The website is the first, full-fledged online exhibit for the museum, which opened in 2005 in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn. The city has one of the oldest, largest and best known Middle Eastern communities in the nation.
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Online:
http://www.arabstereotypes.org
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