[NPInfo] Interesting article

[David Mittman]

Save Article | Print Article | E-Mail Article

Future bright if you choose the right job
Bart Mills | bmills at limanews.com - 09.03.2007

LIMA ‹ It was just a couple of decades ago that the most famous advice for
someone launching a career was to consider plastics. Since then the hot
career choice has bounced around from manufacturing to computers to dot-com
entrepreneur. But it¹s an older and more stable profession that tops the
list these days ‹ nursing.
Between the glut of aging baby boomers and the rapid expansion of area
hospitals and nursing homes, nursing and other health care professions
easily top employment experts¹ pick for the hottest career in coming years.
³Health care continues to lead the pack, particularly registered nurses,²
said Regional Economic Development Director Jerry Good. ³The fastest growing
occupations, by the numbers, are nursing, home heath aids and medical
assistants.²
The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services recently released its
prediction for jobs in the region through 2014. The agency predicts a 6.3
percent growth in the job market in the coming years with a large part of
them showing up in the health care field. Jobs for health care practitioners
are expected to rise 19.6 percent in coming years, while health care support
jobs ‹ including home health aids, dental assistants and transcriptionists ‹
could go up 26.6 percent.
That is exactly what Cyndi Peck hoped to hear. The 32-year-old single mother
of two left a factory job seven years ago to become a nurse¹s aide. This
year she entered Apollo Career Center¹s Licensed Practical Nursing program.
Nine months from now she should have a certificate and a career with plenty
of options.
³That¹s the great thing about it. Here are a lot of different opportunities,
home health care, schools, industry, there¹s always going to be a great need
for them,² said Peck, a Celina native.
Health care is not the only profession on the grow in the region.
Professional and business services, education and hospitality are all
expected to see double-digit growth by 2014, according to the ODJFS study.
³They¹re projecting that the growth of 12,000 jobs by 2014. That¹s a number
of jobs in a variety of fields,² Good said.
As most would expect, the retail and hospitality professions with salaries
ranging in the $9- to $11-an-hour area, are on the grow. What is more
surprising is a brighter future in manufacturing.
³Even though we¹re seeing some reduction in the number of jobs, they¹re
still a major part of our work force, particularly multiskill
manufacturing,² Good said.
Manufacturing jobs are predicted to decline by about 4.8 percent by 2014,
but the field still contributes more than 41,000 jobs to the area, more than
any other single industry. But the manufacturing job of the future won¹t
look like the job your grandfather had.
³They¹re looking for people with multiple skills and training. It really has
changed,² Good said.
Choosing a growing career can certainly help when it comes to finding a job,
but it¹s not the only thing. For many employees, the biggest problem isn¹t
finding employees, it¹s finding good employees.
³Believe it or not, one of the biggest problems they are having is finding
people who will show up for work. It really is the main issue in this area.
If you have a work ethic you can land a job without a problem,² said Karen
Grothouse, vice president of sales and operation at Spherion¹s Schulte
franchise, an employment agency covering all of northwest Ohio.
Spherion prints close to 2,000 paychecks a week for employees in jobs that
range from temporary secretaries to plant managers. But whatever the
profession, it¹s the work ethic that leads to better jobs and better pay,
Grothouse said.
³The first thing I would go over [with an employee] is work values. When
your supervisor tells you to be there are 8 a.m., be there at 8, or five
till. Once you have those kinds of ground-level abilities you can do
anything,² Grothouse said.
You can comment on this story at www.limaohio.com.