The US job market is as strong as it’s been since the recession, with unemployment at a 17-year low and Americans reporting rising job satisfaction in each of the last six years. But for many people, the New Year means a new career, and there’s not a better time for a job change especially if you’re looking into one of the fastest growing jobs for 2018.
Here are some of the best job opportunities to consider this year:
Personal Financial Advisor
If you are a math whiz or are interested in personal investments, you may want to consider a career as a personal financial advisor. You work directly with clients to help them manage their money, advising on everything from insurance to investments to long-term planning. Perhaps an even bigger benefit is the virtual opportunity – many financial advisors are self-employed, creating and maintaining client relationships directly. The demand for personal financial advisors is expected to grow more than 30% by 2022, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the median salary is $90,530.
Computer Software Engineer
It’s no surprise this field continues to grow, with startups and big companies alike looking for creative, innovative developers and software engineers to design and refine computer programs. The demand for software engineers is expected to grow more than 17% by 2022, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics—much faster than average. Computer software engineering is a very high-paying field if you’ve got the degree and the skills, and the median salary is $102,280.
Registered Nurse
Even though the healthcare field continues to grow rapidly, there is still a shortage of qualified nurses. If you are interested in patient care, then this could be a good career opportunity, and the demand for registered nurses is expected to grow more than 16% by 2022, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In addition to an associate’s or bachelor’s degree in nursing, or a certificate from an accredited allied health program in nursing, nurses also need to be licensed.
The median salary is $68,450.
Biomedical engineering is a combination of two very hot industries these days: healthcare and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). Biomedical engineers develop equipment, devices, software, and computer systems used in medical facilities, using both technical expertise and biology to create and refine the way doctors diagnose and treat patients. The demand for biomedical engineers is expected to grow by a huge 23% by 2022, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the median salary is $85,620.
Market Research Analyst
Market and customer data drive every industry, and how they can use that to gain a competitive edge. Market research analysts take raw data and analyze it to understand customers, predict trends, determine what pricing should be, and provide valuable feedback from the marketplace. The demand for market research analysts is predicted to grow by 19% by 2022, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics—much faster than average, with a current median salary of $62,560.
Environmental Engineering Technician
One of the hottest industries today is anything tied to “green” or “sustainable, so becoming an environmental engineering technician could be a great career choice. Environmental engineering technicians work with environmental engineers to collect environmental data for analysis or work with equipment designed to prevent or clean up pollution. The demand for environmental engineering technicians is expected to grow by 10% by 2022, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the median salary is $49,170.
In addition to the demand for jobs in these fields, many cities are perfect for getting a fresh start and landing a new, well-paying job. To find the 20 best cities for finding a job in 2018, personal-finance site WalletHub compared 182 of the most populous US cities based on 26 metrics, including job opportunities, employment growth, monthly median salary, unemployment rate, average work and commute time, and housing affordability.
So if the coming change in the calendar year has you itching to do something different, you can also check out Glassdoor’s Employees’ Choice Awards, which features the 100 best places to work in 2018 across the US.