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best jobs for 2009
US News and World Report recently released their pick for the Best Careers in 2009. Selection was based on criteria such as job outlook, average job satisfaction, difficulty of the required training, prestige and pay.
- See the complete 2009 Best Careers list and report card here.
- See the explanations for changes to the 2008 list here.
- See the list of Overrated Careers here.
The following three careers were added to the 30 Best Careers list for 2009:
- Health Policy Specialist. Healthcare reform is a high priority for President-elect Barack Obama and Congress. That should create many jobs in developing a plan we can all live with.
- Physical Therapist. In previous years, this career just missed inclusion because of its difficult training requirement and a job market dampened by the increased use of physical therapy assistants. But its score rose this year because two national surveys rated physical therapy as very high in job satisfaction. In addition, the job market will likely improve as aging baby boomers are ever more likely to suffer weekend-warrior injuries and worse.
- Veterinarian. In tough economic times, people seek comforts, and pets are among the most treasured. So, it's perhaps not surprising that income among small-animal veterinarians is up. And as the profile explains, veterinary medicine offers many advantages over being a physician.
On the other hand, these are careers were removed from the 30 Best Careers list for 2009:
- Investment Banker: The financial industry collapse has decimated its job market.
- Dentist: We have received too many reports of burnout and back problems.
- Editor: Much as we like our jobs, we dropped that career because the publishing industry is consolidating and using more volunteer and low-pay freelance editors. Some editing work is even being offshored.
- Professor: Although at its best, a professorship can be a wonderful career, even many highly qualified people report being unable to land a tenure-track position. And with research-productivity requirements ratcheted up, job satisfaction often isn't what it used to be. So, we have moved Professor from a "Best Career" to Overrrated Career.
[...] In previous years, this career just missed inclusion because of its difficult training requirement and a job market dampened by the increased use of physical therapy assistants. But its score rose this year because two national surveys … More [...]