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The Job Market's Hottest Industries

Who doesn't want a new job?

It's the basic human desire to want something new/different/more. And in a country as work-inclined and career-obsessed as ours, that desire more often than not expresses itself in thoughts of career change. But you've got to be careful with a decision like that. It's not something to enter into willy-nilly, lest you end up with a brand new realtor's license at the beginning of a combined credit crunch and no-doubt-about-it downturn in the housing market.

So the idea is to scope out what industries are on the rise and liable to stay at the top. What are the hot jobs for those interested in doing something a little different?

Here are a few suggestions:

Online Advertising -- Turns out that Google knew what it was doing all those years ago when everyone thought the company was crazy. Sure, the Leviathan of Mountain View does search and doesn't do evil, but where it makes its money, of course, is through the sale of advertising. But the online ad boom doesn't affect the likes of just Google, Microsoft, and the companies they've bought in the past year (DoubleClick and aQuantive, among others). With the New York Times abandoning its Times Select paid-content offering and talk of the Wall Street journal going free, there's little doubt that media titans will depend more and more on online advertising to make money.

Financial Planning -- You can only hear about the uncertainty of the long-term economy and the near-certainty of Social Security's death so many times before you start to think that maybe you should talk to someone about a financial plan. The good thing is that people are always gonna need help with this stuff. A potential drawback is the significant training involved in becoming a financial planner. But whether you attain your CFP (Certified Financial Planner) or even a CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) designation, you're sure to have clients lined up at your doorstep.

Health Care -- The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that fully half of the ten fastest-growing industries are health care-related. Categories like mental health care, drug abuse treatment, and home health care services are booming and offer jobs aplenty. But the continued exponential growth in health care jobs won't be solely in clinical positions. Areas from administration and management to professional services of all stripes will be needed in the field.

High Technology -- Finally, as has been the case for the last 40 years at least, the tech industry is still undergoing crazy growth despite the dot com bust. So whether it's something like Web design, software engineering, systems administration, data analysis, or, ya know, inventing something cool, the market is always gonna be out there looking for people to fill the positions