Youth Radio - Topic: Employment

Job Search Swag

denise — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:56:41 -0600

The following originally aired on KCBS

The months following graduation have been a precious time for me to reflect on what I want to do with my life. What kind of work should educated young people like me aim for and what wages must we expect entering the work force?

I am not returning to school in the fall for the first time in seventeen years. I don’t have classes to enroll in or textbooks to buy, but pressure is building up for me to move forward and launch my career--whether it be as a poet, public servant, actor or journalist.

Now I’m starting to post my resume online and submit applications to organizations I respect. I’ve been getting myself out there, volunteering for campaigns and media outlets to get more experience and to stay active.

But will all that, I know an undergraduate degree may not immediately translate into a high paying job. During this transitional phase, I’m making sure to keep my job search swag.

Figuring Out The Job Market Without A College Degree

rgee — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 17:18:09 -0600

This story originally aired on 12/17/11, on WABE-FM, Atlanta.

By Barbara Dougherty

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In a few months, most of my friends will be graduating from college - without me. I dropped out last fall, half way through my junior year. But I still hope to finish my degree someday. I’ve heard the statistics that people with college diplomas will earn more money than those who don’t have degrees.

I also know the unemployment rate isn't good for people who don't finish college. On top of all that, the thought of so many people my age soon entering the job market, competing with me, is intimidating. But my mother has helped me calm my feelings of inadequacy. She always reminds me that I have been successful at getting jobs: from busing tables to managing a frozen yogurt shop.

And now, I have a totally awesome position at a successful startup business - making all natural bath and body products by hand! I sell them at weekend festivals and markets. It’s an intensely fun outlet for my creativity and I’m getting some really great retail experience.

Though I'm disappointed that I didn’t finish college, I’m proud of myself for effectively selling myself to employers in this tight market. When my friends begin looking for jobs next summer, I’ll be able to give them advice on resumes, impressing potential employers, and being a responsible employee.

Previously on WABE:

* Advice From A Baseball Fan

* Occupy Election Booths, Not Streets

* Why Make Impossible Beauty Goals?

Membership Has Its Privileges

denise — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:46:04 -0600

The following originally aired on KQED-FM.

By: Asha Richardson

Every day I check my Gmail, chat with friends on Facebook and tell my Macbook Pro how much I love it. But when I graduate from college next year, I’m not sure how much these companies will love me, and by love me I mean hire me.

Less than 1% of startups funded last year were founded by African-Americans. This year as a part of Youth Radio’s App Lab, I visited the headquarters of one of the world’s biggest tech giants four times and was never introduced to a single black engineer or executive. Maybe they were in a different building or all at a meeting?

That experience reminded me of visits to my father’s office in the 90’s. He worked at Intel for ten years, and I could count the number of his African-American colleagues on my little hands.

The tech industry argues that there’s a pipeline problem. In other words not enough African-Americans are entering the industry. And there’s some truth to that. Until recently tech was considered Steve Urkel nerdy, not Steve Jobs cool. Plus where are black kids going to gain exposure to programming? For example, In Oakland, only 2 of 20 public high schools offer classes in computer programming.

Silicon Valley often identifies as a place where people advance based on their ideas and achievements, but what gets glossed over is that it’s only a meritocracy if you’re in the club.

It seems like membership requires attending a well funded high school, doing well on the SATs, and earning top grades…preferably from an Ivy League College. Google famously screens prospective employees for high GPAs, even when applicants have proven themselves as leaders in the field.

While we try to ignore it, race, privilege, and class continue to affect Americans’ opportunities.

Hopefully, more tech companies will recognize the value, and profitability, of ideas and input from a variety of demographics. African-American techies do exist, and we’re working to increase our visibility. As an emerging entrepreneur, I don’t want my ideas to be funded because I’m a black woman. I want them to succeed on their merits. But for that to happen, I need to be in the room.

Inflexible Companies To Blame For Talent Shortage?

squevedo — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:14:36 -0600

Assumptions about why unemployment is so high could be totally wrong, says a recent editorial in the Wall Street Journal by Peter Cappelli, a professor at U. Penn’s Wharton School of Business. According to Manpower Group, 52% U.S. companies report difficulty filling jobs and 47% of companies blame job seekers’ lack of hard skills. But Cappelli’s editorial argues that the problem doesn’t lie squarely on the shoulders of un-skilled job seekers or a lacking educational system, but on inflexible employers and out of date hiring practices. Cappelli writes, “Finding candidates to fit jobs is not like finding pistons to fit engines…Jobs can be organized in many different ways so that candidates who have very different credentials can do them successfully.”

Among his proposed solutions:

•         Companies should work with community colleges and educators to tailor coarse work to the specific needs of employers.
•         Bring back apprenticeships providing on the job training to new employees at a significant pay reduction/cost benefit to employers.
•         Promote from within and create pathways for advancement within companies reversing the trend of filling more than two-thirds of vacancies from outside job seekers.

The Top 8 Jobs You Should Target

rgee — Tue, 10 May 2011 15:43:51 -0500

By Robyn Gee, Turnstyle News

The The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced last week that 244,000 new jobs were created in April 2011. As college students graduate and think about employment options, we wanted to know a little more about those 244,000 jobs, what industry they're in, and how much they pay.

BLS offers employment projections for the future. Below are eight of the occupations showing the most growth between the years of 2008 - 2018, as projected by the BLS, and their associated wages.

(Note to self: go for VH and highest percentages!)

[VH = very high median annual wages, H = high median annual wages, L = low median annual wages, VL = very low median annual wages]

1. Biomedical engineers 72% VH

2. Network systems and data analysts 53.4% VH

3. Home health aides 50% VL

4. Personal and home care aides 46% VL

5. Financial examiners 41.2% VH

6. Medical scientists (except epidemiology) 40.4% VH

7. Skin care specialists 37.9% L

8. Physicians assistants 39% VH

Now for the doomsday projections... which jobs are going away in BLS projections between 2008 and 2018?

-Textile Bleaching / Dying workers -44.8% L

-Textile knitting / weaving machine setters -39.5% L

-Shoe machine repair operator -34.8% L

-Sewing machine operators -33.7% L

-Semiconductor processors (make microchips out of silicon) -31.5% L

-Gas pumping station operators -20.6% H

-Tire builders -17.6% H

-Petroluem pump system operators -15.25 VH

-Photo-processing machine operators -24.3% VL

-Postal service mail sorters -30.3% H

Slate recently published an article about which jobs will be replaced by robots. Maybe we have our answers, thanks to the BLS.

Life After Dropping Out Of College

rgee — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 12:34:25 -0500

The following was originally broadcast on 4/23/11, WABE-FM, Atlanta.

By Barbara Dougherty

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I dropped out of college last year. I had completed two and a half years and my grades were alright, but my finances were complicated. In fact, money was a huge reason for my withdrawal from the expensive private Quaker school in the middle of nowhere, North Carolina. But I’d be lying if I said money was the only reason.

So now, I am going through what I like to call my “quarter-life crisis.” I’m living with my parents again and working at a job for less than I make babysitting. I am wondering with my hindsight 20/20 vision: why the heck I left behind my college experience. After all I had learned and all the time and energy I spent there. All the friends, all the homework, all the potential memories that could have been the rest of my college days are gone.

I hate that I’m already out of practice writing and speaking academically. I hate that I didn’t cherish every single moment of college while I was there. And I really, really hate that I didn’t finish what I started. The whole experience makes me feel flaky and undisciplined.

Whatever uncomfortable feelings I was going through, I realize I can’t change them by simply changing my surroundings. Now I’m taking things day by day, as I figure out a different plan for my life. A plan that may even include going back to school with a new outlook.

Previously on WABE:

* Free Speech To What Extent?

* From Making Noise To Making Music

* Prom And School Spirit: A Culture Shock For French Student

Young People Are Happy To Work At Mr. Youth

rgee — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 15:49:46 -0600

So, you’re looking for a job. Consider this: unlimited vacation time, no set daily work hours, a company dodgeball team, and monthly fun field trips. Sound good?!

Welcome to Mr. Youth, a marketing agency specializing in the youth market, that was just voted one of the best places to work in New York by Crain’s New York Business Magazine.

Not only does the company have a dodgeball and softball team, but they create a team atmosphere in the office. The payoff? A high employee retention rate. “Everyone at the company has respect for their peers, and they’re often in the office all weekend demonstrating their dedication to getting the project done,” said Doug Akin, Chief Engagement Officer at Mr. Youth. “You don’t want to let down your team- it’s part family, part team. Everyone is in it together,” he said.

According to a study done by Mr. Youth, 37 % of “Millennials” (or those born around the 1980s) left their jobs because they just "needed a change.” They also found that the average 26-year-old has already held seven jobs. Mr. Youth works hard to make sure their young employees stick around.

According to Akin, between 60 - 70% of their employees are twenty-something, and no one abuses the flexible policies, like unlimited vacation time. “People work weekends and nights, but that’s just part of the passion. It’s less about coming in at nine and leaving at five. We’ve made a fun culture where it doesn’t feel like work," said Akin. There are multiple opportunities for employees to socialize outside of work doing fun and meaningful things. Akin points out that the younger employees often don’t have families outside of work, or long commutes. “Everyone is still excited to hang out with the company.”

Some of the things they’ve organized for fun outside of work include:
- A trip to make wine, which will be bottled and given as holiday presents to employees next year.
- Karaoke night
- Gelato day
- Costume parties
- A Halloween runway walk-off

In addition, the company does community service projects. Employees are currently working on building a school in Southeast Asia and raising funds through social network campaigns.

Mr. Youth allows their employees the freedom to work when they want, a chance to socialize outside the office, and treats every idea with respect, regardless of who it came from. “We empower people at all levels, which has been a great part of our success. We look at everyone with same respect. Your voice can be heard. There is no red tape. We’ve removed the hierarchies,” said Akin.

So what does this company do?
Mr. Youth creates marketing campaigns that target the youth demographic. Their strategies rely heavily on social media and word of mouth, which is the strongest purchasing influence, according to the Mr. Youth website. For example, to market Neutrogena’s Wave skincare device, Mr. Youth sent the products to 4,000 high school girls and started online conversations about the products. They created a Wave Facebook page and challenged girls to start The Wave at their school by inviting their friends to join, with the opportunity to win concert tickets and prizes.

Another example of a Mr. Youth campaign was the Dew DIY campaign. Mr. Youth recruited hardcore Mountain Dew fans on 50 college campuses, called the Dew Crews, to spread the word to their peers. The Dew Crews there recruited artists to make Dew murals, ice sculptures, and other crazy creations. The best designs were then featured in a gallery on campus.

So how do you get a job with this company? Akin said that their marketing campaigns often call for having college student representatives marketing their client’s brand on campus. These representatives are often attracted to Mr. Youth. “They have firsthand knowledge as marketers on campus, and strong experience working with brands,” said Akin.

New Options Commentary- By Youth Radio's Own Lolita Jenkins

new options editor — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 20:26:11 -0500

Hi, my name is Lolita Jenkins. I'm a student from Youth Radio and the topic I am talking about today is my struggle to find a job.

My struggle started at 16. I wanted a job and I was in high school so asked all my teachers "Can you help me get a job?" They told me that all I have to do is just go down to where I want to work and ask for an application.

It wasn't that simple. I went to get a application and the person who I asked for an application said that I was to young to work. At the time, I wasn’t trippin. I planned to go on about my days until I got to be 18.

But now that I am past 18 it’s still hard even though I want to be independent. It is hard because I'm shy. But the biggest difficulty is that I feel like I should be further along than I am, instead of asking people for help to filling out an application to get a job.

It is hard to do it myself because applications take long time when you haven’t had lots of practice. I'm not used to doing applications online and some of the question are hard to understand. I wish there was a class where the teacher taught older people like me how to do it. Even though the struggle of getting a job can be stressful, once you apply yourself it is much easier to get things done. You just have to stop being afraid to ask for help.

Now that I have gotten a little help filling out a application it has led me to get me a interview, which has turned into a job at Youth Radio and this job here can help me get the next one I want.

Dangerous Jobs

nhafiz — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:29:18 -0500

I will be more focused, eat healthy and find a job that I love. It's almost time for that New Years Resolution. People always say that they'll strive to find their dream job, they'd do anything to have a successful career. How far would you go? How hard would you work in your dream job? I found ten of the most dangerous jobs where people really risk their lives everyday just to do something they love. 4,340 people died on the job last year, according to new data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's a rate of 3.3 deaths per 100,000 workers -- the lowest ever reported by the BLS. Here's a look at how workers keep themselves safe.

Fisherman

Fatality Rate: 200 per 100,000

Median Wages: $23,600

The most perilous job in the U.S. is held by those who fish the waters in cold-weather states. Freezing water and icy boat decks can lead to horrific accidents, and storms can swamp small fishing vessels, sometimes claiming entire crews.

Compounding the danger is catch rules: By limiting fishing seasons, fisheries management creates a race to fish, according to the Environmental Defense Fund.

That forces fishermen out in dangerous weather and keeps exhausted crews on the water. In Alaska, the season for halibut and crab has been, at times, reduced to just three days.

Even warm-water fishers face hazards. Wayne Magwood has shrimped the waters off South Carolina for 40 years and says the biggest danger is heavy machinery, such as the power winches and cables that haul nets and other equipment.

"My dad taught me to keep my shirt tucked in," says Magwood. "Your clothes can get tangled up and you can get pulled overboard. One guy broke his neck recently."

Magwood also lost a friend when the crewman was answering nature's call and a sudden roll pitched him into the water.

Logger

Fatality Rate: 61.8 per 100,000

Median Wages: $34,440

Logging takes an annual toll like few other occupations. The biggest hazard, according to Roger Smith of RL Logging in Olympia, Wash., comes from logging mountain slopes.

"You're working steep terrain with 70-degree, 80-degree grades with rocks and sliding logs," he says.

About half the time, he's taking down 60- to 70-year-old trees with trunk diameters of 30 inches or more. If not felled correctly, these can go crashing down slopes, rolling over anyone in their paths.

"A lot of the time, what gets cutters is if they don't see something," Smith says. "Like trees growing together or snags."

The old forest canopies often have those snags, which are big dead branches that break off and can fall erratically when the tree comes down. Loggers call them "widow makers."

Even after the trees are cut, the job of loading them can be tough.

"Somebody just got killed here last Thursday," he says. "He was running a harvester and one of the teeth of the chain broke off and went right through the bulletproof glass window of his cab."

Airplane Pilots

Fatality Rate: 57.1 per 100,000

Median Wages: $106,240

When former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens died in a small plane accident recently, it underscored the hazards Alaskan bush pilots face.

That crash followed the script of many Alaskan accidents, where the most common cause of fatalities is "flying into terrain, under speed," according to the BLS.

Heidi Ruess, an Anchorage-based bush pilot with 40 years experience, says, "You can't compare Alaskan flying with the rest of the country."

Volatile Alaskan weather and vertical topography can cause pilots to lose visibility in fog and fly into steep mountainsides.

She used to take tourists, hunters and fishermen out to remote locations until she flipped her Cessna 185. She had only three passengers -- the plane can take five -- but she was still over-loaded because, in addition to gear, they had packed up four or five caribou.

"We don't have roads [in Alaska] and you can't drive in to pick up the gear and the game," she says.

She also flipped a float plane a few years before as she landed to pick up duck hunters. She tried to use mud to brake but it was frozen and the plane hit a big ditch and sent her tumbling.

After that, she concentrated on teaching. She cautions her students that the two biggest reasons for flying accidents are physical conditions, which pilots can rarely do much about, and judgment, which they can.

Farmers and Ranchers

Fatality Rate: 35.8 per 100,000

Median Wages: $32,350

Both farmers and ranchers deal with many hazardous conditions in their workplace. In many cases, accidents result when workers get fatigued or hurry to complete a job.

"When you're tired, you may take shortcuts you shouldn't," says John Gilbert, who, along with his four brothers and eldest son, runs a big dairy and pork farm near Iowa Falls, Iowa. "Raising and harvested crops, you have short windows to get things done in the spring and fall. That leads to a lot of rushing around."

Many agricultural workers die one of three ways: being pinned in overturned tractors, truck collisions and animal incidents.

One of the biggest hazards for farmers around Gilbert's home ground is moving around augers that transfer grain from trucks or bins to silos.

"They're tall enough to get tangled in overhead power lines," says Gilbert. "Everybody knows about the hazard and is cautioned about it, but accidents happen anyway."

Almost as dangerous is taking to the roads on slow moving tractors or combines. Drivers inexperienced in rural travel may confuse the hazard lights and directional signals and think the farmer is turning left instead of right. That leads to farmers sometimes turning directly into the path of an oncoming car or truck.

Gilbert himself has been cautious, and lucky, never sustaining a disabling injury. And he does not consider farming a job: "It's a way of life," he says.

Roofers

Fatality Rate: 34.7 per 100,000

Median Wages: $33,970

Height increases danger -- and roofing is an occupation where elevation is part of the job description.

Kevin Coleman has been roofing safely for 24 years, since age 18. He works commercial buildings with mostly flat roofs, so the possibility of falling is lower. Although he has worked as high as a 70-story building in downtown Chicago.

One particular hazard is hot tar. The roofers work with big buckets of the stuff heated to as much as 525 degrees.

"I got hurt only once," says Coleman. "A guy's shirt with a lighter in the pocket fell into the tar and exploded. My face was covered." He escaped with only a few scars.

Safety has increased for roofers.

"When I started, it was 'Get up on the roof and go,'" he says. "Now you take OSHA safety courses and there's more safety equipment, too."

Roofers can fall even off flat roofs with no wall height, so one innovation was to set up a line of flags, six feet from the roof's edge, like an outfield warning track.

There's also more protection, such as restraints and nets, to catch workers when they do fall. But the prime reason for a steady drop-off of injuries and fatalities is better training, according to Coleman.

Ironworkers

Fatality Rate: 30.3 per 100,000

Median Wages: $44,500

The men and women who build the skyscrapers and bridges of modern America have always been held in awe by the general public.

Images of them walking a four-inch steel beam hanging 500-feet above the street or sliding down an I-beam illustrate the conditions that would have lesser workers curling into a fetal position and crying for their mommies.

Steve Rank helped build downtown Houston in the 1980s and now works to improve ironworker safety via negotiated rule-making with OSHA.

One thing that has changed is the number of anchor bolts set in concrete has doubled. These bolts help hold beams steady as they go up. In the past, many bolts failed.

"The structure would fall like a house of cards," Rank says.

Site preparation is also a major issue. "Before, it would look like a scud missile hit, everything underwater in mud," Rank explains. "We'd be offloading steel and the truck wheels would sink, shifting the beams and crushing people."

Rank is still negotiating with OSHA to get better rules for reinforced-concrete buildings. These can be 20-story high constructions of poured concrete with steel rebar embedded in them.

Lax regulations governing them has contributed to more than 100 ironworker fatalities over the past few years, according to Rank.

"We want to do the same thing for reinforced concrete we did with structural steel to make the job site safer," he says.

Sanitation Worker

Fatality Rate: 25.2 per 100,000

Median Wages: $32,070

Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis Tenn., when he came to support black sanitation workers who were striking against unequal treatment.

Ironically, 40 years later, that conflict continues to have an impact on the health and safety of Memphis sanitation workers.

According to Warren Cole, the president of the union local, black workers were frozen out of the city pension plan years ago, leaving them only social security. Many have had to keep working at this demanding job much longer because they can't afford to retire.

"We lost one of our workers last week," said Cole. "Emmite Johnson had finished running his route. Memphis has been averaging about 100 degrees with high humidity, and he fell waiting for a bus. He was 70 years old."

Summer may be tough on sanitation workers, but they also endure hazardous wastes all year long. Cole said a new peril is from portable meth labs, which are set up in vans or automobiles.

Explosive bi-products are discarded in garbage bins or alongside roads, a lethal danger to sanitation workers.

There's also the heavy equipment, like compactors, that can grab and crush workers if they're not careful.

Industrial Machinist

Fatality Rate: 18.5 per 100,000

Median Wages: $39,600

One of the biggest hazards of working with industrial machinery is handling the heavy weights. Machines can buck or shift, easily crushing a fragile human being.

Machinery in use in unforgiving. Loose clothing or long hair can be caught by chains or gears and mangle workers before the equipment can be brought to a stop.

Fortunately, better safety equipment and more comprehensive training has made working with machinery safer, according to David Merrifield, a Missouri-based safety consultant.

"There are better standards for safety and training," he says. "A well-trained operator can avoid accidents and make the accidents that do happen less severe."

Truckers and Drivers/Sales Workers

Fatality Rate: 18.3 per 100,000

Median Wages: $37,730

Mark Sutherland is a long-haul trucker with a track record of 2 million miles without an accident. But not all drivers can make that boast.

More truckers and sales delivery men die on the job than any of the other top 10 occupations due to a moderately high fatality rate and a large number of workers.

Vigilance is vital but that can be hard to maintain, especially with truckers under pressure to produce. Government deregulation, according to Sutherland, has increased competition and squeezed profit margins. Some drivers and companies cut corners.

"They do what it takes," says Sutherland, "and some of the terrible accidents you see are the result."

For truckers pushing the limits, speeding and driving too long without proper rest take a toll. Things happen quickly when a big rig is rolling down the road at 75 miles per hour and the driver's attention has wandered after 10 hours with only a short break or two.

"You have to constantly pay attention," says Sutherland. "You can't have enough eyes. You have to adjust to conditions."

His pet peeve is the drivers who come to a dead stop at construction zones for no reason. That, fog, ice and snow are the most hazardous physical conditions that truckers face.

Construction Laborer

Fatality Rate: 18.3 per 100,000

Median Wages: $29,150

Building sites contain many of the hazardous conditions present in many of the most dangerous jobs. Workers are outdoors in all sorts of weather conditions, often at great heights and exposed to heavy materials and machinery.

A laborer was killed at McCarren Airport in Las Vegas early in 2009 when an earth-moving shovel ran over him. Later in the year, a Michigan laborer died when a diesel tank exploded. In New Jersey a worker was killed after his clothing entangled in a rotating machine drilling pipe.

Safety has sometimes been an afterthought on some construction jobs, but government regulations and heightened awareness by companies and the workers themselves have helped to steadily pare down casualties.

When I Grow Up

nhafiz — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:49:58 -0500

What did you want to be when you grew up? Police officer, Doctor, Fire Fighter? I'm pretty sure Blogger wasn't on the list of dream jobs. In this day and age, it would be a dream come true to become a blogger, a social media manager, and even a go green marketer. Check out this list of new dream jobs, and the fields are booming. In the business field you can become:

Big Time Business Executive

1. Business continuity specialists plan and implement recovery solutions to keep businesses functioning during disasters and emergency situations.

2. Electronic commerce specialists analyze online buyers' preferences and handle online sales strategies, including marketing, advertising, and website design.

3. Social media managers/strategists use social technologies like Facebook to reach out to customers, and they build social networks within companies.

4. Virtual concierges provide professional concierge services--for business or personal needs--with the convenience of being just an email away.

5. User experience analysts collect data on website usage and provide insight about users' experiences by using psychological, computer-science, and industrial-design knowledge to test theories and draw conclusions.

Communication Field

If you're a person that has good communication skills, loves express yourself through words you can look into:

1. Bloggers research and write blog content for news websites, public and private corporations, government offices, and many other organizations with blogs.

2. Content managers develop strategies for creating, updating, and organizing Web content, typically with the goal of attracting new visitors.

3. Online political campaign managers develop and manage strategies for using Internet and social technologies to help politicians get elected.

4. Video journalists design and produce online videos that document information, news, and events.

Education Is Key

As a child I wanted to become a teacher when I grew up. This field is for those of you that want to make an impact and educate others.

1. Athletic compliance coordinators ensure that athletic programs receiving government funding meet government regulations.

2. Adaptive physical education specialists help people with disabilities participate in physical education programs and activities.

3. Distance learning coordinators schedule courses and coordinate distance learning programs.

4. Home-school liaisons establish and manage partnerships between parents and schools.

5. School diagnosticians assess and diagnose the learning problems of students.

The Environment

It's 2010!! Time to GO GREEN, get your degree in Environmental Science and make $$$

1. Carbon credit traders handle the purchase and sale of carbon-emissions permits for companies.

2. Environmental economists measure the benefits and potential drawbacks of renewable energy and other environmental alternatives.

3. Environmental restoration planners work with scientific staff to implement plans that reverse environmental damage.

4. Green marketers promote green products and services.

5. Recycling coordinators administer drop-off and curbside recycling programs with government and waste-disposal agencies.

The Energy Field

This field may require a BA(bachelors) or MA(masters) in Engineering or Business.

1. Biofuels/biodiesel product development managers plan and execute research programs that evaluate alternative biofuels/biodiesel technologies.

2. Biomass plant technicians monitor biomass plant activities (biomass is biological matter that can be turned into a renewable energy source).

3. Energy auditors inspect buildings and systems to maximize energy efficiency and cut energy costs.

4. Energy brokers buy and sell energy for customers.

5. Fuel cell engineers design and build fuel cell systems for all types of devices, including cars and phones.

6. Methane/landfill gas collection system operators run the day-to-day business of landfill gas projects, including compliance and reporting requirements.

The best part of dreaming about careers as a kid was the sense of wonder and excitement--the belief that you would have a job that was on the cutting edge of discovery. Your future career was going to be thrilling! With a bit of career training to prepare you for any of these 25 emerging careers, it still can be.