Can’t Fill Hard-to-Fill Jobs? Fill the Next Best Jobs.

Posted on | October 14, 2009 | No Comments

A recent article in the Huffington post, entitled “As Layoffs Persist, Good Jobs Go Unfilled” identified job positions that are available, high-paying, and hard to fill because so few people are qualified.  The article lists the following hard-to-fill jobs:

• Nurse
• Pharmacist
• MRI technician/ultrasound technologist
• Data analyst
• Physical therapist
• Electrical engineer
• Plant scientist
• Geotechnical engineer

A quick look at this list and you’ll note that nearly all of these jobs requires more than a year of training, especially if you don’t already have a college degree.

So, what are you to do?  You need a job right now, not a year from now.

There’s not much you can do to land an engineering or pharmacist job in less than a year.  But, you could become a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) or Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) within one year.  Job prospects are good for LPN’s, but they don’t earn as much as bachelor-level nurses (BSN) and registered nurses (RN)–an average of $37,200 for LPNs vs. $57,000 for RNs.  But, becoming an RN takes a minimum of 2 years, an associates degree (ADN) or a bachelor’s degree in nursing and a license.

You could also earn a computer certification, say Microsoft Certified Technical Specialist (MCTS), within a year by passing 3 exams.  Once certified, you can work as a consultant, developer or administrator, depending on the certification.

The truth is, you may not be able close the gap between the education and experience you have and what you need before your savings or unemployment is depleted.  But, you can apply to engineering, nursing and pharmacology programs now and start the journey.  By the time you’ve completed your program, the talent gap in these fields won’t have closed.

But, if you need gainful employment sooner, consider feeder and adjacent roles.

• Nurse aides
• Pharmacy technicians
• Medical lab technician/Phlebotomist
• EMT
• Computer or tech support
• Electrician
• Machinist

While these jobs don’t offer the big paychecks and cache the others offer, they do offer access to the work environment, the mentors and recommendation letters that will help you when you apply to undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs.

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