What are the Hottest Careers Right Now?

With the job market still relatively weak, it may feel like there are not a lot of options for recent graduates or jobseekers with entry-level experience. In the past recession, even unpaid internships were notoriously difficult to procure, which removed one of the key vehicles that students and entry-level workers have normally entered the labor market in. The good news is that the current market in the Southeast is not as difficult as it once was, and there are now plenty of viable careers that less experienced or entry-level professionals can pursue.

With the recovery on Wall Street, economic and business-sector employment has picked up again. Students should remember that making themselves marketable to employers begins before they graduate. Because many employers often require specific majors or areas of study when hiring, this can play a significant role in the industries available to them. For example, during Virginia Tech's 2012-2013 recruiting season, the business majors that resulted in the highest number of interviews were Accounting, Finance, and Business Information Technology. As the retail sector has improved, sales employment has grown as well. Of the areas with the highest employment, the DC Metro area ranks highest, with over half of Virginia Tech's business graduates finding jobs in that region. Richmond is also becoming an up and coming destination to launch finance careers. Charlotte and Raleigh have also become significant talent magnets, with the Southeast being particularly strong in finance and tech.

Outside of the business sector, domestic students in computer science are currently the most in-demand major. The tech boom continues to drive up employment in the U.S. The gap between demand and qualified workers has been problematic. Many companies who are unable to find local or domestic employees with the right skills are instead hiring from overseas. Increasingly, businesses that require workers with highly specialized skills are sponsoring foreign employees, simply because they cannot find qualified workers at home. Typically, students in computer science majors want to work for the big names like Google, Microsoft, Facebook, LinkedIn, Amazon, and Yahoo. What they do not realize is that many companies without "tech name recognition" are hiring as well - and can often be comparable places to work. Tech continues to be the ultimate industry right now, with cities like Austin, Silicon Valley, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Raleigh, and DC being the meccas of this talent. Companies are setting up operations where the talent is concentrated to improve their chances of hiring graduates. They know that this is preferable to trying to relocate workers away from the talent hub to smaller markets.



Stuart Mease, Director of Career Advancement and Employer Relations, Virginia Tech Pamplin College of Business