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Health, high-tech jobs to be hot in 2013

Looking for the hot jobs this year? Trend watchers say health care will continue to be the hottest sector, but that doesn’t mean you have to be a hands-on care giver.

Options include working in health insurance, translation service, information technology, or support services, be they administrative, sales, janitorial or transportation.

Tracey Wilen-Daugenti, managing director at the Apollo Research Institute, says health reform is driving job growth, but other industries expect growth, too. She picks:

• Education — An explosion in online classes from brick-and-mortar universities and distance-learning schools offers a gold mine of teaching options

Generally, master’s degrees are required for higher education, but Wilen-Daugenti noted that certification programs for some jobs may not require advanced degrees for instructors. K-12 tutoring programs and education-oriented call centers are growing, too.

• Geriattrics — Aging baby boomers create opportunities in the life care industry, serving growing numbers of people who age in their own homes or live in life-care facilities.

Wilen-Daugenti said she’s seeing workers in their 60s who are planning “encore careers,” building on current skills or interests to focus on serving the aging population.

There could be a bonus in that: Older workers may be less likely to encounter age discrimination in hiring if their client base is older, too.

• STEM — Get used to the acronym for science, technology, engineering and math. Wilen-Daugenti said those sectors are begging for talent, but 75 percent of all growth jobs require computer skills.

The ubiquity of computer jobs, she notes, is a plus for people who’d like to work from home. And that ties to another trend she sees of tech-savvy women blending motherhood with home-based programming or other IT work.

The overarching trend for 2013, she said, is the “intertwining of work and education.” Fast-paced change in technology and global markets mean you’re never done learning — at least if you want to continue to advance in your profession.

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