By Jennifer Merritt

Feel like the bulk of your job search rests solely on your shoulders? Fear not–employers are looking for you, too. Job hunters can expect to see more employment opportunities in the spring of 2007, as employers begin aggressively hiring in anticipation of pending retirements, a recent recruiting trends survey of 864 companies by Michigan State University (MSU) shows.

With companies reporting a need for more professionally trained graduates, certain career fields, such as business and engineering, will be hiring more so than others, the report reveals. As a result, specific academic majors–perhaps your major–will be in high demand.

Get a jump on your career hunting homework with a sneak peek of four hot fields—business, engineering, nursing, and computer science—with advice from experts on what you’ll need to ace your job search.

Getting Down to Business
With so many career options for business-degree holders, such graduates can narrow down prospective jobs with the knowledge that the financial sector has one of the highest intentions of hiring new employees—66 percent, according to the MSU report. Indeed, those within the profession report strong demand for certain qualified employees.

“I try to steer business majors toward accounting,” says Martha C. Stark, senior vice president of Signature Bank in Garden City, NY. “Accounting firms are desperate for new employees since the advent of Sarbanes-Oxley,” she continues, referring to the 2001 government ruling for stricter accounting practices following financial scandals like Enron and WorldCom.

Furthermore, Stark says an accounting education is a great foundation for any position in business. For example, a recent survey by the Association of Financial Professionals reports a strong demand for treasurers—those responsible for the money management of just about any organization. The survey, which polled more than 500 treasurers in companies with average revenues of $2 billion, 37 percent of companies have expanded their treasury staff in the last three years. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics echoes these results, projecting an 18 percent to 26 percent job growth for the profession through 2014.

Stark’s advice? “Students should seek out training programs. What could be better than having someone pay you to learn?” she says. “Do your research by connecting with as many people in the profession as possible. Not only will the connections prove invaluable down the road, but they will provide you with information you won’t find elsewhere.”

Engineer Your Way to a Career
Engineering will be another high-demand major in 2007 according to MSU’s report. It’s also one of the career fields with the highest starting salaries. First-year chemical engineers, for example, earn an average of $51,664 annually. And that range can reach as much as $100,000 per year, according to MSU data. How can you get on the higher end of the pay scale? By specializing, experts say.

As more and more companies go “green” and invest in ways to reduce emissions and pollution, the need for environmental scientists is strong. The BLS forecasts the profession to grow much faster than average–27 percent or more–through 2014. What’s more, in May 2004, the average annual salary of environmental scientists was $51,080, with the highest 10 percent in the profession earning more than $94,460, according to the most recent data available from the BLS.

Despite environmental science’s seemingly targeted specialty, numerous career options abound: About 44 percent of environmental scientists were employed in State and local governments; 15 percent in management, scientific, and technical consulting services; 14 percent in architectural, engineering, and related services; and 8 percent by the federal government, according to the most recent BLS data. About 5 percent were self-employed.

Rehabilitate Your Earning Potential
Health care is another in-demand industry with high earning potential within specialized fields. Bachelor's degree-toting nurses, on average, earn about $46,865, but for nurses with a specialty focus, earning potential can jump as much as $15,000. For example, physical therapists in 2004 earned an annual salary of $60,180, according to the most recent BLS data. Earnings vary based on the area of physical therapy, but generally the BLS states that positions in home Health care services, nursing care facilities, physician offices, and general medical practices and hospitals fall within the salary range of $60,000 to $65,000.

Again, job hunters are faced with dozens of career paths within a specialty. How can you narrow it down? “Spend time interacting with physicians, nurses, occupational therapists, speech pathologists, and others,” suggests Diane Jette, a physical therapist and tenured professor and chair of the department of rehabilitation and movement science at the University of Vermont. “Many students become interested in physical therapy because they or someone they are close to has had physical therapy for an injury or disease,” she continues.

She adds that that is what makes physical therapy most rewarding. “We spend substantial time with individuals and get to know them really well,” she says. “We are involved in helping them improve quality of life. It’s a physical job—you don’t sit for most of the day—and it involves understanding individual’s lives, motivations, and potential.”

As a result, those interested in pursuing physical therapy only need a strong desire to help others, backed by at least a bachelor's degree. In fact, Jette reports several students of hers came to physical therapy from a variety of backgrounds, including a Wall Street broker, building contractor, and professional dancer.

Technically Speaking
Following the dot-com crash of 2001, the need for information technology professionals is once again on the rise, according to MSU’s recruiting report, particularly within smaller companies. The BLS expects the need for computer-savvy employees to grow faster than average, up to 27 percent, through 2014.

Computers are yet another instance where salaries vary depending on the specialty. Starting offers for computer science graduates with an MBA and one year or less of experience averaged $52,300, according to a 2005 survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. Elsewhere, earnings can reach into the high $90's. According to the most recent data available from the BLS, the top three earners from computer and information managers in May 2004 were software publishers, with an average annual salary of $107,870; system designers, earning an average of $103,850; and company IT managers, with an annual salary average of $99,880.

For Paul Claxton, a management specialist and project engineer for American Forces Radio and Television Network, the key to finding his specialty was to never stop learning. “I started out as an administrator and as new network technology came to dominate TV broadcasting, I expanded my studies into networking, then eventually into security,” he says. Paul had some help in deciding to pursue a specialty. “I was given an excellent piece of advice by some Microsoft administrators I met at a conference: 'Try to be the best there is at one specific thing rather than a jack-of-all-trades and a master of none,'” he recounts. “I narrowed my focus down to security and networking following that advice.”

Now, he passes the advice on, enhanced with his own experience. “Never, ever stop learning,” he advises. “Like the law, like medicine, our profession is always changing and evolving. You can’t pause and relax in this career field for very long at all. You have to enjoy the challenge; you have to enjoy learning. I try to spend at least one hour a day reading and learning to keep myself in the daylight.”

So there you have it: four hot career fields, numerous specialties, and a higher paycheck. Choose wisely, and your next employer may come looking for you.

Jennifer Merritt is a freelance writer focused on education, health and travel.