[ audio file | Size: 4.42mb | Duration: 10:50 | TRANSCRIPT (pdf, 119kb)]
Hey … WHAT’S UP??? What’s on your mind? Okay, I’ll start. Hot Jobs are what’s up and what I want to talk about today. These jobs are H-O-T hot!
[[intro music – “Red Hot Boogie†by Mofessor from podsafeaudio.com]]
Welcome everyone to episode number 8 of English Teacher John’s ‘What’s Up? Podcast.’ I’m John Koons. I’m from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America, and I am your host.
Hey, what jobs are hot in your city, region or country? A hot job is a job or occupation that’s expected to become more popular, more needed, more desirable.
Do you know what got me thinking about this topic? I was recently talking to a friend who is also an English teacher, and she said she was going to start working on her master’s degree. “Hey, great,†I responded. Then she told me she was going to get a degree in Speech Pathology. Speech Pathology. Of course I pretended to know what she was talking about, but the truth is, I really wasn’t exactly sure what Speech Pathology was. I mean, what does a Speech Pathologist do?
As you all know, in this internet age it’s very easy to quickly get a lot of information about a topic of curiosity. I plugged “speech pathology†into my newest dictionary website, OneLook.com, and quickly found out that:
A speech pathologist studies and treats speech defects and disorders such as stuttering, autism and dysphasia.
Well, I guess it’s not important that I knew what stuttering was. I had some idea what autism was, but I had never heard of dysphasia. Anyway, Speech Pathology is a hot profession which means that future job prospects are good.
A quick search around the internet turned up these other hot jobs. We could also call these hot careers or hot professions.
Let’s take a look:
Forensic Accountants – What do they do? They search for and uncover fraud and shady practices at corporations.
Data Miners – A data miner uses software tools to comb through huge databases, crunch numbers and identify trends. What’s the purpose of data mining? It could be for market research, catching mobsters or for finding terrorists.
Nurses and Nursing – I think nurses have been in demand for quite a while now. It sounds like pretty tough work to me.
Home Health Aides
Personal and Home Care Aides – There’s an increasing need for health professionals that provide personal health services at patients’ homes.
Physical Therapists
Occupational Therapists – These medical professionals help people recover from debilitating injuries, like strokes.
Pre-School Teachers – formal education is beginning at ever earlier ages.
Hazardous Materials Removal Workers – I think there might be a little health risk associated with this one.
I’d like to recommend a related job that hopefully will become more in demand, and that is: Non-Hazardous Alternative Materials Development Engineers. That’s a John special and not one that I could find on the internet. But, with this new career, maybe we could do away with the previous risky job of Hazardous Materials Removal Workers.
Hey, what do you think about Photogrammetry? I found it under the category of Geospatial Technology.
Photogrammetry is the science and technology of obtaining reliable measurements, maps, digital elevation models, and other geographic information from aerial and space photography. Photogrammetrists are responsible for all phases of such mapping projects and provide spatially accurate base maps that form a foundation for many other specialized applications of geographic information systems. I guess these are the men and women who provide us with things like GPS – the Global Positioning System – and Google Earth. Sounds interesting! I found that one at careervoyages.com.
And, I should quickly mention the computer tech-related jobs. This is a category that is pretty well-known as having good job prospects.
Network and computer systems administrators
Computer software engineers
Computer systems analysts
Database administrators
I think there are a lot more of those computer tech related jobs that are in fact hot.
Well, I think there are a lot more of these hot jobs, hot careers and hot profressions, but I just wanted to kind of introduce the topic and see what all of you thought about it. Hey, what are the hot jobs in your area? What do you think are the hot careers of the next 10 or 20 years? Post a message on our blog and let us know what YOU think.
In the end, it’s nice to know that your chosen career is considered to be “hot,†but it might be more important that you feel good about your job or career. I think you have to feel that it’s rewarding, satisfying and something that you really want to dedicate many years to – or maybe even your entire working life.
Well, I hope this podcast has been a short learning experience for all of you. You can find the transcript for this podcast, all of our video and audio podcasts, our wiki, blog and more at
english teacher john.com. Our email is podcast-AT-english teacher john.com.
As today is the (71st) birthday of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, I wish all of you peace, tolerance, understanding and an enlightening weekend. Thanks for listening. Tashi delek!
[[music: Tibetan Monks Chanting]]
