5 careers: Big demand, Big Pay

Are you in a field that is in high demand? A recent article on CNNMoney.com talks about five different career fields that are in high demand and if you are already in one of the fields, you may be able to negotiate a handsome raise.

From CNNMoney.com, "Recent surveys show that a lot of people are itching to find new jobs and human resource managers are expecting a lot of movement - both signs that employers may need to sweeten the pot."

The article goes into detail about each field. Here are the five fields:

• Accounting - "College graduates with an accounting degree but not yet a CPA designation might make between $35,000 and $45,000 a year, or up to $50,000 in large cities like New York."
• Sales and Marketing - "The healthcare and biomedical fields offer some handsome earnings opportunities for those on the business side." "An associate product manager might make a base salary of $55,000 to $75,000. A product manager can make a base of $75,000 to $95,000, while a business development director may make $120,000 to $160,000. Those salaries don't include bonuses."
• Legal - "Intellectual property attorneys specializing in patent law and the legal secretaries who have experience helping to prepare patent applications are highly desirable these days." "Patent lawyers working for a law firm might make $125,000 to $135,000 to start or about $90,000 if they work for a corporation that's trying to get a patent or to protect one they already have. With a couple of years' experience, they can expect a 10 percent jump or better when they get another job."
• Technology - "Two tech jobs in high demand these days are .NET (dot net) developers and quality assurance analysts." "Developers who are expert users of Microsoft's software programming language .NET can make between $75,000 and $85,000 a year in major cities when they're starting out."
• Manufacturing and Engineering - "Despite all the announced job cuts in the automotive industry, quality and process engineers, as well as plant managers certified in what's known as "Lean Manufacturing" techniques, are hot commodities." "Process and manufacturing engineers might make between $65,000 and $75,000. With an LM certification and a few years' experience, they can command pay hikes of between 15 percent and 20 percent if they choose to switch jobs."

To read the complete article, go to CNNMoney.com.

Good luck and make it a great day!

P.S. If you are considering changing fields or would like to find out about available careers in your area, I recommend two websites: Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com.