In Florida, healthcare jobs remain in high demand as do positions in the rapidly developing world of computers, high tech, and game design. On this page, we’ll take a look at what jobs are in high demand in the Sunshine State and you may be surprised by some popular professional tracks.
Of course, the leisure industry has traditionally offered numerous entry-level as well as advanced opportunities and the number of older people from states up north escaping the cold winter months provide great options for people looking to get a job in the ever-expanding healthcare industry.
But it’s not only Orlando’s theme parks with all its subsidiary industries and healthcare options that bring about great opportunities. Maybe a bit surprisingly, office jobs score high and jobs as a dental assistant, phlebotomist, dental hygienist, and personal trainer are in high demand as well.
In Florida however, maybe not surprisingly, we see that healthcare-related jobs top the list when it comes to popular career fields so let’s see what it takes to secure a position in one of these interesting fields.
Information Technology Specialist
Many corporations hire Information Technology (IT) Specialists for internal support for their computer systems and networks and often, these tasks are performed by contractors or IT specialists that run their own businesses.
IT support specialists are required to have completed specialized education and training at a 2 or 4-year college. The world around us, and we see this also in Florida, relies increasingly more on digital information and systems, and the prospects for this group os specialists will continue to grow.
An Information Technology (IT) specialist is usually a generalist devoted to every aspect of the computer system, from installation, computer set-up, troubleshooting, upgrades, maintenance, to service. Highly talented IT specialists are really sought after and can charge over $1oo an hour if they run their own business.
The IT support specialist needs to know all the elements of computer support. These professionals need to be analytical and diligent, and they need to have excellent communication capabilities. IT support specialists are not just technical workers, they must be able to communicate effectively as well, as they frequently deal directly with customers providing advice, guidance, training, and solutions.
The position of Information Technology Specialist may also include the responsibility for how computers connect to other elements of the network or to each other. The job duties of an IT specialist may be performed remotely on the job, from a centralized location, or at a client’s work setting (or in a combination). The position of IT specialist may require you to perform some physical labor, for example, to lift or move computer equipment or components into place.
Cosmetologist
Cosmetology school opens the door to a creative and rewarding career that helps people look terrific and feel even better. Learning how to work creatively with hair, skin, and nails will provide the basis for earning a good income in pleasant surroundings.
Working in cosmetology offers flexible hours on a part-time or full-time basis as well as on weekends or during evening hours. Cosmetology school welcomes students of all ages, races, and genders who have an interest in creativity and a passion for beauty. If in doubt, take a free career test to find out if the world of cosmetology is right for you.
Training in cosmetology school covers topics that are both engaging and demanding. Most students anticipate learning how to cut hair, style it, do facials, and apply makeup. In addition, students receive training on anatomy, chemistry, skin problems, infection control, and other related topics.
With the proper training, students can qualify for a license to work in the field. A full-time program at a cosmetology school takes a minimum of nine months to complete and usually more. Many professions require a much longer period of study, and the time spent in learning how to work in cosmetology is rewarded sooner.
Students who decide to attend a cosmetology school have many options to consider. Curriculum offerings vary according to the emphasis that a school places on different aspects of the field. Some schools focus on theory and others emphasize hands-on training. Some schools offer continuing education programs to help licensed cosmetologists stay up-to-date on new products and procedures.
Medical Assistant
As a medical assistant, you’re making a difference in people’s lives. Medical assisting is unlike any job. You will become an indispensable part of a medical team, as important as the doctors and nurses you work with. This field is growing larger every day and you can become a part of the dynamic changes occurring in the medical field by earning your medical assisting certificate.
Over the past years, the profession of medical assistant has been one of the fastest-expanding fields in the healthcare industry. Starting your career as a medical assistant is a great way to get involved in the thriving and dynamic healthcare field. All it takes is a certificate, which can be completed in less than a year. Then, you can always take a few classes in your community to advance your career.
By assisting nurses and doctors in doing their job efficiently, you comfort people while they wait to speak with a physician. The position of a medical assistant on the health care staff is crucial to a successful doctor’s visit for every patient who comes through the door.
You may calm a frightened child as you take her temperature and blood pressure. Encourage a young mother to be and develop a relationship with a chronically ill patient. Every day, your presence and demeanor will affect other people and their experience at the medical facility.
You will learn so many many valuable skills as a medical assistant, such as recording blood pressure, weight, heart rate, and temperature measurements; Assisting in lab tests and basic procedures; Taking x-rays, giving injections, and running electrocardiograms; Scheduling appointments; Maintaining patient records; Medical billing; and Handling insurance claims, just to mention a few.
Electrician
Although obtaining an Electrician Degree is not a requirement to entering the field, studying for an electrician degree is the best way for those who wish to become licensed electricians to get a step up on the competition and position themselves for a higher-paying career.
Many community and technical colleges offer associate’s degree programs covering fundamental electrical information and safety practices. In general, students will need to have a 4-5-year during apprenticeship that includes 2,000 hrs of paid on-the-job training and almost 150 hrs of technical electricity education. Then they are ready to take the Florida licensing test.
Electrician degree programs offer students comprehensive instruction in what it takes to become an electrician. Many programs additionally offer classes that cover the basics of running your own business, since that is the path so many licensed electricians eventually choose to take.
The Florida licensing exam assesses your knowledge of aspects related to electrical theory, your knowledge of the NEC (National Electrical Code), and assorted Florida building codes. You will need to hold a high school diploma or GED to make into a career college or community college, and taking extra math classes in high school will definitely help you complete your education program fast.
X-ray technician
For many years now, employers in Florida have been struggling to find graduates from x-ray technician schools who can fill the labor shortfall. The scarce number of trained x-ray specialists entering the marketplace will fall far short of the increasing demand to fill available jobs in this exciting field.
Prospective x-ray technician students and experienced radiologists are finding that advancements in the digital imaging field are leading to a greater need for specialized program training in x-ray technician schools. New areas of specialized study are rapidly gaining in popularity including MRI, CT, digital x-ray imaging, Fluoroscopy, Radiography, and more.
At the same time, x-ray technicians are being recruited to work for digital imaging equipment manufacturers as trainers or even sales managers. So you see, plenty of opportunities in this exciting career field. Most X-ray techs hols an associate’s degree or completed a 4-year bachelor’s degree program. Having a bachelor’s degree in radiology degree can even lead to senior management opportunities in hospital radiology departments.
Hospitals are aggressively recruiting for applicants with x-ray technical training dealing in the current new radiography techniques such as digital imaging, MRI, and Fluoroscopy. This is an interesting field for students wanting to learn all about the x-ray technician field and if you’re planning to get into college, make sure you’ll visit the schools’ campuses before deciding on a school.
Culinary Career
Pursuing a career in culinary arts can be extremely rewarding. But this should be handled well in order to become successful. The culinary career prospect is innumerable when you decide to take up a course or degree in culinary arts, and states like Florida offer so many options!
As a matter of fact, this is the industry that provides you with the so-called instant gratification culinary career prospect. You are judged in terms of the taste of the food that you prepare along with other factors as long as to be successful in your culinary career. Florida, with all its touristic attractions and venues, is the place to study culinary arts.
Culinary jobs are projected to grow in number by approximately 10 percent over the next decade. As a result, the expected growth will pave the way for more culinary career prospects, especially in the areas of hotels, restaurants, resorts, bakeshops, and other forms of businesses.
Many Florida career college and culinary schools offer you the chance to enjoy a fine education and that’s just the start of various opportunities in your life. This education gives you the utmost ability to go beyond what cooking and working in a food business or restaurant offers.
Here is some of the typical culinary career prospect that you can acquire from having a degree or certificate in culinary arts: Chef; Restaurant or Cafetaria manager; Caterer. But there’s more. You may also want to be a Food Consultant; Food photographer; Food researcher; or Food critic.
Certified Nursing Assistant
A Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) is someone who assists patients that have healthcare needs. This is usually done under the supervision of a Registered Nurse. To become a CNA, you must not only have compassion, but also a desire to help other people. If you are this type of person, then becoming a CNA is an excellent career choice.
The healthcare industry, also in Florida, is growing at a rapid rate every single year, and the projections for Certified Nursing Assistants are expected to grow even faster. This exciting health career will not only be very rewarding, but it will provide you with the job security that everyone wants.
A CNA does much more than most people realize. For starters, a certified nurse aide spends more time with the patients than anyone else in the healthcare profession so it’s often like a very personal job. CNAs know their patients often better than anyone else. This means that a CNA must be very people-oriented.
The job of the CNA can be physically demanding and often requires heavy lifting. You may have to help patients to and from their beds, help them go to the bathroom, and help them shower. All of these activities require a certain amount of stamina and strength.
Certificate programs are offered by numerous Florida community colleges, vocational schools, and nursing colleges. After obtaining your CNA license, you may attend continuing education programs to advance your career options. Many colleges offer LPN (Licenced Practical Nurse) program and you may even continue to become a Registered Nurse (RN).
Optometrist
Optometrists (also known as eye doctors) are examining, diagnosing, managing, and treating various disorders of the human visual system, they deliver care to deal with eye injuries and diseases and prescribe contact lenses and eyeglasses when needed. In Florida, like elsewhere in America, the career prospects for these professionals continue to expand.
Students thinking about studying Optometry, should already in high school take classes in subject fields as biology, math, chemistry, and physics. To be able to work as optometrists, these professionals require a Doctor of Optometry (O.D.) degree. Though highly advanced, this professional track is very popular, probably also thanks to its fantastic earnings potential.
There are 17 accredited O.D. programs, and four O.D. programs are preliminary approved. O.D. program applicants need to have completed no less than three years of post-secondary coursework in English, physics, chemistry, math, and biology, but the majority of O.D. students already hold a bachelor’s degree when they apply for a Doctor of Optometry program.
Applicants are required to take and pass the OAT (Optometry Admission Test) before they are admitted. The OAT is a computer-based exam that measures an applicant’s skills and knowledge on four subject fields: physics, reading comprehension, science, and quantitative analysis and reasoning.
O.D. programs will require four years to complete and include both classroom instruction and clinical experience under the supervision of a qualified and experienced optometrist. These programs include courses in physiology, anatomy, optics, biochemistry, and visual science. Students also are educated to be able to diagnose and treat visual system disorders and diseases.
Florida State requires optometrists to be licensed. To become licensed, optometrists must have completed an accredited O.D. program and must meet all NBEO (National Board of Examiners in Optometry) requirements. In every state, optometrists must take continuing education courses and renew their licenses periodically. Further certification may be issued by the American Board of Optometry for optometrists who want to demonstrate their advanced level of specific knowledge and proficiency.
Interior designer
To become an Interior Designer, you will need to become licensed by the National Council of Interior Design. You need to have at least 6 years of combined education and experience in Interior Design and two of those years must be post-secondary schooling. You also must have a creative personality and know how to work under time pressure when you need to meet deadlines.
Many applicants receive a bachelor’s degree and then go onto being an apprentice before applying for their Interior Design license. Once you meet all the requirements you will need to pass the test that is administered by the National Council of Interior Design.
Becoming a good interior designer takes much more than just getting your license. You will need to stay up on the trends within the industry. You will need to be well-read in Interior Design magazines, blogs, and other industrial designers. You will need to have a passion for it, and a willingness to take risks. This will help separate you from other interior designers. This profession is very popular in Florida, but definitely not for everyone.
The majority of employers require applicants to hold at least an Interior Design Degree at the bachelor’s level from an accredited university or college. Interior designers must be able to understand architectural design and drawings, need to have perfect graphics skills, must be able to work with relevant software and computer programs, and have excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
Interior designers are expected to have a deep understanding of modern industry standards and have a well-developed knowledge regarding materials and other relevant elements. They are required to take an interest in new developments and advanced technological issues in relation to new materials that become available to the market.
Florida has some of the nation’s best interior design schools: Florida International University in Miami, The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, and Florida State University in Tallahassee.
Pharmacy Technician
Pharmacy technicians communicate medical information with the public. They must have knowledge of common medications and work under the supervision of pharmacists. There are more and more opportunities in the pharmacy field so let’s see what it takes to become a pharmacy test in Florida.
Many students use their pharmacy technician education and position as a stepping stone to becoming a pharmacist but pharmacy school requires something more than what is learned in college during a 4-year pharmacy technician program leading to a bachelor’s degree.
There are several post-secondary institutions that offer pharmacy technology programs and, as so often, many pharmacy technicians learn the profession via on-the-job training. Florida, like most states, requires students to not only completing an education/training program but also to pass a licensure exam.
Pharmacy technology programs cover several subject fields, for example, record-keeping, pharmacy-arithmetic, pharmacy ethics & law, and the best ways to dispensing medication. Technicians also are trained in all aspects of medication doses, drug names, and how to use them. Most educational programs include clinical hands-on experience opportunities.