Picking the Right Career Can Boost Job Security

By Jeremy Hsieh, The Beaufort Gazette, S.C.

Jun. 21–Since finishing high school in 2006, Robert Howard, 19, said he’s been serious about making a career out of music.

“I’m trying to change mind states, you know? You don’t have to do bad stuff to come up,” he said Wednesday of his music.

Howard, who raps under the name Beaufort’s Bodyguard, said he’s putting that dream aside if it doesn’t go anywhere by the end of the summer and will join the military. Right now, he lives at home and works part time at a mess hall on Parris Island.

Howard’s situation and short list of career options are probably similar to many young people’s in the down economy, though there are options to find well-paying, secure jobs in the area, local education officials and economic development experts say.

Health care workers — nurses, especially — are perennially in demand.

“Health care is going strong no matter what the economy is, because people still get sick, and they get old, and those needs stay there,” said Marge Sapp, dean of health sciences at the Technical College of the Lowcountry.

It’s common for students who go through the college’s two-year nursing program and pass a registered nurse exam to earn $40,000 right out of school, Sapp said.

Chris Watson, Beaufort Memorial Hospital’s employment manager and a registered nurse, said registered nurses at her hospital have starting salaries between $45,000 and $50,000.

“I’ve been a nurse 34 years. I went in because I knew I’d always have a job, no matter where I went. That’s been true for me. It’s a profession you can count on,” she said. “If I was in high school now trying to make a choice for a career, I’d look at a lot of fields (within health care).”

Watson said there also will be consistent need for physical therapists, pharmacists, radiological technicians and lab technicians — all well-paying jobs.

Enrollment has been rising dramatically in TCL’s nursing programs, and some qualified applicants have to be turned away because staffing can’t keep up, Sapp said. There are 200 students enrolled in the program in the fall semester.

Tech skillsTechnical skills are likely to be in great demand as plans move forward to build a deepwater port on the Savannah River in Jasper County. Even though turning the plan into a reality is several years off, TCL officials have begun researching how to make their students relevant when the port is built.

Nancy Weber, vice president of continuing education and institutional advancement at TCL, said the college sees opportunities in the distribution and logistics areas at the port.

“Everyone is looking at distribution as a key economic development focus,” Weber said. “Everything is GPS-oriented now, electronic and computerized.”

That emphasis on automation and technology is likely to fit within the college’s industrial technology program, Weber said, though that could be just one slice of many new job opportunities.

“You start thinking of everything a port will bring, and all the (offshoots) of that — it just grows and grows and grows.”

Weber said she’d like to get the college’s south campus to support the Jasper port, if resources are available.

“We’ll just be waiting for manna from heaven. You know, money,” Weber said.

A valuable workforce

Kim Statler, executive director of the nonprofit Lowcountry Economic Network, said human capital is the most valuable thing in business. The network is a nonprofit partially funded by county taxes that is tasked with attracting industry and good jobs to Beaufort County.

Picking up a flexible degree at a four-year college, technical skills at a place like TCL, or even highlighting an aeronautics background among military men and women at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort leaving for civilian life are all assets, Statler said.

“Companies don’t want to wait four years for a workforce,” Statler said. “Everyone wants it faster and quicker.”

Even though there’s less disposable income out there, beauty parlors and day spas also tend to do well, said Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce president Carlotta Ungaro.

“People don’t take vacations but want to treat themselves,” she said.

Sheril Cummings, owner of Bayside Salon on Scott Street, said her business is actually up over last year, and her employees’ jobs are secure. She declined to say howmuch they are paid, but said it’s decent; “They don’t leave because of the money situation.”

Cummings attributes her steady business to being well established after 18 years in Beaufort and to women’s obsession with beautiful hair. She said if there is a drop off, it’ll hit spa services first.

“People can live without that. But the hair? No. Women and their hair, they’ll spend their last dollar on their hair,” Cummings said. “Remember when the bridge was out? They kept their appointments. One woman said she’ll swim across the Beaufort River to get her hair done.”

Education pays. Statistics from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics show a correlation between educational attainment, earnings and unemployment — the higher a person’s level of education, the higher the pay and the less likely that person is unemployed. Unemployment rates in 2007 1.4 percent — doctoral degree 1.3 percent — professional degree 1.8 percent — master’s degree 2.2 percent — bachelor’s degree 3 percent — associate degree 3.8 percent — some college, no degree 4.4 percent — high school graduate 7.1 percent — less than a high school diploma Median weekly earnings in 2007 $1,497 — doctoral degree $1,427 — professional degree $1,165 — master’s degree $987 — bachelor’s degree $740 — associate degree $683 — some college, no degree $604 — high school graduate $428 — less than a high school diploma

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Copyright (c) 2008, The Beaufort Gazette, S.C.

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