To help individuals identify careers that offer both a promising present and an even brighter future, the University of California, San Diego Extension released its "Emerging Careers for 2016" report, detailing the most in-demand jobs with the highest growth potential both in San Diego and nationally.

 

To compile the list, UC San Diego Extension's Center for Research on the Regional Economy identified the top 10 occupations that combined the highest projected growth rates and the most online job postings using data from labor data market firms Emsi and Burning Glass. Researchers focused on careers that required a bachelor's degree with less than five years of work experience.

 

According to its analysis, the top 10 emerging careers in the United States for college graduates in 2016 are:

 

Mary Walshok, associate vice chancellor of public programs and dean of UC San Diego Extension, said these emerging careers show both the value of a college degree and also the need for specialized training as technology is continuously reshaping the job market and the economy.

 

"As Marc Andreessen recently opined, 'Software is eating the world,'" Walshok says. "That fact is true in almost every top emerging career whether it be healthcare or marketing or financial analysis. It's not enough to just know the fundamentals; you have to use technology to provide new insights."

 

The report, which details the salaries, age and gender breakdown of each emerging career, also features insights from people in those fields on the micro trends and niche skills shaping their various industries. For instance, within the larger information security analyst profession, there is growing demand for infinite-response analysts, who are able to anticipate cyber attacks and seamlessly integrate a wide variety of cyber security products into a company's computer systems. For accountants and auditors, one emerging career is that of an IT auditor whose job it is to ensure that automated systems are delivering outputs, or calculations, that can be trusted.

 

"By combining macro research data with insights from those in these emerging careers, we were able to provide a deeper understanding not of only what jobs are in demand now but what skills are driving future growth," says Josh Shapiro, director of research and evaluation at the Center for Research on the Regional Economy at UC San Diego Extension, who designed and developed the "Emerging Careers for 2016" report.

 

The annual list of emerging careers is part of UC San Diego Extension's larger research efforts to not only assist job seekers but also shape educational offerings to ensure companies have the talent they need to thrive in today's competitive marketplace.

 

For a free copy of the report, please visit: http://extension.ucsd.edu/about/images/emergingCareers2016.pdf