Re: Good book "Great Careers in 2 Years".....



On Wed, 31 May 2006, rrc wrote:

Straydog wrote:

Out of all of the 100 specializations I read about, I would also estimate that only about a
dozen were such pure "deskjobs" that they could be vulnerable to offshoring (a key
problem in today's modern semi-technology job markets).

Usually, it's the healthcare/clinical related areas which are
relatively immune to offsourcing.

When I have more time, I'll just type up the 100 specializations and add them to that piece that I typed up (on 2 year programs). There are a lot of "gray areas" (i.e. "mission-orriented" fields) besides the conventional/traditional college curricula and "disciplines."

Where you have customer-provider relationships that it is obvious that the person must be physically present to do the work, then it will be resistant. Otherwise, if work can be digitized (call centers, X-ray reading, transcription, etc.), then it can be offshored. I still worry about telemedicine and companies that will prefer to fly a sick employee to India for treatment or an operation. Where that will end up will have to wait another decade. If the dollar tanks or the exchange rates become adjusted, then things will stabilize. If the exchange rates stay where they are, then the rich countries will become countries containing a rich class and an expanding poor class. Bad news.

Nonetheless, even for the outsourcable areas, there is a silver
lining... I think areas which require some sort of communication et al
with higher ups like being a paralegal at a boutique firm may be
homeshored if the initial outsourcing project fails. This is in sharp
contrast to S&E/IT work which will more likely move even if the current
darling, India, gets crowded. The S&E/IT projects will simply move to
another cheap location: China, Russia/E Europe, SE Asia, etc.

That is already happening (eg. Intel, MS, etc., already have facilities all over SE Asia).

Part of
the reason for it is that S&E work tends to get compartmentalized and
separated from client or executive level types of communications
whereas a sound technician at a newsroom, paralegal at a place which
services govt/special offices, etc tends to stay local. In addition,
every nation in the world is clamouring for technology investment and
projects which will also drive the move of tech sectors abroad. All and
all, it just points to the idea that an associates degree is the best
route for someone who wants to work in an office environment in the
future and then one can pursue the BA (and MBA) part-time if one wants
to move up in the company later.

I'd even say that if a savy person can figure out what is going on in the world without going to classes--just talk to people, read the important newspapers, read business books on one's own and get the knowledge (without paying tuition, etc., and in one's spare time)--they will be ahead and free of extra debt.




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