Jobs expected to show the biggest growth over the next 10 years

CHARLOTTE — Channel 9 has delved into which jobs are expected to show the biggest growth over the next decade.

A virtual reality exercise is giving students the experience of being a wind turbine service technician.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that wind turbine service technicians will be the fastest-growing occupation in the next decade. Second only to solar panel installers.

“It is fast growing because, first of all, the US government is now investing a lot,” said Basra Mewafy, assistant professor at Franklin-Cummings Institute of Technology.

Mewafy said graduates of that two-year solar installer program are getting hired fast and are getting paid well.

“At least starting from 60,000 to 70,000 a year,” Mewafy elaborated.

Nurse practitioners are the third fastest-growing job field, according to the federal government.

Cynthia Bashaw has been a nurse practitioner for nearly 30 years and now chairs a college program at Endicott College that prepares others to enter the field.

“[They] acquire an advanced set of competencies that allow them to diagnose, to prescribe treatment, to prescribe medicine, to coordinate care,” said Bashaw. “Nurse practitioners have kind of come along to fill that gap, you know; if you tried to make an appointment with your primary care physician or a primary care provider, it’s hard.”

Bashaw said many schools offer mid-career options for people to get into nursing. Someone with another bachelor’s degree could finish an accelerated nursing program in as little as 15 months. They can then decide whether or not to work to become a nurse practitioner.

Career Management VP Mary Cavanaugh said a career change to a hot industry is possible.

“It’s just being nimble and willing to learn,” said Cavanaugh. “Because that is something that when we work with clients, we take a look at in terms of, you know, what can you get in your toolkit in terms of skills, what certifications can you get.”

Other fast-growing jobs include data scientists and information security analysts.

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