Canada's Best Careers Guide, 1997-1998

Matt Hartman is a freelance editor and cataloguer, running Hartman Cataloguing, Editing and Indexing Services.

It used to be that a young man (or woman) who realized his or her
shortcomings as a professional athlete could, at least, aspire to be a
referee or coach. According to this popular career guide, a better
choice by far would be to put away the bat and ball and brush up on
caregiving skills: the highest ranked growth career to the year 2005
will be that of in-home nurse.

Following a thorough analysis of Canada’s economic and social
situation, with a pronounced emphasis on demographics (Sections A and
B), Canada’s Best Careers Guide summarizes its research in Section C,
“Best careers ranked forecasts to 2005.” As one would expect,
careers involving computing are included in this list of 120; however,
most of the highest-ranking jobs are in the health-providing fields
(nurse, physiotherapist, pharmacist, osteopath), befitting a nation with
an aging population.

A newly developed section, sure to be well-thumbed by legions of
employees given the golden handshake due to downsizing, deals with
home-based business. “By 2005,” Feather predicts, “people who run
home-based businesses will represent one-third of the workforce. ... The
number of sole proprietors has grown 26% since 1985, and most of them
work at home.”

The book provides personality-matching charts and self-testing
applications, and includes a section devoted to “lifelong learning for
career success,” a sort of upbeat, pat-on-the-back primer on what is
needed to get that job. Feather presents his findings and predictions in
a relaxed, informal style. There is a comprehensive index. All
career/school counselors and graduating high-school students (and their
parents) will profit from this guide.