Top 4 industries to find a job in 2016

There hasn't been a better time to find a job in a while. The unemployment rate is down to a healthy 5 percent across the nation, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This means industries are in a healthy hiring spree, and advancements in technology mean that more jobs are now allowing employees to telecommute. This only boosts the availability of jobs in certain industries.

Take advantage of the job situation by curating your search toward certain industries, rather than specific job titles.

1. Health care
As the baby boomer generation nears retirement, there will be a spike in need for nurses, health care providers and everything in between. Improved technology and health care also means a need for more trained employees. The BLS is projecting the health care and social service industry to garner 13.6 percent of all employed people by 2024.

Here are a few of the different types of jobs that will be in high demand moving forward:

• Lab technicians
• Home visit health care workers
• EMTs and paramedics
• Pharmacists
• Surgeons

2. Technology
Cyber security is at an all time high. In 2015 there were over 480 million data breaches, according to IT Governance. Moving forward, experts in the field will become top targets for companies that want to protect their information.

"With the large number of headquartered corporations in the Atlanta area, Information Security-related positions are in high demand," says Travis Reding, Regional Vice President of Beacon Hill Technologies, who leads Beacon Hill's IT staffing efforts in the Atlanta area. "Constant reports of data breaches all over the news are putting corporations on high alert, and as a result we have seen a large influx of resources within IT security. This is driving demand and making an attractive market for experienced job seekers."

Besides data security, technologically inclined workers will be able to find work in other fields within the industry. The growing amount of social media based consumer products will provide a wealth of opportunity to unemployed coders, and companies are always trying to fill IT departments.

"Technology now is so pervasive, so ubiquitous, that demand for people to manage and develop software programming has outstripped supply," John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, told The Fiscal Times.

The opportunities in this industry are seemingly endless as companies have not yet found the limit of its uses in the workplace.

3. Finance
The financial industry is now in the business of risk mitigation, according to TFT. It makes sense - after the recession that spawned in 2008, financial institutions are under a lot of pressure to keep all of their dealings on the books and legal. This has brought forth a ton of fines and sanctions for those who don't follow the rules.

"The current finance market is excellent for candidates," says Bryan Mulhern, Division Director of Beacon Hill Financial in Philadelphia. "Unemployment remained relatively low throughout the recession for accounting and finance professionals, so as we have come out of the recession and see a boom in hiring, more and more companies have to make concessions due to a shrinking talent pool. That could be paying more in salary than they thought they would need to, being more flexible on job requirements, and offering more employee friendly work arrangements."

"A well-run finance function can add significant value and security to an organization. As such, many companies are investing in professionals that are able to forecast business trends, analyze data and perform predictive modeling to help make crucial decisions on how to direct the business. This additional investment in these functions has pushed financial roles up the food chain of importance to the C Suite."

A growing concern within the industry, is that it isn't the hotspot for college graduates anymore. Many companies are now starting their own programs that take students right from college, train them anywhere up to a year and offer them a job within the company. Growing competition for top talent from Silicon Valley and companies like Google and Facebook is causing a sort of rivalry between the two industries. Cash in on the recruiting frenzy and land yourself a job in the new year.

"The job market for finance professionals is extremely active and entry level candidates are typically able to land work fairly quickly," Mr. Mulhern adds. "However, corporations have noticed less interest in career development by employees that have entered the workforce in the past two years. As a result, they have discontinued entry-level leadership development programs, which were at one time commonplace, and replaced them with alternative hiring methods and incentives."

4. Construction
The construction industry saw a peak in employment during 2006, according to the BLS, but crashed shortly thereafter. Now that the housing market has stabilized, and the unemployment rate is down, construction firms are finding more work both with state contracts and residential.

The BLS projects the industry to hire another 790,000 by 2024. While that number won't reach pre-depression rates, it still accounts for the major amount of work that will be taking place during that period of time.

Opportunity doesn't come knocking - you need to track it down. Start in these industries if you have prior experience in the field. They are hiring at accelerated rates, and will be doing so for the foreseeable future.

This content is brought to you by the Marketing Team at Beacon Hill Staffing Group.