Most people who visit Hawaii on vacation never want to leave…but have you considered actually making this dream of living in paradise in a reality? It might be easier to think – if you can line up a job. It’s not cheap to live in Hawaii, so let’s take a look at what you need to know about getting a cool job in this state.

• Maritime Jobs

The maritime industry is expected to continue growing in Hawaii through at least 2018, meaning that it’s easy to get a job in this state if you have education or experience in this area. Finding a maritime job is possible in all areas of this state, especially as a ship engineer. In fact, rates in this specific position are expected to triple in the next few years! In addition, there will be tons of other positions opening for naval architects, marine architects, ship crew members, and even motorboat operators.

• Travel Nursing Jobs

As a travel nurse, you’ll move from island to island, going where you’re needed most to fill positions temporarily while health care facilities and related companies find permanent employees. Working as a travel nurse isn’t easy – you’ll have to pick up your life every four to 12 weeks in most cases – but you’ll be easily able to find a job in paradise in this industry.

• Jobs in the Tourism Industry

Of course, you can also find tons of tourism jobs in the Hawaii, since lots of visitors like to explore paradise too! Consider working as a white water rafting guide or getting a diving job in Hawaii. You can also work as a tour guide, get a hotel job, or take a restaurant position. There are tourism jobs available for both unskilled workers and college graduates, so no matter what you education level, you can find positions in this industry in Hawaii.

Healthcare jobs are available in fields like nursing, optometry, surgery, dental work, pharmacy, and more. If you’ve enjoyed classes in subject areas like biology and chemistry, this might be a great career field for you to consider. Here are the top five reasons you should think about getting a degree and finding a healthcare job:

1. The job market is actively looking for new workers. While unemployment rates may be at record highs, works are needed in many areas of healthcare. Once you graduate from an educational program and get your license, you can fairly easily find a job that fits your interests.
2. Jobs are available across the country. Workers in healthcare are needed across the country. So, no matter where you want to live, from rural locations to big cities, you can find a job.
3. Financial aid is readily available for students in this field. The government has programs available to help pay for college for healthcare students in order to encourage more people to consider this career field. There are also a large number of private organizations that offer scholarships and grants, and you may even qualify for student loan repayment programs after you graduate.
4. You can work a non-traditional hours. Not every healthcare worker has a 9-to-5 job. While you may need to be on call, depending on your chosen career field, there’s more flexibility in this career field in terms of scheduling for those interested in raising a family.
5. A job in healthcare comes attached to a great salary. In nearly every healthcare field, you’ll make more money than average, and in some, like surgery, you can expect to make substantially more. If you put in the time to get the education, the sky really is the limit, no matter what your specific healthcare field.

Keep in mind that a career in healthcare doesn’t necessarily mean you have to work as a doctor or nurse. Degree programs are also available in fields like public health administration, healthcare management, and healthcare education.

I’m taking a break from The VISA Series to talk about some alternatives to jobs that we typically see here on the JobMonkey Blog when we are talking about working and volunteering abroad.

Teaching, non-profit and volunteer work are all popular reasons to leave home and work in a foreign country, but what about traveling for high-paying healthcare jobs abroad?

A job posting landed in my inbox for an interesting opportunity in the United Arab Emirates – one of the richest (per capita GDP is ranked 14^th) and most exciting countries in the world, with a large expatriate population – a call for doctor, healthcare and nursing jobs abroad. Through a UK-based placement organization, healthcare professionals with more than four years of experience are placed in hospitals and hotels that cater to English-speaking expats, business travelers and tourists.

Nursing and doctors jobs abroad (outside of the non-profit sector) are not exactly at the foremost of popularity, presumably because nurses and doctors (and other healthcare) workers are in such high demand here in the United States and Canada, and can therefore take in high rates of pay. Nursing jobs regularly have some of the highest per hour rates, not to mention weekend hours and overtime. The jobs listed in the UAE are just about on par with United States rates, but are offered tax-free for foreign citizens living in the UAE. Given the economic concerns in many Western countries, it seems reasonable that healthcare workers might be looking to find more lucrative (and stable) work in the Middle East.

Of course, the benefits of living and working in the United Arab Emirates are plentiful, and extend far beyond pay rates. With emirates (there are seven that make up the UAE) like Abu Dhabi and Dubai providing a dazzling urban landscape, the high-salaries and oil wealth in the Persian Gulf country make culture and nightlife a priority. While western influence is apparent – unlike many countries in the area, Western dress is accepted, along with more traditional clothing worn by Emiratis – the country is rich with Arab culture, in food, art, and music. It’s important to remember that the UAE lifestyle comes at a price – Abu Dhabi and Dubai are some of the most expensive places to live in the Middle East.

The job description (which is among many similar postings, and could be found by searching for healthcare jobs UAE – I won’t link to the exact post here, because I don’t know enough about it to provide an endorsement) was specifically targeting English-speakers – American, British, Canadian, Kiwi, South Africa, and Australian. The jobs entail fairly straight-forward medical responsibilities. Specialty nurse (like endoscopy nurses) are in particularly demand, and are paid accordingly.

If you are an experienced nurse, healthcare assistant or doctor, would you consider working abroad?

Yesterday, Forbes posted an interesting study by the author of Best Jobs for the 21st Century, Laurence Shatkin. The career expert analyzed Bureau of Labor Statistics reports to find the fastest-growing jobs for female workers. These are all fields where 70 percent or more of the workforce is comprised of women. What topped his list?

1. Home Health Aids
2. Skin Care Specialists
3. Athletic Trainer
4. Physical Therapist Aides
5. Dental Hygienists

As you can see, fields relating to health are growing especially quickly, and female workers are dominating many of these industries. Other health-related career options in the top twenty list include dental assistants (#7), medical assistants (#8), physical therapist assistants (#9), occupational therapist aides (#10), pharmacy technicians (#11), medical secretaries (#13), occupational therapists (#14), surgical technologists (#15), cardiovascular technologists/technicians (#17), and medical/public health social workers (#20). With the national unemployment rate hovering at about 9.5 percent, getting into the health field could be a great way to find a job, especially if you’re female.

Working in the healthcare industry does require some education, but you can actually get started with just an associate’s degree or diploma. There are even online healthcare degree options for students who want a more flexible education program.

Why is finding a healthcare job, especially in the above-listed fields, so easy in today’s job market, even when other industries continue laying off workers? A number of factors have come into play:

• In order to cut costs, hospitals and other facilities are hiring more assistants and aids to complete tasks once done by higher-paid workers, like doctors.
• Medical advances make it possible for people to live longer, so there is a larger senior citizen population. Generally, senior citizens need more medical care than younger patients.
• The obesity problem in the United States means that more patients need help controlling diabetes, heart disease, and related problems.
• Even when people are spending less money in other places, healthcare is a necessity that people can’t just give up in order to cut a household budget.

In the next several years, the healthcare industry is going to continue to need more workers of both genders. Going back to school to get a degree in one of these fields is a great way to get started in a new career with a high demand for workers.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday that the month of March saw the biggest boost in new job creation in over three years. 162,000 new positions were created, with just under one-quarter of them coming from temporary government jobs, such as working for the Census Bureau.

So where are the rest of these jobs — and the hundreds of thousands more that analysts are predicting to be created over the coming months? Here’s a look at some of the hottest up-and-coming career fields:

1) Green Jobs
Did you know that the green industries currently account for 8.5 million American jobs? According to the United States Conference of Mayors, green jobs are one of the fastest growing segments in the U.S. They predict the creation of 4.2 million new green jobs by the end of the decade, with as many as 12 new green occupations being created. To learn more, check out the JobMonkey section on Green Careers.

2) Health Care
Half of the thirty fastest growing careers will be in health care, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nationwide nursing shortages and the rapidly aging “Baby Boomer” population have put major pressure on U.S. cities to recruit and hire trained nurses, physician’s assistants, physical and occupational therapists, home health aides and medical record technicians. To learn more, check out the JobMonkey section on Jobs for RNs.

3) Education
2.8 million new teachers will be needed over the next eight years, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. An aging teaching population, coupled with population booms in certain urban areas, has led to an increasing shortage in school districts around the country. Key subject areas include science, math, foreign languages, and Teaching English as a Second Language. To learn more, check out the JobMonkey section on School Teacher & Education Jobs.

While these three fields are especially hot, a changing economy will produce openings in nearly every sector. If you have you heart set on becoming a radio DJ, designing video games, or fighting forest fires, this is a good time to follow your dreams (and to visit the JobMonkey for information on each of these areas — and more)!

If you are wondering where your next job is going to come from, now might be a great time to look toward the field of health care.

According to a new report by the University of Southern California’s Schaeffer Center, health care reform could lead to 2.5 million to 4 million new jobs over the next decade. According to the report’s author, the more aggressively reform seeks to curtail health care premiums, the more jobs will be created.

And all this growth is on top of the one in eight Americans that are already working in the health care field. Health care is actually the single fastest growing industry in America today, with 10 of the 20 fastest growing occupations and more than $3 million new wages predicted to be generated over the next eight years.

Plus, if you are looking to change careers, health care doesn’t necessarily require an advanced degree — or even a traditional four-year degree. While diagnosing or treating patients obviously requires a high level of education (MD, DO or RN, typically), technical and administrative jobs do not.

To learn more about the many benefits of a health care career — including higher than average salaries, check out this week’s JobMonkey newsletter. You can also visit JobMonkey’s section on jobs in the healthcare industry, which profiles everything from physicians and dentists to midwives, naturopaths, and medical technologists.

Check it out, folks. The JobMonkey has just added yet another fact-filled, in-depth section to its homepage — this one is about health care jobs.

One of the hottest job markets at the moment, health care jobs are a great way to achieve three of the most common career planning aims:

• High salaries
• Job Security (health care jobs made Newsweek’s list of most recession-proof careers)
• Helping people

What if you never dreamed of being a doctor or nurse? No worried, you can still have a fulfilling health care career, as a dietician, an ultrasound technologist, a pharmacist, a fitness instructor, or even a medical transcriptionist. Learn about all these jobs and more from the JobMonkey’s newest career section.

Have a great weekend and see you back here on the Monkey next Monday!