Page 18 - Careers & Stuff 2021

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HEALTH CARE
The number one industry in Delaware in terms of jobs provided is health care. In fact, the largest private employer in Delaware is ChristianaCare, which offers dozens of different job opportunities.
According to Pamela Ridgeway, ChristianaCare’s
chief diversity officer and the vice president of talent & acquisition, the health system is constantly looking to fill two entry-level positions that require only a high school education: patient care technicians and medical assistants. Further, ChristianaCare may help arrange for any training needed for certification.
Another career path in health care is a more traditional one — nursing — and Karen Pickard, administrator of the Margaret H. Rollins School of Nursing at Beebe Healthcare, says “the need is huge as more nurses are retiring. And we have a two-year program for people just out of high school to become a registered nurse.”
In Delaware, even entry-level registered nurses make $27.51 an hour, according to the Delaware Department of Labor. That translates to an annual salary of $57,200.
Nationwide, employment in health care occupations is projected to grow 15% from 2019 to 2029, much faster than the average for all occupations, adding about 2.4 million new jobs. In fact, health care occupations are projected to add more jobs than any of the other occupational groups. This projected growth is mainly due to an aging population, leading to greater demand for health care services.
Diagnostic medical sonographers, who take and interpret ultrasound images, are expected to be in high demand in Delaware through at least 2028. The job requires only an associate’s degree, and entry-level pay averaged $29.19
in Delaware in 2019. Other high-demand health care occupations that don’t require a four-year degree include phlebotomists, who collect blood from donors and for testing ($15.51 at the entry level); and physical therapist assistants ($22.62).
There are also many health care jobs available in auxiliary businesses and departments, including records and billing services, insurance processing and hospital supplies.
FINTECH
Financial technology, or fintech, grew out of traditional banking services. But with the advent of digital technology, standalone businesses developed that dealt with whole
new fields such as digital currencies, instant payments and money transfers, automated trading in financial markets and digital asset management. As John Collins, partner in FS Vector, points out, many startups are willing to provide young employees with equity in their businesses.
Fintech tends to draw people with entrepreneurial spirits to startup companies that hope for rapid growth. It also helps to
have computer skills, particularly coding, with the added attraction that these skills can be self-taught or learned at special camps or in classrooms. Anyone who has these skills can step directly out of high school into fintech jobs.
Jenna Grasley, who heads the emerging talent programs for global technology for JPMorgan Chase, one of several national banks with large business units in Delaware, says that she and the industry are constantly looking for software engineers and are “fairly agnostic” in how job candidates attain those skills.
It’s a common misconception that all tech jobs require college degrees. For example, positions such as web developer and computer network support specialist can
be filled by those with associate degrees. Average annual wages in Delaware were well north of $60,000 for support specialists in 2019, according to the Delaware Department of Labor’s Delaware Career Compass. For web developers, the mean wage was $78,059. Coding positions are also available to those without four-year degrees, and nonprofits across Delaware provide the necessary training — often free of charge or for nominal tuition. (See page 50 for more information.)
A prominent vote of confidence in the future of fintech came with the opening this spring of a $38 million FinTech Building on the University of Delaware’s STAR Campus. Among its tenants are financial institutions, academic centers, small businesses, nonprofits, data and technology experts and the U.S. Small Business Development Center.
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16 CAREERS & STUFF | DelawareBusinessTimes.com