People love the idea of playing the stock market. The idea that everyone falls in love with is that with relatively low effort, you can buy a stock that skyrockets and you can make a fortune. In reality, if you want to make a trade that will actually make you any money you probably need to put in a great deal of time and effort in research – unless of course, you are very lucky. You might find that if you put the same time and effort into your career, that you can get financial returns and a whole host of other benefits too.

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Why Invest in Your Career?

Investing in the stock market means that you are essentially placing a bet on the work of other people, and how that work will be valued by the marketplace. If you bet on yourself instead, you remove a huge unknown because you know what your values and motivations are in a way that you can never know about a company. Why not get started right now? Wilkes University offers an RN to MSN course which is entirely online, making it easier than ever to build your skills in the healthcare industry.

Investing your time and effort into carving out a career can get you not only financial returns, but if you get it right it will mean that you can spend your days doing work that is meaningful to you and leaves you feeling satisfied, rather than sat at a desk watching the clock move for eight hours a day.

Investing in your career is not only a trade that you can make with greater certainty of the outcome than most, it is one that has positive outcomes for every area of your life.

Identifying Where to Place Your Effort

If you are thinking of your career like a trade, then you need to try and predict what sectors are likely to thrive in the future so that you can put yourself in a position to take advantage of those thriving markets.

For example, you could undertake training in skills that would be valuable in those market areas, or you could endeavour to make contacts within industries that are likely to do well. It's important that you choose a sector that meets your personal interests, or will allow you to work on something that is meaningful to you, otherwise you will end up working in a sector that pays well but leaves you emotionally unsatisfied.

So how do you identify markets which are likely to do well? Think about how people in mass are behaving, what trends are there, what fears and pains are there and what industries are addressing those issues. Industries that are working to solve people's pain points are a great place to focus your efforts. Some ideas are:

• Robotics and AI. Companies are investing huge amounts of money into robotics and AI, allowing computers and machines to take on roles currently undertaken by human employees. This is big news for business because it could potentially save them a lot of money. Although the natural reaction to this is to think that it will mean less jobs, it could actually mean more. If you could leverage yourself into a position where you are working on the development of robotics and AI you could find yourself in an incredibly stimulating career path, and if you were working in a sector that was meaningful to you then you would feel that you were doing something positive for the world, too.
• Healthcare. The Bureau of Labor Statistics is predicting that the healthcare industry will grow 14% between 2018 and 2028, which is a much higher rate of growth than in other industries. This is due to the aging population, and a focus on preventative healthcare. If the need for healthcare is rising, then it makes sense that if you could get yourself into a good position within the sector then you could thrive as well.
• E-Commerce. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, shopping online has become more important than ever. If you can provide a product or service that really services the needs of your consumer, and is something that you are passionate about, e-commerce could be a wonderful career option.
• Industrial Real Estate. With all of the new E-Commerce businesses comes a need for additional storage and warehouse facilities. If you are the owner of said real estate, you can be sure there will be a demand for it. Plus if your income comes from real estate, your time is freed up to work on other projects or just spend time doing other things that you love.

Robotics and AI

The most obvious way to make the most of the trend towards robotics and AI is to train specifically for a career in that area, for example if you wanted to work on the body of the robot you could study mechanical engineering, for the 'nervous system' you might study electrical engineering and for 'the brain' you might study computer science. Computer science would also stand you in good stead if you wanted to work in AI.

However, as robotics and AI are likely to be utilized in a multitude of industries you could find a route in to being involved in these projects through an industry you are already part of, or want to be a part of.

For example, robotics are already becoming important in the healthcare sector. If you are already in the healthcare field then you could get involved with robotics by putting yourself forward to work on robotics projects in a consulting capacity.

Healthcare

Healthcare is a growing sector as we've discussed, so if you are already working in this field and you enjoy aspects of your job, it makes sense to hone your skills to allow you to remain in your field but move into a position that is more lucrative and more satisfying.

If you are a registered nurse, one option could be to train as a nurse practitioner. Nurse practitioners still get the satisfaction of working with patients, but they have a greater level of authority over decisions relating to care, so training as a nurse practitioner can be a great way to really utilize your hard earned experience. According to nurse. org, the average salary for a registered nurse is $73,000, and the average salary for a nurse practitioner is $115,800 so it's a decision that makes sense financially too.

E-Commerce

If you want to launch a successful e-commerce business then knowing what your customer wants is absolutely key. Take your time to research the market and identify any gaps, and be sure that what you are offering is the right thing to fill them.

Social media and a web presence is absolutely key, not only for advertising but in developing your products. If you can capture an audience and really engage with them then you can use them as a kind of feedback loop to help you to test ideas and develop things that people will really want to use.

Also Read: A Regular Pelvic Pain Drug Ineffective in Women Now

Industrial Real Estate

The boom in e-commerce has naturally led to investing in industrial real estate becoming a more attractive proposition. Some things to consider:

• Which type of businesses are you targeting as tenants for your property? This will inform things like the size and location. Buildings outside of a city will be cheaper, but if you want to rent to businesses who primarily operate within a certain city this might not be the best option.
• Is buying existing property the best option? Sometimes it can be cheaper to develop new property, or even buy derelict property and tear it down to build new premises.
• Study the market. Events like the pandemic will have a massive toll on any real estate business. It's essential that you have a good idea of what is happening in the world to inform your decisions.