Surry Business

If your New Year’s resolution is to move into a new line of work, check out the annual U.S. News & World Report on “Best Careers 2008.”

Most of professions with the best combination of opportunities and job satisfactions require at least a two-year or four-year college degree, but the list also includes four careers that don’t demand a college education — biomedical equipment technician, firefighter, hairstylist/cosmetologist, and locksmith/security system technician.

Other non-degree careers with good prospects for the future include machinists and electrician/electronics techs (above-average pay and easier on the body than many other blue-collar careers). Several Surry County companies, among them Global Tactical Vehicles, Crescent Manufacturing and AES (Allied Electronics Services), tell us they can’t find enough people to fill openings in those two careers.

Remember that Surry Community College in Dobson offers degree, diploma and certificate programs for more than 40 occupations, including cosmetology, machining technology, electricity and electronics.