Being an X-Ray Technician is a good, stable job with a better than average salary that also happens to be one of the fastest growing career fields available. If that weren’t enough, the trend is expected to continue unabated for the foreseeable future.
The ranks of U.S.-based X-Ray Technicians grew, in 2008, to about 215,000, but by 2018 that figure is expected to further swell to 252,000. That’s about 17 percent growth over a decade. Pretty amazing in comparison to the static at-best status of many of the country’s other middle income professions.
Experts say the need for X-Ray Technicians is only going to increase as Baby Boomers settle into senior citizen status and suffer accidents and other bone-related conditions that are more common with old age.
This is good news to anyone considering a career in the medical field or who may be considering a career-switch. The growth patterns of the field demonstrate the security and increased demand that are inherent parts of the profession.
In 2010, U.S. News and World Report listed X-Ray Technician in a list of careers with the best job outlook. Other professions on the list included: Veterinarian, Meteorologist, Computer Software Engineer, Firefighter, Special-Education Teacher, Financial Advisor, Meeting Planner, Funeral Director and Multimedia Artist.
That’s quite a collection of respectable and lucrative professions, and X-Ray Technician is right there among them. Many of those jobs require advanced graduate or doctoral degrees for certification. But before you can even do that, testing is a huge obstacle with Veritas GMAT prep sessions and perhaps additional participation in programs such as Veritas Prep that achieve the needed grade for entry into an accredited program.
Of the various careers listed, with the highest growth potential in coming years, X-Ray Technician has the most acquirable academic regimen of the lot. Certification rules vary between states, but generally at least a two-year Associates Degree, but more likely a four-year Bachelor’s Degree, is the accepted career path.
That’s a relatively small investment to get in return for a well-paying, rewarding and stable career that is unlikely to slow its rapid ascent among the best professions for job growth over the next decade.
