Don’t call Max Toste a liquid chef or mixologist.

He’s a bartender. Ask him for a Manhattan, and he can make it 10 different ways: as a Louisiana (Rye and Benedictine), Red Hook (Rye, Punte E Mes), 1900s (Rye, Dolin Verouth, Boker’s Bitters) – and the list goes on.

“This kind of bartending is not beer tending,” says Toste, who started out as a busboy at Locke-Ober and is now co-owner and bartender at Deep Ellum in Allston, which he calls the city’s first combination craft-beer/classic-cocktail bar.

Like many bartenders, Toste is a musician, a background that’s an asset, he says, because entertaining and performance are a big part of both being on stage or behind a bar. He favors hip black Ray-Ban spectacles, Dickie button-down shirts, and Levis as his work uniform, a far cry from the old-fashioned black and white tuxedo he wore when first starting out as a busboy and then back waiter.

“I learned a ton about wine and service, but at first didn’t want to be stuck behind a bar, forced to listen to patrons talk about Red Sox, golf, or the Wall Street Journal. When you’re waiting tables, you can walk away.”

But a job at the Bukowski Tavern in Cambridge changed his attitude toward bartending. “I realized I could talk about music, beer, and food.

People who want to hang out do, if not, they leave,” says Toste. “I created a clientele who liked what I did and kept coming back.” Today, at Deep Ellum, he serves everyone from “mohawks to suits” and his cocktails are stirred, not shaken, with fresh twists and juices, and cool spirits. “We handpick everything; there’s no brand loyalty.”

Bartending may be the ultimate recession-proof career: bartending jobs are expected to increase 13 percent between 2006 and 2016. “People aren’t going to stop drinking when things go bad,” says Toste, who has heard his share of layoff stories recently. “In fact, they go out and drink more.”

Karen Kaplan, president of Boston-based advertising agency Hill Holliday, as well as president of the Massachusetts Women's Forum, a group of 100 top female executives in the state, spoke with former Globe reporter Sasha Talcott about her unique career path, and also offered some advice for younger job seekers out there. Here's an excerpt:

Q: What career advice do you have for younger professionals?

I think being confident and optimistic is so important. You have to be really open to continuous improvement. You have to be curious, open and empathetic. These days, in particular, you have to be really versatile.

I just think if you're willing to outwork everyone one else, it's not very hard to do, frankly. From the very beginning, I thought, "If I work one more hour a day and a couple of hours on the weekend, I'll pass people who have a 10-year head start on me."

To read the full Q&A with Kaplan, click here.

Plugging healthcare into information technology has been a long and tedious task. While corporate America has long embraced Internet-style computing, over 67 percent of physician offices still do not use electronic medical records (EMRs), but rather still rely on old-fashioned – and error and loss prone – paper documents. And although progress is being made, pushed by a $19 billion stimulus package from the Obama administration for health IT, privacy, infrastructure, and reimbursement issues continue to hinder the digitizing of medicine.

But there are revolutionary health IT leaders, among them, Children’s Hospital in Boston, where clinical processes, from e-prescribing to lab reports, are all done electronically. “From the moment you walk in the door, to when you check out of the hospital, is all tracked behind the scenes,” says Brad McDonald, lead application developer, just one of the hundreds of information specialists helping to change the way healthcare is performed in the hospital. “Computers can reduce errors, eliminate variance and redundancy, but having a computer in the workplace can be a major change and forces people to conform to a certain way of providing care.”

McDonald, who started his career at a supplier of healthcare IT solutions, says that being on the technical support staff for a pediatric hospital can be “high stakes stuff. These are systems that guide people down a certain path, eventually guiding clinicians on how to provide for sick kids, so you have to be careful and cognizant of every decision you make, because patients are involved.”

Ever wonder what would happen if you drained motor oil out of a car and poured liquid glass into it? It completely seizes the engine. That’s what Matt Bailey was doing one day, in a deliberate attempt to blow all the motors of 418 cars that were donated to the U.S. government’s highly successful Cash for Clunkers incentive program through Boch Toyota of Norwood.

“We need to make sure they’re disposed of properly, and that means killing the motors before the cars go to the junkyard, since the clunkers aren’t allowed to be sold to anyone,” says Bailey, Boch Toyota operations manager.

Overseeing the Cash for Clunkers program, managing the 600-1,700 cars in the busy auto dealer lot, making sure the cars in the showroom are shiny and clean, writing up accident reports, checking auto inventory, and even plowing during snowstorms are all part of Bailey’s job, and he loves it.

“I like anything that has to do with cars, whether fixing or just working around them.” A former auto mechanic, Bailey grew up with a wrench in his hand, tinkering with autos, first working on Chevy and Fords, and then moving to Nissans and Hondas. “Imports can be a little more tricky than domestics, since there’s no room on the inside of the car or under the hood, but I like the challenge,” says Bailey, whose first car was a used Mercedes Benz.

According to the National Automobile Dealers Association, in the U.S. there are more than 250 million cars and light trucks alone, not including motorcycles, diesel vehicles and commercial fleets, all of which need maintenance and repair. In today’s economy, consumers are keeping their cars longer, and the average age of cars in operation continues to increase.

Job growth of trained automotive technicians like Bailey remains strong, with the number of trained automotive technicians overall expected to grow 14 percent through 2016. In addition, there are ancillary fields such as service adviser and managers, shop foreman, and others, which offer opportunities for advancement, like Bailey chose for his latest career move to operations manager.

(Meg Connelly)

Meg Connelly, veterinarian and owner of Willard Veterinary Clinic in Quincy, performs a dental x-ray on a cat.

Meg Connelly is a medical jack-of-all-trades. Her days are spent doing everything from geriatric care to surgical services, with a little dermatology, weight management, dental work, radiology, and vaccinations mixed in. The way she talks, you’d think she was a physician: “I like being a general practitioner, working with patients on total wellness and also dealing with all kinds of illness.” But Connelly, veterinarian and owner of Willard Veterinary Clinic in Quincy, sees mostly small four-legged patients: dogs and cats, with an occasional rabbit, bird, gerbil, or snake at the door.

The James Herriot country-style vet who treats all creatures great and small is increasingly uncommon today. Fewer people own livestock, and most vets, like Connelly, focus on household pets, although there are marine, wildlife, equine vets, as well as those who specialize in cardiology, ophthalmology, and chemotherapy. There are even holistic vets who use acupuncture, herbal remedies, and massage therapy as alternative to conventional treatments. A nationwide shortage of livestock vets in particular is causing difficulties for farmers and has the makings of a crisis, threatening the wellbeing of cows and poultry and other agricultural animals.

Employment of vets is expected to increase 35 percent through 2016, with excellent job opportunities, since there are only 28 accredited schools of veterinary medicine in the U.S., resulting in a limited pool of graduates; in New England, Tufts Cummings School is the region’s only veterinary school. “Admission to vet school is highly competitive,” says Connelly, who graduated from Tufts in 1985. “It helps to be strong in math and science, have related work experience, and keep applying, even if you don’t get in the first time.”

Q: Are you like most vets in that you always wanted to be a vet?
A: Like so many little girls, I dreamed of owning a horse, but there were nine kids in our family and we couldn’t afford it. I used to clean stalls so I could get free riding lessons, and I held the horses while they were being vaccinated. I wasn’t scared or grossed out by the shots, but intrigued about medicine. This was during the days when there was lots of farmland in Milton and Randolph, where I grew up.

In her 20 years as a substance abuse counselor, Dot Duda treats major addictions – drugs, gambling, alcohol – and has seen it all, from the 14-year-old glue sniffer to the 70-something retiree who mixes alcohol and meds. And with the failing economy, Duda, who heads up the Prevention and Recovery Center at Mount Auburn Hospital, sees more and more people coming in after losing their job and turning to drugs or booze for relief. “We do not lack for patients, that’s for sure,” says Duda, who is a licensed mental health counselor as well as marriage and family counselor.

On a typical day, almost anyone can walk in the door, from a detox referral to an intoxicated man just off the street. “A former patient might tell someone in AA about the program, or it could be a family member seeking help with a loved one,” says Duda. “You’ve heard it said before, but it’s true: an alcoholic doesn’t necessarily mean someone who is homeless. They can be well-educated and have good jobs, but still have a drinking problem.”

Duda says her role as a therapist “to be a listening ear, and educate and guide clients.” After an initial intake appointment, treatment recommendations can range from support groups, medication evaluation, individual counseling or referrals to the inpatient psychiatric unit. “We have to use whatever techniques we know, since there is not one particular approach to treating all individuals,” says Duda.

Substance abuse costs the nation more than $84 billion a year, with alcohol and drug addiction taking a toll on worker productivity, healthcare expenditures and deadly accidents and crime. Employment of substance abuse counselors is expected to grow 34 percent, among the fastest growing careers.

Small businesses and startups create 70 percent of the jobs in the country, something the economy desperately needs right now. Among the six million small businesses scattered across the country – from soul food eateries to shoe repair shops – is Constantine Poulos’ International Foods business, a Burlington, Vt., based proprietorship that specializes in Greek olives and cheeses. With 12 employees and annual sales from $7 to $8 million, it’s no mom-and-pop operation, but Poulos has been in business long before the Mediterranean craze hit, and was an early adopter, so to speak, of garlic oil, hummus, and pita bread. “We put Feta cheese on the map in the U.S.,” says Poulos, who has been building relationships with distributors in Greece for years, to bring the country’s products to the U.S.

Poulos, who was born in Greece and came to the U.S. as a young boy, is known by friends and colleagues as the Olive Guy, and says that no matter what kind of business you want to start, whether plumbing, animal daycare, or antique dealer, the secret is to know your product and get advice from those already in the field. He holds up a large, black shiny kalamata olive as an example: “You need to know what region these come from; how to store them; the nutritional data; the uses in cooking, and on and on. There is a lot of education and information that needs to take place before you can go into any type of business.”

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has numerous resources for small business owners and has received $730 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help unlock the small business lending market and get capital flowing to America’s small businesses. “As a small business owner, you need to be ready for anything,” says Poulos, who says he’s weathering the recession OK, but remembers one particular crisis, when a port strike prevented shipments of olives from arriving, and his orders were delayed by 3-4 weeks. He was fortunate that he had enough surplus on hand to weather the delay, but says these are the kind of unexpected ups and downs to expect when running your own enterprise. “Sure, you need a business plan, but it should evolve as circumstances change, and you need to be flexible, whether the product is food or anything else.”

(FedEx)

FedEx courier Tom Connors has been delivering packages for 27 years.

Fed Ex courier Tom Connors has delivered some strange things in his 27 years on the job, namely chirping live crickets for animals to eat, and big bales of hay for a movie that was being filmed. But for the most part, what’s in those packages and envelopes is a mystery to him; with 120-140 deliveries to make in one day, he’s driving 70 miles or more a day, jumping in and out of the trademark purple and orange truck.

Behind his seemingly elementary task – delivering boxes and letters in a timely manner – is logistical technology designed to maximize express delivery, ranging from a carefully timed schedule that is mapped out by route engineers and dispatchers, to a wireless handheld computer or PowerPad that can do everything from alert drivers to unexpected pick-ups and capture signatures electronically. The pressure is on to deliver packages “safely but quickly,” says Connors, who has but a few minutes to spare for each delivery. “There’s time enough for a friendly hello, but we have to keep moving.”

Connor’s day begins early at the South Boston station, where he and the other drivers load the trucks, scan their packages, and receive updates on what’s coming in on aircraft. He has four or five industrial parks to roll through, plus catalog deliveries, priority business envelopes, and, yes, covering Hyde Park, he has delivered to Mayor Menino, who calls the Boston ‘burb his hometown.

The recession has significantly slowed cargo delivery – freight, express, and mail – but employment opportunities exist for not just delivery drivers, but also package handlers, warehouse personnel, data entry agents, and customer service representatives. These entry-level positions provide benefits and a steady income for people like Connors, who used to work in a college mailroom and finds his current job allows him to be his own boss. “It’s like being in a moving office,” says Connors. “I meet a lot of neat people, and time flies, because you’re always against the clock.”

When Maria Sorrentino tells people she’s a dental hygienist, she gets one of two reactions: “people either stop smiling, or they cover their mouth with their hands.” It probably doesn’t help that Sorrentino, who is a dental hygienist in the office of Dr. John J. Caravolas, has a set of perfectly straight white teeth, that yes, she brushes three times a day.

In her four years as a dental hygienist, Sorrentino has peered into countless mouths. She is one of five dental hygienists assisting three doctors at the Waltham-based adult and pediatric practice. She’s seen all types of patients, from a 95-year-old with a full set of teeth, to a child with such bad tooth decay that the front teeth and molars are rotting. Her job as a licensed oral health professional is not just to clean teeth, take and read X-rays, and assist the dentist, but also to educate patients. “It’s great when you give someone advice about their teeth, and they come back in six months and did everything you told them, whether it’s not letting a baby drink apple juice from a bottle, or flossing their teeth.”

Sorrentino, a graduate of Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, says that the dental hygiene curriculum is grueling. “They drill things into your head,” she says – no pun intended, since a dental hygienist needs to be able to remember and use all sorts of dental instruments – angles, chisels, hatchets, excavators – to water syringes, sterilization systems and dental dams. Ouch. “Let’s face it, no one wants to be at the dentist. Someone is inside your mouth and scaling (or cleaning) your teeth. It feels invasive. The noise of the tarter coming off has been compared to the sound of nails against the chalkboard,” says Sorrentino.

Registered dental hygienists like Sorrentino have to successfully pass a national written exam and a state clinical exam. Dental hygienists are among the fastest growing occupations, and are expected to grow 30 percent through 2016, as the crucial role of preventative dentistry grows in importance. The career offers flexible scheduling, with more than half dental hygienists working part-time.

As senior legal coordinator for Boston-based immigration and employment law firm Tocci, Goss, & Lee, Laurel Woodward juggles 20-30 cases at one time, working on an alphabet soup of visa categories: from employment-based green cards such as EB-1 and EB-2 to National Interest Waivers (NIW). For the uninitiated, these are visa categories that allow foreign workers to remain in the United States, including the highly educated clientele of Tocci, Goss, & Lee, PC, which includes the very best and brightest foreign scientists, such as a brilliant Harvard astrophysicist from Greece or a talented pianist from Japan.

As a legal assistant, Woodward is one of two paralegals who works with three attorneys, helping clients maneuver the complex maze of federal, state, and local employment regulations and laws, a process that can be confusing and lengthy. Her days are filled with answering e-mails, writing support letters, entering information into an electronic database, filling out forms, dealing with national visa centers and government agencies, and corresponding with immigration or the Department of Labor. It’s a job that she found herself in after graduating from college with a degree in English and Spanish. “I considered becoming an attorney, and thought that working at a law firm was a good way to check this out,” says Woodward.

A recent “best job” list ranked paralegals as higher than lawyers or even federal judges, based on employment outlook, working environment, and stress level. Employment of paralegals – a term that is used interchangeably with legal assistant – is expected to grow 22 percent to 2016, especially as law firms use paralegals as a way of expanding legal services.

Cindy Atoji Keene/Boston.com

Cara Brickley decided to become a physical therapist after hearing stories from her father, a Vietnam vet. He described how physical therapy helped him return to active duty after combat wounds kept him from walking. “He’d tell me how he was pushed to do exercises and get as strong as he possibly could, and how much he appreciated this help.”

Today Brickley is a physical therapist at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston, where she works in the orthopedic, amputation, and burn unit, helping patients get back on their feet again after an accident or injury, much as her father did so many years ago. “I see patients make progress and do things they weren’t able to do before, and it’s very rewarding,” says Brickley, who has been at the rehab facility for 12 years.

A number of high-profile incidents with Boston firefighters – from substance abuse, disability claim violations, and maintenance problems – have put the department under fire and tarnished the image of this time-honored profession. But veteran Medford firefighter Brian Cronin, a senior lieutenant with 30 years experience, defends his fellow firefighters. “Some people think we are lazy, overpaid civil servants, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.”

His station responds to 1,500 emergency calls a year, everything from motor vehicle to pedestrian accidents to electrical hazards, plumbing leaks, and raccoons – but more about that later. “Nothing is too trivial,” says Cronin, who says that the number of fire-related alarms has gone down since the 1980s because of smoke detectors and sprinklers, but the volume of calls has increased, since more people are making use of public services. “If you call the fire department, no matter what, we will come.”

And about that raccoon. Cronin describes the strangest call he’s ever been on: around 11 p.m., a gentleman called and said a masked critter was in his basement and needed help getting it out. “It turns out the animal was the size of a greyhound. I mean, it was enormous. I grabbed a broom and chased it out.”

Although budget cuts have left many fire departments reeling, employment of firefighters is expected to grow by 12 percent to 2012, but with keen competition for job openings. Cronin says applicants with emergency medical technician or paramedic experience have an edge, as well as those with a degree in fire science. A entry level firefighter can earn $40,000-$50,000 a year.

It’s been a long and winding journey for Mark Kalpin, from wildlife biologist to clean tech attorney. Fresh out of grad school, he worked for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), coordinating a huge pipeline expansion project that spanned 800 miles and involved cooperating federal agencies, six states, and numerous Indian tribes. He started off looking at wildlife and fishery issues – and “by the time I was done, I was coordinating this big development process, including regulatory and public policy issues. I found it interesting and challenging.” He earned his law degree in the evenings, taking the requisite classes in contracts, real property and constitutional law, but also studying energy regulations – a field today that is constantly evolving with the Obama administration’s focus on sustainability, coupled with numerous other energy policy acts.

Clean tech, a term coined around 2000, refers to renewable energy and the process and materials involved in making it. Today, as an Boston-based attorney for WilmerHale, Kalpin helps counsel emerging energy technology companies, taking them, as he says, “from concept to kilowatt” – helping them get the initial financing, protecting intellectual property with licensing or patenting, assisting in building the demonstration project, maneuvering through tax issues, through contracting for construction and equipment purchases. “It’s a big jigsaw puzzle that varies from project to project, and entails making sure that the pieces all fit together while the regulations are constantly changing,” says Kalpin.

Kaplin’s clients range from entrepreneurs who are developing wind or solar power generation to firms looking at more efficient battery technology, drinking water desalination, or energy-saving telecommunication methods. For wind energy alone, the U.S. market will reach an estimated $180 billion by 2013 – not to speak of hydro, solar, and biomass, among others.

U.S. businesses use about 21 million tons of paper every year. That's about 175 pounds of paper for each American. Some of it ends up in landfills, others in filing cabinets, and now, thanks to the digital age, many companies are digitizing the information for easier storage, protection, and record keeping.

Boston-based company Iron Mountain offers services to help manage the explosive amounts of information that companies generate, including secure shredding, storage, and data protection. In an age of security mandates, organizations need to comply with complex regulations as well as concerns about disaster recovery.

But it’s easier said than done. With billions of paper documents, for many companies, the challenge is transitioning from physical to electronic processes. This often requires some good old-fashioned scanning – on average, Iron Mountain’s Imaging Centers handle over 50 million per month. That’s an awful lot of documents to scan.

That’s where Nerys Nieves enters the picture, a production imaging specialist for Iron Mountain. She takes boxes and reams of paper from legal, medical, and financial industries, among others, and scans upwards of 1,000 pages a day, uploading the text and images for digital storage. She does the “prep work” – removing staples, paper clips and unfolding any creases as well as feeding the documents into industrial-size scanners. A pre-printed barcode sticker is attached to each document, giving it a tracking electronic identity while it goes through indexing via a Web interface.

Although some would call it menial labor, it’s a job that Nieves does with pride. Formerly a data entry clerk, Nieves works quickly to feed sheets of paper into the machines – and she claims never to have accidentally dropped a batch of files or mixed up any pages.

FDK, or Funeral Director’s Kids, as they’re known in the industry, have often followed previous generations and entered the family business – whether they wanted to or not. But third-generation funeral director ¬Jim Delaney of James H. Delaney & Son Funeral Home in Walpole says, “Even as a young kid, I was always interested in where my father was going and why he was out so late. And every time my dad went about town, he knew almost everybody and helped tried to take care of people when something awful like this happens.”

Long-time funeral home operators like the Delaneys have seen a lot of changes in the funeral home profession, especially recently. With about two million people dying last year, funerals can be big business, with the average cost of a traditional funeral ranging at about $7,000. But cremation, a cheaper option, is on the rise, as well as “green funerals,” which use environmentally friendly options such as biodegradable caskets and earth-friendly embalming chemicals. And once a traditional Irish Catholic funeral home, Delaney says that now clientele include protestant, Buddhists, and Hindus.

With just Jim and his father Jay running the longtime community operation, days can be hectic. Some days there are as many as six funerals a day, with all the paperwork that entails, as well as cleaning the home and four cars. “We do all the dusting, vacuuming, and floor scrubbing, and we do all this before every wake.”

With the graying of the baby boomers, and more funeral directors retiring, demand for funeral operators is expected to rise by 12 percent to 2016. But not all funeral directors drive black Cadillacs and make tons of money, says Delaney, who says that a new embalming school graduate can expect to earn between $35,000 to $40,000 to start.

MedImmune lab manager Melissa Damschroder admits that she’s a science junkie, always investigating the latest clinical papers and new avenues of science and technology. So when her research team uncovers positive data about antibodies, she says, “I get so pumped up that I can’t let go.”

Damschroder, a supervisor in the department of Antibody Discovery and Protein Engineering at the Gaithersburg, Md., branch of MedImmune, is tasked with discovering antibodies and engineering them so they will mimic the body’s immune system.

“We do a lot of cloning at the DNA level and try to create antibody therapeutics can treat infectious diseases, from cancer to lupus,” says Damschroder.

Damschroder came to MedImmune 18 years ago, when it was just a startup. She's been with the company through its growing pains, since it can take as long as 12 years and $1.2 billion to bring a drug to market. Acquired by Boston-based AstraZeneca two years ago, MedImmune today has two main products, a nasal flu vaccine and respiratory tract antibioitic.

When Damschroder was hired, there were only 65 employees – today the company has over 3,000 and has 300 openings, in areas including accounting, legal, public affairs, and sales, to quality control and manufacturing.

Biotechnology – the science of using molecular biology to create new products ¬– is one of the fastest growing industries; the Bay State, for example, is a biotechnology hub, employing nearly 43,000 workers. With Gov. Deval Patrick’s $1 billion life science initiative and President Obama’s lifting of restrictions on stem cell research, the biotechnology sector is optimistically surging ahead.

As an director of international distribution and sales development for Molecular Biometrics, Marianne Vivian frequently travels overseas to manage clients in 11 different countries, from Australia, Japan, and Italy, to Central and South America, Israel, and China. She has packing down to an art: she only carries two black suits, two sweater sets, two pairs of shoes, and wears jeans or chinos. Her days are filled with meetings, trade shows or training sessions, as well as a lot of schmoozing with distributors or reps. And dealing with jet lag is mind-over-manner, says Vivian, a veteran salesperson who has worked in the woman’s and reproductive health areas for over 15 years. “No matter what time it is, I adapt to the country where I’m at, instead of saying to myself, ‘it’s 1 a.m. back home and I should be in bed.’ ”

Vivian, who works out of Molecular Biometric’s Norwood, Mass., office, represents their ViaMetrics-E product, a non-invasive procedure for assessing embryo viability in an IVF laboratory. The new technology is sold through distributors to clinicians, including embryologists and reproductive endocrinologists. Since the product is in the middle of a major release phase, Vivian spends a lot of time meeting with manufacturers, marketing and technical people as well as the legal and regulatory team, to work out the details before it hits the market.

Vivian started her sales and distribution career just after graduating from college with an English degree, when she decided she wanted a job that offered lots of personal contact and a challenge. She quickly learned that sales people need a thick skin – “you can’t take ‘no’ personally, because 99 percent of the time, it’s not about you.” Sales representatives like Vivian are considered by many to be recession-proof, because even in difficult economic times, a talented sales force can pull a company out of downturn.

Daycare provider Tasha Balsom estimates that she’s changed over 50,000 diapers in the last 20 years.

Balsom, proprietor of Tasha Balsom Family Day Care, based in Lexington, Mass., also owns six high chairs, seven playpens, four Cozy Coupe plastic cars, three slides, a sandbox, and numerous other kid-friendly paraphernalia. She can often be seen walking the streets with her head-turning, multi-seat KinderVan, an expansive stroller that seats up to six kids.

“As any parent can tell you, there’s a lot of stuff that goes along with taking care of children,” says Balsom.

Like many daycare providers, Balsom started her business years ago – “people were even still using cloth diapers then” – as a way to remain with her own daughter while still earning an income by providing quality care for other kids as well. It snowballed from there, says Balsom, a former teacher, who is licensed to care for up to 10 kids, and has two assistants to help her.

With more working parents, and the number of children under age 5 expected to rise at a faster rate than in previous years, Balsom, like many day care providers, is seeing an increased demand for her services. She has a waiting list, and although summer is slower, is currently caring for several infants and a few toddlers.

“You need to be flexible, have a lot of patience, have a good sense of humor, and not get upset when things go wrong,” Balsom says.

As required for licensing, her space is childproofed, with electrical outlets covered, gates blocking stairs, cabinets locked, and other health and safety guidelines followed. “You want to keep kids as happy and safe as possible,” says Balsom, who even renovated her basement and uses it only for childcare. “No more running around, hiding toys when guests arrive.”

It’s a pharmacist’s job to field all sorts of questions, from “What are the side effects of this medication?” to “What aisle is the toilet paper in?” CVS pharmacist Minh Do, who lives and works in the Fenway area of Boston, spends his day not just filling prescriptions, but also dealing with a steady stream of customers, juggling the schedules of pharmacy technicians, managing insurance paperwork, and calling physicians with follow-up inquiries. He even administers flu vaccinations when cold season rolls around. And, since he knows many of his neighbors, he’s been known to deliver the occasional jug of milk along with a prescription of Zantac.

Some prescription work is automated, such as the top 100 drugs, which can be dispensed from a pill-counting machine into a vial, and transported down a conveyer belt, where a label is applied. Do will verify the prescription by scanning label, which brings up an image of the prescription and patient information. The speed bump in the process is often dealing with the insurance company, deciphering a doctor’s scribble, or making sure the prescription was entered in correctly. “It’s not like a fast food counter, where you come in, place your order, and expect the product to be at the register in two minutes,” says Do, who says that service is a priority, despite badgering customers who want to know what’s taking so long to fill their prescription.

Pharmacists held about 243,000 jobs in 2006; with over half, like Do, working in community pharmacies. Employment of pharmacists, who must pass a licensure exam and achieve a doctor of pharmacy degree, is expected to grow by 22 percent by 2016, due to increasing numbers of elderly and middle-aged people. Do says he became a pharmacist after realizing that pre-med wasn’t for him – “I didn’t like the sight of blood but I was interested in promoting health.”

After 15 years as an insurance agent, Sharon Campbell no longer needs to cold call on clients – and she’s glad. “Cold calling is tough. You have some people who will be nice to you and other people who will hang up. I once even had someone yell at me. You need to be able to handle rejection, that’s for sure.”

As an MassMutual agent and financial service advisor who sells insurance and investment products, Sharon Campbell now makes contacts through networking and her connections with other professionals, such as CPAs, attorneys, and affiliated insurance brokers. A former sales manager at a women’s department store, she was working “crazy hours for very little money” when she saw a newspaper ad seeking representatives for the New England-based financial services group. With a little so-called sweat equity, a handful of licenses, and a series of training and support classes, Campbell hit the road selling life, disability and long-term care insurance, as well as annuities and retirement plans.

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) has recruited more than 470 financial services professionals like Campbell in the first quarter of 2009, with candidates from backgrounds as diverse as teaching, athletes, lawyers, and coaches. Employment of insurance sales agents is expected to increase by 13 percent by 2016, as sales of health and long-term care insurance rises sharply as the population declines. “It’s job for someone with an entrepreneurial spirit,” says Campbell, who says that beginning agents can earn from $40,000-$60,000 a year and up.

While talking to clients and potential clients, Campbell fields questions such as, “Do I have enough money if I retire? How can I make sure if my family is protected if I die? How much insurance should I have?” Her answers are based on analysis of an individual’s income statement and a balance sheet, with the final summary presented as a sort of financial blueprint. The biggest challenge, says Campbell, who is based in Wilmington, Mass., is selling such intangible products. “It’s not like they’ll end up with a nice shiny car in the driveway or some other new toy. They’re buying peace of mind, which can be a tough commodity to sell.”

By Cindy Atoji Keene
For bankruptcy attorney Neil Warrenband, the downturn in the economy has brought an uptick in business. Warrenband, a Boston-based sole practitioner, has seen a flood in bankruptcy filings, foreclosing procedures, card card debt, and other cases, as his clients typically attempt to juggle their financial obligations and find themselves at the mercy of creditors. “They’re hardworking individuals or couples who have fallen upon hard times and have burned through their life savings and retirement funds. They’re stressed out, scared, embarrassed and puzzled that they find themselves in this situation.”

Bankruptcy is not a D.I.Y. proposition. Although the bankruptcy court has set up a “pro se” help desk (pro se is a Latin phrase meaning “for oneself”), Warrenband says there are a lot of pitfalls, especially in Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which involves the liquidation of much of the debtor’s property. “There are a lot of landmines that one can step on if they don’t know the field. I’ve been doing this 19 years and I’m still learning every day.”

Although some news reports say that top bankruptcy lawyers are charging up to $1,000 or more for company restructurings, these rates are reserved for firms that represent the largest of commercial debtors, such as the Exxons, Chryslers, and GMs of the world. A seasoned attorney like Warrenband charges between $400-$600 an hour, depending on the complexity of the case.

Q: How did you get into this line of work?
A: Ironically, after law school, I worked for a few firms that went out of business or filed for bankruptcy. But while I was working for them, they had no one there who was practicing bankruptcy, so any related issues fell into my lap. After a few years, I decided to take my show on the road by myself.

Q: Who are some clients that you’ve seen lately?
A: I’ve taken on some small business cases – one person was an in-home daycare provider, another had a home renovation business and a third was a small-time real estate developer. All were impacted by the downturn in the economy, and saw a reduction in income, layoff, death in family, divorce, or illness that impacted their ability to earn a living.

Q: What are the pros and cons of being a bankruptcy attorney?
A: When you can help someone who sees no way out, and assist them in turning their life around, it’s a good feeling. On the other hand, one of the pitfalls of this occupation is that you are part therapist, part lawyer. You need to do a lot of hand holding. Many of the people come into my office are emotional wrecks.

Q: What guidance would you give to someone who was considering going into this line of work?
A: You need to go to law school, of course, and then my advice would be to work alongside someone who knows what they’re doing and learn the ropes. There is a lot of law there.

Q: What do you do when you’re not filing claims and representing people in court?
A: I’m dad to five children and four English bulldogs – a dog that I first saw while walking down State Street, where my office is located.

Q: As an attorney, what would you do if one of your dogs bit someone?
A: I would know how to handle the litigation – or it would be so expensive that I would have to file for bankruptcy myself.
I’m only kidding, of course.

By Cindy Atoji Keene

The English language is full of idioms that make it difficult to understand, says ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher Robert Davis, who gives some examples: “‘Let’s go over that’ makes it sound like you’re flying over something; ‘Stand behind a product’ is another confusing statement,” says Davis, an associate director at the Boston Language Institute. Davis teaches advanced level classes that prepare foreign students for the linguistic and cultural challenges of such MBA programs as MIT Sloan and other business schools, but he also has experience teaching what he calls “true beginners” – those who have never been exposed to English before.

For immigrants living in the U.S. who don’t know English, life can be difficult, whether asking for directions or listening to a lecture at college. But with the help of teachers like Davis, who are certified to teach English to non-English speakers, every lesson makes a big difference in helping often-befuddled students get through the day. Davis starts with the general building blocks of language, like the verb “to be” and expands from there. “ His lessons start slowly: “I begin with, ‘I am,’ ‘she is,’ ‘you are,’ and then pair with an adjective or noun. Like, ‘I am a teacher,’ or ‘I am happy.’ I stick to present tenses, and then start to branch out,” says Davis, who encounters students from all over the globe, including Brazil, France, Vietnam, and Japan.

With the increasing number of immigrants entering the country – in Boston, for example, eight percent of the city’s population doesn’t speak English well– employment for ESL or ESOL (English to speakers of other languages) teachers is expected to grow by 14 percent to 2016, with many part-time positions available. The average salary for an ESL teacher is $35,000. At minimum, a certificate is needed to teach English to adults, with many colleges and universities offering master’s degrees in ESL.

Q: What cultural aspects come into play when teaching English as a second language?
A: Americans are careful not to stereotype, but there are ways to characterize different ethnic groups. Russians, for example, tend to be more outspoken, while people from Japan and Korea have trouble stating directly what they want. Almost everyone has trouble writing and there are common pronunciation problems. Europeans, for example, get confused as to when an “H” is silent or not, like when saying, “See you in a half hour.”

Q: How did you get involved with teaching English as a second language?
A: I was in the photography business for 20 years but I wanted to use my brain more. I have a dual major in English and psychology, and when I took a one-month course in teaching ESL, it seemed obvious to me that this is what I was meant to do. I enjoy helping people, and the ability to teach was almost like an instinct.

Q: What are the rewards of this profession?
A: I meet such a range of students, from doctors and lawyers as well as those who were janitors or cleaners in their native countries. At first, you don’t know these people or their personalities, but the more words they learn, the more they begin to open up. It’s very satisfying.

Q: If I end this interview by saying, “See you later,” is that one of those confusing idioms?
A: It certainly is. I had one student who heard someone say, “See you later.” So she waited and waited, thinking she would actually see him again. Needless to say, he never showed up.

Q: So, I’ll just end this with “goodbye.”
A: Yes, that’s best. Bye.

By Cindy Atoji Keene

The English language is full of idioms that make it difficult to understand, says ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher Robert Davis, who gives some examples: “‘Let’s go over that’ makes it sound like you’re flying over something; ‘Stand behind a product’ is another confusing statement,” says Davis, an associate director at the Boston Language Institute. Davis teaches advanced level classes that prepare foreign students for the linguistic and cultural challenges of such MBA programs as MIT Sloan and other business schools, but he also has experience teaching what he calls “true beginners” – those who have never been exposed to English before.

For immigrants living in the U.S. who don’t know English, life can be difficult, whether asking for directions or listening to a lecture at college. But with the help of teachers like Davis, who are certified to teach English to non-English speakers, every lesson makes a big difference in helping often-befuddled students get through the day. Davis starts with the general building blocks of language, like the verb “to be” and expands from there. “ His lessons start slowly: “I begin with, ‘I am,’ ‘she is,’ ‘you are,’ and then pair with an adjective or noun. Like, ‘I am a teacher,’ or ‘I am happy.’ I stick to present tenses, and then start to branch out,” says Davis, who encounters students from all over the globe, including Brazil, France, Vietnam, and Japan.

With the increasing number of immigrants entering the country – in Boston, for example, eight percent of the city’s population doesn’t speak English well– employment for ESL or ESOL (English to speakers of other languages) teachers is expected to grow by 14 percent to 2016, with many part-time positions available. The average salary for an ESL teacher is $35,000. At minimum, a certificate is needed to teach English to adults, with many colleges and universities offering master’s degrees in ESL.

Q: What cultural aspects come into play when teaching English as a second language?
A: Americans are careful not to stereotype, but there are ways to characterize different ethnic groups. Russians, for example, tend to be more outspoken, while people from Japan and Korea have trouble stating directly what they want. Almost everyone has trouble writing and there are common pronunciation problems. Europeans, for example, get confused as to when an “H” is silent or not, like when saying, “See you in a half hour.”

Q: How did you get involved with teaching English as a second language?
A: I was in the photography business for 20 years but I wanted to use my brain more. I have a dual major in English and psychology, and when I took a one-month course in teaching ESL, it seemed obvious to me that this is what I was meant to do. I enjoy helping people, and the ability to teach was almost like an instinct.

Q: What are the rewards of this profession?
A: I meet such a range of students, from doctors and lawyers as well as those who were janitors or cleaners in their native countries. At first, you don’t know these people or their personalities, but the more words they learn, the more they begin to open up. It’s very satisfying.

Q: If I end this interview by saying, “See you later,” is that one of those confusing idioms?
A: It certainly is. I had one student who heard someone say, “See you later.” So she waited and waited, thinking she would actually see him again. Needless to say, he never showed up.

Q: So, I’ll just end this with “goodbye.”
A: Yes, that’s best. Bye.

Nancy Magurn found her calling while taking care of her elderly parents, doing assorted odds and ends around their house: changing bed linens, cleaning, doing laundry, shopping for food, helping them to the toilet, and numerous other chores. They were everyday tasks that she gladly shouldered. “I loved my parents,” says Magurn of Watertown. “They were everything to me.”

So when Magurn – unemployed and facing a downturn in the garment industry, her career niche – saw a want ad for an elder companion, she thought, “Why not?” That was five years ago, and today Magurn is a personal and home care aide for several clients in the Boston area, employed by Senior Homecare Solutions, a Newton based homecare and companionship service for elderly clients and their families. The service allows the elderly to maintain as much independence as possible, keeping loved ones at home, and relieving stress for family caregivers. “I do everything from reminding clients to take medication to bringing them to wakes and funerals,” says Magurn, who says that her role is to provide non-medical care and to be invisible and unobtrusive while making sure those in her care are safe and happy. “It’s kind of a tricky balance, to be at their beck and call but not in their face. You can’t be clanking dishes in the kitchen.”

Employment of personal and homecare aides is projected to grow by 51 percent to 2016, as aging baby boomers face mounting health problems and require assistance with daily living. While the occupation is typically low paying – average earnings are around $9 an hour – aides usually work on their own and can typically set their own schedules without a lot of surveillance and supervision.

As a chiropractor, Chad Messina encounters his share of skeptics. “Patients will tell me, ‘I don’t believe in chiropractic, as if it’s a religion,” says the Marlborough-based practitioner. “But it’s not a matter of belief, but having the structures of the body – the joints, bones, and muscles – in the right place.”

Chiropractic (from the Greek words, chiro, meaning hand, and practic, or practice or operation), is a natural healing profession that is projected to have a 14 percent increase in employment through 2016. “People are more open-minded about chiropractic now,” says Messina, who runs Messina Family Chiropractic. “It’s a therapy option, something other than popping pills or having organs removed from the body. I’m not saying that these are not required, but you can try a less invasive method first.”

Messina received his bachelor’s degree in athletic training from University of Nevada at Las Vegas, taught high school biology, and then decided he wanted to do something else. He considered being a physician assistant or physical and occupational therapist, but chose to beecome a chiropractor after sitting with a practicing chiropractor and watching him work. “I saw a patient who came in and completely doubted the chiropractor’s ability to heal. But when he was done with the treatment, she got up, stood, and moved around without pain. I saw the look of shock on her face. That’s when I knew I wanted to be a chiropractor.” Requirements for a chiropractor include licensing, two to four years of undergraduate education, the completion of a four-year chiropractic college course, and passing scores on national and state exams.

There are at least 20 different chiropractic techniques, from using an activator, or a rubber-tipped instrument that manipulates the body, to applying the vibrations of an ultrasound to reduce inflammation. Messina swears by the Active Release Technique, which manipulates not just the bones but also the soft tissues of the body. “I apply precisely directed tension as well as ask patients to do very specific movements. It’s a very hands-on technique.”

“Hello, how can I help you?”

Ever wonder who is on the other end of the telephone when you call your local utility company, Internet provider, or product support line? That helpful customer service agent who answers your questions and provides friendly guidance just might be someone like James Brock, a fiber customer support analyst at Verizon. Brock is one of 300 customer representatives at Verizon’s Providence FiOS center, supporting the fiber-optic based Internet and TV service offered by the company.

Brock answers from 50-60 calls a day, from customers who are having technical problems to remotely diagnosing and correcting equipment difficulties. Common questions include, “Why is there no picture on my television screen?” “How can I connect wirelessly?” “What’s wrong with my remote control?”

Network systems and data-communication analysts like Brock are in a profession that is expected to grow by 53 percent by 2010 as businesses adopt more sophisticated and complex technologies, and e-commerce continues to expand. At Verizon, hiring continues for fiber-customer support analysts and fiber-network technicians who work in the call center answering order inquiries or trouble reports. The position requires a basic understanding of networking components such as routers, LAN topology, Ethernet and network interface cards, as well as a working knowledge of PC hardware and software. But an IT or computer science degree is not required – Brock has a background in hospitality and business and began toying with computers as a hobby.

It was five years of watching fierce arguments – often unresolved – as a Lexington School board member that made Robin DiGiammarino look into mediation as a form of conflict resolution. One of the basic principles she quickly learned wasn’t surprising: the source of most conflicts is a lack of communication, as well as making inferences from simple situations. “The act of not returning a phone call can turn into ‘you’re a mean, uncaring person’ and then escalate from there,” says DiGiammarino of Arlington-based Lodestar Mediation, who, since training as a mediator in 2003, has helped negotiate over 200 disputes, ranging from divorce mediation to tenant-landlord disputes. But often the solution to a difficult situation, whether it is unpaid rent or charges of discrimination at work, is straightforward. “Provide the party with the opportunity to determine outcomes and let them reach a resolution by themselves,” says DiGiammarino, who is also serves as a mentor for new mediators in Massachusetts District Court. “A mediator is a third-person neutral party who facilitates conversation, not a judge who says you’re right, and you’re wrong.”

U.S. News and World Report named mediation as one of the top careers for 2009, even during an economic downturn: “If we can’t solve a conflict, we tend to give up or hire a lawyer. There has to be a better way: A mediator can often help resolve a dispute less expensively and with less conflict.”

By Cindy Atoji Keene

For the uninitiated Web designer wannabe, the secrets of HTML, CSS, and the use of image and scripts are a tough code to crack. It takes years of trial and error, practice, and dead ends to get up to speed, especially when learning on your own. But for those who enjoy the challenge, hacking away at ways to build cleaner, more efficient Web sites is almost addicting. “It’s a challenge,” says Cape Cod-based Web designer Milo Caruso, who specializes in developing sites for small businesses and non-profits. “It’s not like working in a factory where you’re just making the same thing all the time. Every project has a technical or aesthetic problem that you need to solve.”

Like many Web techies, Caruso is self-taught and stumbled into Web design 10 years ago when he was trying to set up his own site. An artist and metal smith, he wanted a Website for his work. “I started with one of those pre-canned versions, and quickly realized how limited it was. Instead, ‘I think I can do this myself,’ I said,” he remembers. He bought a book on HTML, learned how to do Web planning, design, and database creation and maintenance, and his business, MiloCaruso.com, slowly evolved from a hobby into a business.

Demand for Web developers like Caruso is expected to grow to 37 percent by 2016, as the need for computer systems designs and related services increases. “A career like this is the perfect fit for someone like me who is detailed orientated and has an artistic background but has curiosity and a good amount of logic thrown in there,” says Caruso, who often burns the midnight oil, and tinkers with new programs and applications while listening to baseball games.

Q: Your motto is “Web design and development. Friendly, inexpensive, and not too geeky.” How did you come up with this tagline?
A: The constant mantra that I heard from people was that they had tried to work with Web designers, many of whom were snooty, very unpersonable and really expensive. I try to build a rapport with my clients and educate them what they really need to ask so they get what they want.

Q: What do you use to create a Web site?
A: The tools vary, from plain old writing the code manually, to Adobe products such as Dreamweaver, Flash, and Photoshop, to Fireworks. It’s best to adapt the workflow to the project, since this can prevent an approach from getting static or being limited.

Q: What’s the best way to get into Website design?
A: There is no one way to do it. I’m self-taught, but there are a lot of community colleges, traditional universities, and online programs, as well as multiple Web resources. Don’t be shy to go to Google and just say, “How do I make a Website?” There’s so much out there.

Q: And does it help to be a so-called “geek”?
A: I am not a born geek, in the sense of being technology driven and being excessively gadgety, but I am drawn to finding simple solutions for complicated problems. To me this is a major part of being "geeky.” I am not a "keeping up with the Gates" kind of guy but I do have three computers, including a Windows desk top, wide screen Windows laptop and one Linux desktop as well a NAS (Network Attached Storage). I also collect old computers and parts and occasionally just build another one for fun. Drives my wife nuts.

By Cindy Atoji Keene

For the uninitiated Web designer wannabe, the secrets of HTML, CSS, and the use of image and scripts are a tough code to crack. It takes years of trial and error, practice, and dead ends to get up to speed, especially when learning on your own. But for those who enjoy the challenge, hacking away at ways to build cleaner, more efficient Web sites is almost addicting. “It’s a challenge,” says Cape Cod-based Web designer Milo Caruso, who specializes in developing sites for small businesses and non-profits. “It’s not like working in a factory where you’re just making the same thing all the time. Every project has a technical or aesthetic problem that you need to solve.”

Like many Web techies, Caruso is self-taught and stumbled into Web design 10 years ago when he was trying to set up his own site. An artist and metal smith, he wanted a Website for his work. “I started with one of those pre-canned versions, and quickly realized how limited it was. Instead, ‘I think I can do this myself,’ I said,” he remembers. He bought a book on HTML, learned how to do Web planning, design, and database creation and maintenance, and his business, MiloCaruso.com, slowly evolved from a hobby into a business.

Demand for Web developers like Caruso is expected to grow to 37 percent by 2016, as the need for computer systems designs and related services increases. “A career like this is the perfect fit for someone like me who is detailed orientated and has an artistic background but has curiosity and a good amount of logic thrown in there,” says Caruso, who often burns the midnight oil, and tinkers with new programs and applications while listening to baseball games.

Q: Your motto is “Web design and development. Friendly, inexpensive, and not too geeky.” How did you come up with this tagline?
A: The constant mantra that I heard from people was that they had tried to work with Web designers, many of whom were snooty, very unpersonable and really expensive. I try to build a rapport with my clients and educate them what they really need to ask so they get what they want.

Q: What do you use to create a Web site?
A: The tools vary, from plain old writing the code manually, to Adobe products such as Dreamweaver, Flash, and Photoshop, to Fireworks. It’s best to adapt the workflow to the project, since this can prevent an approach from getting static or being limited.

Q: What’s the best way to get into Website design?
A: There is no one way to do it. I’m self-taught, but there are a lot of community colleges, traditional universities, and online programs, as well as multiple Web resources. Don’t be shy to go to Google and just say, “How do I make a Website?” There’s so much out there.

Q: And does it help to be a so-called “geek”?
A: I am not a born geek, in the sense of being technology driven and being excessively gadgety, but I am drawn to finding simple solutions for complicated problems. To me this is a major part of being "geeky.” I am not a "keeping up with the Gates" kind of guy but I do have three computers, including a Windows desk top, wide screen Windows laptop and one Linux desktop as well a NAS (Network Attached Storage). I also collect old computers and parts and occasionally just build another one for fun. Drives my wife nuts.

Joe the Plumber, move over. Steve the Plumber’s here in town, and he’s just as much a red-blooded, middle class American as the blue collar hero who was spotlighted during the presidential debates. This plumber – Steve St. Hilaire – does have his plumbing license, unlike poster boy Joe Wurzelbacher, who turned out to be a Ohio tradesman without the proper credentials.

But we digress. Because this column isn’t about politics but plumbing, and how it’s a decent way to make a living for those who know their way around a few wrenches, are willing to do back-breaking work, and can work with their hands. No less than Albert Einstein supposedly quipped, “If I had to live my life over again, I’d be a plumber.” After all, in every large metropolis or tiny enclave, when you drink a glass of pure sparkling water, you can thank people like Joe and Steve, the plumbers.

Employment of plumbers is expected to grow as construction-related spending, spurred by the Economic Stimulus Bill, brings new infrastructure projects and building remodeling. “There will always be a need for plumbers,” says St. Hilaire, owner of Arlington Plumbing, which serves the central Boston area. “Pipes clog, drains need cleaning, toilets need to be installed.”

St. Hilaire is a licensed master plumber, which means that he has completed 100 hours of plumbing education, passed an exam, and has worked at least three years as an apprentice.

“Plumbing is one of the harder jobs that you can have, at least physically,” says St. Hilaire, who, like many plumbers, has developed various aches and pains in his back, wrist, shoulders, and knees, from hauling boilers, bathtubs, and cast iron pipes that can weigh up to 300-500 pounds.

It’s been 28 years, but Elizabeth Schuchard still remembers her favorite teacher, Mrs. Russell, a grandmotherly-type with gray curly hair and black glasses.

“She was your classic teacher and had the best laugh. She always wore a skirt and blouse, and sensible shoes. You could tell this was her life vocation. Even as a child, I knew she had done this a long time,” she said.

It was Mrs. Russell who instilled the love of reading in little Liz, and set a lifelong positive attitude toward school. And today, Schuchard is a veteran teacher, albeit a more contemporary version of her beloved first-grade mentor.

“I literally couldn’t imagine myself in any other profession,” says Schuchard, who was recently hired as a permanent 5th grade substitute teacher for the town of Sudbury; she previously taught high school and college, and is finding elementary school a brand new challenge. Schuchard is making a return to the classroom again after raising two young children.

“Teaching can be inspiring, because you feel like you’re making a difference, but at the end of the day, you can be exhausted – sometimes it feels like you’re trying to solve the world’s problems.”

With about one in four Americans enrolled in schools at all levels every year, employment of school teachers is expected to grow by 12 percent by 2012, with 479,000 new additional teaching positions needed. Many of these teaching opportunities are in local elementary, middle, and secondary schools.

From 12 issues of Playboy magazine ($9.99) to a kazoo ($4.99), Bob Golub sells it all on eBay, the ubiquitous online auction and shopping Web site.

“You name it, we see it,” he says of his eBay drop-off store, where customers can bring in items that they want to proffer; he does the rest of the work, from writing the listing (“Great deal on your first harmonica in the Key of C”) to handling the shipping. Browsers can “buy it now” or bid in auctions that can get fast and furious, especially on highly desired collectibles such as vintage cameras.

And while other companies are facing grim times, the downturn in the economy has been good for the Sudbury-based business. “People are looking to raise cash, and one way to do it is to sell the items they have,” says Golub, who takes a small percentage of the proceeds, from 25-38 percent, depending on the final purchase price.

What Golub earns on items can be all over the place: A motorcycle trailer sold for $10,000, for instance, while other items, such as a painting by an obscure artist, doesn’t attract a lot of attention and might even end up in the charity bin.

And while Golub is an eBay professional, he says that “anyone can do it,” although being successful requires a dedicated effort.

Licensed certified massage therapist Rezakkah Norins, owner of Nurture Massage and Spa in Brighton, gives a Swedish massage to her daughter and regular client, Jennifer Barden. (Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff)

A good massage therapist is like a talented martial artist: someone who surprises clients with her power and intensity, says practitioner Rezakkah Norins.

“Massage is all about establishing a rhythm that’s relaxing and creating continuity so that you’re transitioning from one area to another in a connected way,” says Norins, who has a small private practice in Brighton and also works part-time for a spa.

Massage has moved out of sleazy back parlor rooms to become an accepted healing therapy with therapeutic and rejuvenating benefits. According to industry statistics, almost a quarter of adult Americans had a massage at least once in the last 12 months, with employment for massage therapists expected to increase 20 percent by 2016. And with the anxiety of widespread unemployment, housing foreclosures and rising prices, massage can help manage stress.

“I see people suffering from headaches, chronic back problems, sciatica, TMJ – you name it,” says Norins, who sees a diverse clientele, from construction workers to doctors. “More and more, science is validating the healing ability of massage.”

It takes a lot of birthday cake to fit 104 candles.

But one lucky resident at Woodbridge Assisted Living in Peabody recently celebrated this milestone. And according to resident life director Debbie Salamone, more and more seniors there seem to be celebrating their centennial birthday – and beyond.

She’s right: statistics show that one in every 26 of today’s baby boomers will live to be 100. These older adults – and baby boom “youngsters” in their 60s through 90s – will require specialized goods and services tailored to the needs of aging Americans. In particular, community and residential care facilities for the elderly represent one of the nation’s fastest growing industries, with eldercare work expected to grow by 30 percent to 2014.

“Today’s seniors don’t want to just sit and fall asleep in a chair,” says Salamone. “Just because they’re up in years doesn’t mean they’re not still smart, accomplished people.”

Salamone is a gerontology activities specialist, a field of growing importance as research shows that staying busy and involved is vital to not just mental health, but also physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. At Woodbridge, busy residents can choose from Rummy Q to Yiddish lessons.

“I like to say that living here is similar to being on a cruise ship,” says Salamone of the Jewish seniors retirement community. “There’s always something to do.”

Working with an older population requires compassion, patience, and a sense of humor, says Salamone. “They can be cranky, and have varying needs and abilities. But the truth of it is that we are all going to be old some day – if we’re lucky.”

Almost every hairdresser has their horror story, and Stephen Hanson is no exception.

A longtime Newbury Street stylist who is now working at Starr Hair Studio, Hanson remembers a client who broke the golden rule: never lie to your hair dresser. The blonde, who said she never colored her hair, wanted a perm, so Hanson willingly complied. Halfway through the treatment, with half her hair split and broken on the rollers, the woman confessed that she really did dye her hair. But it was too late.

“She ended up with a very short Sharon Stone hairdo, because half her hair fell off,” says Hanson. “But I kept her as a client for years, and she never lied to me again.”

Forty-something Hanson is a self-professed “flamboyant” tattooed and pierced showman who shows up for long 12-hour workdays in his longtime uniform: tight black leather and chains, topped off by cowboy boots.

In 31 years of hair styling, he estimates he’s put his scissors on more than 10,000 heads, and says he's sheared enough hair “to reach from here to the moon.” With over 700 current clients, it’s not hard to believe Hanson when he says that an established hairdresser can pull in over $250,000. And, although no career is recession proof, employment of stylists is expected to grow 12 percent to 2016.

As a male nurse, Robert Connelly admits he’s had his share of embarrassing situations, like the occasional female patient who doesn’t know how to put a hospital johnnie on correctly (the opening is in the back, he adds.) And as a big, strapping 6’2”, 250 lb. man in light blue scrubs, he’s frequently also mistaken for being a doctor.

But Connelly, who is an emergency room nurse at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), is a former EMT and paramedic who became a nurse three years ago when he decided he wanted to ramp up his medical training yet another notch. His wife and three sisters are also nurses.

“I was the only guy in my nursing program, and on the job, I’m almost always outnumbered by 10 females to one,” says Connelly, who is a rarity in a profession where just six percent of nurses are men.

But like many nurses, he was lured to nursing by the salary, steady work, and demand; he says the average nurse can earn between $60,000-$80,000 or more. Employment of registered nurse is expected to grow 23 percent to 2016, fueled in part by a rise in aging baby boomers. And the stereotype that nursing is women’s work? Well, Connelly says, “Men bring something special to the field, and besides, chicks love a guy in uniform.”

A few years ago, it might have seemed almost impossible that the humble email would become the killer application that would revolutionize direct marketing. But email marketing has exploded from a handful of tiny lists to an industry that Jupiter research predicts will top $2 billion in 2012. And email marketing has created its own little stimulus package of job opportunities.

Constant Contact, a Waltham-based provider of email marketing and survey tools, has grown from serving just 10 customers to 250,000 in eight years. Eric Groves, who heads up the global marketing team, is just as likely to face off at the lunchtime basketball hoops with a customer specialist or senior financial analyst as with a software engineer or information technology administrator. All are digital media support positions revolving around the delivery of targeted email messages, a form of one-on-one marketing used by numerous small businesses and organizations.

Email marketing has its own lingo, from “opt-out rates” (unsubscribe from the e-mail list) to “spoofing” (falsifying e-mail sources). Groves, who has a background in search-engine optimization, admits that it can take time to grasp know-how behind turning clicks into customers. But even for non-techies, a career in email marketing offers lots of possibilities, even as email 2.0 evolves.

This is the first article in a new series called "On the job with," which highlights a different job each week.

There is no Russian word for prescription “refill” or “walker.”

So when dealing with her typical clientele -- aging Eastern European patients -- medical translator Veronica Larouche usually has to resort to using what she calls “Runlish,” a rough mixture of pidgin Russian and English.

It’s all in a day’s work for Larouche, who acts as a liaison between healthcare providers and often-bewildered Russian immigrants who are trying to navigate the busy corridors at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.