Medical Assistant and Medical Assisting Specialist

• Employment of medical assistants is expected to grow 35 percent from 2006 to 2016, a much greater growth rate than the average for all occupations.
• As the health care industry expands because of technological advances in medicine and the growth and aging of the population, there will be an increased need for all health care workers. Increasing use of medical assistants in the rapidly growing health care industry will further stimulate job growth.
• Helping to drive job growth is the increasing number of group practices, clinics, and other health care facilities that need a high proportion of support personnel, particularly medical assistants who can handle both administrative and clinical duties.

Medical Administration and Billing

• Employment of medical records and health information technicians is expected to increase by 18 percent through 2016—greater growth than the average for all occupations—because of rapid growth in the number of medical tests, treatments and procedures that will be increasingly scrutinized by health insurance companies, regulators, courts and consumers.
• Billing and Posting Clerks account for approximately 542,000 positions nationwide. About 35 percent of these workers are employed in the health care industry.
• Employment of billing and posting clerks . . .  is expected to grow by about 4 percent from 2006 to 2016 . . . More billing clerks will be needed in medical billing, however; because medical bills are complicated and health care services are growing.

Administrative Health Care Assistant

• Medical Secretaries account for approximately 408,000 positions nationwide.
• Above average employment growth in the health care and social assistance industry should lead to faster than average growth for medical secretaries.
• The health care and social assistance industries—including offices of physicians, hospitals, nursing homes and outpatient care facilities—employed about 33 percent of all receptionists and information clerks.

Administrative Assistants / Administrative Specialist

• Employment of secretaries and administrative assistants is expected to increase about 9 percent, which is about as fast as the average for all occupations, between 2006 and 2016.
• Employment of receptionists and information clerks is expected to increase 17 percent, a greater increase than the average for all occupations, between 2006 and 2016.
• Secretarial and administrative assistant positions will experience some of the largest increases in the numbers of new jobs, about 362,000, over the 2006-16 period.

Legal Administrative Assistant and Legal Secretary

• Employment of legal secretaries and legal administrative assistants is expected to increase about 12 percent between 2006 and 2016.
• There are approximately 275 legal secretaries in the United States with growth projected.
• As paralegals . . . assume more of the duties traditionally assigned to secretaries, there is a trend in many offices for professionals and managers to replace the traditional arrangement of one secretary per manager with secretaries and administrative assistants who support the work of systems, departments or units. This approach often means that secretaries and administrative assistants assume added responsibilities and are seen as valuable members of a team.

Culinary Arts

• When hiring chefs and others in advanced cooking positions, however, employers usually prefer applicants who have training after high school. These training programs range from a few months to 2 years or more.
• The number of higher-skilled chefs and cooks working in full-service restaurants—those that offer table service and more varied menus—is expected to increase about as fast as the average for all occupations.
• Employment of chefs, cooks, and food preparation workers is expected to increase by 11 percent over the 2006-16 decade, which is about the same rate as the average for all occupations.

Median hourly earnings of wage-and-salary pharmacy technicians in May 2006 were $12.32. The middle 50 percent earned between $10.10 and $14.92. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $8.56, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $17.65. Certified technicians may earn more.

Medical secretaries earned a median annual salary of $28,090 in May 2006. The middle 50 percent earned between $23,250 and $34,210. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $19,750, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $40,870.

Median annual earnings of legal secretaries were $38,190 in May 2006. The middle 50 percent earned between $29,650 and $48,520. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $23,870, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $58,770. Medical secretaries earned a median annual salary of $28,090 in May 2006. The middle 50 percent earned between $23,250 and $34,210. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $19,750, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $40,870.

Median annual wage-and-salary earnings of chefs and head cooks were $34,370 in May 2006. The middle 50 percent earned between $25,910 and $46,040. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $20,160, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $60,730.

Median annual wage-and-salary earnings of private-household cooks were $22,870 in May 2006. The middle 50 percent earned between $17,960 and $31,050. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $14,690, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $55,040.