Continuing our review of the "Best Careers of 2011" published by US News, we'll look at the list of the 10 jobs in the Social Service category.

In total, there were more than 121,000 new online job ads for these 10 social service careers between January and November of 2011, representing a year-over-year increase of 9.4% from the same time period in 2010. In addition, these occupations saw a new 4 year-high in hiring demand during May, when there were over 14,000 jobs advertised online. In the past 90 days, Recruiters placed about 24,000 job ads, relatively flat from 2010.

Hiring Demand for Best Projected Social Service Careers – 4 Years

Source: WANTED Analytics

Education Administrators were the most demanded of these 10 service occupations, with a total of 12,500 online job ads in the past 90 days. Within this career, Education Administrators at post-secondary schools accounted for 8,600 job ads, while elementary and secondary schools posted about 2,000 job ads. Preschool and child care programs accounted for another 1,200. Hiring demand for Special Education grew the most of these 10 careers, up 11% over the past 90 days compared to 2010. However, many of these occupations saw a significant decline.

Recruiting conditions for these social service jobs are likely to vary significantly. The Hiring Scale™ showed that the occupations on this list that are likely to be the easiest to recruit are Firefighters, Court Reporters and Mediators, with larger than average talent pools nationwide. The Hiring Scale also shows that Emergency Management Specialists are likely to be the most difficult-to-fill position of these 10 careers. Nationwide, there are about 5.8 potential candidates in the workforce for every Emergency Management Specialist job opening that has been advertised online. This means that Recruiters are likely to compete heavily when sourcing candidates and will have to leave job ads online for a longer period of time. Some locations are experiencing more difficult conditions. For instance, Washington, DC is currently has one of the smallest talent pools for this occupation, with just 2.3 potential candidates in the local workforce. In addition, job ads stay online longer than average in this area. In Washington, DC the average length of a job ad for an Emergency Management Specialist opening is 50 days (or just over 7 weeks) compared to the national average of 41 days (or just under 6 weeks.)

Hiring Scale for Emergency Management Specialists – Washington, DC vs. Nationally

Source: WANTED Analytics

For other careers, check out our reviews of the Business, Creative, and Healthcare jobs:

• "Best Careers of 2011" – How Did Hiring in the Business & Finan...
• "Best Careers of 2011" – Where was Hiring for Creative and Service ...
• "Best Careers of 2011" – A Review of Hiring Demand for Healthcare Jobs