That pragmatic, tough-minded approach has made Kleiman one of the hottest commodities on the employment front since “What Color Is Your Parachute?” With recession-weary job seekers hungering for any tidbit of advice, Kleiman already knows the color of her own parachute-black and white and read all over. She writes two weekly columns-“Jobs” and “Women at Work”-that are syndicated to more than 300 newspapers nationwide. At the Chicago Tribune, where she started 25 years ago, she gets more calls, say phone operators, than legendary colleagues Ann Landers and Mike Royko. Her new book, “The 100 Best Jobs for the 1990s & Beyond,” is already in its second printing. “She knows more than a lot of CEOs,” says Thomas Horton, former chairman of the American Management Association.
Employees usually win Kleiman’s sympathy at the expense of their often hamhanded managers. Perhaps because her husband “fired” her 25 years ago, leaving her alone with three children, she is a champion of the underdog. Working sans secretary, Kleiman fields calls from job seekers. The down-to-earth detective loves to ferret out nontraditional jobs, particularly for women and minorities who need an advocate. (Her definition of a nontraditional job? “One where women and minorities make money.”) The columnist’s struggle as a single mom gives her writing depth, says Gloria Steinem, founder of Ms. magazine, where Kleiman has been a contributor for 15 years. “You feel there is experience behind the words.”
In her new book, Kleiman predicts which careers will be strong–and well paid–into the 21st century. Think about jobs in day care, data processing, and computer programming and repair. If you like using your hands, consider work as a car mechanic, carpenter or landscape architect. An aging population needs nurses, opticians and podiatrists. And think sun belt-where the elderly are moving in droves. The book also offers some obvious advice. (“Don’t lie on your resume.”) A good tip: “Find out what your boss likes least and take it over.”
What’s in store for America’s work force? Kleiman envisions a two-class society with the unskilled falling by the wayside. A fiend for statistics, she writes that one in eight U.S. adults can’t read. In her view, a lack of job opportunities is the root of much evil, including the Los Angeles riots. Hence her advice to students that they should take almost any job “if it’s not insulting to your intelligence.” After all, says the eternal pragmatist, you get a reference.
