Sometimes a small change can mean big change for the employment market. That’s what analysts are saying about the January unemployment numbers released last Friday by the Department of Labor.

Is the news all good for jobseekers? No, but it’s much better than anyone expected. Consider this: After losing 150,000 jobs in December, the U.S. economy lost only 20,000 jobs last month, a small statistical change that could signal much bigger things—most notably, that after a string of brutal jobs reports, the worst may be over. After revising its numbers from the end of last year, the Labor Department determined that unemployment fell to 9.7 percent last month from 10 percent.

Job-market watchers have jumped all over the unexpected good news. On the White House blog, Council of Economic Advisers chair Christina Romer wrote that “while unemployment remains a severe problem, today’s employment report contains encouraging signs of gradual labor market healing.”

Employment did rise in a few areas, including retail trade and temporary help employment, as well as manufacturing. The results of the Labor Department’s survey of households showed that 541,000 more Americans had work in January. But Romer’s choice of words may be an even bigger indicator in itself, as it marks the first time anyone analyzing the labor market has really talked about “healing” for the jobs outlook. Could the jobless recovery finally be getting back its jobs?

There are several caveats, of course. First of all, as Romer herself notes, the DOL’s revised numbers revealed that more than a million more jobs than previously thought have been lost in this recession. The new numbers suggest 8.4 million jobs have been lost in this recession, and it will likely take several years for all of those jobs to be restored to the economy.

But let’s look at that in a different light. Economic analysts believe we could add as many as 1.5 million jobs to the U.S. economy this year. For proof that 2010 is beginning to show signs of an improved outlook, look no further than CNN/Fortune’s new list of the best companies to work for in 2010. Out of those, almost a quarter have at least 500 openings each, which equals almost 88,000 jobs. In other words, Fortune’s top companies are hiring.

The top rankings this year, by the way, went to:

1. SAS
2. Edward Jones
3. Wegmans
4. Google
5. Nugget Market
6. DreamWorks Animation
7. NetApp
8. Boston Consulting Group
9. Qualcomm
10. Camden Property Trust

To some degree, this year’s list of top companies is just a reshuffling of last year’s, but it’s interesting to consider who moved and who didn’t. North-Carolina-based software firm SAS jumped all the way from #20 to #1, while Edward Jones remained at #2 and Google held at #4. Camden Property Trust made the biggest upward move in the top 10, from #41 to #10. Meanwhile, Cisco Systems, Genentech and Goldman Sachs all fell out of the top 10.

Unlike 2009’s list, not all of the top 10 companies had positive job growth this year, and the upticks were generally small in any case.

However, judging from what the companies are saying about their hiring for this year — and all of those openings — expect that to change on next year’s list.

“Career transition” is on a lot of minds these days. The U.S. has more than 15 million unemployed — and if you count the discouraged and underemployed, the number is more like 27 million. You may be one of these people seeking a new job, or you may be one of millions of others who are employed, but trying to strategize a major career change in a tough market. No matter the specifics, the economic downturn is probably affecting your career.

As you craft your long-term plans, you’ll want to consider where the jobs are — and where they are going. Consumption drives these patterns, but so does technology. Don’t forget to account for older generations retiring and leaving needed jobs open, either. All of these elements affect which jobs are available.

Then, to maximize your future demand, think about adapting your strategy — be it higher education, government re-training, or developing a new area of expertise — to a field that is projected to grow.

To help you with your planning, we peeked into our “crystal ball” (actually, government projections) to share the latest statistics for the industries growing the most, and the occupations that will be adding the largest amount of workers, now through 2018.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently published its 2010-11 edition of  the Occupational Outlook Handbook, a report on occupations and employment growth trends that is updated every two years. This particular update covers 2008-2018 — meaning it has data through the end of 2008, and projects out to 2018. This is notable because it does cover one full year of the downturn (2008), which began in December 2007. Nationwide, employment is projected to increase by 15.3 million (approximately 10%) over the decade between 2008 and 2018, and the OOH describes exactly where the growth will be. Here is the OOH’s list of the 20 “fastest-growing” professions through 2018, as measured by percentage of growth.

1. Biomedical engineers: Slated to add 11,600 jobs, a 72% increase
2. Network systems and data communication analysts: Will add 155,800 jobs, a 53% increase
3. Home health aides: Set to add 460,900 jobs, an increase of 50%
4. Personal and home care aides: Will grow by 375,800 openings, or 46%
5. Financial examiners: Slated to add 11,100 jobs, an increase of 41%
6. Medical scientists, except epidemiologists: 44,200 jobs will be added, a 40% growth rate
7. Physician assistants: This field will add 29,200 jobs, growing by 39%
8. Skin care specialists: Set to add 14,700 positions, growing by 38%
9. Biochemists and biophysicists: Will grow by 8,700 positions, or 37%
10. Athletic trainers: Set to add 6,000 jobs, a gain of 37%
11. Physical therapist aides: 16,700 jobs will be added, a gain of 36%
12. Dental hygienists: The workforce will add 62,900 jobs, an increase of 36%
13. Veterinary technologists and technicians:  Slated to add 28,500 jobs, a 36% increase
14. Dental assistants: Will be adding 105,600 jobs, growing by 36%
15. Computer software engineers, applications: Set to add 175,100 jobs, a growth rate of 34%
16. Medical assistants: Will grow by 163,900 personnel, an increase of 34%
17. Physical therapist assistants: 21,200 jobs will be added, growing by 33%
18. Veterinarians: Will add 19,700 jobs, an increase of 33%
19. Self-enrichment education teachers: Slated to add 81,300 positions, an increase of 32%
20. Compliance officers, except agriculture, construction, health and safety, and transportation: Will add 80,800 jobs, growing by 31%

The first thing to note about this list is that a smaller industry can show an explosive rate of growth, yet still add fewer jobs in total than a huge industry that is growing more slowly. This is shown by the top occupation, biomedical engineer, which is going up steeply (72%!), but in spite of this is still only adding one job for every 39 added of the #3 job, home health assistant.

Examining the above list, here are some big trends I observe in the fastest-growing industries:

Biological sciences: In the Top 20, we see a high demand for biomedical engineers (#1) and biochemists and biophysicists ( #9), which reflects medicine’s growing interest in genetic research and biologic drugs. If you are inclined toward the sciences, biology would be a strategic area to explore.

IT: Don’t overlook the second-fastest-growing job, network systems and data communication analysts, which is set to add more than 150,000 new jobs, while computer software engineers, applications, #15, is adding another 175,000. Together, this is 325,000 jobs, so people who can run networks and write software will definitely continue to be needed.

Health assistance: Home health aide is #3, while personal and home care aides are right behind at #4. It makes sense: our increasingly aging population has an independent spirit, values their health, and would like help with it at home rather than at an institution. Physician assistants (#7), dental hygienists (#12), dental assistants (#14) also reflect these demographics, plus increased access to and demand for medical and dental services. Could you grow a career around this?

Veterinary sciences: The pet is of ever-increasing importance in the U.S.: people devote more of their money to a pet’s needs than before, and rates of pet ownership are up. So it’s not surprising to see veterinarians at #18 and veterinary technologists and technicians at #13. If you love animals, veterinary medicine may be the path for you.

Those were the occupations with steep growth. If you’re more interested in which occupations will be adding the most jobs in terms of sheer numbers, the following list (also from the new edition of the Occupational Outlook Handbook) delivers that. Here are the 20 occupations that will be adding the most new jobs, in individual openings:

1. Registered nurses (581,500)
2. Home health aides (460,900)
3. Customer service representatives (399,500)
4. Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food (394,300)
5. Personal and home care aides (375,800)
6. Retail salespersons (374,700)
7. Office clerks, general (358,700)
8. Accountants and auditors (279,400)
9. Nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants (276,000)
10. Postsecondary teachers (256,900)
11. Construction laborers (255,900)
12. Elementary school teachers, except special education (244,200)
13. Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer (232,900)
14. Landscaping and groundskeeping workers (217,100)
15. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks (212,400)
16. Executive secretaries and administrative assistants (204,400)
17. Management analysts (178,300)
18. Computer software engineers, applications (175,100)
19. Receptionists and information clerks (172,900)
20. Carpenters (165,400)

Observations on the list of occupations that are growing the most:

Healthcare: The need for registered nurses is #1. Although they didn’t make the Top 20, you should know that licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses came in at #24 on the list, and physicians and surgeons ranked #28. Being a doctor or nurse has always been an in-demand profession, and the demand will continue.

Services: The service sector is adding millions of jobs in the coming eight years. A large portion of them are adjacent to healthcare; home health aides are #2, while nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants is #9, and personal and home care aides is #5. Other growth areas in service are food preparation and landscaping.

Construction and carpentry: Good news! Building is projected to come back from its current slump, making construction laborer #11 on this list, and carpenter #20.

For more planning resources, be sure to visit the OOH website. There, you can read up on hundreds of jobs. For each job, you will find descriptions of the duties and working conditions, the skills and experience needed, projected earnings, and even information on the job in your region. It is a valuable resource for imagining, planning, and implementing your successful career transition.

I usually write to you from an HR perspective, but today’s blog is from my perspective as a job-seeker. I just finished an 80-minute task that was deeply demoralizing: I applied for a job using some of the industry’s “best” employee screening software. What I experienced was excruciating.

I thought the process would be short-ish, perhaps 15 minutes at the most, because the hiring company used a well-known screening software that I had used before. I even remembered my username and password! However, this did not seem to mean that the system remembered me, as once I was “welcomed back,” we began with my name, address, email, and other depressingly basic information.

I had hoped that the system would have retained my resume (isn’t that why I have an account and a password?), but no such luck. But if I uploaded one, the site promised, it would “read” my resume and extract the relevant information. I knew better than to upload my “fancy” PDF, and chose the simplest Word document I had. Even so, all the software could extract were my dates of employment. As I began the tedious task of filling in company names, titles, duties, and more, I recalled performing the exact same task with this same software just a few months ago. Why could it not remember me or save any information to my account?

Then things got… deep. Before I could actually submit my application, I had to provide:

• the names, titles, and contact info for not one, not two, but three professional references
• starting and ending salaries for every position I have ever held
• the reason I left each and every job, and whether it was voluntary or involuntary
• consent for a background check and a credit check
• a pledge to submit to a drug test within 72 hours of an offer of employment
• a written explanation of any gaps in my employment lasting 30 days or more

At this point, I started to feel that I was just giving the company reasons to reject me. After all, this job and I are not even at the courtship stage yet! Is it really necessary to compile such an exhaustive list on a candidate that you haven’t even spoken to – and may never speak to? Of course, I support the right of HR people to get the information they need to do their jobs, and I do understand the role of screening software, but this process left zero room for any magic, any spark, any feeling of “this is the right job for her” or “she’s the right person for this job.”

Imagine for a moment that this software was used for pre-screening romantic partners instead of potential employees. Who would put up with answering this depth and breadth of questions simply to see if there is mutual interest in a coffee date? (And who could tolerate the intense scrutiny?) I doubt that most of us would have met our current love interest if the date had been preceded by a questionnaire that demanded you list each former relationship, your levels of satisfaction with it, whether your separation was voluntary or involuntary, and phone numbers and email addresses of your former sweethearts for a “romance reference check.”

The automation of this system, and its extremely detailed nature, left me feeling more “dissected” than “discovered.” I knew perfectly well that I was typing away to a database, not a human, and that the database was designed to weed me out, not “discover talent” or help the employer and I connect. I don’t have anything to hide about my past, but this process was SO exacting that I felt I was not able to make my best qualities, skills, and experiences shine. Worse still, I was forced to tip my hand on the matter of compensation. If this employer ever decides to contact me, I’ve already lost the salary negotiation, unless I was devious enough to lie, which is a prohibited activity that I agreed not to do elsewhere in the application.

I probably wouldn’t go so far as to use the word “suck” to describe this kind of software, but other bloggers certainly do:

• Hey Employer, Your Online Application Sucks!
• Online job application systems suck
• Job Applications Suck

I’m interested in hearing solutions from the job-seeking side to the time-consuming process of screening. I know that using a portable resume format from a service like ResumePal is a good start in saving time on redundant application info. Many people say, “Dodge the software altogether and guerrilla-approach the HR department.” While this may be effective, the very fact that so many people advise doing an end-run around the software reinforces to me that it is more of a barrier than a doorway.

Is there a better way? Let us know in the comments.