New York (CNN/Money) - The economy has about as much bounce as a bag of rocks, and job-seekers are scrambling to find stable gigs.

But there are some bright spots where employment opportunities await for those with the right skills. And despite the horror stories you hear, of individuals looking more than a year for a job, the reality is not that grim.

In fact, a typical job search these days now runs about three-and-a-half months – about a month longer than when jobs were plentiful in the late 1990s, according to John Challenger, CEO of the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Many job hunters who find work are switching from moribund industries to fields with potential growth. In fact, 55 percent of those who landed new jobs in the second quarter of the year moved to a different line of work, taking the skills they used in a downsized telecom firm, for example, to a growing industry like healthcare, Challenger said.

So, where are the opportunities waiting? Read on:

There's no question that the war on terrorism is yielding opportunities throughout the security industry. This includes everything from night watch guards to personal protection for executives and VIPs. Demand is also high for positions with the police department and the military, said Bill Coleman, senior vice president of compensation at Salary.com.

"These are jobs that have been on the decline for the past decade," Coleman adds. "We haven't made up for that loss, so we're increasing jobs from a fairly low point."

Indeed, fat defense contracts from the government are now bringing hope to plenty of communities that have otherwise suffered their share of cutbacks.

Northrop Grumman, for example, plans to add up to 1,200 engineering and professional positions nationwide by year's end, said company spokesman Frank Moore.

Most of the hiring will occur at Northrop divisions in Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia and Southern California, where the company is based. In addition, Northrop also needs welders and craftsmen for its numerous ship building projects in Virginia and the Gulf Cost. The openings in California are jobs to work on the new Joint Strike Fighter.

It's no secret the country is getting older. And that means a boom in healthcare jobs, which can't seem to hire enough pharmacists, home health aides or research scientists.

"The healthcare industry is very hot," said Phil Willman, manager of Corporate National Recruiting for Manpower Professional, an international recruiting firm.

Take nurses, for example. By 2010, the country will need an additional 1 million of them, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

These days, a typical registered nurse earns a base salary of $45,000. Nurse managers earn roughly $69,200, though it's not uncommon for them to receive bonuses that can fatten that paycheck. And the cash compensation for nurse supervisors runs about $70,600 annually, according to Salary.com.

Meanwhile, the decoding of the human genome, the blueprint for mankind's identity, has opened the floodgates for drug research and hiring among the life sciences professions. In particular, pharmaceutical and biotech companies are beefing up their payrolls with scientists and researchers who can help develop treatments for ailments like Alzheimer's and cardiovascular disease.

The hiring push has had a big impact on communities like university-rich Boston, which has recently attracted such giants as the Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research. Other companies that have recently opened research operations in the Boston area include Merck and Wyeth, in Andover, Mass, which has reported that it will add 500 workers to its rolls by year's end.

Research Triangle Park in North Carolina is another area where biotech companies are hiring everyone from entry-level researchers with science degrees to upper-level managers.

"Companies are looking for business development positions where [candidates] have a combination Ph.D./MBA as well as licensing experience," said Paige Peru-Gunter, director of business development at Carlyle & Conlan, an executive recruiting firm that specializes in the biotechnology and life sciences fields. Since those skills are rare, salaries are competitive, starting at roughly $90,000 to $100,000, and often are enhanced with performance-based bonuses.

Other health-care jobs being filled include pharmaceuticals marketing and sales staff, home health assistants and nurses who can monitor patients during clinical trials of new drug treatments.

The dearth of engineers is nothing new. Graduate schools that train engineers - be they mechanical, civil, chemical or computer - are filled with international students, many of whom are not able to remain in the United States to work. Corporations have had to ask Congress to increase the number of work visas granted to engineers and employees with technical skills so they can meet their hiring demands.

Various studies, including one by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, found that mechanical, electrical and chemical engineering students are among the 10 majors most sought after by employers.

Phil Willman, manager of corporate national recruiting for Manpower Professional says that 50 percent to 60 percent of his firm's work is recruiting various engineers.

"A lot right now is in the defense industry. There are calls for mechanical, electrical and structural and stress engineers," said Willman. "Those people are difficult to find."

Salaries for new engineers out of college start at roughly $50,000 to $60,000 and climb to $90,000 or higher for middle and upper-level managers, Willman said.

In the next five years, some 900,000 federal workers - half the government's labor force - will be eligible to retire. And while some will certainly stick around for some time, the eventual mass exodus is presenting big hiring opportunities for job seekers.

The government's big push right now is to hire some 60,000 airport security checkers to comply with the 2001 Aviation and Transportation Security Act. Salaries for these jobs can climb to roughly $35,000. But there's not just work at airports. Home security efforts will include a push to hire more border guards and patrols.

Teachers can breathe a sigh of relief when it comes to job security. In fact, public schools must hire 2.2 million of them over the next decade and their skills are in growing demand, according to the Department of Education.

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Now for some fine print. The most attractive jobs - working in flush, suburban school districts with tiny class sizes - are hard to come by. Teachers may still have to be willing to work in the city or small, rural school districts. It also helps if they are bilingual or trained in special education.

Not all IT workers are getting pink slips. Protecting networks remains a top priority to employers, and companies are hiring individuals left and right with expertise in firewall protection and intrusion detection -- anyone who can help improve existing systems and make them more secure, said Willman.

Indeed, IT workers with Internet security skills can expect to be paid handsomely. Those who work on a contract basis are now earning $60 to $90 an hour. Full-time staffers can expect to be paid base salaries of $110,00 to $130,000.

Says Willman, "People who are in [the field] should stay in it."