Sales agent, accountant, marketer and information technology specialist are likely to be the most in-demand professions in 2007, according to a recruitment expert.

Noppawan Chulakanista, deputy general manager at Jobs DB Recruitment (Thailand), an online employment specialist, said the most wanted workers in 2007 would be similar to last year.

The key reason is that most companies require sales people and marketers to push products and drive turnover.

"These two professions will never be out of demand in the market," she said.

For sales people, pharmaceutical, medical and engineering are hot sectors, as they require specialised skills and knowledge. Therefore, candidates in these fields usually receive higher pay than others. Typically, the income for a sales job is based partly on commission.

"So sometimes, sales agents can earn a lot, even more than managers, if they outperform others," Ms Noppawan said.

Starting monthly salaries for new graduates range between 12,000 and 13,000 baht. Over time, salaries are likely to grow depending on performance.

For marketing, those in the consumer products industry are the most sought after. Accountant and auditor are other professions that are in high demand. Firms are particularly on the lookout for experienced candidates.

Since IT is something no company can live without, IT support is another popular are of profession. Skilled and experienced human resource personnel also tend to be in demand.

A number of firms do not ask for specific skills or experience, but provide on-the-job training for successful candidates.

"They are usually large companies with sound financial support. They sometimes allow the staff to join overseas branches for one or two years as a training programme before returning to the home base," Ms Noppawan said.

Since many more nationalities are now represented in the job market, a third language besides English and Thai is becoming a common requirement. Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Spanish language skills were becoming increasingly advantageous qualifications for an applicant to have show an employer, she added.

Munthana Thamlikitkul, CEO of the executive-recruitment agency Tricor Outsourcing (Thailand), said more companies were seeking to hire or replace first-tier positions such as chief executive officer, managing director and general manager.

Additionally, after conducting company assessments, most boards were now willing to replace top executives if their performance turned out to be much poorer than expected, she said.

Although in high demand, CEOs tend to be very cautious when switching companies.

"The key reason is that they don't want to take a risk if they aren't sure whether they can actually deliver or perform up to the expectations of stakeholders," Ms Munthana said.

She added that hospitality and real estate tended to be well-performing industries, with more hiring activity than others. Condominiums, serviced apartments and boutique hotels should all sell well due to an increasing number of foreign acquisitions and joint ventures.

This year, she believed, the competition in the market should be tougher and politics would still loom large for local and foreign investors.

Ms Noppawan shared those thoughts. She said the uncertainty about what will happen after the one-year interim government was a key issue worrying business operators.

According to Ms Munthana, the country's political problems had only had a slight impact on the performance of Tricor Outsourcing.

Growth in 2007 is projected in a range of 10-15 percent, compared with 10 percent last year.

The company is planning to open an office in Vietnam in the near future. Currently, Tricor has 10 offices in several countries, including Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, Singapore and the British Virgin Islands.