All of us know that an education is important. The more you have of it the better your chances are of finding a good, rewarding job. While I would not suggest that education should be all about a job, I imagine that those of you entering or currently in university, college or a vocational school do want your education to lead to career opportunities and success.
Figuring out just what kind of profession you want is not always easy. Some of us know early on in life what our passion is; others find it through exploring their interests; and for some of us, our passion finds us!
As you think about your future it doesn’t hurt to be aware of what the “hot jobs” are now and will be in the future. I was visiting the forbes.com web site recently and came across a piece on what the hottest jobs are in the United States. Here are some of them.
Engineers are in high demand and will be for some time to come. Because of the aging of our population (all those “Boomers” are retiring), there are currently not enough young engineers to replace those leaving the marketplace. And as the Forbes article points out, “…the Obama administration’s plege to rebuild America’s infrastructure is increasing the need for talented engineers.”
There is a serious shortage of Nurses too – again because of America’s aging population, but for two reasons. First, we need more young people to replace retiring nurses; and second, there are more people living longer and requiring medical care as they get older. Forbes.com points out an additional problem. It appears that while more nurses are needed, there is not a sufficient number of nursing teachers to train them fast enough. So becoming a teacher of nurses is also another hot job!
Technicians are needed too who can provide support to professionals in the fields of engineering, medicine, operations, maintenance and more. These kind of technicians get their training at vocational schools primarily and are in demand because so many young people are choosing to go to university.
Most if not all of us remember a teacher who inspired us and helped us grow as individuals. There is a high demand for qualified Teachers, especially in the areas of math, science, and physics. Many teaching positions these days call for graduate degrees and offer you the opportunity to change lives and have job security.
If you like business and meeting people, you might consider going into sales because there is a growing need for Salespeople. It’s harder than you might think to be a good salesperson. In addition to your education, you will need training and support to become knowledgeable about the products or services you are selling as well as the market place your business operates in. Some sales jobs also require some technical skills as well. So, while it take you some time to become a stellar salesperson, if you stick to it you can make a very good living.
Young people were brought up with computers and the Internet being a part of their lives. Truth is, however, that technology as we know it today hasn’t been around all that long. The Internet, for example is only about 25 years old. Today, there is a big need for IT Professionals because nearly everything we do – whether at work or at play – involves networks, computers, not to mention cell phones and wireless technologies. The job prospects have been there and will be there for quite some time. And if you are the type of person who enjoys continuous learning, this is a great field for you because technology is constantly changing.
These are just some of the “hot jobs” that you might want to investigate. If you want to research more into what job trends are, search Google or other search engines using such phrases as “hot jobs,” “job trends,” future jobs,” and so forth. You can also investigate what different jobs pay at websites like salary.com.
What I am about to say isn’t necessarily required for the hottest jobs in the marketplace, but it is true that if you acquire strong math and science knowledge and skills, you will have a lot of choice in careers when you graduate.
For those of you still in highschool, I encourage you to seek out more courses in math and the science and even look for additional learning opportunities in those fields.
-Mark Holmgren