You may be a senior choosing a college, a sophomore college student trying to decide on a major, or a college graduate trying to find a job that works with the degree you have earned. In any case you should know what jobs are the most popular. Knowing which job you are interested in will help you to choose the right college with the right major, to pick a good major, or to find the best job for you once you’re out of college.
For example, students entering college or choosing a major halfway through college tend to choose the following majors: music, art, psychology, teaching/coaching, theater, child care, and sports medicine. All of these are fine majors and teach you many skills that can get you various jobs, even beyond one of these majors. But, how do they measure up with the most popular jobs of 2008?—not too well.
Perhaps it would be best for high school seniors, students who have yet to declare a major, and college graduates to do a little research before making important choices about college, a college major, and a career.
The top jobs in 2008 can be grouped around several areas.
Medical: physician’s assistant, medical assistant, medical records and information, physical therapy, veterinarian technician, and dental hygienists
Computer: software engineers, network system analysts, and data base administrators
The Environment: pollution prevention specialist, environmental education and communications, biologist, chemist, and environmental entrepreneur
Security (predicted for 2009): data analyst, encryptionist, interpreter, and psychologist
Least popular jobs include social workers, police, artists, human resource personnel, and attorneys.
What makes a job popular? Things like pay, job satisfaction, job availability, and growth are factors. Unpopularity of jobs is caused by stress, low pay, and over saturation to the point that jobs are not readily available. Economic and societal trends will affect the popularity of jobs over time, but most job trends are stable over the period of a decade.
Check out the many pieces of information offered at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Do your homework before making life-time decisions. Also check out CollegeBasics’ article about choosing a career and making the right college choices.
