A high demand for employees in medicine has always been prominent in the job market. Yet several other fields such as engineering and education have become more dominant in recent years, offering high salary opportunities and substantial job prospects. Software engineers are listed as No. 1 by CNN Money.com, which ranks the top 50 jobs according to potential job growth in addition to average pay. College professors are No. 2 with a predicted 31.39 percent job growth over the next 10 years. While financial advisors receive an average pay that is considerably higher than college professors in general, they are listed as No. 3, the predicted job growth for the position being lower at 25.92 percent.
With the Job Fair being held today and tomorrow, Cal State Long Beach has kept busy in preparation to accommodate more than 200 employers expected to recruit at the event. Career Development Center Director Manuel Perez believes one of the most popular and promising fields in the job market today lies within the service sector, such as the various potential jobs in federal, state or local government.
“Retail also seems to be in high demand, offering positions not only in sales but store management. But it is important to be well-prepared when entering into the job market and especially how well you match with an employer’s requirements,” Perez said.
Various lists, such as those offered by sources such as CNN Money, Forbes and Fortune, offer predictions of potential job growth and rising careers to provide an overview of America’s most dominant careers and largest companies.
Yet some feel that these lists arbitrarily rank jobs according to their pay and demand. For the psychologically and sociologically-minded, it is important one acquires strong skills in virtually any field throughout an academic career and later decides how to relate these skills to a dependable career choice.
“Some people may believe that those in say, the social sciences or liberal arts, may encounter bleak opportunity after graduating college, but what’s important is how you apply the broad range of skills that you learn and turn them into a career that you are happy with,” said Elaine Touch, sociology major and receptionist at the Career Development Center. “While sociology majors such as myself may think this way, I’m sure others instead analyze the job market in terms of numbers and statistics.”
But those who can decipher the hieroglyphics of numbers and statistics can find comfort in the fact that five of the top 10 best jobs listed by CNN Money closely relate to their skills with market researchers at No. 6, immediately followed by computer/IT analysts and real estate appraisers. Correspondingly, several careers related to the social sciences and liberal arts fit accordingly into the list with psychologists at No. 10 and writers at No. 25. A promising career is viable for an academic with any type of knowledge, providing he or she commits to the right amount of effort some economic and social savviness, and while at it, skimming over a few Forbes lists, too.
