The Economics Daily (TED), published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, just posted, “Projected job openings by educational requirements,” which you might want to check out, if you’re planning a career change, although, I would definitely not recommend basing your career decisions solely on projections.
When I work with clients, and they are doing initial research on careers of interest, I guide them to look at projected job market growth, in addition to job tasks, salary, education, related occupations, as well as the crucial factors of values and interest level, Job market growth is but one of the key factors to include in the analysis but can be highly important for some clients.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the post shares that the highest projected job openings not requiring formal education are Fast Food and Counter Workers. Many of us start our work experience in fast food or entry-level customer service; in my case, at Winchell’s Donuts.
The highest number of job openings projected with a Bachelor’s degree are General and Operations Managers (largely because they are found in many career sectors) and Registered Nurses, and the highest number of graduate degree job openings are projected to be in Substance Abuse, Behavioral, and Mental Health Counselors, followed by Attorneys. Many of my clients have an interest in the mental health field, but sometimes the required education can be daunting. There are many choices and pathways into the field, however.
What do you think about the projections; do they make sense, or do they surprise you?