Dear Annie: I'm a sophomore in college, majoring in business. Even though I still have two more years of school ahead of me, I'm trying to figure out what kinds of jobs are likely to be available when I graduate. For one thing, having a handle on that would help me choose a minor. I'll also be graduating with loans to pay off, so I'll need to start working right away.
I was interested in your column about green jobs ("Getting a green job isn't so easy") because it mentioned some creative ways to find opportunities. Do you have any suggestions about identifying other areas (aside from green jobs), where companies might be hiring a few years from now? -- Early Bird
Dear Early: Interesting question! I put it to Eileen Habelow, Ph.D., senior VP of organizational development with Randstad, a global staffing and human resources consulting firm. Habelow has made a specialty of helping new college grads scope out their career options. In her previous job, as regional vice president for New England, "I was surrounded by sharp new grads," she says. "I wanted them to be outrageously successful in their first jobs, so I got very interested in figuring out where great opportunities are likely to turn up."
A good place to start: The Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook. The current edition offers a wealth of statistical projections up to the year 2018, including recession-adjusted estimates of employment growth in dozens of industries and hundreds of occupations. Right now, the BLS is expecting the greatest amount of job creation -- about 4 million jobs, or more than one quarter of all new jobs over the next 8 years -- in the health care industry.
Source: CNN Money
Leave a comment