The Job Market

With me being a junior in college, what better topic to research than today's job market? Well-truthfully, it is a little too late for me to be looking in to this, because I have already decided on a major, and am well over halfway done with my Bachelor's degree. (I am going straight through to obtain a Master's, as well- but that is irrelevant!) But I decided to take a gander on some job stats in the United States today.

In my search to find the fastest growing fields, highest paying careers, etc., I found some interesting information. The Bureau of Labor Statistics provided me with endless facts! At the top of the list for highest paying jobs in the United States, oral and maxillofacial surgeons held the number one spot! (Go figure!) That career path, along with orthodontists, prosthodontists, physicians and surgeons, all generally make more than $166,400! Hmm-what I would do with all of that money! Underneath them, making a measly $110,000-$140,00 per year, were dentists, lawyers, pharmacists, physicists, and astronomers! (Please note my sarcasm!)

The occupations adding the most jobs per year are registered nurses, home health aides, customer service reps (which I found odd), and retail salespeople. The fastest growing occupations included biomedical engineers, financial examiners, and physician assistants. 

I am planning on becoming a speech and language pathologist, and, although that did not make any of my job search's top lists, I seem to have at least chosen the right field. The medical and therapy field are growing at an unbelievably high rate. It seems as though every bit of information I looked at contained occupations in the medical field. The job outlook for speech and language pathologists is expected to grow 19% within the next seven years. This gives me some incentive to push through my next four years here at Murray State University!

To find out more, see the following links:

http://www.bls.gov/oco/content/oohinfo_faq.stm#earn

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos099.htm#earnings