CAREERS:

Sure Bets (Well, Pretty Sure Bets) For Careers

 

            Today's Snack: Today's topic is about bread and butter careers. So for your after-school nourishment, why not have . . . bread and butter? Go for the healthiest whole-grain bread you can find, maybe splurging on a specialty loaf from a bakery. For health reasons, go light on the butter or margarine - just a teaspoon per slice of bread should do you nicely. Most people glob on a tablespoon or more, but that's getting too buttered up and your cholesterol count won't like it.

 

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Supplies:

(For groups) Blackboard and chalk

 

 

It probably wouldn't have been the smartest move in the world to train to be a typewriter repairperson in the 1980s. The computer revolution came along and made typewriters obsolete. If fixing typewriters was all you knew how to do, you'd be out of a job. Everybody was dumping their typewriters and buying computers instead. No one would need your services any more. THEN what?

 

            Of course, you shouldn't choose a career just because you think there'll always be a need for it. Sure, we'll ALWAYS need morticians - but if that isn't right for you, no one's saying you should pick it just for the job security. That would be a . . . dead end.

 

Choosing a career is no time to be overly timid or fraidy cat. But on the other hand, it would be foolish to go wild and train for something really obscure just because you think it'd be cool - like being a camel caregiver in Hawaii or something weird like that.

 

Of COURSE you should pick something to be educated in that you really love and that you think you can earn a nice living and be fulfilled, while doing it. But it's also smart to be smart.

 

One of the smartest things you can do is think through which career fields are pretty unlikely to be suddenly made obsolete. You also want to find an area in which, if the economy takes a downturn, your job won't be among the first to crash-dive.

 

            Think about the world around you, and the world you think there'll be in 20 or 30 years. Now make a list of 10 occupations that you're pretty sure are pretty likely to still be solid career choices in that time.

 

            Do you have your list?

 

            No peeking!

 

            OK, here's a list of 10 reliable occupations, collected from career gurus who know what they're talking about - at least, for the moment. That's not to say some huge change might come tomorrow that would negate these. But probably not; there are probably pretty stable choices. Compare with your list of "old standbys":

 

            Education (especially in the South and Southwestern United States)

 

            Energy

 

            Health care

 

            International business

 

            Environment

 

            Security

 

            Accounting

 

            Management

 

            Software team development

 

Law

 

            How did your list compare? Give yourself a lot of credit if you figured out three or more of these, or came pretty close. That shows that you're thinking ahead - a crucial skill in career selection and development. Supply and demand, Baby - that's what it's all about.

 

            Even if you end up with a career direction that's 'way, 'way off the beaten path, it's always good to know what the tried-and-true careers might be, just in case you change your mind.