Jobs for College Graduates

Employment Outlook for Graduates

Before the year 2008, the outlook on jobs for college graduates was considered quite good. Upon entry to colleges and universities, students were assured the key to employment was a college degree. Generally, at that time, the statement was correct. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case. Not to say a degree is unimportant, the unemployment rate for those without a college degree is double that of graduates.

The United States census data, taken in 2010, reveals that for each of the next four years there will be three million college degrees awarded. Add that number to the fifteen American workers currently unemployed and anyone can see job prospect look clouded.

Despite these dark clouds, there are some bright spots for excellent jobs for college graduates through the next decade. Several business publications have done extensive research on this subject. Here are some of the fields that research indicates can be expected to thrive for at least the next ten years.

Embedded Software to Hardware Engineering

According to U.S. government labour statistics software engineers are currently experiencing high employment growth in 2011. More than 300,000 jobs, requiring degrees, will be added in this area in the next decade. These types of engineer make the connections between software and hardware design. They work mostly on microchip processors. Companies hiring in this field look for a bachelor’s degree in engineering with computer systems experience. Preferred majors are computer science, software engineering and control systems engineering.

Spanish to English Translation and Interpretation

There are over twenty countries where Spanish is the official language. At this time there are at least 375 million Spanish speakers worldwide. In America Spanish speaking people are the largest minority, with at least 32 million legal Spanish speakers. This is an enormous consumer block interested in products related to Hispanic culture, services and products. Already needed are graduates capable of native fluency translation and interpretation. Graduates employed in this field will manage production of written and spoken marketing content targeted at this group of consumers. Projected growth in the next ten years will be more than two percent per year.

Jobs for College Graduates in Data Mining

A relatively new industry experiencing explosive growth is data mining. Because of the already massive production of data due to acceptance and use of information technology, including the Internet, this growth rate should continue for decades. Data mining extracts information that detects indicators of trends and the behaviour of various consumer groups. Many opportunities exist in this field, from advertising technology concentrations to law enforcement and risk management. The field of data mining is wide open for mathematicians and statisticians. Programmers and computer science graduates should also find employment in this industry.

Adult Education

One of the few industries that have seen growth in the last three years has been education adults in new fields, especially those involving technology. This is, of course, due to the terrible job climate and the need for some to return to college to get a degree. This field is expected to grow by a minimum of 2 percent per year in the next ten years. Graduates with technical teaching degrees will excel in this job market.

Jobs for College Graduates in Health Information Technology

The increasingly advanced technology being used by the health care industry for managing records and histories of patients has overloaded the administrative capacities of companies in the health care industry. Graduates finding employment in this industry perform systems analysis for efficient organization and maintenance of these vital patient records. Especially needed are support specialists, engineers, and analysts. Database management and computer engineering degrees are currently what the industry seeks. Growth in this field is expected to exceed 2.5 percent per year for the next decade.

Jobs for College Graduate Teaching English as a Foreign Language

The demand for graduates interested in travel abroad to teach English as a foreign language has opened excellent job prospects in many countries outside the United States. Bachelor degree graduates can obtain TEFL certification to work abroad and land exciting jobs with extended travel opportunities with excellent pay and benefits.

Occupational Health and Safety

Specialists in this field analyze working environments with the goal to set standards that prevent injury. Engineering degrees or Science specialization degrees are highly sought after. An expected 75,000 jobs for college graduates will be available in the next five years for this career field.