People who develop a deep interest in a particular field at an early age don’t have to think long and hard about what they’re going to study in college. They’ve been honing their talent for years by the time that they start school, and are pretty likely to succeed even if the direction they’ve chosen is fairly competitive. The rest of us need to plan a little more carefully if we want to avoid becoming a millennial stereotype. The easiest and probably the most effective way to make a good choice about what you’re going to study in school is to do some research into the country’s job trends to take a guess at what’ll be in high demand when you finish college (not necessarily what businesses need right now). Here are a few major developments that young people today should be taking into account when they’re making their career choices.

Manufacturing Is Coming Back

We haven’t been encouraged to pursue technical skills or careers in school for decades now, but it’s time to put a stop to that and reclaim America’s industrial heritage. Rising minimum wages in China and our slow economy here is making it worthwhile for major US corporations to bring their outsourced labor back to the states. Considering the technological upgrades that we’ve had in the last several decades that means that the coming years and decades will bring a demand for engineers, electricians, welders, and other practical workers that we’ve largely forgotten about as a society.

Baby-Boomers Are Getting Old

The US desperately needs more caregivers to take care of the 70 million baby boomers that will be retiring in the next few years. Because of the high demand, irregular schedule, and general difficulty of the job, a nurse with a master’s degree can expect to make up to 88,000 dollars a year. Besides this there are fewer students entering the field than we need, partly because existing nursing schools don’t have the capacity to take on enough pupils to meet the demand. That means that, while it might be tricky to get accepted to nursing school, your career as a nurse is going to be very secure and well-paid.

The Political Machine is Still Growing

Love it or hate it, politics is a multi-billion dollar industry and it’s still growing. That money doesn’t just line the pockets of our elected representatives, it gets spent on campaign managers, speech writers, lobbyists, travel expenses, PACs, venues, strategists, analysts, and advertisers. With the ever-increasing length of political campaigns there isn’t a lot of time left during which someone isn’t trying to win an election, or undermine a potential rival. The point of this in regard to your average college student is that there’s a degree for that, and if you have a talent for networking you’re looking at an employment opportunity that your advisor probably forgot to mention.

Micha writes about career development, personal finance, education, and language. You can find him on twitter @theharaldherald

photo source: flickr commons

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3 Job Trends To Watch When Choosing Your Major