CAREERS OF THE FUTURE

GO TO SPECIFIC CAREER:
Actor or Actress
Buyer
Caterer
Childcare Worker
Dental Lab Technician
Guidance Counselor
Massage Therapist
Paralegal
Park Ranger
Physician's Assistant
Pilot
Police Officer
Researcher

There are many reasons to go to college: to enrich the mind, to join a Greek organization or to make friends from around the country. But for most people, the main reason to pursue higher education is to prepare for future careers.

Since people spend 65 or more years working, it’s important to explore your options. Here are 13 careers to consider before joining the workforce. Have a flare for dramatics? Consider acting. Love to cook? Why not become a caterer. Want to spend the day outdoors and wear a great hat? Park Ranger might be the perfect fit.

If these don’t sound appealing, there are seven others to consider. Still don’t see the perfect career? Visit The Princeton Review (review.com) and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (bls.gov) for more facts and figures on other top careers. The key to finding the perfect career is to know the facts, test out your options and have fun. Remember if you don’t like one, you can always go back to school.

Actor or Actress

Did you ever wish you were Meg Ryan in You’ve Got Mail or Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean? If you played dress-up as a child or performed in high school or college productions, acting could be in your future.
           
Life as an actor or actress can be hectic. Hoping to get auditions, running from one to the other, checking voicemail and crossing your fingers takes passion and determination. Successful actors and actresses love entertaining others and have the ability to bring to life a variety of characters.

It’s hard work, but it’s also thrilling, exciting and challenging. It must be the latter that keeps them going, since members of the Actor’s Equity Association, or AEA, make roughly $7,000 a year!

Paying Your Dues: No formal training is required to become an actor or actress. Some actors take acting classes in college and earn Bachelors of Fine Arts or Master’s of Fine Arts. Additional experience comes from appearing in low-budget productions and volunteering or accepting acting jobs at theme parks and on cruise lines.           

Performers are always on the go, looking for casting calls and contacting agents. Rejection is a major part of the industry. Only a handful of actors and actresses make it big. It’s common for dedicated thespians to move to Los Angeles for film or television opportunities or New York for theatre. If you’re entering this profession, good luck and break a leg!

Buyer

Have you ever walked into Macy’s, Dillard’s or Saks Fifth Avenue and wanted everything on display? You can thank the store’s buyer for having a good eye for fashion.

At first a buyer’s job seems glamorous. Wouldn’t it be fun to order all the clothing and products for well-known stores in the U.S.? But a buyer’s job is extremely competitive. Buyers make numerous decisions relating to products: color, size, price and quantity. They travel to fashion shows, trade shows, conferences and seminars to keep updated on the newest trends.

They research and examine products in order to make competitive bids that result in the most merchandise for their budget. Buyers exude confidence in their choices and are able to sell products they think will excite customers.

Buyers should have good communication skills, confidence, energy, be able to negotiate and sell themselves and products. Oh yeah, having thick skin helps, too.

Paying Your Dues: Majoring in business sets the foundation for a career as a buyer. A book buyer should have a degree in English. A buyer for a hospital should have a degree in biology. If you’re interested in the newest sporting gear or swimsuits, a degree in fashion is a good choice.

New employees usually start out as salespeople, purchasing clerks, expeditors, junior buyers or assistant buyers. They’ll check invoices on materials received and learn about the inventory policy and maintenance required. Some professional buyers go on to receive additional certifications, such as Certified Purchasing Manager. The American Purchasing Society designates the Institute of Supply Management and Certified Purchasing Professional, CPP, to award CPMs. Buyers who want to work for the government must pass a two-or-three-part test to gain federal certification to become a Certified Professional Public Buyer, CPPB, designated by the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing.

Caterer

If you love preparing elegant meals like zesty tabouli salad with braised scallops and raspberry-chili glazed chicken roulade, then catering might be an appetizing career.
           
Caterers provide meals for special occasions like office luncheons, parties, wedding receptions, holiday gatherings and society events. Creating a unique menu for each occasion can be exciting and challenging. A caterer must interact well with clients and have a great knowledge of what foods work together and complement each event.

Chefs run the majority of catering companies; therefore, management and business knowledge come in handy. Caterers have to be able to supervise cooking and serving staff, oversee food preparation and perfect every detail related to the business.

Paying Your Dues: People interested in catering attend culinary school or enroll in restaurant management school. However, there are no educational requirements to become a caterer. Those who don’t have formal education should have experience in food preparation. Taking business, finance and management courses is a good idea.

Childcare Worker

When parents are at work, traveling or simply unavailable, they like to know a responsible adult is taking care of their children. Childcare workers find caring for children and helping them learn and grow a rewarding experience.
           
Many childcare workers are hired by government agencies to run in-house daycares for large corporations and companies. This allows parents to stay close to their children, which statistics show make parents happier and work harder. Individual families hire childcare workers to take care of their children. They may meet the children after school or live with the family and perform odd jobs around the house. Dealing with children on a daily basis requires excellent organizational skills, firm and fair discipline and an energetic personality. Also, they need to be able to earn the children’s trust, which can be challenging.

Childcare workers are able to respond to any situation, whether it’s rocking a sick baby or keeping two 5-year-olds engaged in an activity. Knowledge in music, art and storytelling is a plus.

Paying Your Dues: An effective childcare worker should have a great sense of maturity and patience when dealing with children for long periods of time; however, no specific educational requirements exist for a self-employed childcare worker. Courses in first aid, childhood development, nutrition and early childhood education help.

In-house daycare workers are required to have a bachelor’s or master’s degree in early childhood development. Extensive personal screening is normal in this profession. Excellent recommendations are extremely important when building a client list.

Self-employed child-care workers should have business and or management knowledge. Some employers look for workers with the nationally recognized Child Development Associate credential, CDA, or Certified Childcare Professional designation, CCP.

Dental Lab Technician

Appearance is important in today’s society, and some say a smile is worth a thousand words. Dental lab technicians work behind-the-scenes for dentists and orthodontists.
           
After a dentist or orthodontist takes a mold of a patient’s teeth, it goes directly to the dental lab technician. Using the mold, technicians create whatever the patient needs: full dentures, removable partial dentures, bridges, crowns, veneers, a tooth replacement or orthodontic appliances. These items are usually made of plastic, porcelain, alloys, glass or steel. Dental lab technicians don’t clean teeth and hardly ever work directly with patients.

Precision a good eye and the ability to work alone are key to this profession.

Paying Your Dues: Applicants interested in becoming dental lab technicians attend dental programs credited by the American Dental Association, but no formal education is required. Those who do go to dental school choose to specialize in orthodontics, complete denture, partial dentures, crowns and bridges or ceramics.

Many are trained on the job for two to three years before becoming a sole practitioner. While on the job, they learn how to shape and mold impressions and how to use the equipment. Before becoming a certified dental lab technician, an applicant should take a licensing exam, although sometimes it’s not required.

Guidance Counselor

If molding the minds of children and teens sounds ideal, then becoming a guidance counselor would be a rewarding career. Leading hundreds of students down the “right” educational path depending on their likes, dislikes, skills and talents can be rewarding and frustrating.
           
A counselor’s time is divided between many different tasks. They consult with parents, write teacher evaluations, administer and evaluate tests, and calculate the school’s academic performance, all while preparing high school students for success in college.

Counselors have a lot of human contact, so they need excellent communication skills. Many counselors admit an interesting fact about their job is how much they actually learn from the students. “I learned more from them than from any class in college,” writes one counselor from the Princeton Review.

Paying Your Dues: To be a high school guidance counselor, applicants must have a bachelors degree with knowledge of social studies, psychology, communications and public speaking. To work in a public school, a counselor has to be licensed, and some states are now making it mandatory to have a Master’s degree. A counselor in a private school is sometimes required to teach, so education courses are important.
           
A counselor always has a plateful and things to do and people to see, but being able to relate to the students and the issues they face is the main concern. They have to be open, honest, trustworthy, willing to listen and have a great sense of humor.

Massage Therapist

As people search for healthier, nonsurgical ways to cleanse the body, more and more they turn to massage therapists. They work the muscles to increase circulation and remove waste.
           
If you have a stiff neck, a sports-related injury, overworked muscles, or you’re just plain stressed, a massage therapist can do wonders. Several types of massages include deep tissue massage, acupressure, sports massage, neuromuscular massage and Swedish massage.
 
Each massage works different muscles, so it’s important to know the difference. Oils, lotions and creams are used to relax the muscles and the client. Dim lighting, candles and soothing background music create a sense of relaxation. Massage therapists must be physically fit because they are on their feet all day. They typically work less than 40 hours a week, which is why appointments are necessary.

Paying Your Dues: Many states require massage therapists to complete a formal education program in anatomy, physiology or business and have hands-on experience. They are required to pass the National Certification Exam for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork. Licensing certification differs from state to state. To maintain the NCTMB, massage therapists must perform at least 200 hours of therapeutic work within four years and 48 additional hours of continued education. 

Paralegal

Remember Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich? She played a determined and compassionate paralegal that uncovers facts and wins the case against a huge company that was polluting the environment.

Becoming a paralegal, or legal assistant is the stepping-stone to becoming a lawyer. Like Erin Brockovich, they uncover the facts relating to a case, research and refer to similar case laws and court decisions, help with depositions and get affidavits. They write reports and draft ideas for what legal action should be taken in court. Paralegals involved in patent, copyright, real estate or corporate law deal with contracts, mortgages, separation agreements and estate planning. Paralegals who work with community legal services help those who need legal aid but can’t afford it, and those who work for the government keep reference files and materials for internal use and prepare information for documents concerning the law. Paralegals employed by corporations spend a majority of their time working on benefit plans, stock selections and shareholder agreements. So what’s the difference between the lawyer and the paralegal? Paralegals are prohibited from trying a case in court, accepting legal fees and giving legal advice.

Paying Your Dues: Many paralegals start off by completing a program through a community college, earning an associate’s degree. Internships involving legal terminology and sound investigative skills enhance job possibilities. Before being hired, applicants must go through an American Bar Association program. Once hired, the employer trains the new employee on the job.

A four-year degree and certification by the National Association of Legal Assistant called the Certified Legal Assistant can help with future employment opportunities. The Paralegal Advanced Competency Exam gives recognition to paralegals with a bachelor’s degree and at least two years of experience. Applicants who pass the exam obtain a Registered Paralegal designation.

Park Ranger

If you idolized Smokey The Bear when you were younger then the park ranger profession could be in your future. Park rangers love being outside surrounded by nature and wildlife.
           
The No. 1 responsibility of a park ranger is safety. Numerous visitors each year tromp through 76 million acres of national parks throughout the United States to ski, hike, fish, camp, boat or just take in the beauty.

Park rangers wear a number of hats. They are conservationists, environmentalists, ecologists, botanists and sometimes firefighters. Along with answering questions, leading tours and filling out paperwork, rangers must enforce outdoor safety codes and park laws to make sure everyone stays safe.

They know every inch of the park they protect in case of emergencies. They’re trained in first aid and rescue operations. They keep track of hikers, campers and wildlife, make sure trails are in good condition and prevent forest fires and vandalism. If a visitor or intruder harms an animal or causes destruction to the park in any way, the ranger has the authority to arrest and evict.
           
Park rangers have good communication skills and occasionally work long hours. It can be hard work, but somebody’s gotta do it.

Paying Your Dues: A four-year college degree and or additional knowledge in sociology, geology, botany, conservation and wildlife management, along with experience in park recreation and management will get you inside the door.
 
On top of a college degree, internships and part-time or seasonal work at a state or national park is great experience. Having some law enforcement and management knowledge is a plus. Higher-level management positions may require a graduate’s degree.

Physicians Assistant

Because of the large workload and variety in tasks to complete, a physician’s assistant is ranked as one of the best jobs by MONEY magazine and Salary.com. It is also one of the fastest growing occupations in the country.
             
Physician’s assistants record medical histories, order and analyze lab tests, perform physical exams, diagnose and treat illnesses, prescribe medications, scrub in on surgeries and counsel patients when needed. Since they’re not doctors, there are only licensed to only practice medicine under supervision. PAs usually work for one physician and carry on the entire doctor’s workload.
           
PAs employed by university hospitals work with doctors and other PAs to research and prescribe treatments. Those who work for a health maintenance organization, HMO, prescribe medications for patients and assign newer PAs to specific physicians. Family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics and obstetric and gynecology are the most popular fields. Fifty percent of all PAs chose one of these areas. Other specialize in dermatology, psychiatry, radiology and pathology. Most PAs spend about 40 hours a week helping the sick and taking notes, but those on-call sometimes average 80 hours a week, which makes leadership skills, self-confidence and emotional stability necessary characteristics.

Paying Your Dues: When applying to a PA program, applicants should have a bachelor’s degree in a science-related field and have four additional years of health care experience. Nurses, EMTs and paramedics usually apply to PA programs. Once accepted, the program lasts about two years. They share clinical rotations and classes with students earning a M.D.
           
The program consists of classes involving anatomy, pharmacology and clinical medicine. They complete rotations in internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, surgery, emergency medicine, obstetrics, gynecology and geriatric medicine. After completing the program, applicants have to pass a national certification exam. PAs are required to complete 100 classroom hours every two years and retake the national certification exam every six years to stay certified.

Pilot

“One of my great joys in life is being a pilot,” said Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue. “There is a great sense of freedom in soaring through the sky. You get a different perspective up there—seeing things that aren’t so apparent from the ground.”
           
The job of a pilot is filled with prestige, responsibility and risk. Pilots must be able to stay calm under pressure and have 20/20 vision and hearing. Since commercial airline pilots, which constitute 60 percent of pilots, fly large passenger airlines, they must check flight plans, get approval from the air traffic control personnel of the Federal Aviation Administration and make sure the weather conditions are safe for flying.

Television networks and radio stations employ helicopter pilots, who report traffic accidents. They are also used as mail carriers, rescue services, air-taxi services and recreation purposes. Agricultural pilots dust and fertilize crops and provide weed control. Pilot instructors teach rules and regulations to company airline pilots, and chief pilots prepare upcoming pilots for the risk and responsibility of a day in the life of a pilot.
           
A pilot always has crew members by his or her side. A co-pilot, a flight engineer, flight attendants and sometimes a navigator provide extra support for the pilot and passengers. The automatic pilot is an electronic device that flies the plane with the pilot’s direction. The pilot and co-pilot keep in constant contact with ground control stations, reporting on altitude, speed and weather conditions.

Paying Your Dues: Applicants should have at least two years of college or more when entering this competitive field. Beginners start as flight engineers, requiring 500 to 1,000 hours of flying time. They must also obtain a restricted radio telephone operator’s permit from the FCC. After becoming a flight engineer, there’s a promotion to first officer and then eventually to captain.

Commercial airline applicants must be at least 18 years old, have 250 hours of flying time and pass a practical test and physical examination. Many airlines reject those who fail required psychological and aptitude tests. Before pilots retain a license, they are rated on the kind of plane they can fly: single-engine, multi-engine or seaplane. They are also rated on whether they can fly a Boeing 707 or 747. Pilots must take periodic tests in order to retain their license.

Captains must be at least 23 years old and obtain an airline transport pilot’s license with a minimum of 1,500 flight hours, including night flying. Seniority matters in this field, and it usually takes five to 15 years before becoming a captain.

Police Officer

In the life of a police officer, anything’s possible in a day. Sheriffs, state troopers, detectives and cops keep the public safe, protecting lives and property and maintaining the public’s trust.
           
Sheriffs and state troopers protect districts and major highways. While it’s rewarding to be a town or city hero, there’s a lot of danger involved. Police officers risk their lives to make sure others are safe. While shootouts and robberies don’t happen all the time, a police officer’s daily routine is usually spent patrolling regions, investigating leads and filling out paperwork.
           
Becoming a captain involves a series of steps. A police officer generally serves on the force for five years before being eligible to become a lieutenant. After two years as a lieutenant, he or she is qualified to take the captain’s test. 

Paying Your Dues: To become a police officer, applicants must have a high school diploma; however, many forces encourage police officers to pursue higher education. An associate’s degree is required to become a sergeant. Applicants must have 96 credits toward a bachelor’s degree to qualify for the lieutenant’s exam. Captains must have bachelor’s degrees.

Qualifications and training vary from state to state and city to city. They require anything from apprenticeships to police academies that teach self-defense to directing traffic. Some police officers are required to take a psychological evaluation. All are tested for drug use. Applicants should be in good physical shape. Good character is important since they deal with the public everyday.

Researcher

Ever wonder what the most popular selling item was during the holiday season? Or where those pop-up surveys come from when you’re surfing the Web?

Well, that’s what researchers do—investigate. They analyze, collect and interpret data, decipher opinions, solve problems and define trends. Social science researchers study public opinion, social issues, politics and personalities. Market researchers administer surveys to find what consumers will buy and relay the findings to businesses and advertisers. Public opinion researchers uncover issues and situations that affect a certain group of people or a target audience.
 
They conduct focus groups to learn how the target audience reacts to certain questions, issues and situations. Entry-level public opinion researchers usually begin their career as survey workers or research assistants. Once they have experience, they are promoted to interviewers and data analysts.

Maintain objectivity is important during interviews and when administering surveys. Biases can distort the information gathered and final results. Researchers administer surveys, conduct interviews and obtain additional sources and information from libraries, historical documents, newspapers, periodicals, public opinion polls and the Internet.

Paying Your Dues: Applicants who are interested in industrial or analytical research should have a bachelor’s degree in statistics or engineering. Those who want to research consumer demand should have bachelor’s degree in sociology or psychology. A degree in business administration or economics is ideal if you’re interested in public opinion research. People who have strong computer skills and higher levels of education, such as a master’s degree in business administration, sociology or political science, advance quickly.
           
Good communication and listening skills, relating to people in a number of social and cultural environments, being objective, having patience and being able to control a situation are all important characteristics for a researcher.