While it’s important to follow your heart and attend college for something you will be interested doing for the rest of your life, you should also be sure to do some homework before deciding on a major and school. You should have a realistic idea of what demand there is for your occupation before going to school.
Using data from the government sponsored Occupational Information Network (O*Net Online) and our own college and major rankings, we can give you a list of the top give rapidly growing career fields. This may be a good place to start if you’re struggling to pick a major and school.
Accountants and Auditors
Accounting is a safe choice for college students looking for a stable career.
Today, there are roughly 1.4 million accountants and auditors in the United States. According to O*Net, an additional 141,800 jobs will be added between 2016-20126, making this a quickly growing field. Accountants are responsible for creating financial reports and performing analysis on financial matters related to profits, loss, tax and assets within an organization. You will work closely with the finance and other business departments to assess the overall financial health of the organization.
Accountants need to have a strong set of mathematic and analytical skills. Attention to detail is a must as a simple mistake can lead to disastrous results. Knowledge of the law – especially related to accounting practices and taxes are also needed to succeed in an accounting role.
Some of the top ranked accounting programs in the U.S. are at Bentley University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. One of the best value accounting programs in the U.S. is at and the University of Notre Dame. If you’re looking to gross a high salary you may be interested in checking out Santa Clara, where accounting grads get paid more than average.
Nurse and Nurse Specialists
The demand for nurses is high and continues to grow including in many specialized fields.
As a large percentage of the US population is starting to hit retirement age, the need for nurses continue to rise. Today, approximately 2.96 million people are employed in the nursing and nurse specialist fields. O*Net estimates an additional 200,000 related positions will be created between 2016 and 2026.
Depending on the specialization, nurse duties may consist of some or all of the following responsibilities, although the main goal is to care for their assigned patients. Nurses may interview patients, track medicine usage and maintain medical records for their patients. They may also provide basic or advanced care depending on specialization and may aid doctors during procedures.
Nurses need to be compassionate and detail oriented. They must be able to and enjoy interacting with people while watching for changes in symptoms and maintaining a strict schedule for patients needing medicine or scheduled monitoring.
Top ranked nursing schools include Molloy College and New York University. One of the best values in nursing education can be found at Mercer University.
Energy Broker
Have you ever heard of an energy broker? This career field stands out as one that is growing very quickly and has good salary potential.
Did you know that energy is bought and sold like other commodities? Energy brokers have responsibilities in forecasting and analyzing energy demand. They may look at environmental factors such as weather to help determine when it’s a good time to buy or sell energy. While a background in energy is useful, energy brokers need to have strong mathematical, economics and accounting skills. For this reason, getting a degree in Finance or Business Administration makes the most sense.
According to O*Net, there are currently slightly fewer than a million energy brokers today with an expected growth of 10-14% between 2016 and 2026.
A major in finance or business may be great preparation for this degree. Students should also check colleges that offer a major or minor in natural resource management.
Sales Representatives
A career in sales can bring you all over the world and allow you to explore many different interests.
Are you a people person? Think about your favorite service or product – how would you feel selling that for your career? Sales representatives may sell physical items like cars or beds or services like insurance or proprietary enterprise software. It’s hard to have a business if you don’t have a product to sell. It’s even harder to have a business without sales representatives.
O*Net data shows that sales representatives (including insurance sales) accounts for about 2 million jobs in the US today. Growth is anticipated and project another 200,000 jobs between 2016 and 2026.
To be successful as a sales representative, you must have excellent personal and business skills. While you can get a degree in sales specific areas, it generally makes the most sense to get a more flexible degree in business administration and management. A degree in sales or a related business major will cover the skills needed to be successful in sales such as critical thinking, persuasion and business related skills such as record keeping and mathematics.
Some business schools you may consider are Babson College, Bentley University, CUNY Bernard M. Baruch College.
Teachers and Tutors
The demand for teachers is expected to continue to rise, including teachers of English as a second language or teachers of adult learners.
Teachers provide a critical function in society helping students learn whether that is in a primary or post-secondary position or as a tutor. Today there are about 1.5 million people employed as teachers or tutors and according to O*Net, this number is expected to raise by another 112,000 positions between 2016 and 2026.
As an education major, you will learn how to interact with students to provide them with confidence in their abilities. You will need to have a strong command of the English language and have some background training in mathematics and psychology. Basic computer skills are also necessary to be a successful teacher in today’s modern classroom.
Top schools in education include The College of New Jersey, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities and SUNY Cortland.
If you aren’t sold on any of these majors, be sure to try Major Matcher available on CollegeFactual.com. Just create a profile and answer some questions about your interests and College Factual will give you a list of top majors and colleges that fit you best.