When you're starting your job search, there's one statistic that tends to occupy your mind: your bank account balance. It's understandable. Most of us get jobs to help pay bills, and knowing how much money we have helps us understand the salary range we need, but there's another set of statistics you should know about.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), 11.5 million jobs will be added between 2016 and 2026. That's a faster rate of growth than we experienced in the decade prior, and it's good news as you start your job search.
There are some job sectors that are performing better than others, but there's one trend that could touch almost every job you could apply for.
Agriculture and Farming
Working in this sector means producing the food that sits on dinner tables all across the world. It's also an industry that accepts (and even embraces) individualism. Farmers and agriculture workers spend the majority of their time either alone or in the company of animals. For some people, that's ideal.
If you hope to land a job in a large, factory farming enterprise, we have bad news. According to American Agriculturist, the number of large farms is falling. In 2017, fewer farms participated in the Ag Census than in any year prior.
But the growth, they say, is in farms with less than nine acres. These are the small farms that support novel crops, such as marijuana or dahlias, and they are enterprises that typically sell in local farmers markets.
As consumers continue to crave a connection with the land, and they're willing to pay a premium for food grown locally with an eye toward environmentalism, small farms will continue to grow.
Farming may not make you rich, as the United States Department of Agriculture shares that the average net cash farm income sits at about $75,000, but if working the land is in your blood, this could be a good choice. You'll just need to keep your farm small.
Architecture, Engineering, and Construction
Were tinker toys and Lincoln Logs your favorite childhood toys? Architects, building engineers, and construction experts spend every day creating the things we need. These jobs have always existed, and some experts suggest we'll need them even more in the future.
This is a diverse sector of the economy, and salaries are similarly varied. BLS says average wages for non-supervisory positions sit close to $30 per hour, but an architect with a great deal of expertise could get much more.
This sector could see gains due to:
Climate change. Superstorms wipe out entire communities, and they must be rebuilt.
Energy efficiency. Advances in technology mean cleaner, less expensive buildings. Old versions need retrofitting to take advantage.
Disaster preparedness. Communities concerned about earthquakes, flooding, and more will need revisions to their buildings.
Immigration. The population is growing, and those new people need a place to live. In this sector, you'll help to fill that need.
Banking and Financial
Have you dreamed of a career on Wall Street? Or, do you envision yourself as a modern-day George Bailey, hoping to connect people with the homes they deserve? If so, this sector could hold the job of your dreams.
Years ago, a job on Wall Street was destined to bring you a huge salary, but after the financial meltdown that led to a wave of foreclosures and bankruptcies all across the country, it's become cool to regulate financial excesses. That means the days of big bonuses and large corporate gifts are over.
The number of Wall Street jobs are also dwindling. According to the New York Post, there are close to 12,000 fewer positions now compared to 2007.
The banking sector hasn't seen the same level of catastrophic job loss, but some say that cryptocurrency crazes could reduce the number of traditional jobs. If people can both create and manage their own money, they might not need a bank.
Digital Careers
Imagine spending all day, every day, in front of a computer. You could be creating an entirely new digital world, or you could be explaining what's happening to your company to customers living hundreds of thousands of miles away.
You might find a career in the digital field as a:
These are private, creative positions. They lend themselves nicely to work-at-home employment agreements. According to BLS, about 24% of employed people did their work at home. As homes grow even more connected to the web, and home office computer speeds rival those seen in professional workplaces, that trend will most likely continue.
Demand for services in this sector should also rise as long as we maintain an obsession with our smartphones. Time reports that about 76% of Americans think a constant connection to technology is mostly a good thing. We check our phones, on average, every 30 minutes.
Someone must create the experiences people crave on those smartphones. If you know how to do that and you're willing to put in the work, this could be an exceptional career for you.
Wages are hard to predict, as Americans aren't the only ones who can do these jobs. Digital professionals face wage stagnation from developing countries like India. As long as a qualified person is willing to do the job for just pennies, salaries will remain low.
Education
A teacher has the opportunity to shape young minds and build the next generation of leaders. It's crucial work, and teachers say it can be the most rewarding job available to a smart, savvy person.
Before you become a teacher, there are several things to know about this career:
Salaries are stagnating. According to the National Education Association, teacher salaries increased by just 3% over the last decade, after adjusting for inflation.
Class size is increasing. Voters dislike big tax bills, and that means schools have smaller budgets. Teachers feel the strain. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, of the teachers who left the job in 2012 to 2013, 51% say their current position has a more manageable workload.
Job outlook remains the same. Some career sectors see massive job growth, but education isn't one of them. BLS reports that jobs should grow about 7% which is the same as the average of all position types.
If you have a passion for teaching, these statistics may not scare you, but if you're hoping for a stress-free job that comes with a high salary, this may not be a wise pick.
Health Care
Doctors, nurses, home health workers, psychiatrists, and others in this field help people maintain their health and recover from serious illness. It's important work, and demand for it tends to grow as the population ages.
The baby boomer generation is aging, and according to BLS, that simple fact is driving huge growth in the health care sector. About a third of all new jobs added in the next decade will be within this line of work.
The salary you'll get in this sector is deeply dependent on the type of job you have and the time you spent in school to prepare for your career. For example, per BLS:
Audiologists need a doctoral degree, and they get an annual salary of about $78,000.
Dietitians need a bachelor's degree, and they get about $60,000 per year.
Massage therapists don't need any kind of degree, and they get about $41,000 per year.
Physicians and surgeons need doctoral degrees, and they get a salary that's larger than $208,000 per year.
Registered nurses need bachelor's degrees, and they take home about $71,000 per year.
Health care jobs require technical excellence combined with a love of people. It's a rare combination, and it grows more critical each year.
Prior generations were content to do what a medical expert told them, and they didn't expect much conversation. Modern health care consumers research their conditions before they even set foot in a doctor's office, and they want to talk at length about their options with a professional who seems more like a consultant. These "bedside manners" aren't always taught in school.
Hospitality and Restaurant Work
Did you love vacation season when you were a kid? Did the thought of eating away from home fill your heart with glee? A job in the hospitality or dining sector could be just right for you.
As you might imagine, salaries vary widely among all these positions. And your take-home pay can vary depending on where you work. Tipping makes up a percentage of the final bill for most of these positions. Working in a posh place means a bigger tip. But this sector of the economy is changing, and these jobs may not be secure.
Researchers say 82% of American meals are prepared at home, and that's a much higher ratio than seen in prior years. The number of restaurant visits per person hit its lowest point in 28 years in 2018, they say. Similarly, Gallup says only 62% of Americans took a vacation away from home in 2017, and that's a big dip from years prior.
The key involves presentation. Modern consumers love experiences that look good on social media. If your meals are picture perfect, and the surroundings match, you could see financial success in this sector. Otherwise, trouble may lie ahead.
Legal Work
In just one year, Congress passed 442 laws that touch the public, says the Pew Research Center. You may not know what all of these laws are, but break them, and you could be subject to harsh penalties. Lawyers ensure that the law is followed, and their teams make sure the legal experts can do their work unencumbered.
The number of lawyer jobs is expected to grow by 8% in the next decade, which is aligned with averages for all job positions. The average lawyer makes more than $120,000 per year, says BLS. Those two numbers indicate that this could be a good career to choose.
One potential downside is that lawyers spend decades in school, and each year of education can mean a mountain of student loan debt. As an alternative, you could also consider a career in jobs that support lawyers. These include the following:
These jobs come with smaller salaries, but they also come with better hours and a smaller education burden. That could make them more attractive as you start your career.
Manufacturing
Years ago, when people wanted good jobs that came with security, they looked towards manufacturing. These were jobs that came with high salaries and good pension plans, and they often promised a long career for people willing to work hard.
The entire manufacturing sector is in decline, as companies ship some types of work overseas for cost savings, but BLS says there is still heavy demand for some types of jobs, as companies can't find people to work as:
Salaries vary widely, and the breakup of unions means that workers have few options like pension plans to protect them from financial ruin. Regardless, jobs are still there for people willing to get additional training and expertise.
Automation: A Trend You Should Know
So far, we've talked about jobs by sector. We've explained what makes each position interesting and worthwhile, and we've given you data you can use to decide if it's right for you, but there's one trend that crosses almost every industry: automation.
Automation refers to a computer's ability to learn and perform repetitive tasks now held by humans. Experts say that jobs you might consider "boring" could be automated.
The Brookings Institution says jobs most vulnerable to the threat of automation include positions in these sectors:
Production
Food Service
Transportation
Administration
Maintenance
This list makes intuitive sense. If you work on an assembly line, moving one part from here to there, a machine could do that work well. But there are some surprises in this list too.
Computers are growing adept at understanding speech and thought patterns. They could become helpful shopping assistants, telling us what we need before we need it. They could learn to cook our food just the way we like it, so we never have to hire a chef, or become one. They could also learn how to watch over us and manage our work, so we don't need another human to tackle that task for us.
The secret to overcoming this threat is to find a job that requires intuitive intelligence. Think of a position that simply can't be replicated by a machine. Your job might be enhanced by a computer, of course, but if it can't be replaced entirely, you have the job security others crave.
Put This Research to Work
Clearly, there are hundreds of thousands of jobs for you to choose from. Which one is right for you? And how can you decide?
Start by reading as many job listings as you can. See if the descriptions appeal to you, and find out what kind of education you might need to make them part of your life. We help make that easy.
At Joblist, we have hundreds of job listings on our site, and searches cost you nothing at all. Start exploring today, and you just might find that the career of your dreams is waiting for you.
