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By Steven Rothberg
Since the bursting of the dot com bubble in 2000, information technology careers have been viewed by many college students as almost certain paths to long-term unemployment. Although few are predicting a quick return to the drastic shortage in qualified information technology workers seen in the late 1990's, there is cause for much optimism for those who believe that computers, and not dogs, are man's best friend. Yes, it appears that information technology careers again top the list of the best growth occupations for college graduates.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics regularly estimates which occupational fields will see the largest growth in the number of jobs. For occupations requiring a two-year college degree or higher, Computer Software Engineers, Computer Analysts, and Postsecondary Teachers are projected to have the largest increases in employment through 2012. Rounding out the top nine growth occupations are Management Analysts, Registered Nurses, Accountants and Auditors, General and Operations Managers, Secondary School Teachers, and Elementary School Teachers:
| 2000 Standard Occupation Classification code and title | Employment | Change | Quartile rank by 2002 median annual earnings(1) |
Most significant source of postsecondary education or training(2) |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 2012 | Number | Percent | |||
| 15-1031 Computer software engineers, applications | 394(3) | 573 | 179 | 46 | 1 | Bachelor's degree |
| 15-1051 Computer systems analysts | 468 | 653 | 184 | 39 | 1 | Bachelor's degree |
| 25-1000 Postsecondary teachers | 1,581 | 2,184 | 603 | 38 | 1 | Doctoral degree |
| 13-1111 Management analysts | 577 | 753 | 176 | 30 | 1 | Bachelor's or higher degree, plus work experience |
| 29-1111 Registered nurses | 2,284 | 2,908 | 623 | 27 | 1 | Associate degree |
| 13-2011 Accountants and auditors | 1,055 | 1,261 | 205 | 19 | 1 | Bachelor's degree |
| 11-1021 General and operations managers | 2,049 | 2,425 | 376 | 18 | 1 | Bachelor's or higher degree, plus work experience |
| 25-2031 Secondary school teachers, except special and vocational education | 988 | 1,167 | 180 | 18 | 1 | Bachelor's degree |
| 25-2021 Elementary school teachers, except special education | 1,467 | 1,690 | 223 | 15 | 2 | Bachelor's degree |
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Footnotes: (1) The quartile rankings of Occupational Employment Statistics annual earnings data are presented in the following categories: 1=very high ($41,820 and over), 2=high ($27,500 to $41,780),3=low ($19,710 to $27,380), and 4=very low(up to $19,600). The rankings were based on quartiles using one-fourth of total employment to define each quartile. Earnings are for wage and salary workers. (2) An occupation is placed into one of 11 categories that best describes the education or training needed by most workers to become fully qualified. (3) Numbers in thousands of jobs. |
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-- Steven Rothberg is the President and Founder of CollegeRecruiter.com, the highest traffic site used by job hunting students and recent graduates and the employers who want to hire them.
