Written by Elizabeth Exline
Reviewed by Jessica Roper, MBA, director of Career Services at University of Phoenix
If post-pandemic times have you nostalgic for the simplicity of planning a holiday or even just a happy hour, spare a thought for the pre-pandemic economy. Oh, 2019, you era of reasonable inflation and booming jobs!
These days, the employment situation is decidedly more complicated. “Unemployment is down to a 16-month low, hourly wages have slightly increased and job growth is trending upward … but I don’t think Americans are out of the woods yet,” says Steven Starks, senior manager of career advising programs and operations at University of Phoenix.
Starks describes his attitude to the post-pandemic job outlook as “cautiously optimistic.” On the one hand, the world is opening up, remote work is a viable opportunity for more job seekers and roles are abundant.
On the other hand, well:
So, where does optimism come into play among these statistics? As in the stock market, where there is uncertainty in the job outlook, there is also opportunity.
In 2022, according to BLS, the highest-projected growth and demand from 2020 to 2030 included low-wage, low-skill roles like motion-picture projectionists and ticket-takers. These projections have changed in the intervening years, but they
LinkedIn® offers a slightly different perspective. By examining current job data (including the roles with the highest year-over-year growth between April and October 2020), it identified 15 different “Jobs on the Rise” in multiple sectors. The 15 are:
Starks’ own experience with employment trends supports both BLS’ and LinkedIn’s projections. He’s seen growth, for example, in the leisure and hospitality industry as well as transportation and warehousing, food services, financial services and healthcare.
The gap between what BLS projects and what LinkedIn or Starks observes can be chalked up to the kind of data examined.
Starks explains: “The BLS data does not account for the pandemic because [its] employment projections are intended to capture structural changes in the economy whereas job-posting data from LinkedIn may be better suited for capturing cyclical fluctuations in the economy.”
If BLS first found its metrics unequal to the task of distinguishing between growth and COVID-19-related growth, it was able to recalibrate. By September 2021, it had developed two other notable lists.
One of these identifies the 10 fastest-growing occupations that exclude pandemic recovery. This list includes most of its original five occupations (wind turbine service technicians, nurse practitioners and solar photovoltaic installers) but also features the following job titles:
It is, however, BLS’ projection of the five fastest-growing occupations (2020 to 2030) that require a bachelor’s degree or higher that perhaps best captures the future of the job market and hiring trends once the COVID-19 pandemic is well and truly over.
These are:
Occupation | Growth |
---|---|
Nurse practitioners
|
52%
|
Agents and business managers for artists, performers and athletes
|
46%
|
Statisticians
|
35%
|
Information security analysts
|
33%
|
Film and video editors
|
33%
|
|
It’s one thing to anticipate which careers will boom in the coming years. It’s another to understand how those careers might evolve.
Consider, for example, your current job. When COVID-19 hit in March 2020, what was your response? How did your job change, not just in terms of where you worked but also how you worked? How did your employer’s expectations shift? How did yours?
As it turns out, COVID-19 has changed not just what we do but how we do it. Here are the latest career predictions for both employers and workers in 2021, as defined by Forbes.
Deciding whether a career or job change is in your future requires some degree of introspection, Starks notes.
“Before you invest time, money and energy into a career change, reflect on what you really want out of your career,” he says. “Your job is so much more than a paycheck. It takes up a significant portion of your life, so you need to think about your interests, values, lifestyle preferences and the type of people and company culture you want to be around.”
For many people, the COVID outbreak precipitated a new awareness around what really matters, and what they really wanted out of their careers. It's no longer enough to do what's expected, earn a wage and go home. Nowadays, people are openly seeking fulfillment from their careers, even if it's in an altogether different sector.
If your next move, be it an industry change or a job change, requires additional education, you’re not alone. According to a recent Harris Poll survey commissioned by University of Phoenix, 92% of adult learners believe higher education is a pathway to success.
But not all education is created equal. According to that same poll, 82% of adult learners think higher education needs to focus more on career support and preparedness, and 81% think schools should focus more on teaching transferrable career skills across professions or industries.
Read the full results of the survey in this press release: Adult learners more likely to enroll at universities that emphasize career preparedness.
For many, community colleges (and the universities that actively partner with them) provide this pathway. University of Phoenix, for example, not only accepts eligible transfer credits from community colleges. It also offers the following to prepare its students for the modern workforce, no matter which trends are in play:
In addition to the soul searching necessary for determining the career path that will bring you both fulfillment and a fulfilling paycheck, it’s important to do the research.
Starks recommends reviewing job details, educational requirements and projected growth on the BLS website as well as talking to “at least three people in the career field you’re exploring.”
When it’s time to begin the active search process, use the downloadable resources below, which cover the two pillars of any job search: writing an effective resumé and writing a cover letter.
To all of this, Starks adds one more piece of advice: “Whatever you do, don’t expect a quick and easy path.”
It may involve research, additional education and networking. It may involve looking at the global picture, local demand and how you fit into things. (Or what you need educationally to fit in.)
But, with a little bit of luck and a lot of due diligence, that may just help you weather the next economic storm.
If it’s time to upskill, explore University of Phoenix’s skills-aligned degree programs and professional development courses.
Elizabeth Exline has been telling stories ever since she won a writing contest in third grade. She's covered design and architecture, travel, lifestyle content and a host of other topics for national, regional, local and brand publications. Additionally, she's worked in content development for Marriott International and manuscript development for a variety of authors.
Jessica Roper, University of Phoenix director of Career Services, is a seasoned leader with over 15 years of experience in leadership within higher education. She has honed her expertise in student services and career development and is passionate about helping others discover and refine their skills.
This article has been vetted by University of Phoenix's editorial advisory committee.
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