Chapter 8 Post

            First off, approximately, 22 percent of the occupations in the United States require a bachelor’s degree (Brown 2012, page 178). Really? That is it? I would have guessed at least 50%. Maybe my prediction is a little biased considering the fact that I am in a master’s degree program, I have my bachelor’s degree, and I am currently working in a field where my colleagues all have bachelor’s degrees. It is amazing to me that 78 percent of the occupations in the US DO NOT require a bachelor’s degree. Now, I know that an individual can earn a bachelor’s degree by usually completing a four year program in higher education. Many other occupations in the US do require some form of higher education, but not necessarily a bachelor’s degree. So maybe this is why I am a little suprised?

            Anyway, I can remember when I was in high school. I felt as if I had to go to college in order to get a job. I specifically remember thinking, “Geez, I have to stay in school even longer!” Since I was an athlete, I based my college decision off of how much money I would get! My decision was not based on how “good” the institution was, where it was located, or graduation to career success rate. I simply based it off of funds.

            Saying this, it seems as if I was disappointed with my college decision. Actually, I am quite grateful that I went to Saint Vincent College. At the same time, reading Chapter 8 in Brown’s textbook made me realize that there are a ton of resources out there. The main resources (O*NET and OOH) are free (Brown 2012, page 190)! Since these occupational and labor force information systems have been around for some time, I feel that I was left out of the loop.

            These sources have a ton of information that could have guided me in high school, but more importantly, during and after college. I would have definitely checked out the occupation characteristics domain in the O*NET to see the outlook and wages of elementary school teachers. Also, I would have enjoyed reading about the future of my career in the OOH.

            Around the time I entered college, the teaching field was opening up due to the “Baby Boomers” who were soon to be retirees. Now, teaching positions are very hard to come by for two reasons. One reason is that more and more teaching positions are cut school district to school district because of budget cuts across states (especially PA). The other reason is that many teaching positions have been filled after the “Baby Boomers” retired. It makes me wonder if the OOH 5 to 10 years ago predicted the job shortages in public teaching professions today.

            Lastly, I have yet another question. Why haven’t I heard of either of these informational systems until tonight? I am working on my master’s degree. I will definitely be able to access these programs now, but why didn’t I hear about them sooner? Like we have discussed before, most high school and college institutions truly do not guide adolescents in their career search.

Brown, D. (2012). Career information, career counseling, and career development (10^th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson Education, Inc.