Chapter 17

12/5/12

I thought that the Projections for the Future section of chapter seventeen was particularly interesting to read and think about. I found it especially interesting that the Occupational Outlook Handbook predicts such a relatively high number of elementary school teacher openings (597,000-ish) and gave it a somewhat high percentage due to growth (15.8%) (Brown, 2012). It’s interesting to me because I know that, especially in recent years, the need/demand for teachers has increased, while the budgets have been cut so drastically that they make more and more current teachers take on more and more responsibilities so they don’t have to hire new teachers. I have several friends who graduated in 2009 with me with Bachelor’s degrees in Elementary Education and have yet to find jobs in that field—schools just aren’t hiring; and when they are, they go with people they know, like familiar long-term substitutes (there’s the importance of networking and getting your foot in the door somehow!). So I hope that the projected job openings, at least in elementary education, are relatively accurate so my friends will be more likely to find jobs doing what they love.

The Practical Implications section was also good for me to read; the part that stuck out to me was when Brown (2012) said, “people who are actively considering a manufacturing occupation need to be aware of its declining status in the U.S. labor force” (p. 370). We’ve had several class discussions (like last week) about directions we think the job market is headed, and different things that influence that; we spoke about how the ever-expanding development of technology has definitely played a role in the job market in both positive and negative aspects. I think that to a large degree, machines have taken over many of the manufacturing and assembly line type jobs, which definitely contributes to the projected decline of the status manufacturing as a profession.

Perhaps the MOST interesting part of this section, to me, was when the author noted that, “the American worker is the most productive worker in the global economy” (AP, 2007, as cited in Brown, 2012, p. 371). Whaaaaat?! Seriously? That totally shocked me because, as noted in the text, Americans have earned a reputation for being lazy. However, when I sit down and think about it, I think that many people do work extra-long hours, spend nights and weekends at the offices, and over-work themselves entirely too much—if I had to make an estimate based on the people that I know in my life, I’d say that at least two-thirds of them are like that, as opposed to the mythical lazy American, so it makes more sense to me than I originally thought it did.

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