What are Your Career Prospects?

Whether you are starting on a new path or changing directions, knowing the prospects of a field helps you plan for your future career. For up to date information on trends and future viability of various job sectors, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) offers comprehensive information. In particular, the BLS publishes the Occupational Outlook Handbook every 2 years, online and in print. The Handbook assesses the future of most professions based on job growth, nature of the work, economic trends and more. The Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) includes a browsable list along the left margin and a search box to the OOH half way down the page. Of note, the OOH includes links to economic sectors such as "Sales," "Farming" or "Production." If you know what you are looking for you can type in your term in the search box. For example, try a search for "Dental Assistants" or "Dental Hygienist." The OOH lists the average earnings, nature of the work, requirements of the job and much more for each career. Also check out the "Tomorrow's Jobs" link for an overview of factors that will effect the future job market.

The Occupational Outlook Handbook's print version can be found at the STCC Library. The book is located on the reference shelves at call number: HF 5382 O2 2008/09. The Library also has additional resources on careers. Feel free to stop in and ask one of the Reference Librarians for more information or for help tracking down the OOH.