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Choosing a career: an important choice
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Choosing a career is one of the most important decisions in one's life.
This choice should be made with the broadest possible information about
*he person and about the job market.
Preparing now for careers in the future requires not only an idea of the
individual’s interests, aptitudes and opportunities for training and educa
tion. The student also must have information about employment trends and
industrial projections reaching far into the future.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Slatulice provides current information on
labor statistics and projections.
O c c u p a tio n a l P ro file
Professional and technical workers: This category includes many highly-
trained workers such as engineers, scientists, physicians, teachers, enter
tainers, and pilots.
Greater efforts in transportation, energy and environmental protection
will contribute to a growth of demand for scientists, engineers and techni
cians. The medical and health profession is expected to grow. Professional
workers to develop and expand the computer industry will be needed.
There will be less opportunity for teachers, artists, entertainers, airline
pilots and oceanographers.
Managers and administrators: The number of self-employed business
managers will decline as large corporations and chains dominate many areas
of business.
The demand for employed managers will grow as firms increasingly
depend on trained management specialists, especially in highly technical
areas of operation.
1.
T
L . . group constitutes
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Clerical workers:
This
the . largest occupational I group
and includes bank tellers, bookkeepers, cashiers, secretaries and typists.
New development in computers will greatly affect employment trends. As
operations are computerized, employment for bookkeepers, file clerks and
many office workers will decline, but the need for computer and peripheral
equipment operators will increase. Technological innovations will not affect
those jobs requiring a large amount of personal contact, like secretaries and
receptionists.
Sales workers: Employment of this group is expected to grow by 27
percent. Most of the growth will be due to the expansion of retail trade.
Craft workers: This group includes a wide variety of skilled workers
including carpenters, machinists, electricians, and mechanics. Employment
in all construction trades is expected to grow, especially heavy equipment
operators, electricians, plumbers and pipefitters. Among mechanics and
repairers, growth will be in automobile repair, computers and office equip
ment, appliances and industrial machinery.
Operatives: Employment of operatives — production workers, assemblers,
painters, welders — is lied to production of goods.
A slow-down in some manufacturing such as textiles, along with mechani
zation, will slow employment growth in this area.
Transportation operatives: Overall employment of drivers will increase,
although some occupations such as switch-operators and bus drivers will
decrease.
Non-farm laborers: Employment in this group is expected to grow only
slowly, as machinery replaces manual labor.
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Household
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service workers:
HoUSekCCOCf
Housekeepers,
S. L'h child care workers, and care
takers will decline. In spile of a rising demand for services, the lower wages
and strenuous nature of this work makes it unattractive to many workers.
Service workers: Firefighters, janitors, cosmetologists, bartenders and
other fields will expand rapidly due to the rising demand for commercial
cleaning services, protective services, and more frequent use of restaurants
and beauty salons.
harm workers: This group includes operators and laborers. Employment
hanj/ation and yr cater
High technology no substitute for academic skill
Careers in
Gerontology
G erontology, or the study o f
aging is a relatively new field , a
gerontologist is a professional in the
area o f human development and
Aging. Gerontologists have the
knowledge and understanding about
the physiological, psychological,
economical and social aspects o f
aging, and their interactive and ad
ditive effects. An increasing number
o f individuals are being form ally
educated at the bachelor's, master's
and doctoral levels. The National
Institute of Mental Health (N IM H )
offers a very lim ited number of
geriatric post-doctoral (after com
pletion o f the Ph D. or M .D .)
fellowships.
Gerontologists are working for
government and non-profit agencies
and institutions, businesses, in
dustries, health and human services.
The role o f the gerontologist is to
address issues related to program
planning, development, evaluation,
policy development, administration,
training and delivery o f direct ser
vices. Society is just beginning to
recognize the need for specialists
who can identify issues and recom
mend policies for the elderly.
Gerontologists, therefore, are
assuming roles as counselors, con
sultants, career planning specialists,
policy analysts, long-term care and
health adm inistrators, planners,
educators, program developers,
managers and researchers.
Gerontology helps professionals
understand aging individuals and
aging populations. G eriatricians
or aging practitioners, such as
geriatric nurses, social workers,
psychologists, dentists and phy
sicians apply their gerontolo
gical knowledge in treating older
people or groups. G eriatrics is
the application of gerontological
knowledge to the diagnosis and
treatment of the elderly.
One of the myths underlying the
current debate about American
schooling is that we must gear our
children for jobs in a “ high-tech''
society. According to this myth, the
Am erican economy w ill demand
higher level, more sophisticated
skills from its workers than it has in
the past— skills the schools must
provide.
The prim ary skill touted by
believers in this “ new” economic
age is how to use a computer. Like
some magical gatepost to success,
the computer now stands as the
guardian o f career advancement.
Television commercials sponsored
by computer companies tell parents
that without a home computer,
Johnny will fall behind in class, lose
his acceptance to a ''good*' college,
and never get the answers correct on
his math test. Computers serve as an
all-to o ready substitute for good
teachers, good parents and good
textbooks.
In relative terms, the fastest
growing occupations for the 1980's
and 1990’ s are high-tech related
Between 1978 and 1990, the need for
data processing machine mechanics,
computer systems analysts, and
computer operators are projected to
double, according to the Bureau of
Labor Statistics. This is four times
the growth rate of all other oc
cupations.
In absolute terms, however, not
one of the 20 occupations expected
to generate the most jobs by the end
of the decade is high-tech oriented.
Only four require more than a high
school degree. Only two, teaching
and nursing, require a college
degree By 1990, for each new
analyst, there w ill be three new
janitors. For each new computer
programmer, there will be five new
fast food workers. Although there
w ill be 350,000 new jobs in these
two high-tech professions, there will
be 1.4 million new jobs in (he two
low-skilled ones. Government
analyses estimate that high-tech oc
cupations w ill account for only
seven percent o f new jobs be
tween 1980 and 1990.
In fact, the advent of computers
in the work place may require even
fewer skills of employees than in the
past. Although the earliest com
puters required users to have (airly
complex skills and extensive
training, these requirements have
declined considerably. The new
generation o f o ffice computers
require no special computer skills to
operate. The same change occurred
in
the
autom obile
in
dustry— although cars are more
sophisticated than they were 50
years ago, they are much easier to
run.
This does not mean that we
should all be training our children to
be janitors, or that this is the highest
expectation we should have for
them. It does mean that we should
not be sold too inflated a definition
of what computers can do, or too
narrow a definition (hat cuts the use
of computers o ff from any greater
educational goal.
A child who cannot write a solid
English composition with pen and
paper or on a typewriter will not be
able to do so on a computer. Com
puters should be used to improve
s tu d e n t s ’ c o m m u n ic a t io n ,
reasoning, and problem solving
skills— not as a substitute for those
skills.
Microcom puters
are
machines to be mastered because of
their increasing pervasiveness in our
society and tools to expand thinking
and creativity. They do not offer a
panacea to educational problems.
Nor are they a fad to be avoided. To
the degree that computers fit within
a set of broader instructional goals,
they will improve education. They
will maximize children's talents to
the extent that they are available to
everyone. Relying on parents to
purchase home computers for their
children, or on wealthy school
districts to purchase individual
computers for their students, only
promises to widen the current
educational gaps between rich and
poor,
m inorities
and
non
minorities.
Mr. John L. Winkal, from Hughaa Aircraft Company, praaanta the
Hughaa Trophy to Secretary of the Army John O. Marsh. Jr., which
was awarded to 2nd Lieutenant Jarrette Lae as the outstanding
Reserve Officer Training Crops graduate of 1983 at a ceremony held
in the Pentagon.
(Photo: Robert D. Word)
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If you're looking for a career in the food industry,
look to your friendly neighbors at Safeway.
Degrees presented
at ceremonies
Approximately 950 degrees have
been awarded in commencement
ceremonies at the University of the
Pacific campus in Stockton.
There were a total o f 800 un
dergraduate degrees and 150
graduate degrees presented at in
dividual commencement ceremonies
for each o f the seven schools and
colleges.
UOP was founded in 1851 as the
first chartered institution of higher
education in C alifornia. It is com
prised of a liberal arts college and
professional schools in music,
pharmacy, education, engineering,
business and public administration,
and a graduate school, all located in
Stockton.
The
university's
McGeorge School o f Law is in
Sacramento and the School of Den
tistry is in San Francisco.
Oregonians
in
this
years
graduating class include:
Glen R. W agner, M ilw a u k ie ,
Oregon, Bachelor o f Science in
Engineering Physics; Christopher
D. Boyer, P ortlan d , Oregon,
Bachelor o f Science; Patricia B
New, Portland, Oregon, Masters of
Science; Louisa L. M arkus,
Bachelor o f Science in C iv il
Engineering; Dale Schmidt, Salem,
Oregon, Bachelor of Music.
Call Safeway Employment Department...657-6400 or apply at the nearest State Employment Office.
SAFEWAY
SAFEWAY STORES, INCORPORATED
“ An Equal Opportunity Employer”
Q
Page 12 Section II Portland Observer, June 6, 1984
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