Picking a career is a lot like picking a stock for a very long-term investment. And just like some categories of stock appear to be doing better than others, so some career paths look more promising than others.
Right now, for example, the oil industry is generally not doing very well, and farming doesn't look like a very promising occupation either.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that by 1995 there will be 4 percent fewer farmers than there were in 1984 -- the continuation of a trend toward consolidation of smaller farms into large mechanized agribusinesses.
The number of college faculty positions also is expected to decline. The bureau predicts there will be about 77,000 fewer college and university faculty posts by 1995 -- an 11 percent decline. That prediction is based on the expectation of fewer college students as the number of 18-to-24-year-olds shrinks.
By contrast, above average growth is expected in the health care and computer fields. The number of computer workers -- systems analysts, programmers, equipment operators and repair people -- is expected to increase 62 percent by 1995, creating 527,000 new jobs. Many of these jobs will be a direct result of innovative new computers that are cheaper, faster and more widely used than ever before.
The number of health-care workers will continue to grow as the population ages -- by 29 percent in the next decade. Care of the aged, however, is expected to shift from hospitals to nursing homes, home care and outpatient care.