Will Your Degree Lead to a Successful Career?

What Career Ë SHOULD YOU BE LOOKING INTO? THE BEST AND WORST COLLEGE DEGREES AND CAREER OPTIONS IN TODAY'S TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD JOB MARKET BACHELOR'S DEGREES Degrees with the Best Employment &pportunities (1 NURSING Because everyone loves a good nurse, even if they go sometimes underappreciated compared to their M.D.'d (and heavily indebted) counterparts. Median Salary for an RN $65,470 Unemployment Rate 40% Projected Employment Growth 2010-present) 26% ELEMENTARY EDUCATION Teacher Appreciation Day is celebrated for a reason-the men Median Salary for Elementary School Teacher $53,400- and women who teach our future generations deserve all the credit they get, and then some. Unemployment 4 80o Growth 2o010-presenb Rate Projected Employment 17% 3 FINANCE With the economy in the state it's in, it's more important than ever to have people who understand how to manage Median Salary for Financial Planner $67,520 money and investments. Unemployment Rate 6.6% Projected Employment 320% Growth 2010-presentb COMMUNICATIONS The world is going digital, and many people with this degree are training to be on the cutting-edge of what it means to be truly "social." Median Salary for Technical Writers $65,500 Unemployment 7 40o Growth 2010-presenb Rate 17% Projected Employment Degrees with the Worst Employment 8pportunities 1 FINE ARTS 2 PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGIOUS STUDIES Unemployment Rate Unemployment Rate 12.6% 10.8% A passion and a hobby does not a lucrative career make. Confucius says, "Get a real degree." 3 FILM, VIDEO, AND PHOTOGRAPHY 4 INFORMATION SYSTEMS Unemployment Rate Unemployment Rate 12.9% 11.7% It's a surprising statistic, but as an information system student would know-the numbers don't lie. While there's a huge potential for success in these degrees, the field is overpopulated and the odds are stacked against you. CAREERS Every year Careercast.com does a ranking OF 200 of the best and worst jobs in America, taking into account several factors and scoring* each job based on... INCOME STRESS PHYSICAL DEMANDS EMOTIONAL ENVIRONMENT JOB GROWTH POTENTIAL Starting salary to highest potential salary Travel, deadlines, Stamina, physical requirements Competitiveness, public contact Employment growth, income growth working conditions *the lower the score the better Highest Ranking Careers in 2013 ACTUARY 1 An actuary analyzes statistics Median Salary of financial risk for insurance companies. A cushy job for number-lovers everywhere. $87,650 JOB SCORE Projected Job Growth 123 27% BIOMEDICAL ENGINEER Biomedical engineers combine Median Salary two very cool things-medicine and engineering-into one pretty awesome career. $81,540 JOB SCORE I. Projected Job Growth 133 62% 3 SOFTWARE ENGINEER Median Salary A software engineer designs, develops, tests, and evaluates software: a nerd's dream job. $90,530 SCORE JOB Projected Job Growth 136 30% AUDIOLOGIST Median Salary Audiologists get inside people's heads-well, their ear canals, at least. They diagnose and treat hearing and balance problems. $6,660 SCORE Projected Job Growth JOB {140 37% FINANCIAL PLANNER A financial planner helps people plan out their financial affairs and investments so they don't end up in the same state as the U.S. economy. Median Salary $67,520 SCORE Projected Job Growth JOB 159 32% Where did the other best degrees" land on the list? 55 60 93 ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER REGISTERED NURSE TECHNICAL WRITER JOB SCORE SCORE CORE 438 580 Lowest Ranking Careers in 2013 196 OIL RIG WORKER Median Salary As if oil rig workers didn't have it hard enough being stuck in e high-risk job thousands of miles away from land, the rise in sustainable $36,640 energy tech has cut employment opportunities down significantly. SCORE Projected Job Growth 979 197 ACTOR Unless you make it big in Hollywood or on Broadway, being an actor actually means you're a waiter. And that's not a good job. In fact, being an "actor" is ranked lower than being an actual waiter/waitress (it comes in at #185). Median Salary $17.44/hour Projected Job Growth SCORE 40% JOB 995 198 ENLISTED MILITARY PERSONNEL While some might argue that being Median Salary a member of the military is one of the most noble jobs out there, the fact of the matter is it's one of the $41,998 most stressful-and for good reason. SCORE Projected Job Growth JOB 1009 VARIED 199 LUMBERJACK To be completely honest, we didn't even realize being a lumberjack was still a career option. Median Salary $32,870 JOB SCORE Projected Job Growth 1117 4% (200 NEWSPAPER REPORTER It's sad but true; the golden days of print are over, and newspaper reporters are clinging to a dying art. Median Salary $36,000 SCORE Projected Job Growth JOB 1120 -6% None of These Sound Interesting? Try These Jobs ★ They Won't Be Going Away Anytime Soon STRIPPER MORTICIAN Not a common (or even desirable) job, but there will never not be a need for A relative of the world's oldest profession, a recent study showed strippers can make on average up to morticians. In fact, Funeral Director makes it onto the Careercast list at $125,000 a year. #116, with a salary of $53,160 and job growth potential of 13%. TAX COLLECTOR CELEBRITY PERSONAL ASSISTANTS There's only one thing more inevitable than death: taxes. At #85 on the list, a Tax Collector makes on average $50,210 a year. We're sure the glitz and glamour fades quickly when you're dealing with the menial and petty chores of celebrities day after day, yet people would put up with a lot more for $100,000 a year. Sources www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_stru.htm www.careercast.com/jobs-rated/best-worst-jobs-2013 www.cedaredlending.info/2013/06/what-degrees-are-hot-and-which-are-not.html Brought to you by Cedar Education Lending In partnership with GRYFFIN MEDIA