What should I major in?

jjwinkle
Mon, 01 Feb 2016 19:38:09 +0000

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) isn’t expecting much growth in number of chemist jobs generally (only 2.6%, with 22,400 openings) over the 10 years from 2014 to 2024 (http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_table_102.htm). Nevertheless, I see a respectable number of jobs for chemists advertised today on Indeed.com (~10,000). The vast majority of these seem to be for analytical chemists, and they, of course, entail working in laboratories. A variety of industries need them. The amount of money one gets as an analytical chemist (~$40,000/year) is considered low by many people on this forum, but I was happy with that in my 30-year career as an analytical chemist.

The BLS expects for environmental engineers 12.4% growth in number of jobs and the same number of openings (22,400) in the same 10-year period. On Indeed.com today there are ~17,000 results for “environmental engineer”. The BLS says, “Environmental engineers use the principles of engineering, soil science, biology, and chemistry to develop solutions to environmental problems. They are involved in efforts to improve recycling, waste disposal, public health, and water and air pollution control.” These people work in offices and on construction sites.

For “geoscientists, except hydrologists and geographers” the BLS expects 10.5% growth in number of jobs and 15,000 openings in the same 10-year period. On Indeed.com today there are ~1000 results for “geologist”. Looking at the eight of the first ten of these that were actually for geologists, I found one for the petroleum industry, two for facilitating construction projects, two for environmental remediation, one for developing a geothermal resource (for energy, I suppose), and two related to the mining industry. Obviously, there are many areas besides petroleum for a geologist.

The BLS expects an all-industries average of 6.5% growth in number of jobs 2014-2024.