Get A Job: Focus Your Education

But does that mean you need a four-year or advanced degree? Or, if you have a four-year degree, does it mean all employment doors are open?

According to U.S. Department of Labor statistics, 65 percent of the best jobs require more than a high school diploma -- but less than a four-year degree. Twenty percent of jobs require a bachelor's or advanced degree, and only 15 percent need no skills preparation.

So, what does it mean for you?

In the rapidly changing job climate of the emerging 21st century, technical training and a school-to-work curriculum can help both high school seniors and senior engineers find the jobs that best suit them.

And once you've graduated, says Don Plotts, superintendent of the Pioneer Career Technology Centerin Shelby, Ohio, two-year schools offer some of the best job placement around.

"It's around 95 percent for the high school [students], and 97 percent for adults," says Plotts.

"In an Ohio University study, federal income tax records showed vocational and technical graduates had predominantly higher wages and lower rates of unemployment seven years after graduation," he adds.

Richard Thomson, director of admissions at NEI College of Technology in Columbia Heights, Minn., echoed Plotts' assessment.

"We have four or five jobs for every graduate in our [technology] placement area," says Thomson. "This is a way to get into a specific area of the job market -- quickly."

Additional Resources:

America's Job Bank
Find out what jobs are hot, based on current labor-market statistics.

2000-01 Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook
Includes nature of the work, training, job outlook and earnings.

America's Career Info Net
Discover employing industries, training requirements and additional resources for careers that interest you.

30 Fastest-Growing Occupations, 1990-2005
This feature, from Career Magazine, selects highlights from a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report.

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