CAREER COMPARISON RESEARCH

AVID 10

As a college student, you may work to help support yourself. Although happy to get a paycheck you’ll find that the work does not
remain interesting for long. Good thing you are in college; soon you’ll trade that job for a profession, the first stop in your career.

What’s the distinction between a job, profession, and career? The students working at the local frozen yogurt shop have jobs; they do
a few tasks under the direction of others. Not hard, but also not very rewarding. In contrast, the yogurt shop owner is a professional,
creating the business plan, making the decisions, and assuming responsibility for the businesses success. Over time, s/he moves
from frozen yogurt to a restaurant, then into wholesale wine, and finally to an organic food distributorship; in other words, a career in
the food and beverage industry.

Directions: Take an interest survey and do web research (use linked resources) on professions; complete the table.

Profession Primary tasks and Total years Average Number Job outlook Related
responsibilities of college + salary of jobs in (projected Careers
training + AND US growth)%
experience Salary
+ Range
certification
s
(degree)

Directly supervise and high 78,230 80,890 6.15% Engineer

First-Line coordinate activities of school Firefighter
Superviso workers engaged in diploma or EMT
rs of firefighting and fire equivalent,
firefighter prevention and control. or related
s and associate's
preventio degree or
n workers technical
training
Mechanic Mechanical engineering
al technologists and Bachelor's 60,460 40,180 6% Engineering
engineeri technicians help degrees technician
ng mechanical engineers and a
Technolo design, develop, test, and highschool Mechanical
gists and manufacture tools, diploma Engineering
Technicia engines, machines, and Consultant
n other devices. They may
make sketches and rough Industrial
layouts, record and Engineer.
analyze data, and report
their findings.

Neurodiagnostic Associates 45,720 127,800 9% Neurodiagnos

Technology is the medical and/or tic Specialist
diagnostic field devoted bachelors
Neurodia to the recording and study degree EEG
gnostic of electrical activity in the Technologist
Technolo brain and nervous
gists system. Neurodiagnostic
technologists possess the
knowledge, skills, and
attributes to obtain
interpretable recordings
of patients' nervous
system function