Bigger job market projected
By Becky Brandenburg
Staff Reporter

Finding a job that provides a good paycheck, satisfaction and job security can be difficult.

Steffanie Duell, a graduate student, said that was why she returned to TCU to pursue a masters in education after attempting to find satisfying employment with her bachelor’s in economics.

“I found a position as a policy typist for a title company but was frustrated that I wasn’t using my degree,” Duell said.

She said education is a field that will give her a lot of career opportunities. She said she is a people-person who has found she enjoys the environment and the autonomy of the classroom.

According to the Bureau of Labor, overall employment between 2000 and 2010 is expected to increase by 15 percent, and jobs for people with bachelor’s degrees or higher is expected to grow 29 percent.

Job growth is expected to increase 23 percent for post-secondary teachers, 13 percent for elementary school teachers and 19 percent for secondary teachers.

“The greatest (teaching) interest at TCU is in early childhood education (through fourth grade), but we have the most new interest in middle grades education, an area with increased need for teachers,” said Sam Deitz, dean of education.

Deitz said school system financial constraints, increasing class sizes and decreasing planning periods were some of the issues that could affect the projections for teachers.

“This is neither good for the students nor for the teachers but is a fact of the current economic times,” Deitz said.

If the economy does not recover, teachers may have to delay their retirement, he said.

“If that happens, that too will decrease the number of expected new openings,” Deitz said.

According to the Bureau of Labor, eight of the top 10 careers are in computer science fields.

Dick Rinewalt, chairman of the computer science department, said finding a job in the technology field is promising.

“The recent graduating class had a much easier time finding jobs than the 2002 class,” Rinewalt said. “I think the job market for computing professionals is good and growing.”

Despite the periodic downturns in the technology sector, Rinewalt said since he began working in computing in 1969, the job market has been tight in the early part of each decade since then.

“But in each case, new technologies created opportunities and the need for computing professionals increased quickly,” he said.

Freshman computer science major Megan Harris said computer science is the right match for her.

“I want to make the big money,” Harris said. “I like programming and graphics, so I’m not sure where I will end up, but a computer science degree offers job security.”