Chapter 17 Blog

I wanted to thank the class for their active participation in our Middle School work shop last week. I enjoyed the assignment and thought it was very beneficial for me as a future school counselor and extremely applicable.

This chapter would be beneficial for anyone to read, as our lives are often centered around what we do and how we will make money in our society. The variety of factors that affect the job market today were unbeknownst to me prior to reading this chapter. Some of the factors discussed surprised me, while others did not.

First of all, it is a known fact that technology is changing our world as we know is significantly, especially the job market. The jobs listed in the table Brown (2012) provides in this chapter about the occupations with the projected greatest percentage of decline were not surprising to me.  I was surprised to not see members of the print media job market on this list. Furthermore, Brown (2012) notes that technology is changing the face of many jobs, which is something that I wish was discussed further. 

The information provided about the global economy and other economic factors was not easily understood because I am not a business or economics savvy person. However, one of the most astonishing things I read was that the national debt of the United States translate to over $30,400 for every man, woman, and child (Brown, 2012). I knew that our national debt was scary, but I did not realize it was that bad and Brown (2012) notes a way to combat the debt is to stimulate the economy and create more jobs.  However, Brown (2012) also states that the current debt is unsustainable without having a dramatic negative impact on job creation. I can’t understand the debate on whether or not this is a high level of debt because obviously it is.

There is good news that many jobs will be increasing in growth, especially ones that require less training, such as: retail sales, cashiers, and wait staff. This goes back to our “Is college for everyone?” debate, it may not necessarily be needed as these jobs increase. Although it seems that these jobs are often low paying and cannot provide enough in our society to live comfortably. Brown (2012), notes the importance of knowing the status of the labor marketing for career counseling. Obviously these trends are applicable, but I don’t know how applicable they are in working with elementary or middle school students.

Brown, D. (2012). Career information, career counseling, and career development (10^th ed). New York: Pearson Education, Inc.