First off, we need to know if you want to just be employed, or employed in a position that matches your level of education, be in a position that makes a lot of money, or be in a career that isn’t going to be absolutely destroyed by AI.
So let’s figure that out.
Aiming for Employment
Using the Federal Reserve Bank of NY, when we’re looking at just being employed, we should just look at the unemployment rate for the different majors. Leading the pack at less than 1% unemployment are industrial engineering, construction services, medical technicians, and General Social sciences.
So being in any of these Majors guarantees that you’ll have some sort of position in the future although it does not guarantee that you won’t be underemployed or that you’ll make a lot of money. Other notable Majors with low unemployment include accounting, education, engineering, marketing, and business analytics.
From this, we can stipulate which degrees are going to likely keep you employed anywhere in the country that you go. The largest companies in each industry are going to have positions that need to be filled which all of these majors can apply to.
If you have an interest in construction you should go with construction services. If you’re interested in always being in need and having a very high salary to justify it, going to Industrial engineering. If you are unsure about which industry you want to enter, go with accounting, marketing, or business analytics, because all of these can transfer easily across industries and companies.
Because you’re not as specialized you can’t guarantee you’ll make as much money, but you’ll make a decent living and won’t have to worry too much about unemployment.
Read this next: How to pick the best career (FOR YOU)!
Major-Career Alignment
If you go to college and you already have a good idea of what you want to do for a living, the majors that you should focus on are likely already very clear.
For example, If you go into majors like education or accounting, you are basically guaranteed to always have jobs available to you in those sectors. This is important to keep note of because the competition that you face when you enter the market as a new graduate can significantly determine your quality of life and your career trajectory.
Accounting right now is facing staff shortages because not as many people are taking the degree and not as many are becoming CPAs. Education is in a similar situation, where more and more people are leaving the education system due to low pay and high stress.
So it’s really important to consider what you’ll be entering when you look into the majors you apply to.
If you want to be a hardware engineer, network architect, security analyst, or web developer, you should probably look into computer science.
If you know you want to enter healthcare but you don’t want to be a doctor or nurse, you can look into healthcare management and find administrative positions like managers, directors, and support staff.
Public or business administration are great majors to go after if you plan on entering the nonprofit or government world, since these majors will offer a wide career options including positions in public policy, International relations, or nonprofit work.
Prioritizing Money
If you’re prioritizing money when it comes to choosing your college major, you should consider whether you want to make the most right out of college or into mid-career.
If you are in any engineering discipline, computer science, or business analytics, you will be making the most out of college. Right behind this group are the bean counters in economics and finance, followed closely by math majors.
If none of these major is appealing to you, then consider entering nursing, as you should be making about 55,000 right out of college.
By the time you reach mid-career, so about 5 to 6 years in the industry, you should be earning about $100,000 a year for all of the high paying early career majors.
What’s interesting is that we see Construction Services jump over Finance, and we see nursing get replaced with pharmacy.
Glassdoor has a huge list of college majors and popular entry-level jobs that you can evaluate and see the median base salary for. If any of the majors I’ve discussed so far haven’t interested you this might be a useful list to evaluate.
With AI taking on more and more responsibility in the modern workplace, it is a clear threat to look out for as you try and figure out how you’re going to support yourself and your family in the future.
Obviously, jobs that operate primarily in physical environments like truckers, agricultural operations, mechanics and tradesmen, cleaners and nurses, and similar blue collar professions are unlikely to be replaced anytime soon.
Unfortunately, with the sudden increase of encouragement for college students to enter these positions, there has been an obfuscation of the physical toll that these positions take on your body. If your only goal is to make a lot of money while you’re young and have major back problems and joint issues by the time you hit 30, then you should definitely go for these positions.
Assuming that you don’t want to deal with undue deterioration of your body to make a living, you need to look in other directions to find AI proof careers.
Anything that has something to do with the physical world, human emotions, or human growth will likely be protected from AI. This is because as a social species, we will tend to gravitate towards interacting with other humans in order to satisfy our primal social needs.
For the average IQ individual, it seems to me that the major fields that AI will not be able to destroy in the next 5 years are healthcare, education, philosophy, arts, and environmental design and support. You’re just going to have to be more creative about how you find these careers.
Healthcare
Under healthcare, we usually think of doctors and nurses, therapists, dentists, surgeons, and similar professions. These are unlikely to be destroyed by AI, but not everyone can fit into these roles. Instead think of healthcare adjacent positions such as elderly caretakers, midwives, paramedics, dermatologists, and neurologists. To get even more creative consider the physical health side of healthcare like athletic trainers. Mental healthcare needs can also met by art and music therapists or marriage and family counselors.
And that’s not even considering social healthcare… if you’re someone who’s good at creating social events, you can try to make a living getting people outside and interacting more. I think someone in such a position would make a lot of money since we’re in the midst of a loneliness epidemic.
Education
A lot of people are absolutely disgusted with the current K-12 education system. There’s constant news of teachers being disrespected by students, students being passed without meeting grade level requirements, and fear about student safety. It’s safe to say that if the public education system doesn’t get its act together, we’re in for a major shift in how children get their education.
Online learning has exploded since COVID, but that doesn’t change the fact that a lot of people want to learn in person, and might actually learn better in person.
If you’re interested in education, become a private tutor, or start a network for private tutors. Depending on which economic class you serve, you can offer more generic or specialized services. Figure out what 3 subjects interest you the most and become an expert in all of them.
For example, mathematics tutoring is going to interest the middle class, but music and philosophy is more likely to interest upper class parents. You’ll find a variety of subject interests across socio-economic lines, but this is a good starting point.
Philosophy
Philosophy is a highly underrated discipline in modern society, and this is mostly because of the obsession with STEM that has been pushed since the 2000s. We focus a lot on how we do things, and less on why… This lack of spiritual reasoning on why we do what we do is what’s leading to increased depression.
Most people get their philosophy from religion, but as time passes, religions like Christianity and Islam have become either unsatisfactory or completely disagreeable to the modern person. Without these easy sources of philosophical justification for one’s existence and purpose, people are left without direction, and many fall into nihilism.
By studying various philosophers and their ideas, and creating your own philosophy, you can expose others to possible answers. Or if you don’t want to lead but rather educate, you can simplify philosophical concepts and help people start on their own journey.
This path is objectively the most difficult path you can take to make a living for yourself, but it’s the most powerful one.
Arts
With AI stealing people’s art to add to their datasets, you might be hesitant to jump into the scene. However, people are still very interested in seeing art made by humans, and often see AI art as cheap and lazy.
What’s more important with art is to figure out your nice and your voice. What do you want to make art of? How? What message do you want to send the viewer? What vibe?
By determining this, you can create an art style that engages your target audience. The voice and soul you add to your art will be a great asset in selling your pieces and getting your name out there.
You can do landscapes, portraits, abstract art, murals, etc. Whatever strikes your fancy. It’ll be difficult to get started, but with enough networking and good work, you’ll be able to make a decent living for yourself.
Environmental Design & Support
Whether or not you believe in global warming, the world is going to experience more heatwaves, droughts, floods, and fires in the coming decades. Anyone who has a hand in addressing these natural disasters is going to have job security.
This doesn’t mean you have to be a firefighter or emergency responder… You could go to law school and become an environmental lawyer. You could become a technician or engineer who works on clean cars or helps build more efficient energy sources like solar panels or wind mills.
And the environment won’t always be in danger! You can be one of its caretakers by becoming a park ranger, and arborist, or a wildlife conservationist. There are plenty of opportunities for those who wish to work directly with nature.
Conclusion
Whether you prioritize employment opportunities, aligning your major with your career goals, or maximizing earning potential, each decision impacts your future trajectory. Understanding industry trends, job market demands, and the potential impact of AI on various professions is crucial for making informed choices.
And I can’t emphasize this enough– resilience and adaptability are going to be essential. AI is coming for your job, no matter what you choose to do. The real test is what you can do to stay one step ahead. Things are only going to become more difficult, and success is never guaranteed, but you should always bet on yourself!
Read this next: How to pick the best career (FOR YOU)!
If you found this guide useful, let me know in the comments. My goal is to make this atlas a place that you can come back to for financial help that isn’t just a regurgitation of everything else on the internet.
You can learn about the secrets of wealth in America on the Youtube Channel as well.
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