Main Article: Because Mike Rowe Says So?
- Rob Schwartz
- Jan 4, 2020
- 5 min read
I can’t lie. I’m a big fan of Mike Rowe. You know, the guy from Dirty Jobs, the Ford ads and all of that great voice-over work he does for the shows Deadliest Catch on the Discovery Channel and Understanding the Universe on the Science Channel?…oh,… am I the only person who watches the Science Channel? Never mind my ramblings.
I had a meeting with a family not too long ago, and at the conclusion of the meeting, the father asked me if I knew who Mike Rowe was. “Of course! That guy’s great! I exclaimed.” He said he would send me a video of Mr. Rowe giving a college graduation speech that might be interesting to me. I eagerly awaited the YouTube file, and when it arrived in my inbox a day later, I immediately watched it (here’s the clip, if you’re interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVEuPmVAb8o).
Six minutes later, I was left with two big questions:
1) Is my own college philosophy correct and/or fair?
2) Should I be doing a better job of counselling families to look into opportunities for employment that need to be filled in the near-term (as opposed to just saying shoot for the stars and study what you think you will want to do ten years from now)?
I am still that counselor who encourages students to take the time to find out who they are, what they care about, why they care about it, and gain some tangible experience doing it – regardless of what it is. My philosophy is simple: if you are really good at something – pretty much anything – someone is likely going to pay you to do it. If you love what you do, you are good at doing it, and bring your ‘passion’ for it to bear, good things usually happen, despite Mike Rowe’s claims to the contrary.
From the high school perspective, this is a time of discovery. I still believe, wholeheartedly, that you should pursue your dreams, shoot for the stars, and be the very best you can be at something you enjoy doing. That said, you also have to temper those pursuits with reality. My student-athletes usually provide the best examples of this.
The student who is really good at softball, swimming, or cross-country, to name a few, who goes on and on about wanting to perform that sport at the highest level has to think clearly about what the pros and cons of that decision are. There’s no professional league for you to be gainfully employed in, and short of winning a gold medal in an upcoming Olympic Games, there’s no endorsement money to live on, so be mindful of using your sport as the lever it should be – to give you the best academic and financial opportunity that sport will provide. Maybe that means instead of walking on to a Division I school with a great brand name, you get ‘merit aid’ from a Division III school with a strong academic background that encourages you to study what you want to learn, and not basket weaving or liberal studies.
The student who plays a sport that has a professional league (see: football, basketball, baseball, soccer, hockey, etc.) needs to get a serious evaluation of their talent and long-term success options from someone who knows their stuff (not a college counselor like me). The likelihood is that if recruiters have not been looking at you for a year or more, then you are probably not the ‘golden child’ who is destined to play at the pro level. The same sort of conclusion should probably be drawn as the student who has no professional athletic options – use your sport as a tool to get the best educational and life options on the table.
In case you were wondering what those odds of becoming a pro athlete really look like, according to the Norwich City School District of New York (via the NCAA), here are the stats for the major pro sports in the U.S.:
Professional Sport Odds of playing in Pros from HS:
Men’s Basketball (NBA) .03%
Women’s Basketball (WNBA) .02%
Football (NFL) .09%
Drafted by Baseball team (MLB) .5%
Drafted by Hockey team (NHL) .4%
Drafted by Soccer team (MLS) .08%
Now, the other side of the coin is much more obvious, at least to me, and that is to say that I should be thinking along similar lines as Mike when it comes to letting students (and their parents) know what jobs are in demand – right now – and what we can do about it.
So many students attend college for one and only one reason – to make more money and have a better job. What evades so many of us is that the ‘best jobs’ might not even require a college education to attain – perhaps a technical education at a trade school, who knows? That ‘best job’ is ultimately about what is out there and what the students feel they would be happiest doing and able to do really well. Ostensibly, the best starting point is to share what that job universe looks like today and what is predicted for the near future. Well, here ya go:
TOP 12 JOBS EXPECTED TO GROW SIGNIFICANTLY BY 2024 (data provided by Payscale.com’s Jen Hubley Luckwaldt)
1. Home Health Aide (no formal education required + on-the-job training)
2. Nurse Practitioner (Master’s Degree)
3. Occupational Therapy Aide (High School Diploma + on-the-job training)
4. Occupational Therapy Assistant (Associate’s Degree)
5. Operations Research Analyst (Bachelor’s Degree)
6. Personal Financial Advisor (Bachelor’s Degree + on-the-job training)
7. Physical Therapy Aide (High School Diploma + on-the-job training)
8. Physical Therapy Assistant (Master’s Degree)
9. Physical Therapist (Doctoral Degree)
10. Physician Assistant (Master’s Degree)
11. Statistician (Master’s Degree)
12. Wind Turbine Service Technician (Some College + on-the-job training)
Another article I came across from trade-schools.net shares their take on the 15 fastest growing occupations between 2016 and 2026:
1. Solar Energy Technician (105% growth)
2. Wind Energy Technician (96% growth)
3. Home Health Aides (47% growth)
4. Personal Care Aides (39% growth)
5. Physician Assistants (37% growth)
6. Nurse Practitioners (36% growth)
7. Statisticians (34% growth)
8. Physical Therapist Assistants (31% growth)
9. Application Software Developers (31% growth)
10. Mathematicians (30% growth)
11. Physical Therapy Aides (29% growth)
12. Bicycle Repairers (29% growth)
13. Genetic Counselors (29% growth)
14. Medical Assistants (29% growth)
15. Occupational Therapy Assistants (29% growth)
Here’s another article, this one from Glassdoor.com, that shares their take on the 10 highest paying jobs with ‘tons’ of open positions (that need to be filled):
1. Project Manager (100,000+ jobs – median salary $75,474)
2. Physician Assistant (52,000+ jobs – median salary $93,090)
3. Software Engineer (140,000+ jobs – median salary $103,035)
4. Marking Manager (61,000+ jobs – median salary $81,078)
5. Nurse Practitioner (21,000+ jobs – median salary $117,292)
6. Business Analyst (61,000+ jobs – median salary $69,163)
7. Operations Manager (68,000+ jobs – median salary $76,971)
8. Occupational Therapist (14,000+ jobs – median salary $80,782)
9. Electrical Engineer (77,000+ jobs – median salary $86,153)
10. Product Manager (74,000+ jobs – median salary $113,886)
So, what did we learn from this preliminary research?
1. The healthcare industry will continue to grow, and jobs are available at most pay and education levels.
2. Technology jobs, both in terms of technicians and engineers creating the material, continue to bring in good money and show continued upward growth. The educational requirements vary, so having conversations with people who do these jobs today might be a really good idea!
3. Despite what many of us have said about Algebra II and beyond (who’s ever going to use this stuff in real life?), the fact of the matter is that plenty of people do – and there are jobs that pay reasonably well for those students who have a symbiotic relationship with numbers.
4. Well, Mike... I think we’re going to have to split the vote on this one. I’m not ready to throw in the towel on my dreamers, but I am willing to concede that looking into the reality of the U.S. workforce today and tomorrow is a logical position to take and can provide valuable information and insight for students to consider when selecting a college, a major, or a profession to pursue. Thanks. I still think you’re great!
In case you’re interested in taking a look at the source material for this article, please, help yourself!
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