Expert Claims Science and Technology Students have "Better Chance at Jobs"

All jobs are not created equal -- even when the economy is in full swing recovery, some future jobs will have more potential and offer better opportunities than others, and the paths that some people take may make those opportunities easier or harder yet. According to GradPlus, one expert is pointing to science and technology as the way to go.

That expert in question is Carl Gilleard, chief executive of the Association for Graduate Recruiters, a British non-profit organization dedicated to helping companies find and recruit eligible college graduates. It isn't the first time that Gilleard has extolled the benefits of a science degree: he previously penned an article for The Independent, in which he noted that students with technology degrees could expect considerably less competition on the job market in upcoming years, especially those students that have completed master degrees or higher. "There's further positive news for graduates looking for a job this year," he says in his article. "The AGR Summer Graduate Review shows that graduate level vacancies in 2004 are up by an encouraging 15.5 per cent. Some of the biggest gains were in information technology and investment banking - sectors that have been through lean times and where some catch-up taking place."

Now, he has high hopes for enginners as well as those in IT and other technological fields. "I was at a meeting of 12 or 13 firms looking to recruit engineers," he says according to GradPlus, "and I would definitely say that the mood was fairly upbeat. There was no air of depression in the room. There is still a demand for good graduate engineers." Unlike more subjective fields like liberal arts and humanities, technical programs like engineering degrees offer valuable concrete skills that are needed even at the height of a recession.