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Summary

Between 1988 and 2000, over 18 million new jobs will be added to the economy. Employment will rise from 118 million to 136 million. This represents an average growth for all occupations of 15 percent. Growth will be especially strong for technicians. professionals, service workers, and managers. On an average, an occupation that has 100 workers today will have 115 in the year 2000.

You must start now assessing your present situation, formulating goals, and working toward achieving those goals. You must dedicate time and effort to prepare for your chosen future career. The forces of change—technological, economic, social, and political—are already reshaping the requirements for successful career planning. This rate of change is affecting career paths and career roles. For example, Rockwell's aerospace and defense electronics divisions expanded while its automotive and industrial valve businesses declined.

The past decades have seen tremendous strides in aerospace technology. Some of these developments can take you into space, lead you to a laboratory, or put you into an aircraft streaking along at Mach 4. These things are possible if you take the necessary steps now in preparing for an aerospace career. The world of aerospace needs your skills, talents, and vision.

You need to tailor your curriculum to make yourself appealing to a prospective government or private industry employer. Play to your strengths. If math and science leave you hopelessly lost, there are numerous business majors that are just as valuable to aerospace corporations. Read everything you can get your hands on about space. Get some firsthand knowledge as well. Try to find someone who is already working In the space career you'd like to follow, and find out what the job Is really like. They may be able to "network" you into a position if you have the right background.

The business direction is toward an information society consisting of new technologies and new services, the new products to support them, and revised managerial techniques. This new society will require from each of you not only a new group of skills but also new attitudes toward learning and toward understanding and working with each other.

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Updated: March 12, 2004