Working Paper : High School Seniors List Career Choices in Survey for Irvine Firm

A psychologist?

Yup, that’s what one in 10 high school seniors in a recent survey said they want to be. And nearly one in four said they hope to find jobs in sales.

Given a choice of industries, nearly a third of the students in the survey picked medicine or health care. That’s good news--now that baby boomers are starting to show their age, the health-care field is expected to flourish.

The answers are from a recent survey commissioned by Irvine’s National Education Corp., which had a market research firm query 5,500 high school seniors across the country.

Health care is also a popular choice among Orange County high schoolers. At University High in Irvine, where all but a few of the 2,000 students enrolled will go on to college, health and medical professions are the top choice, guidance counselor Jim Chapman said.

Is that because the medical field is where the jobs are likely to be? It’s hard to say. For one thing, guidance counselors say they do not steer kids toward a certain career just because there are likely to be a lot of jobs there.

“The only thing we do is make all the information available; then we let them make their own decision,” Chapman said.

The survey also found that after jobs in sales--favored by 23.4% of the students in the study--and psychology, 11.7%, another 11.8% think teaching sounds good. Accounting got 11.6% of the votes, and computer programming and analysis drew 10.1%.

The least popular jobs were upholsterer, receiving clerk and brick mason, which all got minimal responses.

What about those students who are not planning to go on to college? They may account for the high percentage of students in the survey who said they are leaning toward jobs in sales.

“These kids are usually willing to take an entry-level job, and sales and fast food are where most of the entry-level jobs are,” said Lorraine A. Kobett, a director of student services for Anaheim schools.

On the other hand, nine out of 10 of the high school seniors in the survey said they are at least considering getting more education.

That’s encouraging to people such as Don Baumeister, whose job includes trying to persuade 72 Anaheim high school students to do just that. He is the supervising social worker for the Learning Center in Anaheim, a federally funded program that helps inner-city youths find jobs.

“Some of these students don’t have their sights set much higher than custodial work if they’re boys or clerical jobs if they’re girls,” Baumeister said. “After all, a custodian makes what sounds like big money to them right now--five or six bucks an hour.

“We try to show them that they can do much better with a little more schooling.”

On the other hand, some of those polled have an advantage over older, more experienced workers: They are bilingual.

Most of them speak Spanish, but there is also some who speak a smattering of Asian languages.

“We tell them to write that down prominently on their resumes and job applications,” Baumeister said.

Not surprisingly, National Education Corp., which runs a chain of vocational schools, is playing up another finding: that many of the 600 employers interviewed for the survey say they need people with technical training rather than a college education.

In 10 of the 13 industries surveyed, employers said the need is greater for people with vocational training than for those with college degrees.

In fact, NEC said, one in three of those employers foresees a glut of skilled white-collar workers.

Yet a college degree still holds a lot of allure: Nearly three-fourths of the students in the survey think a bachelor’s degree is the surest route to a good job.

And finally, a word of advice for all those high school students to whom psychology seemed an attractive career: It’s no bed of roses, a local psychologist said.

With the advent of health maintenance organizations, “it’s much more difficult for someone starting out to make a living,” said Larry Meyers, a Tustin psychologist.

HMOs offer members low-cost health care. They may have doctors on staff, or, as is the case with many psychologists, the HMO simply contracts for their services.

A psychologist who does not have a large number of clients already--or lots of HMO contracts--may have a tough time, Meyers, who is 59, said.

Life After High School

A recent survey by National Education Centers Inc. in Irvine quizzed graduating high school seniors on their plans for the future.

PICKING A CAREER

Though there were similarities in the top 12 career paths of those polled, choices varied somewhat between the sexes.

What They Want to Be

Job Percent Sales representative 23.4 Health-care worker 22.5 Manager 13.3 Teacher 11.8 Psychologist 11.7 Accountant 11.6 Programmer, analyst 10.1 Actor, model 10.0 Secretary 9.0 Paralegal 8.2 Doctor 7.8 Lawyer 6.6

What They Don’t Want To Be

Job Percentage Upholsterer 0.0 Receiving clerk 0.0 Brick mason 0.1 Diamond cutter 0.1 Electrologist 0.1 Engraver 0.1 Locksmith 0.1 Residential appraiser 0.1 Security alarm technician 0.1 Tailor 0.1 Taxidermist 0.1 Watchmaker or repairer 0.1

Note: Totals may exceed 100% because of multiple responses.

EYE ON THE PRIZE

Even though 38% of the companies surveyed require vocational or technical schooling and 28% require college education--two-year, four-year or graduate degree--America’s graduating seniors prefer the standard four-year college route by more than 70%:

Graduates’ Preference

Four-year degree: 71%

Junior college: 14

Vocational/technical training: 10

Military service: 4

Correspondence course: 1

Employers’ Preference

Vocational/technical training: 38%

High school diploma: 32

College degree: 28

Military service: 2

Salary Expectations

Half the high school seniors surveyed expect to earn between $12,501 and $22,500 in their first year out of college:

Less than $7,500: 4%

$ 7,500 to $12,500: 12

$12,501 to $17,500: 20

$17,501 to $22,500: 30

More than $22,500: 35

Source: National Education Centers

Researched by DALLAS M. JACKSON / Los Angeles Times