Many high school graduates follow a career path not knowing which careers are most likely to have openings, a high salary, or a high projected job growth when they finally hit the workforce. Others don’t know which career they want to pursue.

According to an article called The 20 Best Jobs for the Next Decade by The Best Schools, new college graduates are struggling to find entry-level jobs that use their skills, and older workers are also being talked into early retirement. Even those who are gainfully employed are seeking to get out of jobs that offer little in terms of salary advancement.

According to a study in an article called The Best 11 Jobs in America for 2017 by Aimee Picchi, CBS News, about half the jobs with the best prospects for 2017 tend to be found in categories such as technology and healthcare. These careers are highly skilled professions that typically require college degrees or specialized training, which emphasizes the increasing opportunity divide between Americans with college degrees and those who didn’t progress beyond high school.

For the highly sought-after careers in the medical field, students should take “4 years of math (to calculus for engineering, etc.), science beyond the minimum A-G, appropriately challenging course selections, and take advantage of Medical Pathway CTE program,” said Julie Calderwood, College/Career Center Clerk at Vista del Lago.

For careers in technology, students should take the “same academics, take advantage of engineering and computer classes/pathways or other classes that will help the student gain relevant knowledge and experience,” said Calderwood.

Careers in health care are always needed due to the rapid population increase and the amount job openings. As older workers retire early, there needs to be new workers to replace their positions.

Careers in health care, such as being a doctor, a nurse practitioner, or a PA, pay well and have many job openings. According to Kiplinger, the total number of jobs for a nurse practitioner is 145,331. The projected job growth from 2016 to 2026 is 32.3 percent, the median annual salary is around $98,288, and the level of education is a master’s degree.

A physician’s assistant has a similar job to that of a nurse practitioner. The total number of jobs is 103,422, the projected growth from 2016 to 2026 is 28.8 percent, the median annual salary is around $98,869, and the level of education is typically a master’s degree.

According to The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in an article by The Best Schools, a physician and surgeon needs a medical (M.D.) degree, three to eight years of internship, and residency depending on their specialization. The median annual salary is $166,400 and the projected job growth from 2010 to 2020 is 22 percent.

Sanika Walimbe, a junior at Vista wants to be a doctor. “I would love to work in the ER or possibly do cardiology, but I definitely want to pursue medicine,” Walimbe said. She is taking many of the AP classes offered at Vista, such as AP Psychology, AP statistics, AP U.S. History etc., and she is also taking a biology class at the community college.

“I have always been interested in science and human anatomy since a young age,” Walimbe said. “I was able to actually shadow an ER doctor for a few hours a couple years back and I thought it was so interesting, and I knew I wanted to be a doctor.”

Medicine is an extremely competitive field. “I think it’s because being a doctor is a respectable profession… it is very stressful because everyone is competing to be ‘good enough,’” Walimbe said.

Careers in technology are also needed as technology improves and changes. In addition, many of the jobs in technology have high salaries such as app developers, computer systems analysts, and software developers.

According to Kiplinger, the total number of jobs for an app developer is 798,233, the median annual salary is $97,483, and the projected job growth from 2016 to 2026 is  21.6 percent

The total number of jobs for a computer systems analyst is 597,812, the projected job growth from 2016 to 2016 is 22 percent, and the median annual salary is $85,080, and the typical education is a bachelor’s degree.

According to The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in an article by The Best Schools, the typical level of education is a bachelor’s degree for a software developer,  the projected job growth from 2010 to 2020 is 30 percent, the median annual salary is $90,530, and the projected job growth from 2010 to 2020 is 30 percent

According to the data regarding the intended majors for the class of 2017 at Vista, 13.9 percent of seniors were undecided. Also, very few seniors chose pre-med as their intended major and few students wanted to pursue other science careers such as biology or chemistry. Careers in computer science and other computer/technology careers made up about 4 percent of the data for the class of 2017.

This data shows that many careers involving healthcare and technology are not very impacted. This could be due to the fact that students are not interested in these categories or that they do not know the benefits and options.

There are several steps that students can take to find a major that they are interested in pursuing after high school.

“In addition to academic preparation, [students should] try to gain experiences in the field in which students are interested, do job shadows, interview professionals in the field, try to volunteer in related field to gain contacts and experience, participate in enrichment activities (through non-profits, universities, industry, etc.), join related clubs, attend speaking opportunities for people in the field, do online research, watch videos (such as those found in Naviance on RoadTrip Nation archives) related to field of interest, take an open source class to learn more, etc.,” said Calderwood.

If students continue to have a difficult time deciding which career path to pursue, “Vista counselors are available to help guide students,” said Calderwood.