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"Oversaturated" Careers?

V

vorbb

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 18, 2010
47
0
I'm trying to decide what I want to do with my life through university. This is a major decision, as it will mean choosing what I do with the next 4-8 years of my life.

It seems like the two things I'm most interested in (Bachelor of Computer Science, and B.A. in Economics followed by law school) are often referred to as "over saturated" fields.

Should this be an influencing factor in my decision? It seems like every time I stumble on something I want to do, it's "over saturated".
 
I have not heard about CS being considered over saturated. I have read more that they are projecting a shortage in the coming years of that major.

I do not think it should influsance what you want to do. If you go another route and are not happy no matter what the pay is you will hate you job.
 
Law's all about connections; don't do it if you don't have them. Also, that's a pretty huge gap between law and computer science? You're really interested in both or just "looking for a career"? Do what you're interested in, because in the future any job field that looks great now might not be so great then.
 
paddy said:
Law's all about connections; don't do it if you don't have them. Also, that's a pretty huge gap between law and computer science? You're really interested in both or just "looking for a career"? Do what you're interested in, because in the future any job field that looks great now might not be so great then.
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Actually, if you have an interest in both, you have potential for a hell of a career in intellectual property law. Pay's hella good, too.
 
Anything in business or finance is oversaturated. Same goes for many liberal art majors. Law is also oversaturated.

Only Engineering, Comp. Science and Math majors are in shortcommings.
 
jav6454 said:
Anything in business or finance is oversaturated. Same goes for many liberal art majors. Law is also oversaturated.

Only Engineering, Comp. Science and Math majors are in shortcommings.
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I was looking stuff up a few weeks ago that showed the top 20ish average starting salaries for bachelor

Of that list Engineers controlled all but like 2 or 3 of them. The missing 2 to 3 were things like CS and mathematics. They were still heavily math based majors.

The range was like 70kish-50kis being the low end. This was all with bachelor degrees.
Engineering has known that there is going to be a major shortage coming for years and it will be easy to climb the ranks because the last major batch of engineers to enter the system happen in the early 80's. The younger end of that batch are in their 50's. This means that they will be retiring and there is no one to really replace them. Biggest issue will be the massive experience gap. People who are good will be able to climb very quickly.
 
Skinny jeans salesman.




Uh......anything in the health profession is big. The average age of the population is, or will probably be, over 60 years in the US.

You didn't say you had a fondness for science, so I suppose you shouldn't enter the health profession unless you're genuinely keen. However, I think it's an industry that will always have strong customer demand. ;)
 
jav6454 said:
Anything in business or finance is oversaturated. Same goes for many liberal art majors. Law is also oversaturated.

Only Engineering, Comp. Science and Math majors are in shortcommings.
Click to expand...

Finance is not over saturated. Even in our bad economy, corporate finance is always a field that needs people. In fact, finance was ranked as one of the top 10 majors because of this demand.
 
Just do not do Communications. Hella "oversaturated." I would have made completely different decisions had I known ahead of time where I'd be 18 months post-graduation.
 
jav6454 said:
Anything in business or finance is oversaturated. Same goes for many liberal art majors. Law is also oversaturated.

Only Engineering, Comp. Science and Math majors are in shortcommings.
Click to expand...

That's not true. There's a definite shortage of accounting and finance professionals and there has been for years. With all the new regulations in regards to banking, corporations, etc, as well as looming tax law changes and increases, this probably isn't going to change soon (though demand has been affected by the recession; as have areas like engineering). Sure, maybe your business marketing or business communications guys aren't in shortage, but the same can't be said of all disciplines within the very broad title of "business."

Law is definitely over saturated and with the debt load most incur to join the profession, I'd probably stay away and opt for a more finance related career if I were an economics undergrad.
 
vorbb said:
I'm trying to decide what I want to do with my life through university. This is a major decision, as it will mean choosing what I do with the next 4-8 years of my life.

It seems like the two things I'm most interested in (Bachelor of Computer Science, and B.A. in Economics followed by law school) are often referred to as "over saturated" fields.

Should this be an influencing factor in my decision? It seems like every time I stumble on something I want to do, it's "over saturated".
Click to expand...

Stay out of computers. Its great when your young, but you top out very quickly and depending on where you live, you'll be competing against outsource talent who make about 1/4th of what you earn.

Stay on the business side. Get the law degree. Even if you never practice a day in your life. The finance / law path will give you the opportunity to take your career further than any CS degree. I say opportunity, because its really up to you to make it happen.

I have a BS and an MS in computer science. I regret not getting an MBA when I had the chance.

At this stage in your life, don't worry about the oversaturation, as all the baby boomers are going to start retiring in droves over the next 5-10 years. That will open up a lot of opportunity down the road. You just have to position yourself to take advantage of that.
 
miles01110 said:
zzzzz
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Different strokes... I think that would be cool, but I don't like school that much. :D

As for the OP, I've never heard of CS or any engineering field being "over saturated."

Also, keep in mind that if you are willing to work in the defense area (I can only speak for the U.S.) they are required to hire U.S. person's for many positions, which takes all of those international students you see and immediately makes them a non-threat.
 
abijnk said:
Different strokes... I think that would be cool, but I don't like school that much. :D

As for the OP, I've never heard of CS or any engineering field being "over saturated."

Also, keep in mind that if you are willing to work in the defense area (I can only speak for the U.S.) they are required to hire U.S. person's for many positions, which takes all of those international students you see and immediately makes them a non-threat.
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You might want to add to it that international students need like an HB1 Visa and most companies will not sponsor them period. Even more so in economic bad times.

So basically like 95%+ of the jobs out there you will not be competing with the international students.
 
Engineering isn't a bad choice. The market hasn't been oversaturated in any period I can remember (I've been doing it 16 years) and the starting pay is pretty decent, depending on your discipline (electrical and chemical are on the high end, civil on the low end).

Lawyers can make loads of money, but they generally work a ton of hours to get there. YMMV.
 
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