Administration and Management are concerned with running businesses and other organizations. Some administrators supervise, plan operations and establish policy. Others provide assistance to management through personnel specialists who recruit and hire staff members and handle labor relations. The success or failure of an organization depends to a large extent on the way administrators do their jobs.
Nearly all positions at this level require a college degree, although employers have different ideas relating to specific areas of study that they prefer. Some employers seek business administration or liberal arts graduates; others want a technical background, such as in engineering or the sciences.
Agriculture in both the professional and commercial branches offers unusual opportunities to those who are suitably equipped. Let us look at commercial farming. While the number of farms has declined in the past decade from 7 million to less than million, the value of farm products has jumped from $18 billion to $22 billion a year. Farm production and farm income have gone up steadily in the past decade because of the use of highly complex and efficient farm equipment, and be cause of better seed, feed, fertilizer and livestock. Farming today is more and more an industrial enterprise.
Professional agriculture, which includes the various ?plied agricultural sciences, has grown steadily in the past decade. It shows promise of increasing importance in the future, as greater emphasis is placed on research to improve methods and increase productivity.
Aircraft, of which there are a number of different kinds, include missiles and spacecraft. They all have the same basic components: a frame to hold and support the vehicle, an engine to propel it and a guidance and control system. Missiles and spacecraft reach into space at speeds many times that of sound, while conventional aircraft fly in the atmosphere of the earth at slower speeds. Missiles are powered by either jet or rocket engines; spacecraft are rocket-powered. Conventional aircraft are powered by piston, jet or rocket engines.
Types of aircraft vary from small planes for business or personal use that do not cost much more than an automobile, to multimillion-dollar jumbo transports and supersonic fighters manufactured for military use. Missiles are chiefly for military purposes. They generally carry destructive warheads. Some, such as those that support ground troops and defend against low-flying enemy aircraft, are capable of traveling only limited distances. Others have intercontinental ranges of 7,000 miles or more.
Banking, Finance, Insurance and Real Estate offer services to nearly every individual and organization. Financial institutions (banks, savings and loan companies, consumer and credit organizations) offer ser vices ranging from checking and savings accounts to the handling of stock and bond transactions. Insurance firms provide protection against losses caused by fire, accident, sickness and death. Real estate organizations serve as agents in the sale or rental of buildings and property and often manage large offices and apartments.
Finance, insurance, and real estate firms are a major source of job opportunities for women, who make up over half of the industry's work force, ranging from about 35 percent in real estate to over 60 percent in banking.
Banks have been described as ''department stores of finance" because they offer a variety of services ranging from individual checking accounts to letters of credit for financing world trade. Banks safeguard money and valuables, administer trusts and personal estates, and lend money to businesses and to educational, religious and other organizations. They also lend money for the purchase of homes, automobiles and household items, and to cover unexpected financial needs. Banks continually strive to serve their customers' needs. In recent years, for example, they have offered revolving-check credit plans, charge cards, accounting and billing services and money-management counseling.
Bench-Work Occupations are concerned with the specialized fine work required on many small objects and materials. The work is usually done on a worktable or conveyor. The worker uses hands, hand tools and bench machines to find, paint, sew, put together, inspect or repair a product. The product might be a musical instrument, an article of clothing or jewelry, or one of a number of different items. Beginning workers usually are assigned to a particular repetitive step in the production process. Beginners who acquire experience can move up to more difficult work that may require reading blueprints to meet standards of size and measurement.
Communications offer expanding opportunities for employment. The ability to express oneself by means of the written and spoken word, to understand and interpret information and to transmit that understanding to others is required. Occupations in this field include interpreting, technical writing, journalism, radio and television news casting, publicity and public relations.
Construction is an industry that touches almost every aspect of our daily lives. The houses and apartments in which we live, the factories, offices and schools where we work, the roads for transporting manufactured and agricultural products, and on which people travel, are products of this important industry. It is concerned not only with new construction projects, but also with additions, alterations and repairs to existing structures.
Extracting Industries are involved with the mining and petroleum industries, which provide most of the basic raw materials and energy sources for our industrial and consumer use. Metal mines provide iron, copper, gold and other products. Quarrying and other nonmetal activities yield limestone and gravel for schools, offices, homes and highways. Few products from mines reach the consumer in their natural state. Nearly all require further processing. Most of the energy for industrial and personal use that we require comes from oil, gas and coal. Petroleum is one of the fuels formed by the decay of living matter.
It is extracted mainly in the form of crude oil and natural gas. Those engaged in this area find oil and gas and bring them to the surface of the earth for conversion into usable products. Gas processing involves removing water, sulfur compounds and other impurities from natural gas and separating liquid gases such as ethanol and propane.
Crude-oil and natural-gas production covers three broad fields: exploration, drilling and the operation and maintenance of wells. Firms that specialize in these activities under contract to oil companies employ al most half of all workers in petroleum production. Major oil companies employ most of the remainder. Since oil and gas are difficult to find, exploration and drilling are key activities in the petroleum industry.
Farming, Forestry, Fishing Occupations include the production of food and fibers. Off-farm occupations stem from the need for agricultural products, the use of agricultural resources, horticulture and the products of our forests. Some of the occupations in this category are farmhand, farm-equipment operator, cowpuncher, fisherman, fire lookout, nursery worker, gamekeeper and forester aide. High school graduates will find good beginning opportunities in both farm and off-farm fields.
Industrial Production or Manufacturing is a key activity of our nation's economy. Products of manufacturing range from simple plastic toys to intricate electronic computers, and from miniature electronic components to gigantic aircraft carriers. Manufacturing involves many diverse processes. Men and women process foods and chemicals, print books and news papers, spin and weave textiles, make clothing and shoes and produce thousands of other articles for our personal and national needs.
Assemblers put together automobiles, television sets, and hundreds of other products. Inspectors examine and test products to assure quality. Printing craftsmen operate various types of machinery used to print news papers, books and other publications. Some factory workers are not directly involved in the production process, but support it in other ways. Stationary engineers, for example, other equipment. Millwrights move and install heavy industrial machinery. Power-truck operators move materials within a plant.
