"What do you want to be when you grow up?” This question is posed to millions of children and young adults by parents and authority figures daily. In response, children may give a variety of answers, ranging from a doctor, a lawyer, a professional athlete, a teacher, etc. Aside from the typical answers, has your child ever considered being an engineer, a technical writer, or a financial advisor? These are all careers that have a foundation in STEM.
What is STEM? STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. This term is used to describe jobs or careers in either of these four fields. So much of what we enjoy and benefit from today is possible because of STEM. The cell phone or computer you may be reading this post on is because of a development in STEM. Careers in the STEM field may not be as commonly discussed or may be considered nontraditional. However, STEM careers are viable and often good-paying careers. Let’s look at three STEM career profiles.
Technical writers take "technical " information and concepts and break them down into information that can be understood by a non-technical audience. Whether it's operating a video game system or putting together the latest toy, the instruction manual that comes with it was created by a technical writer.
If your child loves writing along with another STEM-based subject, technical writing may be a perfect fit, as nearly every industry needs a good writer. Technical writers are vital because the written words can contribute to a customer having a positive or negative experience. Poorly written instructions can result in a negative product review or cause an experiment to fail, so technical writing skills should not be overlooked.
Technical writing itself doesn't require a degree, but you can earn a bachelors or master’s degree in the subject. Technical writers typically have an advanced degree in the STEM field they are writing about. For example, you may need a computer science or engineering degree to work as a technical writer in certain industries. If you don’t have an advanced degree in the field you choose, you generally will need years of working within the industry at minimum. Because technical writing may cover a range of topics, it can offer greater job flexibility. Technical writers can work for a company as a staff writer or they may work freelance and decide the topics they write about. Technical writers can also work for the government sector in addition to private companies.
If your child has an interest in math and finance, the career of a financial advisor may pique their interest. A financial advisor helps clients with the management of their money. Financial advisors can have individual clients, providing retirement or investment advice or a financial advisor can work with companies, reviewing their financial picture and current financial trends for their specified industry to help make investment decisions.
An undergraduate degree is required for an entry-level career as a financial advisor, but a degree in finance is not required. A degree in a related subject, such as accounting, or mathematics can provide the foundation needed to begin as a financial advisor. After the degree various licenses will be required to advance as a financial advisor. License requirements and certifications will vary based on your state’s requirements.
If your child enjoys playing with remote-controlled toys or taking their toys apart to see how they operate inside; your child may be a robotics engineer in training. A robotics engineer creates robots that perform tasks that cannot be performed by humans. The wave of the future is automation, and already so many services we enjoy and the products we use is done with the help of robots. The majority of robotics is used within the automobile industry, assisting in producing vehicles parts on an assembly line.
To become a robotics engineer, a bachelor’s degree is required. Some colleges or universities offer a robotics engineering program or an engineering program with a specialty, such as mechanical or electrical engineering. Regarding job duties, a robotics engineer is typically responsible for drafting and designing how the robot will be made, putting it together and doing any testing once assembly is complete and providing technical support.
Robotics is important because it requires knowledge of all the STEM subjects. If offered by your child’s school or local community, allow them to join a (virtual) Robotics Club as an introduction and look into cyber robotics competitions
These three careers are only a snapshot of the STEM options available for your child in the future. As technology advances increase day by day, the sky is truly the limit! To help your child continue to broaden their horizons to the possibility of STEM, our Mathnasium program can reinforce the “M” discipline in a fun and engaging way. We can provide your child with specialized math instruction that not only caters to their needs, but to their interests. Give us a call today!
