Not all of Washington’s most in-demand jobs require 4-year degrees

If you're looking to change jobs, or wanting to get training for a new career, it's a good idea to take a look at what jobs are expected to be available down the road.

"In Washington, we look at what occupations we expect to have the most openings, say, 5 or 10 years down the road," sais David Wallace with the Washington Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board. "Computer occupations is one of the top. There will be a lot of openings in food and beverage serving workers-- granted that's probably not as high-paying as some of the computer occupations. Construction trade workers, we actually expect a fairly high demand in the short term at least. Business operations, software developers, health diagnosing, retail-- these are some of the occupational groups where we expect to see a lot of hiring."

The information can be especially helpful for teens as they try to decide on a career path, and plot out what education they'll need in order to get the job they want. It will also give them a good idea of whether there are likely to be many jobs available for them once they're ready to hit the job force.

"Currently for example, we know that software developers--  that happens to be the occupation with the  most job advertisements. That's followed by registered nurses, other computer occupations, heavy tractor-trailer truck drivers, marketing managers, retail sales persons, and supervisors of retail sales persons," Wallace said.

The agency has a website that can help direct you toward the career that might be best-suited for you, and can point you to what schools in the area offer the training you would need to enter that field.