The public administration sector offers plenty of job opportunities for the right candidates. For example, figures published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) show that state and local governments employ about eight million people. Other employers include healthcare facilities, retailers, and learning institutions. People who work in public administration engage in tasks such as managing human and financial resources, drafting and implementing government policies, as well as serving as consultants. Some of the career options that you can pursue as a public administration professional include:
Research Analyst
Most businesses and organizations rely on data analysis to make critical business decisions such as product pricing and sales discounts to offer. Gathering data that a business can analyze requires the expertise of a research analyst. With this in mind, you can work for organizations and bodies that would like to gather data from a wide range of sources such as the Internet and clients.
Other duties include monitoring market signals such as consumer trends, preparing reports and presenting them to senior management, as well as converting complex statistical data into understandable reports. According to the BLS, the median pay for research analysts is $60,570 annually and job opportunities will grow by 41% through 2020.
Development Manager
The job of a development manager is to oversee growth and development programs run by the government or non-profit organizations. This is in addition to coming up with proposals that align with an organization's interests and goals, overseeing creation of training and educational materials for employees, evaluating effectiveness of employee training programs, and ensuring that employee training programs fit within an organization's budget.
You can find work at almost every level of the government starting from the county up to the federal level. Statistics published by the BLS show that the median pay for development managers is $89,170 every year. Job openings will grow about as fast as the national average of 15%.
Human Resources Manager
The work of a human resources manager is to oversee and coordinate an organization's administrative functions. These include interviewing and recruiting new employees, participating in strategic planning initiatives, handling and resolving disciplinary issues that involve employees, and acting as the link between an organization and its employees. The aim is to ensure that a business recruits and retains the best talent while motivating existing employees. Depending on employer and job title, a human resource manager may have to deal with unions that fight for the rights of workers. BLS figures show that a professional in this niche can expect to earn a median salary of $99,180 per year. However, employment will grow by 13 percent until 2020.
Urban and Regional Planner
Urban and regional planning involves developing programs for the effective use of land. Duties that a professional in this niche will carry out include gathering and analyzing data, reviewing development plans submitted by developers, conducting field investigations to determine factors that affect land use, recommending development plans to city planning officials, as well as reviewing existing environmental and building regulations.
One can work as an urban and regional planner at the county, city, town, or metropolitan level. Common job titles include Environmental and Natural Resources Planners, Land use and Code Enforcement Planners, and Urban Design Planners. The median wage for people in this public administration career niche is $63,040 per year with growth of 16 percent until 2020.
Work opportunities for people with public administration skills are many. According to the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA), the government employs 46 percent of people with public administration education credentials. One can work as a research analyst, human resources manager, development manager, or urban and regional planner.
About The Author
Joshua Turner is a writer who creates informative articles in relation to business. In this article, he describes career opportunities and aims to encourage further study through Norwich University Masters in Public Administration Programs.
