Vaughn 1

Clayton Vaughn

Professor Cassel

English 1201

23 Mar 2020

Literature Review

Thinking about my future is something that I do each and every day. It can bring a lot of

stress, but can also bring some hope and something to work hard for. When thinking of a future

career, I consider a few important factors such as; salary, lifestyle, freetime, and extent of

education. In the last few months, I have narrowed my desired career path to only three

occupations; entrepreneur, engineer, or surgeon. Why should someone choose to pursue the

occupation of an entrepreneur, engineer, or surgeon?

Entrepreneurship is a very complex and risky job choice. When successful, salaries can

soar up to millions of dollars, but not everyone becomes successful. You need a special set of

skills that are only achieved through real business experience, that is why this job is so difficult.

As a business owner, you will not make money right off the ball, instead you must be patient and

put your income back into the company so that it grows at a faster rate. (Lange). With the new

freedom of becoming your own boss, you can choose to open or pursue any field of business that

you desire. This helps with staying interested and happy with your job. Also, you get to choose

who you work with. You want to market to a wide variety of clients, and then you can pick the

most notable and trustworthy options. Lastly, being your own boss means that you make your

own schedule. With this freedom, you can take time out of your day to pursue other ideas. One

of my other dreams would be investing money to maximize my profits (Taylor).

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Engineers have a very important job, and are always needed for new construction

projects. As an engineer, you would have to work with many people and be comfortable on the

jobsite as well. When surveyed, most engineers say that they love their job because there are

endless opportunities, and they get to use their imagination and creativity every day. In addition,

engineers are paid quite well, which helps with a high job satisfaction rate (Matusovich). With

new buildings and new technology is being created around the world, we need more engineers.

There are an estimated 130,000 new jobs within the next ten years according to the U.S. Bureau

of Labor Statistics. That means more opportunities are arising for young engineers to take

advantage of. Education for engineers is not all too bad. Most jobs require a bachelor's degree,

and higher paying jobs may require a masters degree and a lot of previous experience.

Furthermore, the diversity of job types for engineers is very high, with hundreds of different jobs

for engineers (Torpey).

Surgeons are required to complete many years of extra school and extensive training, but

does the salary make up for that? The average salary for a surgeon is around $220,000 according

the the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. As a surgeon, you would have tight hours and you would

be very busy, not leaving much free time. Even with little freetime, surgeons still report that 82%

are happy with their occupation. Also, the medical field is facing a shortage of employees,

especially hands on employees like surgeons and nurses. Nevertheless, there are many types of

surgeons, leaving the choice upto whatever may interest you the most (Mahoney).
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Works Cited

Lange, Tina. “The Benefits of Entrepreneurship.” Florida Today, BrevardCounty, 1 Apr. 2016,

www.floridatoday.com/story/money/business/2016/04/03/benefits-entrepreneurship/8258

1466/. Accessed 28 Feb 2020.

Mahoney, Stephen T. “Survey of the US Surgeon Workforce: Practice Characteristics, Job

Satisfaction, and Reasons for Leaving Surgery.” Journal of the American College of

Surgeons, Nov 3, 2020. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.x. Accessed 27 Feb 2020.

Matusovich, Holly M. “Why Do Students Choose Engineering? A Qualitative, Longitudinal

Investigation of Students’ Motivational Values.” Journal of Engineering Education, vol.

99, no. 4, Oct. 2010. pp. 289–303. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.1002/j.2168-9830.2010.tb01064.x. Accessed 27 Feb 2020.

Taylor, Ben. “Advantages and Disadvantages of Being an Entrepreneur.”

HomeWorkingClub.com​, 19 Feb. 2020,

www.homeworkingclub.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-being-an-entrepreneur/.

Accessed 29 Feb 2020.

Torpey, Elka. “Engineers: Employment, Pay, and Outlook : Career Outlook.” ​U.S. Bureau of

Labor Statistics​, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Feb. 2018,

www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2018/article/engineers.htm?view_full. Accessed 28 Feb

2020.