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Career Path: Services and Labor

The service and labor industry is comprised of many miscellaneous occupations. One of the biggest components of the service and labor industry, however, is the food service division. This is not surprising, as food is such an important factor in many different cultures. Dining is also a social experience for many individuals, and the numbers prove that the food industry is going strong. Restaurants will have provided more than 70 billion meal and snack occasions by the end of the year, which includes dining out, take-away, and catering, according to the National Restaurant Association.

Food service includes kitchen work, hosting, serving, and other aspects of running a restaurant. A big development in the food service industry is in the kitchen with the chefs. Chefs are mainly known for preparing orders, but they also handle the grocery shopping for the establishment. Some also create menus for dining chains or work in specialized niches, like working with NASA to create space-friendly foods for the astronauts.

Other growing service and labor industries include fire fighting. Fire fighters are well-respected individuals in the community, as they put their lives at risk to protect property and individuals from fire damage. However, many fire fighters have a high level of job satisfaction as they enjoy serving the public. Air traffic controllers are also experiencing an increase in job opportunities. As more small cities become urbanized, their airports are growing to accommodate more flights in and out of the area. Air traffic controllers have the important task of ensuring the safety of planes on the ground and in the air. They monitor flight paths and landing as well as take off schedules to make certain that all of the large aircrafts have plenty of space to operate safely. Cultural enrichment occupations, such as tour guiding and museum work, are expanding as well. Tourism is slowly making a return, and tour guides will be needed to cater to international as well as domestic travelers. Museums, typical tourism hot spots, will hire more curators to tend to its collections in order to keep visitors coming.

In the service and labor industry, there are a myriad of vastly different occupational opportunities that would suit nearly any interest.