If you are an operations manager, what do you do exactly? Well, first of all, you are obsessed with efficiency. If there is any way to make things go faster and still maintain quality, you get it done. Your second goal is to save money and increase profit. An operations manager understands the inner workings of the company better than anyone and can see the whole picture of how each department works together and how each process in the company begins and ends. Sound difficult? At first, definitely. However, after gaining years of experience, operational managers are able to quickly find and eliminate excess waste and streamline any company’s operations. 

Almost every company in any given industry has a supply chain. Without one, they would not be able to get their products to their customers. The supply chain usually makes up the biggest expense for a company as it includes several departments such as raw material sourcing, customer service and order fulfillment management, manufacturing, quality, and logistics. Producing a quality product as cheap as possible and shipping it the most efficient way is a major priority for supply chain professionals. 

Supply chain management also focuses a great deal of effort on forecasting to ensure they have just the right amount of raw materials to manufacture just enough end product to meet demand.

The Sony hack in 2014 as well as other recent hacks into huge well-known companies has everyone taking a much closer look at their network security. As a result, technology must advance and experts in network security will be in high demand. What does the future hold for making sure networks stay secure? Many companies are increasingly turning to biometrics. Several companies are already requiring finger or eye scans in order to access important information, but this area is sure to advance in the near future. Cloud services and SDN/network virtualization will also continue to be a growing area that network security teams will need to keep a close eye on. Tougher encryption and application-centered networking will also be key for security personnel as they come up with new security recommendations to adapt to advancing technologies and new threats.

If you were actively playing computer games in the early 90’s, you are already somewhat familiar with the thrill of urban planning from playing the very successful game, SimCity. Becoming a real urban planner can be just as exciting as you switch between the roles of being a social worker, politician and architect on a daily basis. It is your job to find new places for people to live and work within areas that have the proper transportation, energy and other necessities needed to become a thriving community. It is also your job to reinvigorate urban communities that are not thriving. You will either be working within the government or needing to work closely with them in planning for the future of their city so get experience talking with high-level leaders as soon as possible.