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Here at Compass Career College of Hammond, LA, we offer a cosmetology program that trains our students to know how to excel in a career in health and beauty. Our classroom training is coupled with our on-campus salon, which allows students to put their skills to real-life practice, under the supervision of faculty and staff.

With a faster-than-average job growth outlook of 10% through 2024 (according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics), and with the ability to pursue this career without the need for an expensive, time-consuming traditional college degree, you can see why our cosmetology program has become a popular offer to students of all ages, regardless of their background or experience.

Many of our students come into the program nervous and unsure if they have what it takes to make it. In their first few weeks, they struggle to hold both scissors and comb simultaneously, yet by the time they're ready to graduate, they're styling hair with ease, creativity, and flair.

But like any other career, the transition from classroom to "the real world" can be tricky and challenging. With so much growth and excitement gained from your schooling, how can you use that to your advantage in your career?

On Jan. 7, 2015, The Wall Street Journal published an article called "The $140,000-a-Year Welding Job" which focused on 24-year-old Texas welder Justin Friend. The article went viral, accumulating hundreds of comments from people wondering if amassing tremendous amount of student load debt at a traditional 4-year-school was still worth it, when stories like Friend's suggest otherwise.

We've discussed in the past the realities of our nation's growing student loan debt epidemic, as well as our nation's growing skills gap problem. In short - the fastest growing job market out there that offers the most opportunities for people entering the workforce is skilled labor. Not only that, but these skilled labor jobs – like welding – don't require expensive degrees or years investment inside of a classroom.

With 13 million workers across the country, the healthcare industry is by and large the biggest industry in the United States. Even with its impressive presence today, the healthcare field is also home to 10 of the 20 fastest growing industries, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Perhaps even more impressive is that a majority of these positions filled will be by people with 4 years or less of training. That's in large part due to the availability of allied-health training, such as what's offered at Compass Career College.

Below are three of the fastest growing allied health careers in the country, all of which are areas of study we offer here at CCC:

Mike Rowe is likely best known as the host of the show Dirty Jobs, a series on the Discovery Channel that had Rowe perform difficult and often messy jobs alongside the folks who do them day in and day out.

You might also know him as the spokesman for brands like Viva paper towels. But what Rowe would likely want to be known as is as an advocate for skilled labor. For years, Rowe has been warning us of what he refers to as a growing skills gap: each and every year there are fewer and fewer skilled tradesman (HVAC installers, welders, plumbers, etc.) because more people seek a traditional four-year college degree as the preface toward (hopefully) a viable career.

But as Rowe has been quoted as saying on various occasions, a four-year degree isn't for everyone, nor is it the formula for guaranteed happiness. Rowe's goal is to help people realize that they very well could find a viable career - and happiness - doing a job that needs to get done (similar to the jobs he performed in Dirty Jobs).

Students come to Compass Career College to embark on careers that require minimal educational requirements, yet still offer a good job outlook.

That's why our Cosmetology program has proven to be widely popular.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, cosmetologists should experience a better-than-average job growth through 2024. A significant reason for this projected 10% growth can be credited to the need to replace existing workers who are leaving the occupation (often because they near the age of retirement).

Many cosmetologists from our program go on to work in salons as hair dressers, while some commit themselves to opening their own salons. However, the skills you learn at CCC's cosmetology program open you up to a tremendous job market that includes a variety of off-the-beaten-path career paths that are proving to be in demand and, in some cases, offer higher wages than a standard hair dresser.