The industry where your job is positioned and the occupation that becomes your life’s work will have a big impact on almost every facet of your life. Careful consideration should be given to placing yourself in the right position.

Selecting a stagnant industry or occupation could result in barriers and pitfalls down the road with few alternative opportunities. Growth industries and occupations may also have barriers and pitfalls, but they will generally have more opportunities available. Don’t always just look at immediate or short-term barriers that can trip you up, also consider long-term potential for problems.

It is important to realize that industries and occupations are not the same. An industry consists of employers organized to accomplish a similar purpose. An occupation is what you, within an industry, do to earn a living.

Industries and occupations can be interrelated or not. For instance, a registered nurse is almost always found in the health care industry, but an accountant can be found in any industry.

Being in an occupation that is not in a growth mode can still offer plenty of opportunities if you are in a growth industry. If you are in both, the opportunities should be even better during your career.

Your selection of the more promising employer and job can greatly influence how much luck you will have in your future career. High growth industries and employers are more likely to provide lucky opportunities and fewer barriers than slow growing ones.

If you are in or decide to be in an industry that is not expected to see significant growth, you may be limiting your long-term employment and promotion prospects. Staying within the expanding industries may offer you, not only greater opportunities, but also long-term stability since they should experience less downsizing and layoffs over time.

Even if you are in a support occupation, such as an accountant, administrative assistant or buyer, placing yourself in one of the growth industries could prove beneficial. It also could give you more flexibility in where you want to live, particularly if there is nationwide demand.

Growth industries are not all the same. Some are considered emerging and some are in a more mature state. Emerging industries in the short run will generally have fewer opportunities until demand for the product or service rises. However, emerging industries can at times expand quickly because of intrinsic changes in the industry and extrinsic adjustments in workplace, culture, economy or demographics. In the 1980s for instance, the demand for personal computers exploded in the emerging industry as available software improved dramatically and the increase in handling large amounts of information was needed. The result was an increased need for employees to fill the newly created positions. Growth in personal computers also spurred the growth of other industries.

Some of the emerging industries include biotechnology, nanotechnology, cybersecurity and life care planning.

Growth industries are quite extensive and include employment services, home health care, education including private colleges and professional schools, surgical hospitals, and limited service restaurants.

Mature growth industries can be relatively new or older. What separates them all from non-growth industries is the level of demand for their products or services to be produced in the United States.

What all this means is positioning in the right job can have longterm benefits. So give your employment choice at least a lot of thought. This does not mean you have to be in a growth industry, but consideration should be given to them in your goal setting.

M.B. Owens is a Nashville-based columnist and journalist with a decade of experience writing on employment topics and business. He can be reached at [email protected].