INTS 4360 · Texas State University · Human Services Career Cluster
Building People, Building Communities
Human Services is about helping people at every stage of life, and our five careers happen to line up that way. It starts with kids, moves through the classroom and the practice field, heads out into the community and into people's homes, and ends with the small business that keeps the lights on.
Meet the Team
Meet the five of us. Hit anyone's journey button to see their whole story in one place.
My name is Camille and I am minoring in Human Development and Family Sciences. I have always had a love for working with children and understanding their development. My career goal is to work with youth development programs that support young children as they grow. I'm hoping to find a job where I get to create positive experiences for kids and give them social and emotional support. I want to be someone who makes their lives better and helps them bounce back when things get hard.
Nick Gutierrez
Texas History Teacher and Powerlifting / Football Coach
I'm Nick Gutierrez and my minor is political science. I want to teach Texas history and coach powerlifting and football at the middle school or high school level. My goal is to help students reach what they're going after, in the classroom and in sports, and to be the kind of leader they can count on.
Jordan Rainey
Social and Human Service Assistant, Community Nonprofits
I'm Jordan Rainey, and I'm minoring in Business Management. I want to work for a nonprofit that gives back and makes communities stronger, especially for young people who need some extra support on the way to becoming successful adults. I worked at a homeless youth shelter and loved being around those kids. One of the counselors there did the job I want, plus a lot more. My plan is to start as a social and human service assistant, get into an apprenticeship, and specialize from there.
My name is Rasheed Jackson, my minor is Sports Management, and my career goal is to get into real estate. I have always been interested in houses, properties, and learning how people make money through them. I want to become a real estate agent and help people find homes that fit what they are looking for, and I want to learn more about buying and selling along the way. Eventually I would like to invest in properties of my own and build a successful business. I like that real estate gives me the chance to meet different people, work toward my own goals, and build something for my future.
Major: General Studies · Minor: Business Administration
I started college in 2000, life got in the way, and now I’m back to finish what I started. In between I spent years in video games, then built a career in defense and aerospace. Today I’m president of RAMJAC Consulting, a small firm I run with my husband, a veteran, and the project plans and processes we build have been behind some of the biggest programs in the country: Artemis II, Tomahawk missiles, reconnaissance aircraft, satellites, moon bases and orbital refueling stations, F-16 simulators, drones, and lasers. Outside of work I’m a mom, I serve on the Lake Travis Fire Department’s community board, and most weekends I’m on a sideline somewhere cheering.
What Is Human Services?
The big picture, before we get into our own jobs.
This cluster covers work that helps people with all kinds of needs, from counseling to fitness training. It takes in nearly every community and social service job in the federal handbook, along with many personal care and service jobs.
~5MJobs counted in the Human Services cluster (BLS, 2015)
$18,510Median pay at the low end, shampooers (BLS, 2015)
$80,330Median pay for industrial-organizational psychologists (BLS, 2015)
Education runs just as wide. Some jobs start with less than a high school diploma and short training on the job, while others need a doctoral degree plus an internship or residency. The personal care services pathway was projected to make up nearly half of the cluster's openings, and personal care aides led every other job in the cluster (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015).
Our Careers
A closer look at each job, including pay and how to get in.
Youth Development
Working in youth development can be a broad career field and lead to many different career paths, but they are all focused on helping children grow and learn. These careers can include recreation workers, youth program coordinators, social and community service managers, and child and family social workers. Youth development professionals can be found in a variety of settings like schools, city parks and recreation, nonprofits, and community centers.
Education requirements vary depending on the career path, ranging from a high school diploma for some recreation jobs to bachelor's or master's degrees for social work and program management positions. The median annual salary in 2025 was $36,560 for recreation workers, $80,390 for social and community service managers, and $61,780 for social workers (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026c, 2026d, 2026f). Employment for all of these occupations is projected to grow between 4% and 7% from 2025 to 2035.
Recreation workers$36.6K
Social workers$61.8K
Social and community service managers$80.4K
Median yearly pay, May 2025, for three youth development paths. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026c, 2026d, 2026f).
Teaching and Coaching
To teach in Texas I have to finish an educator preparation program, pass the certification exams, and apply to the state for my teaching certificate (Texas Education Agency, 2019). Coaching at a public school adds the district's own requirements and UIL's rules on top of that.
Nationally, high school teachers made a median of $72,040 in May 2025, with about 63,500 openings a year projected through 2035 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026a). Pay in Texas depends on the district and how long you've been teaching. The school I have my eye on is in my hometown, and they're offering around $75,000. Teaching is competitive, but schools are always going to need teachers.
1Finish my degreeBachelor's, political science minor
2Educator preparation programComplete it and get approved
3Pass the certification examsThen apply for the Texas teaching certificate
4Meet district and UIL coaching rulesTeach Texas history, coach powerlifting and football
Source: Texas Education Agency (2019).
Community Nonprofits
Social and human service assistants help people get the services they need, in areas like psychology, rehabilitation, and social work (National Center for O*NET Development, 2026). You'll find them at nonprofits, for-profit agencies, and state and local governments, and the title changes depending on where you land: social work assistant, advocate, residential care assistant, social services aide, and plenty of others. It's usually full time, with some evenings and weekends.
All you need to get in is a high school diploma, and most of the training happens on the job. A degree isn't required, but it makes moving up a lot easier. Median pay was $45,930 in May 2025 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026e). That's not huge, but nobody goes into this for the money.
1Get in the doorHigh school diploma, training on the job
2Social and human service assistantMedian pay $45,930
3Apprenticeship and a specialtyPick a lane from the pathways below
4Degree, then case management or social workBachelor's or master's needed to move up; social workers' median pay is $61,780
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026e, 2026f).
Apprenticeship pathways (Office of Apprenticeship, 2026)
Child and Youth Care PractitionerDirect Support SpecialistPeer SpecialistSocial Services AssistantYouth Development Practitioner
Real Estate
Real estate agents help people buy, sell, and rent homes and other properties. They show houses, talk with buyers and sellers, help negotiate prices, and make sure everything goes smoothly during a sale. To become an agent in Texas, I have to meet the requirements set by the Texas Real Estate Commission: 180 hours of real estate classes, a license application, the state and national exams, and a broker to work under (Texas Real Estate Commission, n.d.).
What agents make varies a lot, because it depends on how many homes they sell and how much experience they have. Real estate sales agents made a national median of $52,830 in May 2025, and brokers made $73,220. The field is expected to grow 2% from 2025 to 2035, with around 40,400 openings each year (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026b). I like this career because I would get to work with people, learn about different properties, and have the chance to build something for myself.
1180 hours of TREC-approved classesSix 30-hour courses
2Apply, then pass the state and national examsPlus fingerprints and a background check
3Find a sponsoring brokerLicensed sales agent, median pay $52,830
4Broker license, then investBrokers run their own business; median pay $73,220
Sources: Texas Real Estate Commission (n.d.); U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026b).
Running a Service Business (Faith)
There’s no official job title for “person who runs a small company,” so the closest match in the Bureau of Labor Statistics handbook is general and operations managers. The handbook makes it sound like spreadsheets. Here’s what it actually is.
My industry is building spacecraft headed back to the Moon, refueling stations that will sit in orbit like gas stations in space, satellite constellations that track missiles across the sky, and the cruise missiles you’ve seen on the news for thirty years. Every one of those programs has thousands of moving pieces, hundreds of people, and one date the whole country is watching. Somebody has to turn all of that into one project plan and a process everyone can follow, and then tell the program manager the truth about whether they’ll make it. That’s RAMJAC. We’re the small team the big defense and aerospace primes call when the plan has to be right, and I’m on both sides of it. I build the project plans and the processes behind them, and I run the analysis that shows where a program really stands, and I also price the work, keep contracts and invoices straight, close the books, and plan ahead so clients keep coming back.
It also meant learning federal paperwork from scratch. I handled every one of RAMJAC’s certifications myself: our service-disabled veteran-owned small business status, our federal registrations, our CAGE code. Nobody hands you a manual for that, and getting through it is a big reason I like helping other veterans and small business owners do the same. Most people in this role have a bachelor’s degree and at least five years of experience first (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026g).
$105,770Median pay, general and operations managers, May 2025 (BLS)
5%Projected growth for top executives, 2025 to 2035, faster than average (BLS)
History of the Cluster
Each of us picked one date from our own field.
1844From Camille
Youth development gained momentum when George Williams founded the first YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association) in London to provide a safe environment for young men on the streets (YMCA of the USA, n.d.). In 1851, Thomas Valentine Sullivan established the first YMCA in the U.S. in Boston after inspiration from the "Y" in England.
1910From Nick
The University of Texas starts what becomes the University Interscholastic League, which still runs school sports and academic competitions across Texas today (University Interscholastic League, n.d.). This is the organization that will set the rules for every team I coach.
1919From Sheed
California passes the first real estate licensing law in the United States. It made real estate a more professional career, because people had to follow certain rules and know what they were doing before helping anyone buy or sell. Other states followed with their own licensing rules, and today agents across the country have to meet requirements before they can work with clients. Buying and selling a home got safer and more organized for everybody.
1937From Jordan
Congress passes the National Apprenticeship Act, also called the Fitzgerald Act, which set up the registered apprenticeship system the country still runs on (U.S. Department of Labor, n.d.). It's the reason someone can learn a trade like mine on the job and specialize without starting over in school.
1953From Faith
President Eisenhower signs the Small Business Act on July 30, creating the U.S. Small Business Administration. For the first time, small businesses have a federal agency whose job is to help them get started, get loans, and compete for government work (U.S. Small Business Administration, n.d.). Today it's also the agency that certifies veteran-owned small businesses like ours.
1954From Nick
Brown v. Board of Education requires schools to end segregation. Students who had been kept out of athletics based on race finally got the same shot everyone else had. In Texas, Black high schools had been competing in their own separate league until the two came together.
1972From Nick
Title IX passes, barring sex discrimination in any education program that takes federal money (U.S. Department of Education, n.d.). That's the law that opened school sports up to girls and women.
2003From Faith
The Veterans Benefits Act of 2003 gives federal agencies the authority to set contracts aside for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, building on a 3 percent government-wide goal Congress set in 1999. This is the program that lets a company like ours compete for defense work (Dilger, 2022).
Similar but Different
All of our careers serve people in different ways, but underneath it we're doing the same thing: helping people grow. Whether it's support, resources, or a service, we all give people something that makes their lives and their communities a little stronger.
Camille
Youth development programs give young kids a strong foundation through supportive relationships, so they build resilience and life skills they'll carry with them as they get older.
Nick
What makes my path different is how much AI is about to change it. I can use it to build lesson plans that keep the school day on track, put together workouts aimed at what the team needs that week, and break down the stats after a game.
Jordan
The field is so wide that you get to pick a specialty based on what you're into instead of getting stuck. You might even end up in a role you never planned on and find out you're great at it.
Sheed
Real estate helps people find a place to live while also helping them make big financial decisions. There are different ways to grow in it too. You can start as an agent, become a broker, or invest in properties, and unlike some of the other careers, it gives you a shot at building your own business and making money through investments.
Faith
Mine is the only career here that’s about the business itself, and it’s proof this cluster reaches further than people think. Human Services isn’t only shelters and classrooms. The project plan that gets a rocket off the pad is still people work: it’s earning trust, delivering hard news well, and keeping a company healthy enough to pay its people. Any of the other four could work at a company like mine, and part of my job is turning around to help the next veteran-owned business through the same maze of certifications we survived.
Current and Projected Trends
Technology is changing every one of our fields, from how people find a home to how a coach reviews a game. Here is what is happening right now in each career and where each of us thinks it is headed.
Youth Development
Current trend: afterschool youth development programs in Texas are in high demand but struggling with funding and access. About 5 in 6 Texas kids whose parents want a program can't get into one (Afterschool Alliance, n.d.).
In a program: 581,120Would join if one existed: 2,730,408
Future outlook: this suggests a growing need for professionals in youth development and program expansions in the future, as organizations work to make the programs more accessible.
Teaching and Coaching
Current trend: technology is everywhere in teaching and coaching now. Teachers run online learning tools, and coaches use video analysis to review how athletes performed and fix what went wrong.
Future outlook: AI and personalized learning and training programs will keep growing, so students and athletes get a plan built around them instead of one plan for everybody. Even with the total number of teaching jobs holding flat, BLS projects about 63,500 openings every year through 2035 as teachers retire or move on, so new teachers keep finding spots (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026a).
63,500High school teacher openings projected every year, 2025 to 2035 (BLS)
$74,190Median pay in public schools, May 2025 (BLS)
Community Nonprofits
Current trend: a lot of the openings come from people moving up into specialized roles or retiring, so there's steady room for new people to get in (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026e).
Future outlook: jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, much faster than average, with about 48,900 openings a year. A growing older population and more demand for social services are what's pushing it.
Jobs in 2025463,400
Projected, 2035497,600
Social and human service assistants. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026e).
+34,200New jobs by 2035 (7%)
48,900Openings every year
Real Estate
Current trend: agents are using online listings, social media, and other tools to advertise homes and talk with buyers. It saves time and reaches more people, and buyers can look at properties without visiting every house in person.
Future outlook: I think artificial intelligence will become an even bigger part of real estate. Agents may use it to match homes to buyers, compare prices, and create ads. Even with all the new technology, people will still need an agent to help them make big decisions. BLS projects around 40,400 openings each year for brokers and sales agents through 2035, so the opportunities will be there (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026b).
40,400Broker and sales agent openings projected every year, 2025 to 2035 (BLS)
54%Share of sales agents who are self-employed (BLS)
Running a Service Business (Faith)
36.2MSmall businesses in the U.S. (SBA Office of Advocacy, 2026)
61%Share of net new jobs created by small businesses since 1995 (SBA Office of Advocacy, 2026)
All U.S. firms99.9%
Net new jobs since 199561%
Private sector employees45.9%
U.S. GDP43.5%
Small businesses' share of the U.S. economy. Source: U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy (2026).
Current trend: small businesses are winning more government work. In fiscal year 2024, 28.8 percent of federal contracting dollars went to small businesses, above the 23 percent goal. Veterans own 1.7 million businesses, about 4.8 percent of all U.S. firms (U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy, 2026).
Future outlook: My field is splitting in two, and the split is worth knowing about whatever you’re graduating into. The repeatable half of program controls, the health checks, the status reports, the math behind the metrics, is being automated, and I’d know, because I build those tools myself. Only 7.6 percent of businesses said they were using AI between September 2024 and August 2025, but the smallest companies, under five employees, were second only to the biggest ones (U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy, 2026).
The other half is people work: knowing which problem matters, telling a program manager the truth about a date, and being the one they trust when the news is bad. None of that automates, and as experienced planners retire I expect it to be in short supply. The demand is there too. BLS projects top executives, the group that includes general and operations managers, to grow 5 percent through 2035, faster than average (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2026g). So let the software handle the repeatable part and get good at the part only a person can do. That's true in my corner of Human Services, and I'd bet it holds in yours.
How Our Minors Fit In
What each of us is studying on the side, and how it feeds the career we want.
Camille
Human Development and Family Sciences
My Human Development and Family Sciences minor helps me have a deeper understanding of how children grow and interact with their everyday environments. My courses have given me different aspects on social and emotional development, as well as family relationships. All these tie together and help me understand and prepare for working with the youth and all their different experiences to come.
Nick
Political Science
Political science fits teaching Texas history better than it might sound, since so much of that history is about government and how it got built. The course that's helped me most is CI 3325, growth and development for educators, with Dr. Mencky. He makes me get up and speak in public and talk to people I don't know, so standing in front of a classroom won't feel new. It's forced me out of my shell.
Jordan
Business Management
Business Management will help me build and lead a team, and market programs so the people who need them can find them. Every business class I've taken breaks customers into different groups, and that carries straight over to clients. When you know who you're serving, it's easier to meet what each person needs.
Sheed
Sports Management
My Sports Management minor helps with real estate in more ways than people might think. Both involve working with people, communicating, staying organized, and leading. Sports Management teaches me how to handle different personalities, manage responsibilities, and understand the business side of things, and those are the same skills I will use with buyers and sellers. I also need to know how to market a property and build good relationships with clients. Sports and real estate are two different fields, but what I learn in my classes will help me in either one.
Faith
Business Administration
Most of what my business administration classes cover, I was already doing at RAMJAC: pricing contracts for programs worth more than this building, reading term sheets, watching cash flow. The classes gave me the real vocabulary and the theory underneath it, plus the accounting rules I never had time to learn while actually running the company. It turns out I’d been speaking the language for years. Now I know the grammar.
References
APA format, sorted alphabetically.
Afterschool Alliance. (n.d.). Texas after 3PM: The demand for afterschool programs in Texas. https://afterschoolalliance.org/AA3PM/data/texas/demand
Dilger, R. J. (2022). Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Procurement Program (CRS Report No. R46906). Congressional Research Service. https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R46906.pdf
National Center for O*NET Development. (2026). 21-1093.00: Social and human service assistants. O*NET OnLine. https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/21-1093.00
Office of Apprenticeship. (2026). Apprenticeship occupations listings: Social and human service assistants. U.S. Department of Labor. https://www.apprenticeship.gov/apprenticeship-occupations/listings?occupationCode=21-1093.00
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2015). Careers in career clusters. Career Outlook. https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2015/article/career-clusters.htm
Texas Real Estate Commission. (n.d.). Become a real estate sales agent. https://www.trec.texas.gov/become-licensed/sales-agent
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026a). High school teachers. In Occupational outlook handbook. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/high-school-teachers.htm
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026b). Real estate brokers and sales agents. In Occupational outlook handbook. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/sales/real-estate-brokers-and-sales-agents.htm
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026c). Recreation workers. In Occupational outlook handbook. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/personal-care-and-service/recreation-workers.htm
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026d). Social and community service managers. In Occupational outlook handbook. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/social-and-community-service-managers.htm
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026e). Social and human service assistants. In Occupational outlook handbook. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/social-and-human-service-assistants.htm
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026f). Social workers. In Occupational outlook handbook. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/social-workers.htm
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026g). Top executives. In Occupational outlook handbook. Retrieved November 8, 2026, from https://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/top-executives.htm
U.S. Department of Education. (n.d.). Title IX key issues. https://www.ed.gov/laws-and-policy/civil-rights-laws/title-ix-and-sex-discrimination/title-ix-key-issues
U.S. Department of Labor. (n.d.). National Apprenticeship Act. https://www.dol.gov/node/138009
U.S. Small Business Administration. (n.d.). Celebrating 70 years of service to America's small businesses. Retrieved November 1, 2026, from https://www.sba.gov/about-sba/organization/observances/celebrating-70-years-of-service-to-americas-small-businesses/
U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy. (2026). Frequently asked questions about small business. https://advocacy.sba.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/FINAL_FAQsAboutSmallBusiness_2026_012826.pdf
University Interscholastic League. (n.d.). History of the UIL. https://www.uiltexas.org/history
YMCA of the USA. (n.d.). YMCA history: The founding years. https://www.ymca.org/who-we-are/our-history/founding-years