Listen son, you get the grades, if you are one of the best, the picked, the chosen, then you get to go to the best University and if you keep it up you get the best job.
Actuary, Solicitor, Banker, Journalist, Doctor, Manager, Vet, Accountant, Dentist.
If you are one of these or similar, you are successful, you made it, you won.
The world is changing now, the professions are oversubscribed and shrinking due to communication, outsourcing and automation advances.
Are you a parent or a grandparent?
Think – Content Creator, Coder, Recruiter, Sales Person, Information Analyst, Finance Specialist, Engineer.
What is the most needed skill for the future across them all?
The one skill which will determine professional success of your children?
Creativity.
Do not give us another first class competitive zombie because sadly the world is full of them.
Some professions maybe over subscribed but are they all shrinking? There are definitely some professions that can’t be replaced by computers and machines. A lot of these people are also creative but may not show it in their day to day jobs.
Interesting as I have a son who is about to sit 11+ this year and we are on the academic journey so to speak considering the longer term and what would serve him best. A typical boy, he loves computers, gaming and technology. If he had his way he would do nothing else. But, we manage gaming and online time as we feel otherwise it would be at the expense of reading and academic studies. But, not allowing any form of gaming could mean the skills to build and create online are compromised. So we still see our son’s future as being in perhaps some of the traditional areas you cite, but with a strong technology world alongside. There will still be a need for these professions and they are likely to be more computer generated or electronic based than they traditionally once were. At the end of the day, to build a programme to service a particular need, the knowledge base academia is still needed whether the end product is delivered online or face to face. There will always be professions in demand and those less so. I think the key is having a grounded academic background with sufficient flexibility to move with the times. Technology isn’t necessarily a threat if you embrace and position yourself as one of the few to succeed. People do still value face to face contact, so the traditional meetings and surgeries will probably still exist. A handshake and a smile does more to ease your concerns than any bright screen.
…I’d remove journalist from the list. The only one’s making serious money peddle in celebrity tittle tattle. Serious investigative journalist? The doors will close on you, plus there’s the big factor that we are all potential journalists now with ipads, android phones, blogs, webmedia, thus oversupply.
I heard the other day that even financial journalism is now in places being written by computer…
Great post, Dad!