Jobs of the Future
Posted at 6:00 AM on December 18, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(24 Comments)
I found this urgent note from a friend of ours this morning. It seems like he is thinking about work and asking about jobs every time he writes - a sign of the times, I suppose, and entirely appropriate. He is, after all, a perennial sophomore, and is constantly preparing to enter the workforce.
Dear Mr. C.,Hey. It's Bubby.
I'm writing you because Mr. Kulhaus said we had to contact some people who aren't in our family to get information about "careers of the future".
Mr. Kulhaus teaches our "Modern Living" class, and actually he's pretty OK as far as teachers go. It doesn't hurt that you pronounce his name "cool house", which kinda got everybody to want to like him to begin with, and he didn't mess it up by being too harsh, so here I am actually doing the assignment - at the last minute of course.
So if you could share this with your blog people and get them to answer ASAP, I will turn it into a report over lunch time.
Yes, it's due this afternoon.Mr. Kulhaus says me and my friends have to be thinking about jobs that make sense for a world that doesn't exist yet, but it's on the way. So rather than just look at the postings that are out there right now (not too many), we should be getting ready for the jobs that are about to happen.
Anyway, what I need is like a ONE SENTENCE answer to any or all of my questions, because if you do too much explaining there's no way I'll have time to write the paper AND eat.
And Friday is taco day - my favorite.Here are my questions:
1) What is, like, the coolest future career you can think of?
2) Do you think YOUR job will still exist ten years from now?
3) If you were 16 years old, what would you be studying?
Thanks Mr. C. I promise if I get to be a super-powerful gazillionaire someday, I'll remember that you helped me when I was in a tough spot. But I'll also remember it if you DIDN'T help me. Hint hint.
Your friend (still),
Bubby
Here's my response to Bubby -
1) Planet hunter. You scout distant stars for something resembling Earth, but a word of caution - it involves lots of math.
2) Yes, my job will still exist in ten years, but anybody (and everybody) with a computer will be doing it for no pay.
3) Time management.
Anyone care to lend a hand to a future gazillionaire in need?
Comments (24)
1. farmer - and people will value good, seasonal food produced in a sustainable way and they will pay the farmer a living wage for it.
2. i hope so
3. study what you love - that's probably where your talents are. (but i think you've got procrastination nailed, so study something else)
Good Morning to All,
I was never any good at career planing and I now have the best job I ever had which is serving as a retired person. When it comes to jobs in the future, I guess we have to be hopeful that the future wil be better than the present.
Question 1. In the future look to be self employed providing a community service such as skilled repair.
Question 2. Yes, I certainly hope being retired will be possible in the future.
Question 3. My best subject at 16 was my own study of rock and roll music so I think music or someting like that would be good today as well.
1. Reality repairman, which I woul study under TGITH.
2. No. It does not really exist now. They are just carrying me until I retire 12 months from today.
3. Humanities, arts, general skills if I wanted to do what I love. Math/Science, technical and general skills if I wanted to be a gazillionaire.
1) What is, like, the coolest future career you can think of?
I imagine myself being a productive artist with a cool studio where I work all day every day. Darkroom photography, drawing, painting, papier mache are just a few of the media I would be buried in while working in my studio
2) Do you think YOUR job will still exist ten years from now?
I am an art teacher further trained to teach reading...I teach Developmental Reading at Community College (I did not know this job existed until my daughter forwarded the job posting to me last spring). Unless people figure out another way to take in information (besides reading) my job will continue to exist! Well, also, if brains evolve so that every brain processes print efficiently and comprehends without effort then, also, I will be out of a job.
3) If you were 16 years old, what would you be studying?
I would be studying art...visual art...and literacy including digital literacy and I would be learning more about gardening (trial and error takes so long)
1) Quantum computing engineer, though maybe this exists at some fundamental level.
2) Some version of my job will exist as long as there are computer networks and the biggest internetwork of all, the Internet.
3) If I were 16 again, I would take a more practical approach and focus on math and the sciences.
Happy Friday, all! I'm on vacation all next week and foresee myself snoozing contentedly through the show!
1. Multi-media artist and animator. Bubby will never have to give up playing video games.
2. Teachers will still be needed - it would cost way more to hire computers to replace us.
3. Mechanical bull riding,
It's a great day because I just talked to my daughter who's been in Namibia for the last year and right now she's on a plane heading for Chicago. We'll have her with us for 3 whole weeks before she goes back for another year. If you can work it in, please play Eddie from Ohio's "Great Day". Thx!
Have a great weekend, heartlanders!
1. Virtual reality work -- get paid for pretending to be productive.
2. Maybe not -- depends on the grocery distribution system in future.
3. Learn how to learn and retrain yourself for several careers in your life. Be adaptable. Be in nursing or geriatric care for all of us boomers who might need care later in life.
I hear you Donna, the feeling of kids heading home makes Christmas coming seem so sweet...safe travels to your daughter
1. Serialized novel writer for mobile web application
2. Yep - I'm willing to bet in 10 years people will still need writers and word people (currently I'm using that skill for web content)
3. I'd probably still go the liberal arts route - it's a pretty versatile area of study for future careers - but maybe I should have taken Chinese instead of Russian in high school...
talking with people about what they are trying to do, what they would like to have in order to make it work better and figuring out how to make that happen is the direction i would pursue.
entrepreneurship is a slippery slope. it changes every day. love it or get out.
chinese culture and language
It is unfortunate but I see a great future for psychologists who treat stress and trauma-related disorders. We also have a surge of new cases of children with diagnoses in the autistic spectrum. I like having job security, but it is a little disheartening after 20 years in the field to see little improvement in the lives of many children and families.
1) What I think will be needed are the professional organizers, or whatever you want to call the people in clutter control.
2) Yes - volunteering for something that you care about. The retired part? not so sure!
3) There needs to be a course in high school on management of STUFF, how to keep it to a low roar. Every graduate should be given a set of file folders and taught how to use them. :)
-1.- I guess I would be a Reality Repairman with poorly-grounded Clyde (not necessarily a bad thing) as my padewan. Lesson 1: Deconstruct to reconstruct through co-construct. Lesson 2: There is no spoon.
-2.- Probably. I just hope to have the economic viability to detach myself from it.
-3.- I'd be studying anything and everything that I could tolerate learning about. You just never know when pure, unmitigated knowledge will come in handy.
Good Morning RHers!
1. Instigating and implementing fun.(Learned this from kids)
2. Yes, my job in health care will be around.(See Joanne in Big Lakes's comment) Radiology has morphed at least three times in my career, being primarily affected by digital imaging technology, so even if you pick a certain area for a lifelong career, be felxible and ready to change because change is surely coming.
3. If I was sixteen, I would be studying the clothes in my closet, or the cute boy who lives down the block.
PS - Anna - I think you should write your serialized novel for mobile web application now - I would love to subsribe to it!
Dale - A little off topic, but will you ever consider reissuing Christmas Keepers? It is one that I missed obtaining.
Thanks!
I'm encouraging my children to get into the medical field - the technology side like Teri suggests, the people side as a doctor, PA, or pharmacy.
Side note - the Freeborn County contingent of TB bloggers and RH listeners had an impromptu gathering last night at a film presentation. Good to see you Jim.
As Mike said, he and I finally had our own very small Radio Heartland gathering and it was good to finally meet in person. Niether of us could make it to the Cedar for the one year anniversary, but by change we had our own small get togather..
I second Joe in St Louis Park!
Barbara/Robbinsdale and Renee: another man and I spent 15 years working with schoos to integrate the teaching of life skills into education (soft skills, people skills, self-management skills, brain skills, what ever you want to call them). That failed, partly from NCLB. So we now work with special education to teach what are called transition skills under a federal law that says special ed kids should learn these skills.
Joe in St. Louis Park and Terri in Zimmerman,
Thanks for the suggestion that we re-issue Christmas Keepers. I have to admit that I think the collection on that disc is fabulous, though the prospects for a re-issue are slim to none.
Somebody would have to go back and negotiate the rights to all those songs. The money to pay for it isn't in our budget this year, and there's no guarantee the rights could be obtained anyway.
Anyone who has a copy of that disc owns a treasure. That's why we called them Keepers.
Renee - as a mother of a 12-yr old boy on the autism spectrum, I appreciate your comments. The cases are unfortunately, growing exponentially, with very little solid research as to cause or cure.
The most promising benefits are in the "alternative" realm -- there are many excellent protocols, but they're not covered by insurance and my waivered services thru county won't cover them either. So we're stuck between a rock and a hard place. Good stuff to try, but no money to get it.
Clyde - my son receives Transition Skills in school and it helps a great deal to prepare them for jobs and life on their own, depending on their level of functionality. He enjoys it tremendously. Have a great day!
Joanne: I have disease that is best fought in the "alternative" realm-fibromyaliga, why my typing is so often so poor and why I do not have a job as such anymore. I just help out with office work as best I can.
Our knowledge of the brain and how it functions has expanded enough to make us believe we now very little and that things we thought were non-science have a physiological demention, such as yoga, and that we should accept alternative as mainstream.
The federal government does not even reconginize that FM exists, much less get insurance to cover the alternative methods.
I have been blessed with children and gandchildren who did/do not such problems. My best to you.
Michelle, that was such a nice sentiment. You'd like my traveling daughter - she's the one who turned me on to Tom Waits.
It must feel good to help older and nontraditonal students become better readers.
Dale, when I heard that amazing soloist start singing Great Day, I got chills. To have a voice like that... Thanks!
Clyde - your typing is fine. I bet your children and grandchildren feel blessed to have you.
1) What is, like, the coolest future career you can think of?
Geothermal Dowser.
2) Do you think YOUR job will still exist ten years from now?
Mid-level bureaucrat? Sure, we'll always be around.
3) If you were 16 years old, what would you be studying?
Chinese. Bubby, get ready for the changing of the guard.
- Become a Member
- Member Connect Accounts
- Leadership Circle
- Sustaining Members
- Member Discounts
- Become a Sponsor
- Tax Information
- Planned Giving
- Vehicle Donation
- Donate Stock