When I graduated college in the early 90’s, I was told I’d probably have seven jobs during my career (I blew past that number years ago, and am actually on my fourth career). Over the past 10 years, new stats are being buzzed: current college students will have seven different careers, and that half of them haven’t even been created yet. According to a report released by computer giant Dell, that number is closer to 85%. How can a parent help their child prepare for that?
Probable Jobs in 2030
The Motley Fool recently released a list of what they believe will be the ten highest paying jobs in 2030. The list can be sorted into a few categories:
- Health Care – Registered Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, Physicians Assistants, Physical Therapist and Physical Therapy Assistants
- Traditional – Accountants, Personal Financial Advisors, and both General and Operations Managers
- Technical – Application Software Developers and Operations Research Analysts
Possible Jobs in 2030
What about yet to be created jobs? No one has a crystal ball, but you can get some ideas by following today’s most innovative companies (Google, Disney) and business leaders (Sir Richard Branson, Elon Musk).
And the tried and true — consider problems we’re creating now. How will those be solved?
A few ideas being tossed around include:
- Trash Engineers. Not garbage men, actual engineers who will be figuring out what to do with all the trash we create.
- Memory Surgeons. Will it be possible to remove unwanted memories?
- Commercial Space Pilot. Someone needs to drive the shuttle.
- Medical Mentors. The ultimate nagging partner who will make sure patients are following doctors’ orders at home.
- Personal Internet of Things (IoT) Security Repair Person. All those devices that make a home “Smart” can be hacked and someone’s got to fix them.
So How Can We Prepare for the Unknown?
What’s the best strategy for prepping for careers that don’t exist yet? Focus on core skills that will be needed, regardless of the actual jobs.
Futurist Martin Ford has identified three core groups of jobs he believes will be bulletproof:
- Creative
- Relationship-Based
- Unpredictable Jobs (as in, what products and services are needed with very little warning, such as in an emergency situation).
If you consider these three groups along with the careers listed above, it becomes clear there are some key skills children today will need for their future careers:
- Critical Thinking
- Creativity (both artistic and thought process)
- Problem-Solving
- STEM
- Interdisciplinary Knowledge
- People Skills
Focus on these now and no matter what the future holds, finding success in the job market will be far easier to navigate.
Sources:
Career Addict: 15 Skills to Make You More Employable in the Future
Career Addict: 13 Disappearing Jobs that Won’t Exist in 2030
Getting Smart: The Future Skills of Employment
Fast Company: Most Innovative Companies of 2019
*Author Jennifer Perrow is an executive coach, group facilitator and founder of JRP Leadership Coaching