Anybody discussing possible future careers with youngsters?
Discussion
I was ruminating recently on how careers advice may now be changing since the status of many jobs is also changing so much. We are lead to believe that AI will take over, many thousands of jobs will cease to exist (although other jobs that do not currently exist will be created). Are any of you lot having to discuss this stuff with children or grandchildren? What advice can you give that is not crystal ball gazing?
Will retail exist at all in 10/20 years time? High streets will likely just be leisure centres (eateries and coffee shops). Deliveries will be by drone. There will be mahoosive warehouses doing parceling and sorting goods that will be delivered by drone (all by machine possibly!). New houses wont need garages and petrol stations will be few and far between due to driverless cars (which will likely be housed in large out of town warehouses and all owned by large companies). Most people may not actually own a car but will call one from an app on their 'phone'? Our kids are less keen to lose money by owning a car (well, those in the city anyway!).
What current jobs will really exist in, say, 30 years time? Could we do away with much of the work that Architects do? Choose your new house from digital options on an on-line computer (much like we do with cars now?). Dentists and doctors will exist I suspect but some surgeons will lose elements of their work to computer and keyhole surgery cameras. Lawyers will exist. Inland revenue will reduce considerably in numbers and become a call centre.
The govt will lose all speeding and parking fine income. Driverless cars will not break the law and who would you charge with the offence anyway? Court time will become more expensive because they will be seeing less cases. Perhaps they could recoup some of this loss by charging a 'departure tax' at all points of exit from UK borders (sorry, a bit off topic but I just got back from Mexico where everyone that leaves the country must pay a £60 (!!!) departure tax). No-one complains.
I'm pretty glad that my career will be over in the next 5 - 10 years. I don't think my profession will be affected too much but it will change dramatically for sure. Let's hope that many new jobs are create for our offspring!
Will retail exist at all in 10/20 years time? High streets will likely just be leisure centres (eateries and coffee shops). Deliveries will be by drone. There will be mahoosive warehouses doing parceling and sorting goods that will be delivered by drone (all by machine possibly!). New houses wont need garages and petrol stations will be few and far between due to driverless cars (which will likely be housed in large out of town warehouses and all owned by large companies). Most people may not actually own a car but will call one from an app on their 'phone'? Our kids are less keen to lose money by owning a car (well, those in the city anyway!).
What current jobs will really exist in, say, 30 years time? Could we do away with much of the work that Architects do? Choose your new house from digital options on an on-line computer (much like we do with cars now?). Dentists and doctors will exist I suspect but some surgeons will lose elements of their work to computer and keyhole surgery cameras. Lawyers will exist. Inland revenue will reduce considerably in numbers and become a call centre.
The govt will lose all speeding and parking fine income. Driverless cars will not break the law and who would you charge with the offence anyway? Court time will become more expensive because they will be seeing less cases. Perhaps they could recoup some of this loss by charging a 'departure tax' at all points of exit from UK borders (sorry, a bit off topic but I just got back from Mexico where everyone that leaves the country must pay a £60 (!!!) departure tax). No-one complains.
I'm pretty glad that my career will be over in the next 5 - 10 years. I don't think my profession will be affected too much but it will change dramatically for sure. Let's hope that many new jobs are create for our offspring!
Yes.
Before my son fell ill, he was studying a BTEC Lvl 3 in motorsport engineering - a course that according to the details drove down the E-Race car technology. This I thought was perfect - and would enable him to really get on the band wagon at a nice early stage when it hits mainstream properly. He was really up for this until his illness - now seems reluctant to go back top it. He has stated he wants to "go out and work" and get into an apprenticeship of somesorts to do with auto engineering.
I am old enough to remember apprenticeships when they were basically not very good, and worry I am too prejudiced in trying to convince him the full time course is the best way forward. Something I read on here recently stated apprenticeships were much much better now and should be worth investigating more. I think I need convincing, for his sake.
The engineering apprenticeship within the RN is stonkingly good....... but not really where he wants to go!
Before my son fell ill, he was studying a BTEC Lvl 3 in motorsport engineering - a course that according to the details drove down the E-Race car technology. This I thought was perfect - and would enable him to really get on the band wagon at a nice early stage when it hits mainstream properly. He was really up for this until his illness - now seems reluctant to go back top it. He has stated he wants to "go out and work" and get into an apprenticeship of somesorts to do with auto engineering.
I am old enough to remember apprenticeships when they were basically not very good, and worry I am too prejudiced in trying to convince him the full time course is the best way forward. Something I read on here recently stated apprenticeships were much much better now and should be worth investigating more. I think I need convincing, for his sake.
The engineering apprenticeship within the RN is stonkingly good....... but not really where he wants to go!
Most jobs can and will be automated. Everyone thinks it will happen but not to their career.
Don’t worry though, when jobs go a universal income will arrive and we’ll all live in some kind of nirvana of social equality and wellbeing.
I expect jobs involving sports and creativity will last longest, I don’t want to go to a play where robots are acting or see paintings done by computers or music created by algorithms.
Don’t worry though, when jobs go a universal income will arrive and we’ll all live in some kind of nirvana of social equality and wellbeing.
I expect jobs involving sports and creativity will last longest, I don’t want to go to a play where robots are acting or see paintings done by computers or music created by algorithms.
Nanook said:
I was staying at a mates at the weekend. We're both mid 30s, his son is 9 (ish) and wants to be an engineer.
As someone who studied engineering for 4 years, and has forged a fairly respectable career out of it so far, I cannot reccommend it.
The guy I was staying with owns a painting and decorating company, and him, along with a couple of my mates that own their own gas/central heating companies have more job security, more money, and a better work/life balance than most people I know.
Everyone needs plumbers, heating, electricity in their house, and AI isn't about to change that.
Not everyone needs complex warship hulls designed. If/when the work here eventually dries up, my experience and qualifications will be worth next to f
k all.
My wife works in finance, it strikes me as being boring as fk, but easy enough to get a hang of, I've considered it as an alternative if it comes to it.
Can echo these thoughtsAs someone who studied engineering for 4 years, and has forged a fairly respectable career out of it so far, I cannot reccommend it.
The guy I was staying with owns a painting and decorating company, and him, along with a couple of my mates that own their own gas/central heating companies have more job security, more money, and a better work/life balance than most people I know.
Everyone needs plumbers, heating, electricity in their house, and AI isn't about to change that.
Not everyone needs complex warship hulls designed. If/when the work here eventually dries up, my experience and qualifications will be worth next to f
k all.My wife works in finance, it strikes me as being boring as f
k, but easy enough to get a hang of, I've considered it as an alternative if it comes to it.Studied engineering myself and masters and PhD and and and.... first few jobs were very interesting and fun. Dire pay and poor job security. On two occasions the company I worked for went bust! But engineering is a hard place for small start ups. Its costs a fortune for hardware, software and getting things built before you've even sold a single item or service. Since started at a larger company, but the pay still isn't great considering my skills.
OH works for a large firm doing H&S stuff. Earns way more and essentially, is an easy job. Anyone could do it if they just think sensibly and can deflect the waves of crushing boredom that emanate from every risk assessment. Worth getting H&S quals like the diploma or NEBOSH or something though and is a great job for people who like to chat and tell others what to do and what not to do.
Uncle is a plumber/heating "engineer" and also fits bathrooms, kitchens etc. If he really wanted to he could be at work all hours and wallpapering his downstairs toilet with £50 notes. Instead he's selective and just does the jobs he wants, and not that many of them. Spends a lot of his time playing computer games or going SCUBA diving. He just makes sure to do enough jobs to just enjoy the things he likes and no more. Excellent work life balance. But it is a job with a lot of manual labor, and there will be a point where it becomes a lot more physically challenging to do the work.
Me? well I feel like I've worked flat out since January and could probably book at least a week of with just Flexitime. Spent most of my hours (including time I should have been asleep) at work and all because no one thinks to ask the engineers whether x,y,z is possible or how long it might take or what things need to be in place to support it.
However, my game plan is becoming one of those clueless managers that tells others what to do whilst they mutter under their breath what an idiot I am
Ai and other automated impacts on jobs is, IMO, a red herring and an old one at that. The same 'threats' were being pumped down my throat in the 80s and all that came to pass is better computers needing more people to do programming. Far from the threat of employment annihilation that was espoused at the time and I really don't see that changing in the working lifetime of teenagers today.
My daughter's 23 now and doing very well in Environmental Management. Our advice to her centred around the subjects that seemed to interest her and stimulate her and her natural abilities in science. All we did there was to channel her thinking towards a particular field which in turn focused her interest in certain uni subjects.
My Son's 19 and not academic but very practical so for him, we encouraged him to look at the trades where he developed an interest and - it seems - some skills in electrical installations.
Our over-ridding advice to both was that regardless of what you end up doing, be the best at it.
My daughter's 23 now and doing very well in Environmental Management. Our advice to her centred around the subjects that seemed to interest her and stimulate her and her natural abilities in science. All we did there was to channel her thinking towards a particular field which in turn focused her interest in certain uni subjects.
My Son's 19 and not academic but very practical so for him, we encouraged him to look at the trades where he developed an interest and - it seems - some skills in electrical installations.
Our over-ridding advice to both was that regardless of what you end up doing, be the best at it.
My son did 13 yrs with the RAF, left last year. He wanted a job that couldn't be "offshored", so is now an apprentice electrician. He got some qualifications with resettlement money, and is now with a company putting him through day release. Couple of years, fully qualified sparks. Hard to see how that can be done by machine.
His RAF quals were sadly not transferable from a financial point of view.
His RAF quals were sadly not transferable from a financial point of view.
When I left school about 8 years ago, the advice from the careers woman was to go to university, despite the fact I hated school.
Went to college to do a levels, hated it, flunked out, got a apprenticeship involving maintenance of fire detection and protection (not even a proper apprentiship or degree) and enjoyed it. Now I earn at least £10k more than my friends who are solicitors, junior doctors etc.
If I was 16 again, I would go into thatching or stone mason Work. Brilliant skill
Lots of jobs will be lost to automation, especially all these pointless ones where woman are all sat in a office doing admin badly. Hopefully that will mean less mistakes.
We are already seeing wages improve due to lack of staff, in the last 6 months I’ve noticed the basic wage for someone in my role has gone up at least 3-5k on indeed.
With the increase in tech means a increase in people needed to maintain it. The government needs to continue a big push towards apprenticeships and make university less attractive for people doing utterly pointless degrees where the come out with no job and lots of debt. University should be available to everyone, but only if it’s worth while. I’ve always said they should base the tuition fees on a scale. So a doctor doesn’t pay anything, neither does a scientist, but someone doing photography should pay a larger amount.
Went to college to do a levels, hated it, flunked out, got a apprenticeship involving maintenance of fire detection and protection (not even a proper apprentiship or degree) and enjoyed it. Now I earn at least £10k more than my friends who are solicitors, junior doctors etc.
If I was 16 again, I would go into thatching or stone mason Work. Brilliant skill
Lots of jobs will be lost to automation, especially all these pointless ones where woman are all sat in a office doing admin badly. Hopefully that will mean less mistakes.
We are already seeing wages improve due to lack of staff, in the last 6 months I’ve noticed the basic wage for someone in my role has gone up at least 3-5k on indeed.
With the increase in tech means a increase in people needed to maintain it. The government needs to continue a big push towards apprenticeships and make university less attractive for people doing utterly pointless degrees where the come out with no job and lots of debt. University should be available to everyone, but only if it’s worth while. I’ve always said they should base the tuition fees on a scale. So a doctor doesn’t pay anything, neither does a scientist, but someone doing photography should pay a larger amount.
Demand for healthcare roles will only ever increase as the population ages and a robot can't do it.
Even in your example, the robots that are used are there to assist surgeons, not replace them. They'll never be replaced entirely.
There are so many health roles, if you can find one you like you'll be set for life. You can travel with the skills too.
Even in your example, the robots that are used are there to assist surgeons, not replace them. They'll never be replaced entirely.
There are so many health roles, if you can find one you like you'll be set for life. You can travel with the skills too.
Nanook said:
My wife works in finance, it strikes me as being boring as fk, but easy enough to get a hang of, I've considered it as an alternative if it comes to it.
I work in Finance. I can second what your wife says but (a) it’s easy and (b) it pays well k, but easy enough to get a hang of, I've considered it as an alternative if it comes to it.
My eldest works in Law, specialising in Family. Pay is rubbish but I’m not sure if they’re ever going to build a robot capable of dealing with some of the dregs of society that she has to deal with.
No 2 wants to work in IT/Cyber security which I think is a good choice.
Youngest want to work in Civil Engineering
Countdown said:
Nanook said:
My wife works in finance, it strikes me as being boring as fk, but easy enough to get a hang of, I've considered it as an alternative if it comes to it.
I work in Finance. I can second what your wife says but (a) it’s easy and (b) it pays well k, but easy enough to get a hang of, I've considered it as an alternative if it comes to it.My eldest works in Law, specialising in Family. Pay is rubbish but I’m not sure if they’re ever going to build a robot capable of dealing with some of the dregs of society that she has to deal with.
No 2 wants to work in IT/Cyber security which I think is a good choice.
Youngest want to work in Civil Engineering
CoolHands said:
No one wants to be a teacher?
I am but can’t recommend it.
My eldest.... finishes his degree this summer.... bit of travelling and is then hoping to disappear off to China to teach. Really excited for him..... apparently there is a good market for GB teachers out there. I am but can’t recommend it.
Countdown said:
I work in Finance. I can second what your wife says but (a) it’s easy and (b) it pays well
My eldest works in Law, specialising in Family. Pay is rubbish but I’m not sure if they’re ever going to build a robot capable of dealing with some of the dregs of society that she has to deal with.
No 2 wants to work in IT/Cyber security which I think is a good choice.
Youngest want to work in Civil Engineering
No robot lawyers? My eldest works in Law, specialising in Family. Pay is rubbish but I’m not sure if they’re ever going to build a robot capable of dealing with some of the dregs of society that she has to deal with.
No 2 wants to work in IT/Cyber security which I think is a good choice.
Youngest want to work in Civil Engineering
How about http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-41829534 !!
There will be a raft of jobs that will disappear to automation/robotics....but new jobs we can't imagine will also come up. IT/cyber security is not a bad shout.
For ours, my overriding recommendation to them is to find something that really interests them & pursue it - as someone else said, be really good at it. If you enjoy what you do, you won't work a day in your life!
CoolHands said:
No one wants to be a teacher?
I am but can’t recommend it.
My daughter went into teaching after her degree. Loved the classroom bit even in a challenging secondary school. Couldn't stand the hours spent at home on lesson prep and marking.I am but can’t recommend it.
She was doing 7 till 5:30 at school and alt least 15 hours at home evenings and weekends.
All for 21k.
Left after 2 years and is loving her 9 to 5 HR job. The teaching experience was fantastic and will help her in current and future jobs and if the teaching situation ever does improve, she can always go back to it. Meanwhile she feels she has got her life back.
He might want to take a read of this:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/100-Year-Life-Living-Work...
Careers as we know them are going to change dramatically.... And none of them are "safe"!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/100-Year-Life-Living-Work...
Careers as we know them are going to change dramatically.... And none of them are "safe"!
Some genuinely interesting views here. I can't help thinking that there will be more change than most can conceive. Bear in mind just he infrastructure changes that will result from the use of driverless cars. It'll happen whether we (petrolheads) like it or not. What will happen with petrol stations? Will they just become car parks/charging stations (the cost of decontaminating the soil after the tanks are removed is considerable so may stop developers using these sites as resi opportunities)? Someone will need to build very large warehouses to park the fleets in (that you'll call off on your app). Reduced need for parking everywhere, reduced income for the local authorities; more land to build houses on that people can't afford because their job doesn't exist anymore and they are too old to retrain; no income for central govt on parking and speeding fines; how will car insurance work when there are so many components that may cause 'an incident'?
So many questions to exercise the grey matter!
So many questions to exercise the grey matter!
I think caution needs to be taken in directing anyone towards a certain career. I always wanted to be a mechanic. My mum said "no way its a horrible dirty job." I then chose an environmental type degree as here in NI it was really kicking off with Europe and farming practices. It was the great sector to be in. I temped for a year in the local Agency and then was told contract wasn't being renewed. Shortly after that the jobs dried up and now they are reducing size of Agriculture, Environmental Dept.
Thankfully I managed to sidestep into GIS and it has been hugely useful in any job interview.
I still hanker after mechanicing as it is becoming an increasingly cleaner and more profitable job involving computers etc.
My overall opinion... Education is ok but real experience is key.
Thankfully I managed to sidestep into GIS and it has been hugely useful in any job interview.
I still hanker after mechanicing as it is becoming an increasingly cleaner and more profitable job involving computers etc.
My overall opinion... Education is ok but real experience is key.
mikeiow said:
No robot lawyers?
How about http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-41829534 !!
I'm not saying "never" but her clients seem to be the most illogical unreasonable people in Society. For example she deals a lot with children being taken into care where Mum is literally incapable of looking after herself let alone 5 kids with 7 different dads. Or couples who are going through a divorce where the woman has been treated like dirt and keeps changing her mind every 5 minutes about whether she wants to divorce Mr Scumball. It's pretty stressful and the pay is rubbish, however she gets something called "Job satisfaction" out of it and has even talked about becoming a social worker!!How about http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-41829534 !!
We've discussed nothing but with our two. They have chopped and changed so many times over the last few years. We have always tried to get them to at least talk to people who we know in that field to see if the job actually matches what our children think the job is. This has talked them out of a number of jobs better than we could have.
Our son is current @ Cambridge Uni for their law conference targeted at year 12s. I think he has finally found the subject for him.
My daughter is still umming and errring between maths/physics career or something more in engineering. She has a few placements including at a couple of Unis and engineering firms over the coming months to give the courses a proper look over.
I feel that the careers team at the school should be doing this for all the children, far better to have actually tried the career before doing it.
Our son is current @ Cambridge Uni for their law conference targeted at year 12s. I think he has finally found the subject for him.
My daughter is still umming and errring between maths/physics career or something more in engineering. She has a few placements including at a couple of Unis and engineering firms over the coming months to give the courses a proper look over.
I feel that the careers team at the school should be doing this for all the children, far better to have actually tried the career before doing it.
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