Few people have ever stood on top of Mt Everest. To be the first, took extra special courage. Imagine you were Edmund Hillary, the first man to summit Mt Everest. You needed to plan for something for which no guidelines or instructions existed. You plan as best you can for something that can only be described as uncertain.
This is the same kind of situation we currently experience when we plan for the future.
We are now preparing kids at school for jobs that may be extinct before they retire.
Some of the courses students are studying at present may not even be relevant thirty years from now.
There were times when Shorthand was a school subject that could have helped one land a secretarial job. Nowadays Shorthand means absolutely nothing on a CV. There were times when being a Blacksmith was a good occupation. Nowadays it is an exception and rather seen as an artistic type of craft.
Advances in engineering and technology are already busy replacing many jobs and we do not really know which ones will be the next to be become obsolete. One thing is sure; many people have already lost their employment due to technological advances and had to be trained for something new.
So how do you determine the direction for your life or what advice about future careers do you give your children when we do not know what will be in demand ten or twenty years down the line?
# For job seekers the job market have changed dramatically over the last decade or two. When I set out after school my parents told me to go study so that I could land myself a good job. In those days work was more readily available than now; ±7% unemployment in 1990 versus ±27% unemployed people in 2018.
Therefore you really need to be outstanding in what you do, to land a good job these days.
So the new emphasis in career planning is to find a job that is in line with your talents and the things that you love to do.
This means that it is now increasingly important to know yourself. You need to know you strengths, personality, interests, skills, values, etc. The better you know yourself, the better you can plot a future career.
I believe that entrepreneurship will become increasingly important for people to be employed in future and to be a good entrepreneur you need to play according to your strengths. You still need to study if you can, but a course that matches your strengths.
A Career Direct Assessment will help you determine the right direction for your life (or your son / daughter / spouse / employees). I can assure you, it makes all the difference to know the real you.
For a head start in business, click here to join us at the Business by the Book course on 27 & 28 July 2018 at Val de Vie in Paarl.
