Member-only story
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” “Something that hasn’t been invented yet.”
It’s no longer about being well-prepared for a career. It’s about being ready for the best careers that will be ready when you are.
Q. “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
A. “Something that hasn’t been invented yet.”
Most of us were brought up to study hard, get good grades, choose a college major that would be “practical,” and strive for a “good job.”
Today’s parents have trouble calmly accepting C’s on their own child’s report card. And when the child does get into college, he writes home, “I’m majoring in Byzantine art. It’s cool!”
Talk to a stranded midlife career-changer and you realize the game has changed. Yesterday’s rules prepared us to be passengers on a large ocean liner that promised a smooth voyage. Today we realize that the ocean liner turned out to be the Titanic and we need to keep ourselves afloat on a small life raft if we want to survive.
The old “safe” careers have become leaky life rafts.
When I was growing up, girls were advised to become secretaries, teachers or librarians because “you’ll always have a job.” Secretaries are obsolete. Teachers and librarians increasingly compete for scarce jobs.
