The world is changing fast. It wasn’t that long ago that
lifetime employment was a genuine reality for many; sons following in their
father’s footsteps. This may not have been the most lucrative career, but you
were pretty certain that you would have a job for life; and during this same
period interest rates encouraged people to save for retirement, where you could
actually get a reasonable return on a basic savings account. But in the early
21st century neither are on the short-term radar for the future – so what does
this mean for future generations and what advice should parents be giving their
children.
Just getting a solid education these days puts a
youngster in debt right from the start – often with no guarantee of a job; and
this is in first world countries like the US and the UK. Universities have
become businesses looking to make short term profit, rather than institutions
trying to match ‘local’ and ‘global’ manpower needs in different disciplines.
At the same time too many large organisations are abusing
basic corporate governance requirements to make that extra buck for their
shareholders. The recent scandal of VW cheating on the calculating and
reporting of data on their vehicle emissions; quickly followed by Mitsubishi is
another example of corporate greed; which seems to have become the rule rather
than the exception. A further case in point being the banking sector; where we
now see banks around the world cutting staff in the thousands after operating
some shady deals prior to and during the financial crisis.
So how and what should we teach the next generation to be
street smart when it comes to their career planning?
There’s nothing wrong with a college or university
education if (1) you know what you are getting yourself into from a financial
perspective and (2) the subject and institution you choose will give you a
‘step-up’ onto the job and career ladder. Only kids from wealthy families can
consider just doing a degree for the ‘fun of it’ in the future; and even in
this case it’s pretty irresponsible of the wealthy parents to encourage it.
So what to do? There’s a strong agreement these days for
becoming skilled in either a profession or a trade. But if you decide to go
through the university route without a guarantee of employment afterwards, it’s
worth having a solid ‘plan b’ in place that you can fall back on.
In fact with employment no longer being guaranteed it’s
worth every young person having a ‘plan b’ career up their sleeves, where they
know that they can always earn some form of a living regardless of what’s happening
in the business world around them.
First, future generations should try to get as much
‘business’ exposure as possible during their school years – taking on holiday
jobs, in both the profit and non-profit sector. It doesn’t matter if this is
hard, manual labour or basic ‘station fill’ jobs – what it does is makes the
kid aware of what work is like and all about. Where they learn as much from the
job as they do from the peers they are working with.
Second, parents should encourage future generations to
learn a trade that they can either focus on as a career; or as their ‘plan b’
to fall back on if and when they need too. This could be learning a trade in
areas such as plumbing; electrical repairs/installation; construction; brick/stone
masonry; carpentry; welding; etc. Having a fall back ‘skill’ will give you that
confidence and assurance that you’ll always be able to earn some kind of living
should you ever find yourself struggling to find employment and this is very
smart thinking in today’s world.
Thirdly, become qualified in a hobby or sport that you
love - this could be by becoming qualified as a personal trainer; or a coach in
your favourite sport; a diving, skiing or surfing instructor – there are so
many areas where you can combine a fall back qualification with something you
love. You may not earn a fortune if you have to fall back on this as your main
income stream – but at least you’ll be earning something while you hunt for
that dream job. It also has a positive psychological effect on the individual,
at a time when it’s easy for the job loss and subsequent job search to have a
negative impact on ones wellbeing.
Finally if you have a love for languages then become
fluent in one (or more) and you’ll always be able to act as a translator or a language
teacher if your career suddenly suffers.
I’m not sure who’s teaching today’s younger generation
how to plan to survive going forward in their lives. In some elements of
communities around the world there seems to be an entitlement mentality – where
some of today’s youth feel it’s their governments responsibility to give them a
job – and not just any job, but a job they actually enjoy – and if the
government can’t do that, then they should provide them with some form of
social welfare so they can live without any really worry. This hypothesis is
doomed to failure and sadly those that suffer are the youth. Is it all their
fault – I’m not convinced it is. They see and read about ‘fat cat’ business men
and politicians ripping off the very people they are supposed to be supporting –
and probably feel that life is unfair and that they should be given a break
too.
Sadly victim mentalities aren’t what the world needs to
grow and prosper. ‘We’ have a lot of work to do going forward into the future –
not just creating jobs, but ensuring there is access to enough water etc, as
the population continue to grow across the world. So what the world is
experiencing now is just the tip of the iceberg in respect of what the future
holds.
In fact we knew 50 years ago that technology would make
some jobs redundant or less human intensive – and yet there doesn’t seem to
have been any real, clever forward manpower planning to strategize about how we
create enough work for first world, let alone third world, populations – where citizens
can at least earn a living wage.
Until we have politicians and top business leaders who
can think beyond the moment – we need to encourage and teach our youth basic
survival skills in the current global economy. As until there is real change it
will not just be survival of the fittest but survival of the smartest – and with
that in mind everyone should have a fall back ‘plan b’ career that they can
fall back on and earn some money – should they find themselves without a job.
