When I was 25 … (Part 2)

This is a continuation of yesterday’s post. This is the second thing I didn’t know back 25 years ago:

Many professions, many job positions

My grandfather and father and I all studied to be electrical engineers. We all presumed we would spend our adult lives working as engineers.

My grandfather worked as an electrical engineer in development at the same telecommunication company his whole working career. My father worked in numerous job positions as an electrical engineer in various telecommunications companies in various countries.

This Karl Fish’s video predicts that today’s learners will have 10-14 jobs by the time they are 38 years old. That seemed like a lot when I first watched the video. Then I sat down and figured out that I’ve already done 18 different job descriptions (listed below for anyone interested) in 26 different paying job positions in the last 35 five years. I wonder how many more job descriptions and positions I will explore in the next twenty years.

As the film states,

“We are currently preparing students for jobs and technologies that don’t yet exist… in order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet.”

In the past, I went to my father or grandfather for advice. I am struggling now, how to cut through this dilemma, or challenge, of helping my children prepare for future jobs we know nothing about.

* Here’s that list of the various job descriptions I’ve done over the years: babysitter, salesperson, waitress, ballet dancer, engineering development, IT archiving, quality control, technical trainer, product management, technical documentation, ESL teacher, crew/cook on sailing boats, media consultant/trainer, translator, layout and graphic designer, e-learning project coordinator, e-learning storyboard writer, university researcher.