I used to be asked in primary school: ‘What will your job be in the future?’. I named in the same breath several professions, yet people asking me that question sniffed at my very second idea. Later on, at the studies, I was asked: ‘Are you sure you will find the job after graduation?’. The time has come for me to ask the question: ‘What does it mean today to work in a given profession?’.
Course of studies at your own terms
Long ago I read in the newspaper that nowadays a young person has few full career paths to go. I was overjoyed; however, I began to wonder how to prepare for that. What to do, so that incompatible interests would sum up in one, reliable whole. Educational diversity instead of being a bookworm? This is it! And you do not even have to study three majors simultaneously. Coursera.org is very helpful in the moments like these. One can choose a programming course from the University of Michigan or the social psychology from Wesleyan University. On top of that, one can also learn from the lecturers from the most renowned universities from all over the world. Study on line-for free. So far, it’s just a titbit for the ambitious. Soon- a necessity.
Heracles or Prometheus?
Among many problems of the contemporary world the way we communicate is not the biggest titbit. However, it may have a major impact on the development of business. If we ignore this problem, we will do it on our own responsibility. Bernie Neville created an extremely accurate and topical metaphor- The Hermes’ metaphor. It depends on showing the two sides of the feud: Prometheus’s and Hermes’. The first represents a trustful and willing to endure a great hardship attitude. The latter, who is at the same time the god of commerce and information and the patron of the information society (where constant change and the speed of message flow is what matters), symbolises the order. Word has it that the young people of today is more like Hermes- they transfer the information quickly, without analysing and creating new ones. For the moment, it is not known, if this is good or bad.
Key skills
A good CV shows our skills. At least this is what the career advisors assure us of. Interestingly, in many instructional videos on the Internet one can see not only the ugly duckling-to-princess makeovers with the use of some new cosmetics, but also CV makeovers. Using em dashes in the experience part is already passé. What matters now are the skills, namely going one step further. It’s not important how you did that- it’s crucial that you gained some skills and you are aware of them. I believe that, especially today, it’s even more difficult to explain the parents, what we do and what our future job will be. Perhaps this discomfort will vanish soon , together with the professions that are becoming things of the past. It would mean that we should quickly find ourselves in the new situations and prepare answers for the questions our parents may ask: ‘Honey, what is it exactly that you do for a living?’
