This is a changing world, especially in the job market. Don’t stay behind. According to the best-selling author of the book, A Whole New Mind, Daniel Pink encourages us to look to the future of our career in a new way. He suggests that the information age is coming to an end, mainly due to computer automation and outsourcing to Asia. Pink says, “If number crunching, graph reading, and code writing can be done for much less overseas and delivered to customers instantly over a fiber optic cable, that’s where it’s going to go.” the job. Any job that can be reduced to a set of rules is at risk.” If we’re going to stay on the cutting edge of job viability, it’s time to put our industrial-age logical left brain on autopilot and revamp our right brain to remain marketable in the new conceptual age. With logic and analysis increasingly computerized, the job market will look to transferable right-brain skills such as empathy, design, synthesis, and contextual thinking to remain competitive.
So what areas of work should we encourage our children, as well as ourselves, to explore? We’ll see. We will begin to see an influx of work on the less rational theories, such as spirituality, beauty, and emotion. In the past, our left-brained mentality left behind much of the transcendence of our right-brained ones. But today the world is looking for meaning, values, interaction and service. While this change will not happen overnight, it is happening nonetheless. Begin by evaluating and mastering your skills in creating artistic and emotional beauty, spotting patterns and opportunities, giving voice to life’s meaning, and touching people on a personal level. While automation may have left us stumbling in teaching our children values, you will find that teachers will be more involved with life skills, while remaining experts in math, science, English, and traditional education.
You will find music and art returning to the classroom and the job market, because these are the right brain areas for work that will not be outsourced or automated anytime in the near future. This will be your new market.
- In a recent article from Columbus, Ohio, titled Retire Smart, Demand for Teachers Spurs Second Careers, we can already see that those who once retired at age 55 are finding a second career in the desperately understaffed teacher market. Sharon White, who recently retired as a financial analyst at Boeing, has a special interest in second careers for baby boomers. She has enrolled in the Encorps Teacher Program, along with other midlife retirees looking for a new challenge and will find her second career within the classroom.
- Ken and Kathy Robbins recently left Denver, Colorado, where he was an architectural draftsman for an engineering firm and she was in marketing. Relocating to Pennsylvania, the retirees are now living their dream by earning money from their land. With architectural training from him, Ken designed the entire property to produce in areas such as fruit trees, Christmas trees, a berry orchard, a chicken enclosure, beehives, and possibly an alpaca barn. The enterprising couple have also opened a bookstore on Main Street.
- Elise Brownell was recently a high-ranking senior management employee at a California biotech company. With a full PhD training in her chosen field, she, like many around the world, experienced the loss of a job. Using her transferable skills, values and interests, Elise and a partner of hers formed their own service business in the field they knew best. Today, her company, ZephyrBiotech, provides project and executive consulting services to the biotech industry.
BACK TO SCHOOL
Education is going to be important in determining your future career. If you’re going back to school, consider taking a quick retrain in the right-brain areas mentioned above. According to Canadian Alberta Business & Educational Services, help is available both in the classroom and online. Offering training and support (support is a right-brain activity), SAIT director Pierre Larouche explains: “Before there was employer loyalty, people felt they could spend their entire career with just one employer. Today, that trust has been broken. People get laid off, people lose their jobs, so it’s not uncommon for people to have four or five careers in their lives.”
LEARNING STYLES
Before you head back to school, and especially if you’re going on a quick follow-up, learn the learning style that gives you the best ability to excel in your classes. Some people are sensory learners and find it easier to learn through auditory, visual, or kinesthetic tools. Others are types of reasoning, either deductive or inductive. And finally, some learn best through their environment, be it intrapersonal or interpersonal. Once you tailor your learning style around your classes, you’ll find your education in no time. To take your own personal learning styles test, search the web for “study skills learning styles.”
For the success of your career!