Are You Ready for the Future of Work?

Much debate is swirling since the election about the future of the American worker. What skills do you need to ensure you have a job not just now, but in the years to come? How do you position yourself for a career change? How do you even know what the careers of the future will be? How do you brand yourself for success?

What education do you need and how can you finance it?

One of the biggest questions for the jobs of the future is what skills and education will be required to get and keep those jobs? More jobs now require at least some college education, particularly jobs in the growing fields of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). Yet there still are 29 million middle class jobs that pay between $35,000 and $75,000 a year for workers without bachelor’s degrees, according to a joint study by Georgetown University Center on Education and the public policy firm Civic Enterprises. And the good news is that for families saving for their childrens’ education, most 529 Education Savings Plans allow vocational training fees and books to qualify. (Check with your tax advisor for details.) In fact, you’d be surprised some of the educational expenses that can qualify to use these tax-advantaged savings, according to this US News report.

Is coding in your future?

Some have surmised that coding will be the new juggernaut, replacing blue collar work as a reliable income-producing job. Think of it as a new take on the James Taylor song “Millworker” song featured in the show WORKING: “It’s me and my machine for the rest of the morning…and the rest of my life.” Now the machine is a computer, not a mill. Coding can be color-blind and, unlike manual labor jobs, gender neutral. There are many initiatives to ensure that coders aren’t only white men. Girls Who Code has a national network of clubs and summer immersion programs to ensure young women get access to this steady career. CodeStart is another program geared towards low-income urban youth. More high schools are adding computer coding to their list of classes, as are vocational programs at community colleges, not just four-year college programs. Some companies aren’t looking to colleges, and are creating their own coding courses. In Kentucky, BitSource founder Rusty Justice is retraining miners to become programmers. In an interview with WIRED he is quoted as saying “Coal miners are really technology workers who get dirty.” To jump into coding, try #LinkedInLearning Coding bootcamp.

But what about those decent, manual labor-based jobs?

There are many of us who are kinesthetic doers and like getting our hands dirty. We find joy in manual activities. My own field of film production is filled with people who are gaffers, grips, engineers, editors, camera operators, set decorators, riggers, construction chiefs, and more for whom a key component of their jobs is physical. And they love it. This is also true of many jobs in the arts, construction, surgery, dental care, chiropractic, athletics, cooking, and more. So when we look at the jobs of the future, we need to strike a balance between those jobs that are purely cerebral and those that are physical. And we need to acknowledge that many people who thrive in a physical job like coal mining may not thrive in a desk job like coding.

We need dignified work for all types of people. Bringing back vocational classes to American high schools (what we used to call “shop”), is one starting point. Families need to get vocal about adding these programs, and push back against the “everyone goes to college” mentality that pervades our high schools so that students interested in more vocational training don’t feel like second class citizens. Many companies are turning away work because they don’t have the trained workforce to do it. Take, for example, AccuRounds Inc., a Massachusetts company that makes precision-machined parts for industries, whose CEO told the Boston Globe he recruits heavily from voc-ed schools from his region to make up for gaps in the workforce.

What other skills make workers successful?

People often focus on the specific skill sets needed for a particular career. But what ultimately makes people successful isn’t just the hard skills. It’s the so-called soft skills that really matter—building relationships, problem-solving, working as part of a team. One key soft skill in today’s environment is knowing how to build your personal brand online. That means learning how to promote your core values through social platforms. What I mean by core values is HOW you work and WHY you care about a particular profession, not the details of WHAT you do. Soft skills like reliability, persistence and creativity are valued by virtually all employers.

How do you reinvent yourself?

The biggest challenge facing today’s workers face is having to reinvent themselves, often mid-career. According to Steven Laymon, interim dean of continuing and professional studies at the University of Virginia, in an interview about career pivots with The Washington Post “Digital technology, the ubiquity of data and the globalization of work will be these evolutionary drivers that change people’s jobs on an ongoing basis.” One of the best ways to reinvent your career is to go back to school. But sometimes that is cost-prohibitive or you just don’t know exactly which subject matter or degree to pursue. That’s where technology can lend a hand. Some of the best training and retraining tools are available through the internet. Right here, with #LinkedInLearning courses available on such wide-ranging topics as accounting, project management for creative projects and blended learning for educators. So take the opportunity to amp up your skills, plan a career change, or take your existing career to the next level.

Extending your career brand

Branding yourself is an important part of building and sustaining a career. The most important part of good branding promotes your “how” skills. I recently gave a talk to film school students on how to develop their brand as they evolve their careers. Many people think this means talking a lot about yourself and your work. Not true. Your professional brand includes not just what you for a living, but the many facets of what makes you unique. These can include your personal interests and hobbies. One of my favorite bloggers owns a home construction company, Patterson Builders-Remodelers LLC. Through his social posts, he shares remodeling tips, behind-the-scenes videos of work in progress, and--most importantly--his philosophy of building and respect for the tools and process. You’re not seeing so much of what it is he does as how he does it, and why he is passionate about it. This is a great example of how good branding has less to do with touting your specific job skills and much more to do with intangibles—in this case, Mike Patterson’s eye for detail, and a genuine love of his work.

Whatever career path you are on, today’s market requires that you constantly retool your skills, rebrand yourself, and reimagine your future. It’s time to get started on these new “3 R’s” for the American worker.

Amy DeLouise  is a freelance video director-producer, and author of The Producer’s Playbook: Real People on Camera (Routledge) as well as author of three #LinkedInLearning courses related to video writing, production and post production.

About the photo: 1911, A young spooler at work in a Roanoke, VA Cotton Mill; Lewis Wickes Hine, photographer, National Child Labor Committee Records.