The funny thing about some historical epochs is that those experiencing the revolutionary change don’t realize they are part of a historical shift. The Industrial Revolution is viewed as a 75 year period. Most people living at the advent of this work paradigm shift had no idea that everything was changing during their lives.
I thought about this yesterday as I navigated my Roku through Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, YouTube and several other apps that would have been viewed as magical when I was a kid… not just a kid… a young adult wasting time looking at movie box covers at Blockbuster.
I thought about this as well when I looked at my phone and all its equally magical apps. As for my computer, let’s just say that I typed my high school papers on a typewriter and used whiteout for mistakes. I guess anyone my age has also lived in a revolution.
A short while ago, the predictable path of college, even for the somewhat aimless, would lead to some reasonable type of job. You could major in just about anything, probably did not need to do all that much during the summer to build your resume, and probably could get hired by some entity looking for a “bright young college grad.” That’s not the case anymore.
More planning is required at a younger age in order to position one effectively for a career. It might seem unusual for teens to start planning careers. But given the college investment it actually makes sense for 16-17 years to give serious thought to what type of college programs can launch them effectively to our new world of work.