While some may choose to follow their passion, and a few may inherit careers and businesses from their families, a majority are left to beg the question: What is in store for me?
According to The Future of Jobs 2018 report: “New technology adoption drives business growth, new job creation and augmentation of existing jobs, provided it can fully leverage the talents of a motivated and agile workforce who are equipped with futureproof skills to take advantage of new opportunities through continuous retraining and upskilling.”
In many industries and countries, the most in-demand occupations or specialties did not exist a decade or even five years ago, and the pace of change is only set to accelerate.
So what’s on the cards and trending right now?
Cyber security
Connectivity and cybercrime go hand in hand and those who are experts in the area of information security, Internet crime prevention, and digital crime investigation are primed to be Masters of the Matrix.
App Developers
According to Nielson, 89% of consumer time spent on media is through mobile apps — no wonder that Android and iOS App developers are in popular demand. Apple leads the charge for an aspirational career with its annual WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference), on an exclusive application basis only.
Urban Planning
The new buzz word – Smart City. A smart city is an urban development vision to integrate multiple information and communication technology (ICT) solutions in a secure fashion to manage a city’s assets – the city’s assets include, but not limited to, local departments information systems, schools, libraries, transportation systems, hospitals, power, etc. Enter the Smart Planner, combining urban growth with tech expertise.
International Relations
A connected world is also the perfect foil for experts in Internationals relations, where analysis and understanding of foreign policy are considered against a backdrop of globalization. This career just came into its own big time.
Digital Marketing Specialist
As the buyer journey morphs into the online world, marketing follows down the rabbit hole. Social media Execs, Market Research Data Miners, Online experts, Big Data Analysts, and SEO specialists rule and online analytics are the new playground. When was the last time you received an offer by post?
Social Influencers/Bloggers
To put it in perspective, there are multi-million dollar social influencers and bloggers out there that started with one person or a group of individuals following their passion.
Huffington Post — Founded by Kenneth Lerer, Andrewe Breitbart, Jonah Peretti, and the eponymous Arianna Huffington.
TechCrunch — Founded and created by Michael Arrington in 2005
Gawker — A New York City based blog founded by Nick Denton, that offers news and gossip on “all things Manhattan”.
Start small, aim high…the Huffington Post is the world’s most popular blog with 110 million unique monthly users.
Chief Listening Officer
Just when you thought there couldn’t be any more C ‘something’ O combination of job titles — this role is a step up from the social media manager job and trending right now. The CLO keeps an eye on all social media activity, as well as face-to-face communication with customers i.e. how effective is the company’s communication efforts.
Chief People Officer
A CPO is the highest rung of the Human Resources ladder, responsible not only for a company’s staff, but also its culture — in other words, its values, ethics, mission, and how it creates a working environment in which employees can thrive. According to LinkedIn, 80 percent of a company’s operating expenses are talent-related, so this looks like a key growth opportunity rather than an HR brand refit.
Mechatronics Engineer
Another traditional skill split open by a tech attack. Mechatronics is a blend of mechanics, electronics, information technology, and computers. Perfect for the modern Millennial, it provides entry into electrical or mechanical engineering as before, but also software development.
Cloud Services Specialist
These are the tech experts proficient in the devices, mechanisms, and tech of cloud storage technologies and services. In the 5 years up to 2013 alone, cloud computing specialist jobs saw growth of a staggering 1,700%. A safe bet for a good career choice.
This is not to say that this list is definitive by any means and familiar roles still have career longevity. For example, registered nurses ranked as the number one biggest growing occupation.
The key factor will be time to entry and lifestyle flexibility for Gen Y, with work/life balance and variety on top of their list.
Now that you are familiar with trending careers, take a look at how to build a strong social media presence for your personal and professional gains.
Andrie Steliou
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