‘Tis the season—of well wishes and good cheer, auld lang syne and happy new year. On the brink of a new decade, consider how many times in our lives we get to experience this. Maybe eight, nine times? Ten, if we’re lucky? One of my dad’s brothers is beginning his 11th decade tomorrow, 12 if you count the one into which he was born (that’s right, he’s 105). Born before the Roaring ‘20s, he has certainly lived throughout a rapidly changing period in our history—from world wars, with the Great Depression sandwiched in the middle, to the cold war and man’s travel to the moon… from the earliest days of the Model T to the smart car… from no phone to ubiquitous Bakelite black phones to iPhones… and from looking things up in a library’s encyclopedia to Googling information on an iPad, there’s probably not been a period of more dynamic change than these last 100 years.
So what’s over the horizon as we welcome 2020? How are innovations rapidly coming our way projected to change our lives and, given my keen focus on career management, our jobs and job searches? Where will artificial intelligence and machine learning exact the greatest influence—for folks currently in the workplace, those edging toward retirement/Act 2 and beyond, our still-landing Gen Z “kids,” and Gen Alpha?
One of the greatest things about being in the careers industry is having brilliant, thoughtful colleagues willing to share and brainstorm strategies that can benefit many of those who seek our help. Every fall, for the past decade, Career Thought Leaders hold Career Jam, an event where some of the greatest thinkers and strategists in the field gather at various locations worldwide and virtually to share their projections, their ideas, and their experiences in helping to shape the now and the next for job seekers.
Career Jam 2019 wrapped up a month ago—and among the hottest topics thought leaders collaborated on were impacts of “the new retirement” (the Silent Generation and Baby Boomers not checking out of the work force at age 62), Gen Z’s contributions, diversity and bias in employment, remote work, and, yes, AI and its far-reaching effects across all facets of the world of work. These were just the tip of the iceberg and, in the months ahead, as CareerThoughtLeaders.com publishes an in-depth white paper of all of this year’s findings, I’ll share actionable tips for capitalizing on these trends in today’s job search.
So my eldest uncle—who takes some measure of pride noting that he has collected his pension from DuPont for many more years in retirement than he worked—would experience a far different employment landscape if he were entering the work force today. As I tell all of my students in an undergraduate financial literacy course I teach, you can’t begin too early to save for your future. Those lovely pensions of our grandparents’ and, possibly, parents’ eras are but a memory. Planning for today and for the future is entirely in our hands. And as we celebrate the close of this decade, let’s all take a cup of kindness to welcome the new year!
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About Jan Melnik — The author of Telling Tales: On Merlin’s Island, Executive’s Pocket Guide to ROI Resumes and Job Search, and Adventures in The Wooded Glen
(as well as 6 other career/business start-up books), I have been
crafting branded resumes and LinkedIn profiles for executives, rising
professionals, and new graduates for many years. In addition to my role
as the CMO coach through C-Suite Career Catalysts, I am passionate about
teaching as a business and English professor at the University of South
Florida and Bay Path University. I’d love to connect! Visit
JanMelnik.com to learn more. You can also read about my books at
https://www.amazon.com/author/janmelnik. Coming in 2020: Modernize Your Executive Job Search, co-authored with Louise Kursmark.