Preparing students for the future of careers

Today’s career landscape is changing at such a rapid pace that even those with established careers are finding it a challenge. Sensemaking, awareness, adapting, and foreseeing are all key skills needed to navigate the future of careers as traditional pathways are being disrupted. But

Dealing with ambiguity

The World Economic Forum suggests that 82% of organisations are ‘actively reinventing’ themselves with the increased usage of generative AI. Whilst it is creating efficiencies, they state that the next phase will be organisational transformation. As organisations move beyond experimenting with AI, the focus will shift to augmenting AI more seamlessly into the workplace. How we define work, value and impact will be transformed from traditional work practices.

For higher education institutions, this presents a challenge when it comes to preparing emerging talent. Curriculums are having to adapt fast to incorporate hybrid environments, experiential learning and enterprise education to ensure students have the skills to meet industry demands. Greater cross-disciplinary collaboration within education and better integration with employers is needed to understand how employability can span across traditional boundaries. Dealing with ambiguity is inevitable for those entering the workplace so they’ll need to build resilience and be open to opportunities that they may not have considered before.     

Broader expectation setting

We’ve conditioned people, from a young age, to think about the one job title they want to be when they’re older. We’ve re-emphasised this through career guidance that helps individuals find a specific career path based on subjects they’ve chosen to study. However, this mindset can close people off to opportunities that they may not have considered or even heard of before.

As roles are adapting with some disappearing completely and new ones emerging, the goals we once held as important are now becoming restrictive. Data-driven organisations are breaking roles down into tasks that need to be done and skills required to complete them. How work gets distributed may be based on skills rather than job titles. Helping individuals set broad expectations means that their future career is based on available preferred opportunities rather than defined roles that may cease to exist in the way we’ve known them. 

Multi-directional thinking

Hierarchical thinking has been the standard approach for many years when we think about how we interact with colleagues at work and progress our careers. Whilst organisations have trended towards becoming flatter over time, we still haven’t yet reached the point where distributed, autonomous workplaces are mainstream. But individuals can benefit from multi-directional (heterarchical) thinking as it offers a more fluid, dynamic approach to workplace interactions and progression.

As we increasingly outsource decision-making to AI-enabled technology, hierarchies will be challenged. How much this changes dynamics remains to be seen, but this transition automatically makes decision-making more distributed and decentralised. By preparing emerging talent to consider multi-directional career opportunities, rather than a traditional ladder, or enabling them to facilitate multi-directional interactions, such as working on cross-functional projects, we help them multiply the amount of possible opportunities available to them.

The new career language

Driven by the latest technologies, HR products on the market are creating a new common language that applies to talent, careers and workforce planning. Traditional data points such as job titles or qualifications are being replaced with more granular data such as skills and tasks when it comes to talent management. 

Job titles and qualifications can be static and inconsistent when it comes to having a broad understanding of their relevance. If you compare the work of people with the same job titles or the content of the same qualifications from different institutions, there will be variance in their composition.

Mapping skills and tasks across an organisation allows companies to have more sophisticated talent intelligence which can inform decision making and help them remain competitive. Taxonomies and ontologies are enabling HR products to be dynamic, meaning tools such as career frameworks, organisational charts, talent marketplaces and skills/work profiles can update and adapt in real time. However, in order to secure work opportunities, emerging talent need to be able to articulate the skills they have and the type of tasks that motivate them so alignment is clear.   

Prioritise human connection

The noise is currently centred around technology, the advances being made in AI and the impact that is having on jobs. Students are unsure how or when to use AI as a candidate or employee, as often the guidance is lacking as employers are figuring out the new standards. But what is being overlooked is the importance of prioritising human connection, which gets less air time in the conversation about work, jobs and careers.

Underpinning the future of careers will be the increased need for human connection. Emerging talent can learn new skills and knowledge relating to AI, but if they struggle to connect with others, build relationships and leverage their earned network, they will face career limitations. It is not enough to just have a profile on LinkedIn if you don’t connect or interact with others to build your network. That’s the equivalent of being in a room at a networking event and talking to no one. We need to teach the importance of understanding how to network and the value it can create.

Transitioning from education to employment can be daunting, but with the current career landscape, this is at a new level. We are all learning and adapting as traditional approaches are being disrupted. Whilst we don’t know all the answers yet to guide students on the future of careers, there is an opportunity to change the language we use, adapt the mindset and expectations we help them build and increase the chances of them fulfilling their potential.