Amanda Rose: How to future-proof your career now

The future of work is here and most employees are not prepared. A workplace expert explains how to make yourself future proof.

Many people are not prepared for the future of work and the changes that are coming.

I think they are more in the dark than in denial.

There is not enough communication about the roles that are going to disappear.

We talk about the ones that are coming, but which are going to be non-existent in five or 10 years?

Kids need to know before they finish school.

What jobs and degrees should they be going for?

Is their dream job going to exist in the future?

Technology changes are impacting many roles, including in manufacturing.

I would still encourage people to pursue manufacturing but perhaps advanced manufacturing – the automation side of it.

Amanda Rose is encouraging workers to research before starting a career path. Picture: Monique Harmer

Supermarkets are an example of somewhere entry level roles are disappearing.

McDonalds was once known as the place to go to get experience in how to work and management and processes, but if they don’t have that in the future, due to automation, where are they getting that experience?

The business of automation is to save money.

It has nothing to do with the people.

Yes, new roles are being created but not at the same rate that industries are wanting to automate.

We need to find ways to get kids into management and prevent kids from not working at all.

Give people the opportunity to be trained up in the areas that the job market is heading.

When deciding on a line of work, go back to basics and ask yourself: what can’t they automate?

Technology is changing the way jobs are done. Picture: iStock

The answer is trades and teaching.

You can automate components but you still need people for trades and you still need teachers.

Look at industries that are solid, stable and consistent, then look at STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths) careers.

If you have no ideas, you need to be asking more questions.

Ask your teachers, do research, reach out to people on LinkedIn.

Remember the work experience days?

Even experienced workers need their own work experience journeys.

I often ask companies “Can I be a part of something to see how it is done?”

It’s great if I want to understand how a department is run.

For example, I went and got work in infrastructure because I wanted to know how it worked. Get the experience and go for it.

Amanda Rose is a business consultant, workplace trainer, LinkedIn influencer and founder of six organisations – and now she is tackling your career questions for SMART Daily every week.

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Originally published as Amanda Rose: How to future-proof your career now