According to a 2023 World Economic Forum on the future of jobs, “AI and Machine Learning Specialists” topped their list of Fastest Growing Jobs. This means the careers kids need to prepare for, and how they plan financially, are vastly different from what previous generations expected. New jobs will exist and current careers will be forever changed.
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So how do you and the education you provide prepare your children for the anticipated job market?
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Embrace Technology-Based Careers
One of the most important things you can do is to encourage your kids to embrace technology. Have them learn to use it to elevate whatever they are passionate about. For instance, At The Core, a career advice site for parents and high school students, suggests that parents encourage their kids to think about the impact of technology when researching careers. In addition, students should see themselves as lifelong learners who emphasize critical thinking, the ability to adapt and to utilize data analysis rather than simply memorizing information.
And while technology will transform kids’ future jobs and the way they work, that does not mean it will eliminate their chances at a rewarding career. After all, the internet has evolved from something that allowed people to buy stuff in their pajamas to (yes, still doing that) something that has created new careers such as website designer, online marketer, social media manager and mobile app engineer. Beyond that, things like streaming services have created an entire niche of high-paying jobs including algorithm and machine-learning engineers.
Stay Positive
The key thing parents can do is to avoid passing on any anxiety about AI and other “job-stealing” technologies to their kids. Tech is here and advancing faster by the nanosecond.
Our tech-fueled future demands that our kids be more practical and creative in their career path and education. Parents cannot accurately imagine what new jobs will be available to their kids, but it’s easy to predict that technology will play a significant role. As such, the only way to future-proof your children’s education is to ensure they remain curious, agile and able to adapt intellectually to new problems, with and without technology; creative thinking might be as important as critical thinking.
In short, the ability to use technology to help foresee and solve unexpected problems, create new use cases and generate opportunities is not just key to their future. It is their future.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Financial Planning: How To Future-Proof Your Child’s Education