You have little control over today’s (and tomorrow’s)
world of work
➔ Pundits can’t stop themselves from postulating about the world of work. “In 20 years this will happen.” “In 10 years the world of work will look like…” All ranges of experts claim that they have peculiar insight into what tomorrow’s employees will look like and what they will be doing to earn their keep.
The law of averages says that one or two of them may be right – if they’re lucky. Of course, the keyword there is lucky.
What’s luck got to do with it
Some job seekers claim that luck is an integral part of any job search. In some cases, they may be right. Then again, there are those who says that luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.
There is a strong likelihood that neither group is totally wrong.
But job seeking in the 2020's is lot more complicated than any of that. And for job seekers over 50 complicated is putting it mildly.
How is a person beyond the age of 50 supposed to successfully transverse today’s job market? It’s a cinch that you don’t want to rely on luck. It’s also a certainty that your age will lock you out of the job market completely.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that the next generation of work has nothing to do with age. Rather it’s anyone who will can effectively market their skills whatever those skills may be. Of course, increasingly it’s also anyone who can embrace technology – and, increasingly, this means AI.
No one is saying that you need to endure extensive training in AI to become a master of the trend. But at least you should familiarize yourself with the basics of how it works – what it can do and what it can’t do.
As technology evolves, age in the workplace will become less and less of an issue. What will count the most is “What can you do for me today?” What skills do you bring to the table? How adept are you at getting things done? Effective and efficient will trump age at any stage of the race.