The job market is changing constantly with many vocations that were once considered respectable and career-worthy now all but redundant. Similarly, roles that didn’t even exist twenty years ago are now mainstream. It is very hard to know what will work and what won’t in twenty years’ time and for those school-leavers who are preparing to study and enter the world of the employed that is very daunting. Nobody wants to study for four or five years only to discover that the field they were intending to specialise in has been taken over by robots or AI or is simply completely superfluous. With that in mind, here are a few roles that look set to dominate for many years to come.

Learn code

Code is another way of talking about computer language, and there are many of these. A great place to start is by learning to code. If you have some coding skills in your draw that will immediately open up opportunities for you. Not necessarily as a coder, because even that is rapidly losing its cachet and speciality. For many coding is now about accessing libraries of previously written code and compiling it together in a new way to create something different. There are also plenty of app developers Australia or computers coders in New Zealand. The market is full of skilled developers, so there are no guarantees that you will find work as a developer. But being able to code and understand a coding language or languages is good as the field of technology is varied and wide. Think of it as being able to speak Chinese… If you are fluent in Mandarin you are not guaranteed a job, but it opens up the world of opportunities in Chinese related business. The same applies to code.

Independence

One of the biggest changes that have been brought on by the advances in technology in recent times is the shrinking of the world and the democratisation of media. Now anyone can have a voice and you can work for people anywhere in the world. The old idea of getting into a car and heading to the office for eight hours before trudging home again is well past its sell-by date. Now it is about freelancing and creating your own brand. Think YouTube channels and Social Media influencers. Start getting used to the idea of working for yourself; of being a digital nomad and start looking for angles that will help you stand out and succeed.

Conservation

The young generation is far more aware of issues like global warming and the environment that previous generations ever were. Youngsters like Greta Thunberg are leading the way with their activism and millions of young people are behind the idea of taking control of their futures. So, look at studying ecologically focussed courses. Think organic and ethical and conservation. These are the types of endeavours that are going to be supported and needed for decades to come – because the state of the earth is going to get worse still before it starts to get better.