What would you tell your kids to do for a living?

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Originally Posted by WideReceiver

I wouldn’t “tell” my kids to do anything. We’ve raised smart kids and raised right. They’ll do well — and are.

Well, "right" is a pretty subjective term these days.

[8 Ball]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

Robots can already do the most basic tasks and its increasing exponentially. Go watch some of the newer insane videos and the monthly progress.

You think we are far off having a robot paint? That super skilled job that college students do it in the offseason with zero training.

Or drywall. Or framing. Or Flooring. Laying Carpet. Roofing.

These aren't hard things. It's coming and it's coming fast.

Electicain, Welder, Hvac, etc will take longer for sure. But the more unskilled trades will be mostly automated in the next decade easily.

Dude, I thought you were just kidding lol. Do you really think robots are gonna roll up to somebody’s house in the next 10 years, carefully pack away their belongings, as discussed with the sales bot, then paint their house? Maybe the new plumbing robot can assess why there’s water dripping through the light fixture in your kitchen, diagnose the issue, and calmly explain what options you have moving forward.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by photon

I hate it already without having to intern, I never loved keeping track on numbers and rules and bureaucracy in the first place!

But it is a fair point, it's definitely possible to have a job that at its core is something you enjoy but there's enough nonsense around the core that the dissatisfaction will outweigh the core enjoyable part. But that seems more like something that could be addressed by changing the situation rather than the entire career.

I guess that's the alternative.. if you aren't doing something you really enjoy, at least do something you're inherently good at so you can make a good living without having to always feel like you're expending your life every day.

Of course! I love going into lock stores, it's all so cool, and lots of tech overlap nowadays.

The only part of my job that I enjoy is genuinely helping people. Helping them out of problems.

Its a big reason that I do not charge anyone for advice. Yes, it is taxing upon my time and mental well-being, but I think it is overall beneficial.

"I havent filed my taxes in a decade+ and nobody will help me!"

Yeah. I can fix that. Thats not even the worst thing I've seen this week. Nobody else is going to touch your file. Because they dont know how or just dont want to. I dont want to either. But someone has to help you and I guess its me. I learned tax accounting on the worst of the worst.

10 years? Child's play for me. I think the longest I've done is 22 years. For 2 people. So 22 years. Each. That was tough.

But fixing problems and fixing taxes? Thats what I do.

I'm on my 4th intern. They cant believe the stuff that I see and do and to them what I do looks effortless. It isnt. It takes a lot of effort, I just have age and experience.

Last year one of my interns got hired on by Deloitte and they ran into something they didnt know how to deal with.

He just says..."Call Locke, my old boss. He'll know what to do. Here's his number."

I get the call and..."Yeah, I know how to fix this, this is what you need to do..."

How do you know this? You didnt even take a breath or put us on hold to look it up!

I didn't have to. I just know it. Its what I do.

I think about that scene from X-Men where Professor X (James McAvoy) looks into Wolverine's mind and is like:

"I dont want your life!"

Yeah. Well. Thems the breaks son. How do you like eating or driving a car? Someone has to pay for that.

Trust me. Peter Gibbons had the right idea. Get outside and use your hands.

Like I always joke about, years ago my Doctor tells me:

"Sitting at a desk all day is bad for your health!"

Wow! Really? No F'ing kidding me! They teach you that in Medical school? I know that Nostradamus.

Its a living.

[Brupal]

Bill Gates Predicts AI Will Replace Many Doctors, Teachers Within 10 Years. Gates recently commented which jobs are “safe” from AI?

While he foresees AI replacing many human roles, he also identified three safe professions, at least for now.

Coders: AI can generate code, but humans are still needed for problem-solving and debugging.
Biologists: AI can assist in research, but it lacks the ability to form new scientific hypotheses.
Energy professionals: AI can optimize energy use, but human expertise is required for crisis management and long-term strategy.

https://www.eweek.com/news/bill-gate...dictions-jobs/

[dissentowner]

Mortician. There is always work.

[Samonadreau]

Originally Posted by Locke

Sorry photon. I like and respect you but I'm going to vehemently disagree with this.

If you do something you love and end up doing it for work, you will eventually and inevitably learn to hate it.

Do something you're good at and that provides a living. Leave the 'stuff you love' for a hobby.

I cannot tell you how many mechanics became that because they loved working on cars. You know how many tool on their own project cars after work?

A very small number.

Its funny you mention this. I have a finishing carpenter buddy that loves to work on cars in his spare time and a mechanic buddy who likes to woodwork as a hobby. if their jobs were reversed so would their hobbies most likely.

[Barnet Flame]

Originally Posted by photon

1. Pick something that you love to do
2. Do that for a job

Then you'll always enjoy your work and will often be better than most at it so will always have a job as long as your entire job type doesn't disappear.

That’s why I’m an internal auditor.

[Manhattanboy]

Almost as important, which I tell young associates: Get good investment and tax advisors who you like right away.

[Snuffleupagus]

In a rapid changing world career planning is tough theses days, you can spend 8-10 years in school to become a doctor and be miserable. the best careers nowadays are something you stumble into. Tells your kids to learn about a lot of things while they're young.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Lol how often do people study one thing and wind up in something almost unrelated to it?

I would say...

Don't do what your parents did just to make them happy (especially those professions that have a long and arduous path to get into). Just cause it's in the family doesn't mean it's necessarily for you. Only your gut will know.

If you don't know what you want to do or even who you are, then go travel. Gather stories and experiences. Seeing places can provide that inspiration or idea. Or you can meet someone in a field that grabs your attention.

The over-justification effect is real for some people. If you'd do something for free because you love it that much, when you're suddenly compensated for it, it can add layers to it that make you hate the thing. Or at least drain the joy out of it.

Maybe doing something adjacent to that thing, or something that borrows or shares some skills with it. i.e. creativity, connecting with people, building/creating things, problem solving.

However there are the odd few who are tops in their field and it's their sole obsession, paid or unpaid. Sometimes you're just built for something - i.e. rappers, musicians, athletes. They're the exceptions though.

I'd say look at what adds value to the world and other people's lives that you can do well. If it's rewarding in that you can make a difference and be a witness to it, then you'll likely work harder at it than a vocation that serves you materially but doesn't enrich people's lives in a tangible way that you can witness firsthand.

The ikigai model is a good one. In the end, you want to be in it for a couple or a few different reasons and not just one (such as financial security alone).

[DoubleF]

I feel like most people understand the concept but butcher the explanation.

"Do what you love" is absolutely incorrect IMO. I certainly would not survive in my career if that was the mantra I lived by. IMO the more accurate mantra is "Do what allows you to derive satisfaction."

There are plenty of things that I dislike about my career but IMO that is probably normal for almost anyone. I don't currently consider whether to change careers because of the satisfaction I occasionally/often derive from my current role.

This is no different for someone who is a musician for their career. Do you think a guitarist loves the calluses on their hands? The frustrations of getting those lyrics and chords correct? Recording and re-recording? Nah. It's probably closer to those peak moments when everything comes together just right where you're soaking in the satisfaction from a great performance, that was possible do to do from all that hard work, right?

Same as an athlete. Practice sucks, injuries suck, workouts aren't that satisfying... but again those peak moments that give you satisfaction from a great performance is probably what keeps you going. You'd do it for the satisfaction, which is attainable only from the hard work. But you don't necessarily do it because you liked the hard work.

IMO the same concept applies towards other things than career. I don't enjoy cleaning, but I'm "happy to do it" so that I can derive the satisfaction of a well organized space. "Happy to do it" is not the same as "doing what I love". But, I guess I can "love" the satisfaction.

Same as a hobby. I don't have to strive for perfection, just satisfaction.

[GGG]

I think you want a profession.

So that’s Engineering, IT, Accounting, Law, Medicine, teaching, any of the Trades. These are all well paid things with specific skills and all have the opportunity to be spun into businesses if you are entrepreneurial.

I think you want to do something you find rewarding, you don’t need to love what you do but you do need to feel some sense of accomplishment when you finish a task. I’m probably 25/75 in terms of love/indifference but completing things and having them work is satisfying.

I think a quest for something you love and something that gives you purpose is a fool hearty quest. But make sure it’s something that gives you something back.

[indes]

The industrial trades suck until you can break into supervision/planning/management (which takes a ton of experience). I completed my journeyman pipefitter ticket in 2011 and the wages are the same now as they were then for the guys on the tools. The work itself isn't that bad and as nice as it is to be outside all day in the summer its brutal in the winter. After being on a desk for a few years I never want to end up back outside doing my trade lol.

Everyone I know that seems to be "upper middle class" is in sales. They all sell whatever, I don't know exactly how one ends up in mine equipment, valve or kenworth sales but they seem to be doing alright.

EDIT: I just wanted to add if you're an industrial tradesman the rates are currently from 45$-55$/hr. The entire industry has been hacking and slashing at all the benefits that used to exist like paid lunches, OT after 40 (yay compressed work week), paid travel, retention bonus, completion bonus. I don't think the squeeze is worth the 100k/yr.

[SutterBrother]

Originally Posted by photon

1. Pick something that you love to do
2. Do that for a job

Then you'll always enjoy your work and will often be better than most at it so will always have a job as long as your entire job type doesn't disappear.

Yup. Video game developer.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by kootenayguy9

Elementary? Middle School? High School? My nephew will be starting his education degree next year as well as he wants to be a humanities teacher like his Uncle . I know as a teacher I feel very fortunate to have the career I do. I really hope she has a successful practicum experience as that is the real test.

She was a snowboard instructor for two years and has been a swim instructor for two years (and counting). She loves to teach.

High school is the current plan. It's the easiest one in terms of time off. You get basically an extra six weeks off because of exams, so she should be sitting pretty with about four months off a year.

Family member teaches English in high school and told her about another hack...you go to Edmonton to mark diplomas if you want easy extra cash.

While no career is easy, teaching is not hard and the time off is extraordinary. It'll set her up for a super chill life with a short career and amazing pension. She'll never have a financial worry or have food/money insecurity for her entire life. My grandma was a teacher, retired at 50 and lived another 49 years with free money rolling in. So stoked to see my daughter on this career path.

[chummer]

Originally Posted by Sliver

While no career is easy, teaching is not hard and the time off is extraordinary. It'll set her up for a super chill life with a short career and amazing pension. She'll never have a financial worry or have food/money insecurity for her entire life. My grandma was a teacher, retired at 50 and lived another 49 years with free money rolling in. So stoked to see my daughter on this career path.

Good for her Sliver, it's a nice feeling when when your son/daughter is doing something they really enjoy and they're financially set (assuming they're good with money) for life. One less worry as a parent.

[photon]

Originally Posted by SutterBrother

Yup. Video game developer.

That's one where you can turn a hobby into a job by making a good game.

[Cheese]

I'm with Troutman, follow their bliss.

Oldest son is a great chef and part owner of restaurant on Van Isle and also a great musician.
Oldest daughter is a teacher.
Youngest daughter is a Graphic artist and travels the world and works from wherever she wants.
Youngest son builds sun rooms in cottage country and loves building things!

They are all apparently very happy which makes me feel the same!

[Sliver]

I've never found any bliss labouring. Great if you can, but not something I'd encourage too much for a couple reasons. Firstly, many people who do that end up hating the thing they once loved when it was a hobby. Two, many of us don't have passions that are marketable.

I think you need to find a job that's 'fine' and try to maximize both your earnings and your free time (actual time and mental space by not constantly thinking about work).

The advice people give is often influenced by the affluence of their upbringing, too. If you came from a house with no financial insecurity then it's much easier to recommend people follow their hearts. If you've come home to find your single mom crying in a puddle on the floor because the furnace broke in a cold snap and she can't afford to fix it, you can't help but roll your eyes at following your dreams in favour of just making some fkn money.

[ripTDR]

Originally Posted by indes

The industrial trades suck until you can break into supervision/planning/management (which takes a ton of experience). I completed my journeyman pipefitter ticket in 2011 and the wages are the same now as they were then for the guys on the tools. The work itself isn't that bad and as nice as it is to be outside all day in the summer its brutal in the winter. After being on a desk for a few years I never want to end up back outside doing my trade lol.

Everyone I know that seems to be "upper middle class" is in sales. They all sell whatever, I don't know exactly how one ends up in mine equipment, valve or kenworth sales but they seem to be doing alright.

EDIT: I just wanted to add if you're an industrial tradesman the rates are currently from 45$-55$/hr. The entire industry has been hacking and slashing at all the benefits that used to exist like paid lunches, OT after 40 (yay compressed work week), paid travel, retention bonus, completion bonus. I don't think the squeeze is worth the 100k/yr.

You are absolutely right that the industrial trades can suck but they can be great too. Was a union pipefitter and never made less than 140k on the tools. The construction side can be tough, but if you you are good you will be in demand and can pick and choose. Know guys that worked strictly winter for the summer off and other guys did the opposite. Anyways, it's a good springboard to get into the specialty type trades like instrumentation and other things. Worked with guys that travel the world setting up LNG tank levelling density readers. Also worked with other guys travelling the world commissioning specialty compressors. For quite some time these jobs will be AI proof, pay very well and in high demand.



I now do maintenance at a small LNG plant and couldn't be happier all from starting in the trades


Editing to add that companies are looking for succession for these specialty trades with older people retiring. They are looking