Learning and career planning
There is a common belief that learning ends after students graduate and have a degree. In this fast changing world, learning should NEVER stop but continue for the entire life. In fact, students who are going to college this year probably will be working in jobs that have not been created yet. Just imagine five years ago, how many students have heard of jobs like Big data analysts, Cloud computing specialists, Internet of things developers, or Artificial Intelligence engineers? Looking back, the iPhone is only ten years old and what has happened in the past ten years? How many mobile apps have been created? How many jobs have been created based on this technology? Technology changes fast, so everybody must continue to learn new things to avoid being eliminated by the job market.
Today high school must teach students how to plan their career; how to develop lifelong learning skills; how to make a quick decision in this fast changing market. Helping students to develop a meaningful career throughout their lives is the most important thing today. I believe that the more high schools provide these training, the better for their students to succeed in their lives. For many decades, high schools have focused the training on general knowledge to pass tests but not much on guiding students to plan for their career and their lives. As a result, many graduates are unable to cope with the fast changing time, they have a degree but could not build a career because they do not know what skills are needed and how to cope with changes.
When teaching in many countries, I noticed that there is a significant difference between U.S. college students and Asian students. Many U.S. students know more about career and often plan them early in high school, but Asian students do not know about career planning. They go to college because their friends are going or because their parents want them to get a college degree. Develop a career and looking for a job is often an afterthought. When teaching in Asia, I often ask students: “What is your goal of education?” Most answers are: “To get a degree.” Or “To get a job.” When I ask: “Then what would you do after getting a degree and a job?” By this time more than half of the class would hesitate, only few answer: “We will think about it later.” Or “Maybe getting married?” or “Make more money?” How many of them understand the difference between a job and a career? How many people are not happy with the job that they have? How many of them are working but worrying about keeping their job? How many of them want something more meaningful in life than just having a job? In this fast changing world, without a lifelong learning attitude, many will NOT be able to keep a job for long. The fact is companies will continue to lay-off people with skills they do not need and hire people with the skills they need.
I believe if the school does not teach students how to plan their career, they will graduate with a disadvantage in their life and continue to live in fear of finding a job or losing their job when the market changes. Even after getting a job, students must continue to learn to find meaningful in their work to make a contribution to their company and country. They should understand that a career should have a positive impact on their country’s economy based on a higher purpose than just making money. A compelling sense of higher purpose can encourage people to engage in learning more about technology trends, creativity, innovation, and commitment.
When students care deeply about higher purpose, they will learn things differently than just passing a test and getting a job. As students, they must ask questions such as: “Is my education important to me? Do I have a real purpose in life?” “Am I willing to learn new things to keep up with the changing market? “ Am I willing to learn more to find something that I am interested in rather just stay on the same job?”
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
