I was thinking about the talented students that I teach and wondering what they should be doing TODAY to increase their odds of NOT being one of the future unemployed in our country’s unemployment statistics. But before I give that advice, let’s first look at the composition of the unemployed using the official unemployment statistics as reported by the Government's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for the most recent October 2015 monthly unemployment report:
The current 5.0% official unemployment rate average, down from a 5.8% unemployment rate one year ago, consists of the following subcategories based on educational attainment:
2.5% unemployment for those with a college degree or advanced degree
4.4% unemployment for those with some college or an associate's degree
5.2% unemployment for those with a high school degree (no college)
7.4% unemployment for those with less than a high school degree
7.4% unemployment for those with less than a high school degree
It is easy to see from the above trend that one should pursue as much education as possible! The jobs in today’s advanced economies are clearly geared towards those with advanced skills, and education is the clearest path to get those 21st century skills!
Besides teaching Economics, I also teach Personal Finance. When learning about careers in Personal Finance, I suggest to my students that they should be concerned more majoring in “LIFE”, as an equally important second major to majors such as Marketing, History, Education, Economics, or Political Science. Moreover, they should be just as focused on majoring in LIFE as they are in trying to get accepted to Virginia Tech, James Madison University, the University of North Carolina, or Georgetown. By majoring in LIFE they are more apt to have the best college experience and career possible, and increase their likelihood of never being unemployed.
So, you might be asking, what exactly is this LIFE major?
I’m glad you asked!
LIFE is an acronym for what I, and many others, consider the 4 key skill sets to thrive in 21st Century future careers, which will include a rate of technological, social, and global change never seen before. Those four employment key skill sets for the future are:
Leadership
Interpersonal skills
Flexibility
Emerging technology mastery
Leadership
Are you thinking about how you will learn to become more optimistic and a confident initiative taker and leader? Having been a member of management for many years, prior to becoming a teacher, I learned that companies were always quicker to lay off those that lacked initiative (“it’s not my job!”). Very often, we would somehow find a new job for the employee whose job was going away if they were strong in leadership and initiative. Often, “initiative” hurts, as it causes one to work harder with more stress, which is why so many workers do not exhibit it.
Interpersonal Skills
Tomorrow’s career “winners” will need to take their leadership skills and team with others more so than ever before. The rate of specialization is increasing in our global economy, which necessitates collaborating more effectively than ever to get any job done. Consider reading Thomas Friedman’s The World Is Flat to learn about how specialization and collaboration will continue to increase in any future 21st Century career. Continue to work on your initiative (leadership) and your ability to team successfully with others in all that you do. Don’t be the person who has 5 reasons on why it won’t work, but rather, be the person that can explain to the team the 5 reasons on how it can work!
Flexibility
Those that are not “lifetime learners” or those that do not embrace constant learning may soon be unemployed as the rate of constant change in our globalized world will leave them behind. Strengthen your tolerance to setbacks, or stated more positively, develop into the employee that actually embraces change, even that employee that can envision and lead organizations towards more productive and value-added solutions. If you get “bent out of shape” too easily when your plans go awry, or when you are faced with unforeseen obstacles, it is time to start now, while in high school to change your levels of patience, perseverance, and commitment to success. Flexibility and patience can be learned, it is not genetic.
Emerging Technology Mastery
Embrace and continuously pursue and integrate the latest in technology into your daily life and education. Tomorrow’s employment and career winners will have “in their blood” the ability to be a technology step ahead from the average worker. Start immediately as it is delusional to avoid being an early adopter today and think that somehow you will become an early adopter in the future. Stephen Covey, the famous author on human effectiveness, believes that effective people simply have developed successful habits. Strongly consider taking a computer science course in your freshman year of college or in your senior year of high school if you are a current junior (AP Computer Science, Honors Java, etc.) and consistently use your laptop in planning, organizing, and performing course work. Can you aim to be the resource that other students or workers go to for application and technology help?
Let me end this blog by letting you in on a “dirty little secret” known by managers and industry leaders across the globe: when it is time for a promotion or when it is time to reduce the work force ( a layoff) due to a slowing business, managers get very creative and are biased towards promoting, or not laying off, those that have majored in LIFE…whether you went to Virginia Tech, Duke, William & Mary, or Georgetown makes little difference in career success in the long run, although. granted, it certainly opens more doors in the short run. So absolutely, do aim for that best college and bachelor's degree or higher that you are passionate about, but please don't forget to "double major in LIFE"!
Discussion Questions:
1. Does the above breakdown of unemployment by educational category surprise you? What message, if any, do you take away from these statistics?
2. Is the LIFE acronym pursuit valid, in your opinion, as an early focus to help avoid unemployment in your future? Do you think the LIFE major is a necessary, intentional focus/practice along with your college major or do you think the development of these LIFE skills will simply progress naturally?
3. Which area of the LIFE acronym are you strongest at? Weakest?
5. What was my “dirty little secret”, referenced above, and does it make common sense to you?
