What would you tell your kids to study?

An interesting thread. I am in my 50s, and both my wife and I received pretty poor guidance from our respective parents when we were thinking about what to do after school—the advice was well-intentioned but limited by the relatively narrow career and life experiences of those giving it.

When it came to guiding my own children, I took a more relaxed approach. I did arrange for both to have coffees and chats with friends from as many industries and professions as possible. This was not to persuade them to follow a specific route, but rather an effort to give them an inside view of various jobs and professions.

I am, however, increasingly sceptical of the value of many modern degrees, especially in the UK where I live, because you can easily graduate with £50k of debt. The university experience is certainly worthwhile, but beginning to look for work with that much debt in a highly competitive job market does not make sense for a lot of young people. Though, as an earlier poster pointed out, the Irish model is relatively cheaper, especially in Dublin where many students live at home.

That said, like all parents, I do have an idea of the strengths and weaknesses of each of my children, and over time they seem to be following academic and career paths that will play to their strengths. We have done a lot to support them, but they have to develop the skills and experience necessary to follow their own paths in life, and I believe that the more we do for them, the less they can do for themselves.

I would also add that I, for one, would have made an awful job of predicting what careers or jobs would be in high demand now had I tried to choose the most lucrative career path thirty years ago, and I think the same applies now.
 
joe sod said:
Yes but robotics in machinery and car assembly plants is already well established and operating way back in the 1980s.
Click to expand...
But also in electronics where component placement, manufacture, and integration is critical and arguably these days beyond the scope or capability of human eyes and hands. Robots don't tire during an 8 or 12-hour shift and their production is also of consistent quality and easily monitored in real-time, unlike that of humans.
 
Mayo1969 said:
Aaah, does the poor robot not warrant a mark of respect or, a the very least a HSA investigation, so as to mitigate risk to the human staff that may also be on site?
Click to expand...
The HSA will tell you they are not employees and so not covered under their remit. Of course that will all backfire on us if/when the machines take over :D
 
Leo said:
Current construction already uses large machines that reliably pump massive quantities of concrete, some can pump concrete hundreds of meters vertically. We already have 3D concrete 'printing'. The smaller scale robots that will replace human labour have no need to carry any concrete within them, but they'll manoeuvre heavier loads than humans can handle with better balance and stability
Click to expand...
Good analysis, you obviously know alot about this topic however I think all this can only work in a factory setting the same as car manufacturing. Also it is highly capital intensive, the Irish construction sector doesn't have the scale or capital for this sort of investment. A modular home building factory in Cavan i think closed down last year because it didn't have enough output from the Irish construction sector to make it viable. Also unlike car manufacturers, modular homes can't really be exported at scale like cars or machinery can, the factory has to be relatively local. In an Irish context would an Irish modular home factory be able to generate enough output to justify all that investment in robotics?
 
Purple said:
what should we tell our children to study?
Click to expand...
I helped my ingratitude of children investigate all avenues they showed an interest in and I laid out a few alternatives (engineering, trades and teaching) if those weren't on their lists. While it would be great to work at something you're passionate about I suspect that doesn't pan out for too many people. If not, make your passion your hobby maybe. My general view is that if you want to make money you should ultimately work for yourself and otherwise work for the state.
 
A good life lesson I learned from my family members and has stayed with me throughout my working life is try not get a physical job. While it is easy in your 20's & 30's as you get older it gets more and more physically demanding (even for the non physical trades eg electricians etc) you get to an age when you don't want to be doing physical work.

All my family members had manual jobs for their working lives and I seen the damage it did to them. I always swore the heaviest thing I would lift to earn a living was a pen.

I would echo alot of the sentiments of previous posters. I left school at 16 and could not get out of the place quick enough. Did a degree part time at 27, a Masters at 36 and qualified as an Accountant at 45. Education has never been easier to access and even retraining at 22 or 23 is nothing.

While AI will transform some roles remember AI is purely another tool of doing business. I remember the famous "paperless office". How long has this taken to happen?
 
The Horseman said:
While AI will transform some roles remember AI is purely another tool of doing business.
Click to expand...
It's an extremely powerful tool and will fundamentally change how we work.

In 1900 40% of America's workforce were employed in farming. Now it's around 1.5% but farming outputs have more than doubled.

In 1800 those aged 15 and over in developed countries worked more than twice as many hours as we do now but real output per head has increased 15 fold.

This is the next big change. The class of jobs that didn't exist 30 years ago, let alone 100 years ago, are the ones which will be targeted this time. Those in IT and FinTech are this generations agricultural workers.

The Horseman said:
I remember the famous "paperless office". How long has this taken to happen?
Click to expand...
We generate vastly more data but less paper. That's what happened.
 
joe sod said:
Good analysis, you obviously know alot about this topic however I think all this can only work in a factory setting the same as car manufacturing. Also it is highly capital intensive, the Irish construction sector doesn't have the scale or capital for this sort of investment.
Click to expand...
Factory settings like car plants are better served by dedicated robots as they have today. It's in more variable environments where the adaptability of humanoids will offer more.

Within a few years, a company will be able to buy a humanoid for less than a skilled worker costs per year. That's not a capital intensive investment, it's a cost saving.

joe sod said:
Also unlike car manufacturers, modular homes can't really be exported at scale like cars or machinery can, the factory has to be relatively local.
Click to expand...
It's 22 years since Grand Designs reviewed the Huff House delivered to the UK from the German factory, they can pack all components for a 300sqm house on 2 trucks and have it fully assembled in less than a week.
 
I encouraged mine to follow their passions but also made it clear that our less interesting and creative careers paid for the house, cars holidays etc that made all our lives comfortable.

I also forked out for career guidance sessions as I had little faith in the schools. Not sure that was a worthwhile investment but it gave me some peace of mind. And did highlight the many many routes to qualifications available now.

The musician realised that while performing would be cool starvation wasn’t his thing so he did sound engineering and music production. Not steady pensionable work but it keeps him afloat and he loves it.

The artist was also gifted at maths so architectural career for him.

How it’ll pan out in the long run I don’t know.

D nieces and nephews who asked me for advice, with very different aspirations and financial backing ended up with PLC courses to start with and I’d totally recommend that for anyone uncertain of a new area. One went on to do a university degree having rocked her plc course after tanking her leaving cert. The other decided that academics was too hard and is happily enrolled in the civil service and now aged 32 starting a degree by night. He wasn’t ready at 19.


So I’d say follow your passion if you have one but be ready to pivot and find a lucrative aspect to it if you can.
 
joe sod said:
A modular home building factory in Cavan i think closed down last year because it didn't have enough output from the Irish construction sector to make it viable.
Click to expand...
No, it's because Irish building regulations are designed for traditionally built homes so the design and construction of modular homes cannot be based on what produces the highest quality and most cost efficient product but rather have to conform to Dickensian standards. Big Red Barn in Mayo was exporting Modular Homes to the USA but can't sell them here.
Making the shipping of modular units from large scale production plants on the mainland (EU) or further afield economical is an engineering and design problem. It can be overcome if the State Sector gets out of the way.
 
Leo said:
Within a few years, a company will be able to buy a humanoid for less than a skilled worker costs per year. That's not a capital intensive investment, it's a cost saving.
Click to expand...
I'm watching that space.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Leo
Passion rarely does pay. So I would say if interested in something that you love but really you will never earn a living in, structure your day job so that you can pursue your passion. Eg teaching or lecturing offers lots of blocks of time off. A very well paid career might allow you to work less than the standard full time week/year. Or work in something that is paid the same in a high and low cost of living area and live in the low cost. Or partner up with someone who can earn enough to support you both!
 
Annieindublin said:
I encouraged mine to follow their passions but also made it clear that our less interesting and creative careers paid for the house, cars holidays etc that made all our lives comfortable.
Click to expand...
This!!!
I currently have a picture of the cruise ship I will be on in September to remember why I am doing what I am doing!
(to be fair I do honestly love my job so that does help!)
 
NotMyRealName said:
The one that I thought would run away with the circus is an economist. The one that I thought would be an economist is running away with the circus.
Click to expand...
Could be plenty of opportunities for them in a Trump administration, but I suspect (hope!) that has a career lifespan of 3 years max.
 
More on this topic in todays Financial Times; "Silicon Valley expects AI will kill jobs but economists are not convinced".
Basically the proposition is that all the previous predictions of mass job losses and unemployment have been wrong so why would this time be different. Good question.

The underlying issue of high unemployment levels in young graduates has been a problem for over a decade. That has more to do with an over supply of non job specific graduates and an increase in remote working making it harder to train people with no previous experience than the more recent issue of AI eroding need for entry level jobs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top