How can we think differently about jobs?
· Skill Clusters
In my very humble opinion, the way we think about jobs is a big part of the problem.
Most school children only really hear about the top 10 to 20 most common jobs, and they only learn a very little bit about each of those jobs, and this means that they approach big decisions with a narrow frame of reference. They also don’t know much about these jobs, at least, not much more than what the uniform looks like, and it’s not until late in high school that they are able to digest systemic level information about jobs, including key labour market information (like how many jobs are available in their local area).
Traditionally, we tend to lump jobs into industries, and industries are groups of businesses and organisations that supply related products and services. So, for example, we have a mining industry that digs a variety of things out of the ground, and a tourism industry that helps people enjoy time spent away from home.
Within each industry, there are a whole range of jobs, but each industry is mentally represented by just one of two of those jobs. Education is represented by teachers, agriculture is represented by farmers, hospitality is represented by chefs and wait staff. Those key jobs obscure the huge range of ancillary and support roles that exist because they represent the whole industry, and this makes it difficult for children to get their heads around what else is out there.
Complicating the matter is that many of these support roles actually exist across industries; we need administrators, software developers, and sales people everywhere, but this is a bit tricky for someone with very limited workplace exposure (like a student) to grasp. These jobs employ millions of people, and in many cases it is easier for people to find and secure work in these roles than it would be in the industry’s key jobs.
How else can we think about jobs?
We need some way to categorise jobs – to put them in boxes – so that people of all ages can try to make sense of this massive, complex, and dynamic World of Work.
Classifying them by industries isn’t working – maybe it works on a governmental, organisational level, but it’s not working in career education. We could look to organise jobs by key tasks, transferrable skills, work environment, even by salary – there’s no restriction here. But we do need to find a way that works.