In a world where nothing seems sure anymore what would you do? Would you bother getting an education? When knowledge becomes meaningless is there a reason to learn?
Ask HN: What would you recommend a 16 year old to pursue career wise?
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Re: Ask HN: What would you recommend a 16 year old to pursue career wise?
#2Its a great time to start playing with generative AI, locally if you can.
I don't know what the future holds, but a Github profile with a history of AI experimentation seems like it would look good on a resume.
Re: Ask HN: What would you recommend a 16 year old to pursue career wise?
#3I recommend looking into their native strengths[1] first, as that will create a foundation for really wise use of their most stable, sustainable career energy.
StrengthsFinder / CliftonStrengths and Sally Hogshead's _How the World Sees You_ are great examples to look into. The USG also offers free career testing tools that are definitely worth a shot. Many schools also have career learning paths that offer other resources of this kind.
From that point, you should have a good starter set of tools that allow one to design the needed career outcome no matter what has changed in the world.
In addition to strengths, it's also a good idea to pay special attention to the "not interesting" and "less strengths in this area" measures/results, since those will helpfully indicate exhausting careers or jobs to avoid, even if they may seem interesting for hobby-type energy.
Good luck to you both, I know a lot's been changing recently.
1. These kinds of strengths are more about the energy one can consistently and flexibly commit to a specific set of perspectives on life and creativity, like for hours each day without prompting, and less about "is a talented artist," "can code," etc.
Re: Ask HN: What would you recommend a 16 year old to pursue career wise?
#4I would use https://www.bls.gov/ooh/fastest-growing.htm and https://www.bls.gov/ooh/highest-paying.htm as a starting point, and see if the kid is willing to pursue training to prepare him/her for that occupation.
One thing that should be emphasized to children is the necessity to earn a decent livelihood with a job that leaves them enough time to pursue their other interests. It is important to do something remunerative, but also balance it with occupational outlook and individual interests. Of course, individual interests can and do change over time, so they should be taken with a pinch of salt, particularly as a 16-year old.
Re: Ask HN: What would you recommend a 16 year old to pursue career wise?
#5Yes. It is your life. It isn't about what is out there. It's about what's in you.
My kids are 19, 17, 12. I tell them- you're not going to college to get an education that is about knowledge out in the world. You are going to get an education about you. To learn about your person- your body, your brain, your own mental model of your self and other selves and the world.
Your person is still in physical growth mode until at least 25, and then you have lots of other changes and challenges coming after that. You will continue learning, including about your self, throughout the entirety of your life. To be set up to do that is why you're going.
(Yes, college is not the real world, in any way. But in important ways it is real enough.)
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The most important things to be able to do are- build relationships, focus and concentrate, organize your self and your thinking, communicate, have fun, and take care of the physical self. You don't have any idea, really, how well you do those things as a teenager. It's the job of the adults around you to help. College is an opportunity to expose your person to more unique, distinct, varied, skilled adults and peers than at any time previous, and for some, more than they will ever get again (unfortunately). That exposure is the most intense learning the self can do.
For each of my kids, they have things they are good at now, and things they are not good at. Not just skills- capabilities. Biases. Potentials, not actuals. As their parent I have a good sense of possible distinct and unique trajectories for each of them given those potentials, and I do what I can to coach them onto those various trajectories and in specific work domain disciplines that are potential fits (to my eyes) for them. But that's a conversation that is specific to our relationship. And their lives are their own.
For you, I would encourage you to see yourself not even at the beginning of your adventure, and to think hard and figure out good ways, with the guidance of adults you currently respect and trust, to avail yourself and position yourself to be exposed to and learn from new adults worthy of respect and trust. And pay it forward, too.
Re: Ask HN: What would you recommend a 16 year old to pursue career wise?
#6Education is less about knowledge but more about connections and interactions nowadays. Some lucrative positions only hire from small groups. So yeah I'd aim for the best university.
About knowledge itself, find something you are interested in and drill deep. I know it's cliche but unfortunately that's the only way to have a meaningful life without relying on someone else (I'm trying to say you can have a meaningful life by doing something different but that usually relies on someone else e.g. getting a kid).
Other than that get healthy and exercise often.
Of course if you have well connected parents then it's a different story.
Re: Ask HN: What would you recommend a 16 year old to pursue career wise?
#7Don't let all the hype get to you. There will be al kinds of jobs, agriculture, construction, technology, Healthcare, etc. Get an education but be smart about it. Go to a State school locally and keep the cost down, get a degree for under 50k.
Re: Ask HN: What would you recommend a 16 year old to pursue career wise?
#8> In a world where nothing seems sure anymore what would you do?
Assuming you're talking about the job market, nothing was sure at any given point in time. Of course, after the fact everything seems "obvious" but I assure you at the time it wasn't.
The only thing I would be my cards os is studying medicine: If you become a surgeon you'll most likely make lots of money, the downside is that it takes lots of work and time to do so.
Whatever you do, from chef and small business retail owner to startups - make sure you're good at what you do and you won't have to worry about the market.
> Would you bother getting an education?
If you are _really good_ at programming (e.g. you already know how to program relatively complex CRUD applications) my advice is to study something else e.g. Physics, Mathematics, Philosophy, Social Sciences, etc. Diversified profiles are the most sought after.
Going to college is not just about learning CS (or whatever) fundamentals. It is about friendships, having fun, entering adulthood. Try to take advantage of the Erasmus system, travel as much as you can, as cheaply as you can, meet ppl, do crazy shit while staying on track with your classes. It is important to "exit" student's life within the expected time frame, helps a lot.
> When knowledge becomes meaningless is there a reason to learn?
Knowledge is _never_ meaningless. Most of the _experts_ on any given field have lots of knowledge that at first glance might seem irrelevant but they're able to mix and match in order to advance the knowledge on a specific field.
My guess is that you're referring to modern tech stacks. Often times seasoned users complain about how "this" or "that" stack has nothing new to offer apart from X which was already a thing 15 years ago with a different name. That's part because of age - we all become a bit of a whiners when getting old - but primarily because the already knew the old tech stack inside out so they can analyse, break down and understand the decisions (good and bad) of the new stack on the fly. When your time comes you'll have to learn to current tech stack and make your own decisions.
Wish you success in your life.
Re: Ask HN: What would you recommend a 16 year old to pursue career wise?
#9I would use https://www.bls.gov/ooh/fastest-growing.htm and https://www.bls.gov/ooh/highest-paying.htm as a starting point, and see if the kid is willing to pursue training to prepare him/her for that occupation. One thing that should be emphasized to children is the necessity to earn a decent livelihood with a job that leaves them enough time to pursue their other interests. It is important to do something remunerat…
> https://www.bls.gov/ooh/fastest-growing.htm
#4 fastest growing is "Motion picture projectionists" and is expected to grow by 40% by 2031. Which looks to mean that it will grow from 1,620 to 2,268 jobs.
Re: Ask HN: What would you recommend a 16 year old to pursue career wise?
#10Skilled trades pay well, and are harder to automate than jobs that can be done remotely.
Plumbing for example, requires both knowledge, and hands on work. Plumbers won't be replaced until both AI and Robotics advance cosiderably.