How to Future Proof Your Career in 9 Easy Steps (part 1), Career Near Me

How to Future Proof Your Career in 9 Easy Steps (part 1), Career Near Me

By Devan Ciccarelli.

Are you concerned about automation quickly replacing the jobs in your industry?

Worried yours is next?

While no one really knows which positions will be around this time next year or even in five years, you can learn how to future proof your career so employers still see you as the best candidate.

How are you supposed to protect your livelihood in this changing reality?

In this guide, you’ll learn nine steps to help you better prepare for something called the “fourth Industrial Revolution” the easy way.

Why it’s time to prepare for the fourth Industrial Revolution
Without boring you with a deep history lesson, an industrial revolution is considered a period in history when great advancements are made in manufacturing or technology.

Steam characterized the first Industrial Revolution as humans learned how to use water to generate power.

In the second Revolution, electricity and the assembly line were the hot inventions powering industry.

While you weren’t around for the first two Industrial Revolutions, you may have seen the third Industrial Revolution firsthand as computers, the internet, IT, and digital automations paved the way for our current advancements.

But that’s not the end of our story.

Experts now say a new, fourth Industrial Revolution is just around the corner, which they’re calling Industrial 4.0.

This time, both the physical world and the realm of technology will combine to form one.

What does that mean exactly?

You’ve probably already seen this action, maybe without even realizing it.

Products of the impending fourth Industrial Revolution include self-driving cars, virtual reality, 3D printing, tech devices and wearables to track everything from heart rates and fat mass to all your unread work emails and Instagram likes.

As Jacob Morgan, author and one of the country’s leading futurists, puts it perfectly.

Technology is fusing together with people to shape every aspect of life

The fourth Industrial Revolution is predicted to have a major impact on the work lives of Americans in entry-level jobs all the way up the ladder.

Estimates show as much as 47% of US jobs are in jeopardy of switching from human-powered to being completely automated by technology.

Now, you can become overwhelmed and stressed out by the idea of robots replacing your job, or you can take the smarter approach to make sure this doesn’t happen to you by future proofing your career.

This sure-fire way to protect your income isn’t something you can knock out in one step, or even overnight.

But it is something you can prepare for starting today -- and, good news, there are fewer than 10 steps to getting it right and gaining more peace of mind.

How to future proof your career in 9 steps.
So what exactly does it mean to future proof your career?

Does that mean you lock in one job or position for the rest of your life?

Or does it mean that you create your own position so you never have to worry about losing your job to automation?

Neither of these are entirely true.

Future proofing your career is simply taking the extra steps to prepare yourself for a changing workforce, one that’s going to rely heavily on an increased use of technology.

So rather than waiting for tech to replace your labour, you’ll take a proactive approach to put yourself in a position where potential employers can’t afford not to work with you.

Follow these nine steps and you’ll secure your place in the workforce alongside technology instead of getting edged out:

1. Adopt a “Change is Inevitable” mindset.
Technology is only going to keep evolving, and it’s always going to get better.

While you and I may not know exactly how, we do know this change is inevitable.

So as technology in the work environment evolves, so should the workforce.

People who are more adaptable and resilient will be the ones who’ll make it out on top. They’ll also be the employees who aren’t threatened by robots and automation stealing their jobs.

But how do you become more resilient and adaptable?

For one, you can prepare for the future like you’re doing today and be ready to change course at a moment’s notice.

And two, when your environment begins changing, have an open mind about what this transition may bring -- and be ready to take it head on -- instead of resisting it and sticking to your old habits.

One of the best ways to build the confidence necessary for this new technology-driven world is to level-up your digital skillset.

2. Become tech-savvy instead of tech-averse.
Do you throw your hands up in defeat and find yourself saying “technology is not my thing” several times a day?

Take the extra time to learn more about the technology you’re struggling with, especially if using it makes up a majority of your job.

For basic office tasks such as Excel or Word, simply sign up for online courses to help understand these programs better.

Project management is another area where robots won’t be able to compete with the human touch still necessary, meaning it pays to brush up on your PM skills too.

Another way to look at this is by asking yourself how you can work with technology to improve your productivity.

If you’re a marketer, for example, this may include understanding important tools to help you analyze your efforts and track performances faster.

But it could also come from setting up automations to streamline your customer’s journey as well.

While the robotics of the automation can be set up and run through a machine, the strategy behind those processes is all human-powered.

These skills will need to be learned, honed, and improved on even if robots come into the picture.

Since many experts believe future proofing your career means being able to work with artificial intelligence, you’ll need to be fluent in technology instead of averse to it.

And the more you advance your knowledge, the stronger your resume also becomes.