Читать книгу Cool Careers - Carolyn Boyes - Страница 11

In communist China in the 20th century there was an expression to describe the idea of a job for life – the ‘iron rice bowl’. You turned up for work, didn’t always do much but got paid, turned up again, and again, and again, retired, and died. Great for filling in time, but not very cool.

That was the extreme side of work but, even in most of the capitalist West, your parents and grandparents could expect a long career without the need to find a new job. The arrival of the 21st century has changed this world of work. Most of us will have numerous jobs during our lifetime. The conventional career structure with its planned, regular promotions and salary rises is disappearing. This has led to loss of security for many, but, at the same time, does allow us all to get more creative about our careers.

Many of the jobs out there didn’t exist twenty, ten or even two or three years ago. Some may be variations of existing jobs that have been given a modern twist.

For example, there have always been private detectives, but not until recently internet detectives doing purely internet-based investigations. There have always been interior designers, but how many in the past specialised in using feng shui principles in their work?