Today Screenwriter
Tomorrow Multiplatform storyteller
Once upon a time, people with creative
minds would pick an industry – film, TV or maybe even video games – and stick
with it. These days, the doors between them have been flung wide open, and the
traffic’s moving in every direction. “People who can think up creative content
[for things] like films, games or applications that work on a PC, mobile phone
or even on the cinema screen are in short supply,” explains Dr. Annette Cox of
the Institute for Employment Studies. TV talent shows are the prime example here:
they spawn apps, games and extra slips and pictures that you find online or
through the red button. If you’re that kind of lateral thinker, check out the
courses at University College Falmouth and Goldsmith’s, or visit
creativeskillse.org for details of how to build your own industry-endorsed MA
and where to find funding.
Today
Screenwriter, Tomorrow Multiplatform storyteller
Today Private detective
Tomorrow Ethical hacker
If you want the kind of job that comes
right out of a movie, how about getting paid to steal money from a bank?
PricewaterhouseCoopers is just one company that employs teams of techies to
hack into banks, government databases and businesses to find holes in their
cyber-security systems, plugging them up before anyone else finds them. Interested?
Then enter the Cyber Security Challenge UK, an ongoing competition to find
tech-minded problem-solvers. It is sponsored by organisations including BT, the
Cabinet Office, Symantec – and PwC, who hired one of the past winners. Most
hackers are self-taught, but the Cyber Security Challenge site has lots of
resources for those who want to learn more.
Five jobs our kids will be doing
Futurist lan Pearson predicts the
professions we’ll need next
Virtual architect: Google’s labs are working on augmented reality (AR) glasses, which
will overlay data and graphics on our field of vision, making everything we see
customizable. “So you could make a shopping centre look like Downton Abbey to
you, while your boyfriend sees a zombie-packed game.” And someone will need to
draw the blueprints.
Avatar stylist: “You already choose what your avatar looks like in games, but with
AR, someone might choose to see you or an avatar of you and you’ll want to
design it: clothes, make-up and so on. Magazines will need extra staff to deal
with virtual clothing, as well as the real thing.’
Active make-up developer: “As material science gets better, you’ll see make-up that changes
on command. Older people might use it conservatively, changing between lunch
and going back to work, but teens will use kaleidoscopic make-up that changes
ten times a second.”
Grapheme engineer: Scientists are experimenting with this ultra-thin, ultra-strong
material. “It’s very versatile: it may be possible to build a 30km-tall
building, or make a straw which will filter out impurities from water,
potentially saving millions of lives in developing countries.”
Body-part farmer: “Researchers can already produce special gauzes that let them grow
a new piece of kidney or liver, and I expect it to develop further. Soon, we
won’t have to worry about bits of our bodies wearing out – we’ll just have a
fairly routine operation to get it replaced.”
4 skills to future-proof your CV
“The key to success is standing out,” says
Professor Gratton. Here’s how
An unusual language: “If you see yourself working for an organization that might want to
do business with China, learn Mandarin,” says Dr. Cox. Want to work in social
media? Choose Portuguese: Brazil is one of the fastest-growing markets (third
in the world for Facebook users, according to analysts socialbakers.com). try
free beginners’ lessons on the Open University website (open.ac.uk)
Personal branding: “Basic IT and social media skills just get you to stage one now,”
says professor Gratton. “You’d be mad if you didn’t understand how to manage
your own personal brand on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or through a blog. All
the smart kids have blogs: it shows you have spark and initiative, and that you
just don’t sit around every night playing video games.”
“Basic
IT and social media skills just get you to stage one now,”
Basic programming: “Never underestimate the ability to do basic HTML or use a content
management system,” says Dr. Ball. It’s a rare business that doesn’t have a
website, and if you know how to update it, you’ll always be useful to have
around.
Customer service: If you think this is only useful in retail, you’re wrong.
“Customer-care skills are essential in any job where you interact with
potential clients, and employers are always looking for them,” says Dr. Cox.
