What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up? Essay Example

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” is a commonly asked question towards young people when it comes to thinking about a dream job. When it comes to choosing a career, many people have their thoughts and ideas of what they want to be when they grow up such as a doctor, policeman, firefighter, teacher, etc. However, the contemplation and questioning of choosing a career is beginning to come into play. The thought of choosing a career and does it matter when choosing has become an argumentative topic as many things in the work field are changing. It should matter the future career that young people plan for because of the skills gap in the workfield and many jobs and careers becoming replaced by technology.

One reason as to why individuals should think about what they should be in the future is because of the possibility of many jobs becoming irrelevant. As some may know, in the next couple of years, there could be a chance that many jobs such as fast food workers, uber drivers, teachers and even surgeons will be replaced by robots. This action is appearing to happen now. Publisher Jack Kelly talks about the impact of jobs being taken over by AI robots in the future by stating “Students who majored in non-marketable liberal arts, which are not useful in the business world, will have incredible trouble starting and building a career. People will be left destitute, paying off college and graduate school loans since their jobs can't afford the bills.” In other words, many people will have a hard time starting a career because of the fact that the jobs they majored in will be replaced  by robots/technology. Many people could struggle paying their bills and the poverty rates could become higher. This supports the argument that choosing a career matters because many people dream jobs will potentially be gone and dominated by technology. Jobs being replaced by robots can lead to many corruptions such as high risk of unemployment and many individuals struggling to find a job that's best for them. 

Another reason as to why it should matter when it comes to deciding a career is because of the skill gap portrayed in many workfields. A Skill gap is defined as  individuals who do not have the proper skill and ability they need when they are working at a job. The most important skill when looking for or having a job is building communication, leadership, critical thinking, good education  and teamwork. Will Marshal and Ryan Craig explain the statistics of the skill gap by stating “In a LinkedIn study of hiring managers, 59 percent said soft skills were difficult to find, and this skill gap was limiting their productivity. A 2015 Wall Street Journal survey of 900 executives found that 89 percent have a very or somewhat difficult time finding candidates with the requisite soft skills”. In other words, many businesses are having a hard time searching for individuals who have proper skills within the workforce. The pandemic has changed a lot for many people as 10 million Americans have dropped out of college and left their jobs. This has eventually led to many people having delayed skills such as lack of communication and poor education. The skills gap is causing many businesses to fail and have shortages of workers as businesses are struggling to find people who are educated and intelligent. This therefore proves the point of why it should matter when choosing a career because many people need to understand and make sure that they have the proper skills and right mindset when it comes to searching for a job. If individuals do get the job that they want but do not fit in the skill, many things could go wrong and they could cause harm to themselves such as misery or even losing their job.

Others might argue and believe that it really shouldn't matter what people should be when they grow up because there are many job opportunities to choose from and people should follow what makes them happy. However this belief is flawed because many job opportunities do not have the same success rate and many jobs will possibly decline and disappear in the future. In an article published by Madison Hoff, it shows the top 30 fast paying and high growing jobs which mostly included computer science, technology, servicing, marketing and physical healthcare. These are the jobs that will become very successful within the next decade. Therefore, it is best for individuals to major in science, business, technology and health as these are the jobs that can potentially make people very successful. 

Overall, it should matter what individuals want to be when they grow up because many jobs in the future will disappear as many careers will be replaced by AI. Skills gap is a major issue in the workfield as the unemployment rate is increasing and businesses are  falling apart due to having difficulty searching for the right people. In the future, it will be better to major in sciences, and computers as these are the jobs that are doing well and will continue to succeed in the next decade. There are going to be many job opportunities in the future that could be better than the career options today.