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Paul Albarracin

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Obsolete Jobs

Phasing out something takes time, whether society has found a better solution or it succumbed to age. I am at an adolescent point of my life (17 years of age) where I have plans to become this or that as my future career. But it never struck me if a certain occupation could be phased out completely in regards to technological advancement. I am oversensitive, and rather picky on my education. I strive to pursue a career in business. Now it looks like many positions in that particular sector won't be obsolete as long as I live. But let's have a debate on certain jobs being phased out as a result of automation or the like.

Discuss: Jobs/careers/occupations that will be gone in the long-term or even the next decade or so and back them up.

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    Robin Patin 10+

    • +1
    Sep 19 2012: John, I disagree. Everyone has a network. However, not everyone utilizes their network to their full advantage.

    Don't just think of 'a network' as a group of high and mighty people. A network includes friends, family, co-workers, students in the same program, professional and private contacts. I certainly wasn't born into a life of privilege, I immigrated to a new country less than 3 years ago and I have a network of over 500 contacts on LinkedIn. Many of these people in my network have helped me find work, housing, and connections - repeatedly.

    You can study underwater basket weaving if you want to - in the long run, it doesn't matter. What matters most in finding work is building and maintaining a network.

    • John Smith 30+

      • 0
      Sep 19 2012: You won't get a job with "basket weaving" on your resume (well, except a job as basket weaver of course), especially not these days, unless there is a great deal of nepotism involved.

      • Barry Palmer 50+

        • 0
        Sep 20 2012: John, What you are calling nepotism is basically what Robin means by networking, except the network extends beyond relatives. Like it or not, networking beats merit. People who hire want references from people they know and trust.
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      Maikel Andelbeek 10+

      • 0
      Associate
      Sep 19 2012: It doesn't just depend on your network, your ability to keep learning new things and adapt yourself also plays an important role. Further, if you keep improving upon yourself you might find out that you have hidden qualities invaluable in other fields ;)

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