When I was a kid growing up in a small town, and I imagined my future, I could think of maybe fifty types of careers. They were all the obvious ones: lawyer, doctor, veterinarian, banker, store clerk, mailman, cartoonist, etc.
I always wonder how different the world would be if kids knew there are a million jobs in the world to choose from, and not just fifty. Would kids start early to prepare for careers as videographers or dolphin trainers if they knew how cool those jobs were?
I was thinking of this recently while working with a Dilbert licensee. They make fluorescent light diffusers for your office ceiling, with images such as the sky with clouds, or Dilbert characters looking down at your cube. Very cool: www.skyscapes.biz
So I imagine 5-year old Timmy, when asked what he wants to do for a career, answering “When I grow up, I want to make fluorescent light diffusers with Dilbert characters. They are the perfect item for adding some visual relief to drab cubicle farms.”
Timmy would die a virgin.
If you get one of these Skyscapes, let me know how you use it in your office. Was it a reward for an employee of the month, a way to make the break room livelier, or an easier way to show people where the printer is. I’ll even post your picture in this blog as you pose beneath the Skyscape. And if you are getting paid while you do it, that’s another job you didn’t imagine when you were five.
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Posted by: lilith | January 31, 2008 at 09:45 PM
Check out a book called Gig. It's a collection of all sorts of people talking about their jobs, ala Studs Terkel, and I believe there are more than fifty in there. A good read just for fun, and maybe a good gift for your kid if you don't mind her or him reading about sex workers and drug dealers.
Posted by: groovy gary | January 31, 2008 at 08:27 PM
50 careers??? damn, when i grew up in 80s and 90s in india there were just 2 professions (Engineer or Doctor, ... or may be throw in a lawyer)
When i was a kid i was good at art so architecture was an option, or a commercial artist in an advertising agency. (would have made my conservative parents crazy)
I did become an engineer, worked as an engineer and then went to business school to be a banker. still dont know what i really want to do.
Anyways the job that pays the bills
Posted by: Nirav | January 29, 2008 at 01:32 PM
A leech on the ass of society, but I didn't have the stomach for politics. Then settled for working in IT but that was still too close. Now I work for the government and trying to drain the swamps leeches thrive in.
Posted by: Zzyzxmo | January 29, 2008 at 09:07 AM
Wow!! hope you get some time to see someone tracking.
Posted by: scott | January 29, 2008 at 03:25 AM
My job didn't exist when I was a kid, or even a teenager. The technology that supports it was only in its most rudimentary forms when I was a teenager, and when I hit 19, I was already doing it.
(I'm in litigation support/trial presentation.)
Posted by: Phelps | January 27, 2008 at 04:02 PM
Are you kidding? I'll go out and buy a few of those (maybe even some Dilbert ones) just because of this post. We're about to move into a new office space and I'd love to see the look on my co-workers faces when they go to the new location.
As for the job occupation concept, I learned myself that what you aspire to and what you end up doing can be so completely different, and changing as you learn that it's probably best that kids stick to fireman, airplane pilot, veterinarian, McDonald's cashier, or whatever. I went from construction worker (thanks, Tonka!) to airplane pilot (bad eyesight), veterinarian, film producer, diplomat, translator to finally doing IT, which is what I do and love to this day.
Posted by: Mark Boltz | January 27, 2008 at 03:38 PM
Well done to whomever came up with this and patented it. At fifty bucks a pop, it seems like a pretty brilliant idea.
Posted by: John | January 27, 2008 at 12:41 PM
Yeah. I also remember watching the Bill Moyer's PBS series with Joseph Cambell telling us to follow our bliss, and the rest will follow. If only we were not programed to do what others want for us and learn to follow our hearts, the world would be a happier place.
Posted by: Mari | January 27, 2008 at 11:46 AM
I always wanted to be super rich just like bill gates(since i was 8) n then give all money in charity. Now i am 20,still trying to get that rich but, the wish to give it all away still remains.
Posted by: Praveen | January 26, 2008 at 07:09 AM
My orthodontist has one of these above each chair - it's one of the greatest ideas ever, because it gives kids something to look at to distract them from the scary stuff going on in their mouth. My dentist just has posters on the ceiling, and they're less interesting and harder to focus on because they aren't lit up.
Posted by: Ca | January 25, 2008 at 11:27 PM
No one instructs you how to sort out which job will make you feel right. For help in this matter, and for fun, see:
http://www.trappedinspace.com/jobs
Posted by: sigal | January 25, 2008 at 10:51 PM
Ever watch "Dirty Jobs" on Discovery? I'm pretty sure none of those jobs are advertised in Career Prep classes.
Posted by: tc | January 25, 2008 at 05:01 PM
Product placement, much?
At least it's a cool product.
Posted by: Barry Seymour | January 25, 2008 at 03:30 PM
If I had known about computer and animation as a viable career when I was younger I would have jumped at it, but computers were not that exciting to a child in the sixties. Being good at art and maths everyone threw architecture at me, which made me shudder. Oh and then there was being a printer. When I was young I alternated between wanting to be a brain surgeon, engineer, vet and artist. Turned into an accountant, but haven’t given up my dreams just yet.
I really wanted to sing, but my voice can clear a room in three seconds flat.
Posted by: black spot | January 25, 2008 at 01:02 PM
I would like to be a chicken-dresser...it is a real specialized career, where you dress up chickens in tuxedos/etc. for photo shoots.
http://awritersblock.com
Posted by: John Reedy | January 25, 2008 at 09:34 AM
I personally wanted to be a fighter pilot... which turned out to be a no-go because I was nearsighted and female (though the Canadian armed forces now accept women in that role, they still need the good eyes, darn it.)
On a slightly related note... did you notice that the How to Install instructions on Sky-Scapes site appear to be illustrated by an in-duh-vidual?
Step 1: Turn off fluorescent light.
All Illustrating Photos: Clearly show the light shining brightly on the installer.
Posted by: Former 407 Addict | January 25, 2008 at 09:05 AM
When I was a kid, I always wanted to work in a job that uses those cool block things Spock and Capt. Kirk put into the computer. Many, many years later, that is just what I'm doing.
Posted by: Fred | January 25, 2008 at 07:56 AM
i wish i knew of all the different types of jobs out there from age thirteen and on. i probably wouldn't be in IT.
Posted by: ryan | January 25, 2008 at 07:42 AM
Scott, we all know you are adept in the art of hypnosis and subliminal suggestion. Tying up the outrageously obvious advert in the form a blog post was not unexpected, however I thought your leading question wondering which of the list of wonderful possible uses people had used their Dilbert light diffuser was very amateur.
What I would like to know is whether you find yourself doing this kind of thing now without even thinking about it or whether it is all planned. I suspect you do very little which is not thought out ahead of time.
In any case, I think the product is very cool. Judging by the fact the www.skyscapes.biz has been inundated, so does everybody else.
Posted by: mark | January 25, 2008 at 06:50 AM
Funny you should mention that.
My current job is part of a multinational firefighting force using trained dolphins as firefighters in Iraq.
Dave
Posted by: Davesnothere | January 25, 2008 at 06:05 AM
When I was growing up I dreamed of creating a blog where I could come up with awesome introductions to product plugs! Scott, you are living my dream! My cubicle farm would never let me put one of these up, but I may have to get one for the home office.
Posted by: Spud | January 25, 2008 at 05:23 AM
I wanted to be an archeologist...discovering lost cities, looting ancient temples and digging for buried treasures (the shiny and glittering stuff for me, them old shards of clay for the scholarly guys. Finders keepers, thank you very much!). The whole whip and feodora thing, but without spiders.
When I grew older i learned that archeology was about dead languages and lots of pottery, so i went (it was more of a slow stroll) into the exciting world of office work.
Whip and feodora now have to wait till weekend and only if my wife is in a good mood.
Posted by: Harry Bols | January 25, 2008 at 05:15 AM
This is interesting if you open the question up a bit. Fairly recently a member of our royal family mentioned that it was cruel to tell people (i.e. your average sheep / moron) that they could do anything, as ultimately not everybody can do everything - it's just setting people up for disappointment.
In addition, recently in the UK a lot of kids have been going for "soft" subjects rather than "hard" science: net result, we've been seeing a decline in the number of kids coming through to universities doing some of the materials sciences (chemsitry, physics) and further education establishments have actually been shutting these departments down in places where they thought the money could be better spent.
I think people are getting the impression they can do what they want now: OK, we don't have to spend 30 years down a coalmine, but who's going to do the shit jobs?
Posted by: Andy Watt | January 25, 2008 at 04:21 AM
Good for you, Scott, you managed to bring their web server to its knees! They even added a little notice that "Due to the popularity of Dilbert, our servers are experiencing heavy traffic"...
Bet you never thought that you would be a cartoonist, expert blogger and marketing genius when you were growing up. Keep up the good work!
Posted by: Alucard | January 25, 2008 at 04:20 AM