Recommend Alberta career ideas to upcoming high school kids - what'll it be ??

[reddeerguy2015]

Seems with the economy changing as fast as it is, both locally (slowing oil and gas economy, manufacturing, etc...) and internationally (big corporations being involved heavily in our daily lives - google, Facebook, Amazon, apple, instagram, etc...)

I'm curious what the AO consensus is on the topic of solid career advice for those up and coming and soon to be entering the Albertan workforce - high school and university students specifically??

Healthcare ?? Any type of government work ?? Seems with the way our country is headed - government, medical, or education seems to be only safe, stable, career choice. Benefits are great, work conditions are better (200 banked "sick" days, anyone...?).

I myself work both privately as a business owner, as well as having spent considerable amounts of time in the Alberta oilpatch. I can attest as to how hard it is to operate a small business in Alberta right now. Service industry is rough. Same with the unpredictable swings of the Canadian oil patch. Top it off with our governments reluctance and incompetence to get our product to market and sold at fair value (build the bloody pipeline, Ottawa!) OR our unrealistically high citizen taxation rates (both personal AND corporate).

It's a rough go, but we as Albertans seem to be able to push back when things get hard.

However as one that has little ones up and coming, I have to ponder what they'll be faced with when they start working.... Surely I can already see their future will start off much different than mine. And I don't think they should have to struggle and I'd like to share some of what I've learned with them, with intentions of hopefully making things a bit easier for them. Whether they listen or not is an entirely different story... 🤦

SO - where's the job future like here in 5, 10 or 20 years??
What job losses can we expect from automation?? Computing and AI surely will play an even bigger role in our lives as time goes on. What should we be teaching our kids and what direction do we point them in, economically??

University?? Trades?? Resources sector?? Lost parent here.

So what have you ?

[jstubbs]

Sustainable energy. Shell is turning its primary operations to it, huge government subsidies going into it across the world with more going into it, going to be needed across the globe from developed to developing nations.

[sarahfaye]

Millwright specializing in turbines is a great choice. Clean work environment, not many toxins or tools to buy. High demand. Always will be.

[HeavyD111]

Like you had mentioned health care is a great choice for stability, not too many hospitals in cities close the doors. Not just nursing either, there are many other good career choices to explore that are needed in those buildings.

I am not so sure about traditional go-tos trades like electrical, plumbing, power engineering etc. Have a niece and a nephew who left ind electrical for other careers because they tired of working a bit here and there. PE is flooded, as are many trades it seems. There is still a need for these skills but it seems much harder to make it a steady career now.

HR seems to be a good bet..ever tried to talk to a company about employment recently? “Send a resume to HR, thanks goodbye” is what you get. Like knights at the entrance to the castle, every company has an arsenal of HR staff.

[58thecat]

Medical field....X-ray tech or something like that?

[rem338win]

Emergency Services, environmental engineering and technologies, electrical, agriculture.

These are all industries that seemed to be avoiding the lag better than others.

[Trochu]

Some careers are somewhat isolated from the economy accountant, paramedic, doctor, nurse, teacher and some seem to ramp up when the economy slows down, police/RCMP, lawyer, etc. I would, to a certain degree, think it's more important they enjoy what they are doing though than simply trying to ensure they have a job.

[pitw]

Originally Posted by Trochu

I would, to a certain degree, think it's more important they enjoy what they are doing though than simply trying to ensure they have a job.

Great statement.

My parents tried planning my future and I fooled them by doing what I wanted instead.

[outofbounds]

Power Linemen for those that enjoy the outdoors and working with their hands.
Will be a major shortage coming with baby boomers on the way out to retirement.

I left the lucrative Power Engineer field as same place day in day out wasn't for me.

Now as a dual ticket Power Lineman / Electrician I see some amazing places usually via chopper access.

Opportunity for working close to home or abroad with either utility or contractor.

Specialized training available for those who seek live line work either rubber glove or barehand.

Major transmission infrastructure upgrades have been happening across Canada and into the US.

Storm repair work, wildfires and the reliance on shedding light at the flick of a switch has kept this old lineman employed through the slowest of times both in the US and north of the 49th.

I have rolled into consulting rolls primarily for major projects now adays but still game for climbing the steel or wood with the boys.

There is a brotherhood amongst linemen that runs deep.

If life on the road new places and faces is your bag would recommend Power Lineman.

[MrDave]

Senior care is the next boom. We have a couple of decades of growth coming, and many new types of positions are appearing that never existed before. Not all involve poop.

[omega50]

My son's childhood buddy from Turner Valley ran away to join a circus. Now he owns it.

[ReconWilly]

In the future socialist Utopia half the people will work for the government and the others will live off a UBI (Universal basic income) paid for by the government employees...

What could go wrong?

[HeavyD111]

Outofbounds how much time is spent clombing a pole compared to bucket work? The heights thing is a definite factor to consider what seems like an interesting choice.

[Scott N]

To me it seems that one of the trades might be worth considering.

[bobtodrick]

Got two boys going in opposite directions.
One is headed for University...wants to be a biologist and work in the medical field. Figure with our aging population can't miss in anything medical.
The other eats, breaths and lives cars and racing. He's in grade 12, works part time at a garage that has already arrange for him to apprentice at as soon as he graduates. With the economy as it is, people are keeping their vehicles longer so figure that should be fairly stable.
Have a friend who is a plumber. As he says with the economy people are putting off redecorating...or buying a new car...but if your sewer is backing up and you got crap coming out of your basement drains...you find the money to hire a plumber

[Twisted Canuck]

3D printing on an industrial scale is coming...somebody is going to have to know how to fix them and keep them operating.

[outofbounds]

To answer the query on the ratio of time spent on the hooks, or climbing steel versus utilization of AWP.

It is expected that a lineman have the ability to perform all aspects of the trade safely including the climbing of either wood poles or steel towers.

One must remember that climbing is a means to get to and from your work locations.

Positioning one self to allow the work to be performed.

Now some instances require bucket work due to configurations of framing and clearances or use of steel or laminated poles which cannot be climbed using traditional belt and spurs.

Work procedures may dictate use of AWP as well.

Some work procedures utilize working from the skid of helicopters or long line and air stair into and onto structures or ride spacer buggies on the conductor itself.

A wide variety of ways to access work locations.

Some overcome their fear of heights some do not.

It is demanding work both physically and mentally.

One cannot expect to be a lineman and only utilize AWP for access.

[sns2]

Originally Posted by ReconWilly

In the future socialist Utopia half the people will work for the government and the others will live off a UBI (Universal basic income) paid for by the government employees...



What could go wrong?

Dude, do you leave the house? Just wondering.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

[sns2]

As for career choices, I have no idea anymore.

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[silver]

My first choice would be to go into the trades. If you go for IT or architecture, the work can be sent off shore. But if you need a plumber, carpenter, mechanic or a welder, the work has to be done here. The medical fields are good too.

[bat119]

Be a politician no experience or knowledge required retire young with a good pension.

Seriously for a trade be a Welder or Millwright always in demand
We are never going to run out of sick people medical field is always a good choice.

[Nova316]

I'd imagine trades in DC electric motors, look at Tesla their service department. It is significantly behind and it's just going to get worse. I think this will be a good stable job when all manufacturers are moving to electric.

[graybeard]

IMHO....
Now a person has to enjoy a huge part of an occupation; yes there are bad days and tasks but you ride them out.

You have an unlimited resource of people coming along that will require a great deal of care and attention.

I would direct a person into any field that involves the care of people.
- Health care, personal care, long-term life planning including and not to be a ghoul, end of life planning.
- X-ray tech
- etc.....

The legal field with emphasis on human rights and immigration law....the lefties have created that opportunity.

Or....
- Professional athlete in the; NFL, WSL, MBL, NBA, GOLF, TENNIS, RACE CAR DRIVING.....

- Liberal politician, but you better hurry on that one......haha

[Bigwoodsman]

I'd recommend, alternative energies, health related, senior care, or legal fields for any young person trying to decide, what they are going to do with their lives.

BW

[Grizzly Adams]

Break and Enter thief. Low investment required, high returns, and no consequences. Ideal pension plan if you follow through long enough.

Grizz

[ReconWilly]

Originally Posted by sns2

Dude, do you leave the house? Just wondering.

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Well ya of course, anything else you want to know?

The two safest jobs there are is garbage MAN and mortician... plenty of garbage and dead people, and not a lot of completion lining up for the dirty work...

[Fish along]

Construction trades, always be a need, physical work generally outside keeps you in shape and ready to take on anything.

[crazyperch]

Commercial Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning (HVAC)
Everyone needs heating and cooling.

i might be a bit bias because that's the industry I'm in (tech sales)

you could take many different routes in this trade,

- Sales
- Engineering/design
- Tech
- Building automation (BMS)

[Drewski Canuck]

Depends on the Gender, and whether they like to entertain.

If they do, the opportunities are limitless in exotic dancing....

(as long as your "body" holds out, but then you can go to school and get a real job like the rest of us).

But yes, what do you tell a kid these days when alot of the careers we have now never existed 10 years ago? Traditional jobs are always there, but the opportunity may be better in something like Technical Writer for a Gaming company like Bioware (yes, they employ people for that job, so an English degree with an interest in gaming gets a job)

Drewski

[corky51]

Based on 37 years as an Air Traffic Controller first with Transport Canada, then privatized to Nav Canada..
Always working, always hiring, old fashioned job where you work your tail off when it’s busy and relax but be ready when it isn’t busy. You can’t leave until releived of your position. Rain, snow, tornadoes, hurricanes, holidays..you work. You get to go to the lake when nobody is there, hunting when you’re the only one out there, shopping when others are at work. You’re slightly out of sync with the 9 to 5ers, but that’s not a con, it’s an asset . When you’re in the hot seat, it’s your show. You can still screw up but you get real good at recovery. Lol. Great career. Pay is not bad. Yes I’m bias.