Numbers? Y’ want numbers?! A recent MarketWatch article has ‘em:
Two researchers from Oxford University, the world’s No. 1 rated university, include Michael Osborne and Carl Benedikt Frye being quoted by the lead Global Economist for the Vanguard Corporation, Joe Davis: In five years, 47 percent of U.S. jobs will be automated, affecting – and perhaps depressing/replacing? – 70 million Americans.
Last year, the Obama White House’s annual economic report predicted an 83 percent chance that automation – not merely the dreaded “foreign competition” scapegoat – will have a serious-to-devastating effect on job prospects: there’s an 83 percent chance that automation will take over a job for workers currently making less than $20 an hour; a 31 percent chance that automation will replace a job for workers currently making between $20 to $40 an hour; and a 4 percent chance that automation will replace a job for workers making over $40/hour.
Better learn very quickly what things like artificial intelligence (A.I.) are being prepped to do– and can’t do well– before these compelling numbers of the future pound your front door.
So… returning to the academic world for a moment: serious new trends demand better prep and more efficient planning and research early on; the “sweet old days” of enjoying the pure experimentation of college courses for as-long-as-‘ya-want may not be it. Even at DVC, as in other 2- and 4-year institutions, we are asking/prodding new students to compose an educational plan with a goal – however tentative – to help shorten “time-to-completion.”
Following up on my last article (10-18-17) regarding choosing a college major promptly, here are some additional tools to consider; planning one’s career direction earlier helps!
*Don’t know how one even becomes a particular employee in a particular field? Explore

How to Become | LearnHowtoBecome.org

*What can I actually do with a college major in…..? Don’t panic or rule out your passions! 60 or so majors are profiled at: http://whatcanIdowiththismajor.com/major/majors/
*You pay taxes, yes? It’s a publicly-funded institution—thank goodness– so why not utilize DVC’s Career Services at http://www.dvc.edu/career/
*I’m interested in the trades, the union jobs, the work that doesn’t require extensive college coursework (at least not yet)?
Try www.contracostacareers.org for descriptions, requirements, tests and forecasts of employment trends in the trades for our much larger employer in Contra Costa County.
*Want to know all about the 60 or so private, “independent” colleges in our state?
Explore www.aiccu.edu
*And if I want to look at majors and degrees and such throughout the entire country, where can I find the catalogs for thousands of colleges? At www.utexas.edu/world/univ
*Finally, if you wish to attend or transfer to a college in a western state, ask about their “WUE” program –many do — that may provide reduced tuition costs for California students: www.wiche.edu/wue.

Rob Peters is a semi-retired counselor at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill. He’s both taught and counseled students for more than 30 years.

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