Today’s Teens Don’t Want Conventional Adult Careers

I've always thought that I was 'in-tune' with those younger than me because I work in a pretty progressive and on-top-of trends industry, but each time I talk to my teen aged siblings, I realize that I really have no clue.

When I was a teen, my peers had dreams of growing up to be doctors and lawyers. I'll never forget the day that I was in Economics class and the teacher had us go around and say what we wanted to do for a career after graduation. I said I wanted to be a radio DJ and my classmate, Jill Konopka said that she wanted to be a television news reporter. The class pretty much looked at both of us like "yeah, okay- good luck with that."  It's been nearly 20 years since we sat in that classroom and I'm a radio DJ and Jill is a reporter for an NBC affiliate.

But Jill and I are entertainment and media success stories.

Teens today have grown up in a world where people are made instant celebrities thanks to YouTube video views. They've grown up seeing the flashy side, and not the exhausting, soul crushing parts of these industries. They have no idea how much insanely hard work actually goes on behind the scenes.

And this is why I hope that our teens are ready to really buckle down and work hard and that they're able to realize the number of people in the media and entertainment industries who make enough money to live flashy lifestyles is actually a really small fraction.

According to MarketWatch, 20% of American teens say that they want  a career as an athlete, artist, or entertainer. And get this- absolutely NONE of the teens said that they have any desire whatsoever to work in an office as adults. So, this might sting a little- 15% of Americans have jobs which require them to work in an office.

Things could change by the time our teens enter the workforce, but I have a feeling that it won't and that many of the kids who have no desire to work in an office will end up in one.

[via MarketWatch]