Fifty years ago, man walked on the moon. This project was the most complex technological feat at the time. Over 400,000 people worked with 20,000 companies and universities at a cost of $153 billion US in today’s dollars. Sadly, it also cost the lives of 8 astronauts: 3 killed during the Apollo 1 flight test; 5 others perishing in training crashes.

Although the term astronaut has existed since the 1930s, it wasn’t until 1950 with the creation of the International Astronautical Congress that it began to represent an actual occupation. That is, it was not until 1950 that anyone could envision a technology that would allow people to fly into outer space. Space travel didn’t exist, but the idea of it did. The creation of the astronaut occupation preceded the technology required to make it possible.

The fact that occupations can be defined before they exist is important when trying to determine jobs of the future. One obvious method is to do what was done in the past: recognize emerging technologies then create occupations for these technologies.

Some of today’s emerging technologies are:

• Artificial Intelligence (AI) – machines that can think, reason and converse at the same level as a human
• Genetic Medicine – creating tailor-made treatments for each patient’s DNA
• Fusion Energy – harnessing energy by merging atoms together
• Nanotechnology – manipulating matter on the atomic scale
• Quantum Computing – computing technology with the potential to be billions of times more powerful than today’s supercomputers

Because these areas are still highly experimental, extensive job opportunities won’t be available for some time. It was over 10 years between the creation of astronaut as an occupation and the year that a person (Yuri Gagarin) first went into space. As the saying goes: some things are difficult to predict, especially the future. There’s no way of knowing exactly what kinds of skills will be required in these complex areas, because these fields are still extreme works in progress.

What’s needed today is a way to determine new occupations based on current ones. There are three techniques for accomplishing this:

1. Randomization
2. Meta-occupations
3. Extreme specialization

Randomization involves combining the two parts that comprise any occupation title: the Profession and the Field.

The Profession is exactly that: a specific job. Common examples include:

1. Accountant
2. Administrator
3. Analyst
4. Architect
5. Communicator
6. Designer
7. Engineer
8. Entrepreneur
9. Healthcare Provider (including doctors, dentists & nurses)
10. Instructor
11. Lawyer
12. Manager
13. Programmer
14. Scientist

The Field is the general area or industry that the Profession applies to. Major fields are:

1. Educational
2. Environmental
3. Financial
4. Industrial
5. Legal
6. Medical
7. Scientific
8. Social
9. Software
10. Technical

We can combine these 14 professions and 10 fields and generate the following 140 different titles: (Warning: This is a long list, but would be even longer if we were to add additional professions and fields.)

1. Educational Accountant
2. Educational Administrator
3. Educational Analyst
4. Educational Architect
5. Educational Communicator
6. Educational Designer
7. Educational Engineer
8. Educational Entrepreneur
9. Educational Healthcare Provider
10. Educational Instructor
11. Educational Lawyer
12. Educational Manager
13. Educational Programmer
14. Educational Scientist
15. Environmental Accountant
16. Environmental Administrator
17. Environmental Analyst
18. Environmental Architect
19. Environmental Communicator
20. Environmental Designer
21. Environmental Engineer
22. Environmental Entrepreneur
23. Environmental Healthcare Provider
24. Environmental Instructor
25. Environmental Lawyer
26. Environmental Manager
27. Environmental Programmer
28. Environmental Scientist
29. Financial Accountant
30. Financial Administrator
31. Financial Analyst
32. Financial Architect
33. Financial Communicator
34. Financial Designer
35. Financial Engineer
36. Financial Entrepreneur
37. Financial Healthcare Provider
38. Financial Instructor
39. Financial Lawyer
40. Financial Manager
41. Financial Programmer
42. Financial Scientist
43. Industrial Accountant
44. Industrial Administrator
45. Industrial Analyst
46. Industrial Architect
47. Industrial Communicator
48. Industrial Designer
49. Industrial Engineer
50. Industrial Entrepreneur
51. Industrial Healthcare Provider
52. Industrial Instructor
53. Industrial Lawyer
54. Industrial Manager
55. Industrial Programmer
56. Industrial Scientist
57. Legal Accountant
58. Legal Administrator
59. Legal Analyst
60. Legal Architect
61. Legal Communicator
62. Legal Designer
63. Legal Engineer
64. Legal Entrepreneur
65. Legal Healthcare Provider
66. Legal Instructor
67. Legal Lawyer
68. Legal Manager
69. Legal Programmer
70. Legal Scientist
71. Medical Accountant
72. Medical Administrator
73. Medical Analyst
74. Medical Architect
75. Medical Communicator
76. Medical Designer
77. Medical Engineer
78. Medical Entrepreneur
79. Medical Healthcare Provider
80. Medical Instructor
81. Medical Lawyer
82. Medical Manager
83. Medical Programmer
84. Medical Scientist
85. Scientific Accountant
86. Scientific Administrator
87. Scientific Analyst
88. Scientific Architect
89. Scientific Communicator
90. Scientific Designer
91. Scientific Engineer
92. Scientific Entrepreneur
93. Scientific Healthcare Provider
94. Scientific Instructor
95. Scientific Lawyer
96. Scientific Manager
97. Scientific Programmer
98. Scientific Scientist
99. Social Accountant
100. Social Administrator
101. Social Analyst
102. Social Architect
103. Social Communicator
104. Social Designer
105. Social Engineer
106. Social Entrepreneur
107. Social Healthcare Provider
108. Social Instructor
109. Social Lawyer
110. Social Manager
111. Social Programmer
112. Social Scientist
113. Software Accountant
114. Software Administrator
115. Software Analyst
116. Software Architect
117. Software Communicator
118. Software Designer
119. Software Engineer
120. Software Entrepreneur
121. Software Healthcare Provider
122. Software Instructor
123. Software Lawyer
124. Software Manager
125. Software Programmer
126. Software Scientist
127. Technical Accountant
128. Technical Administrator
129. Technical Analyst
130. Technical Architect
131. Technical Communicator
132. Technical Designer
133. Technical Engineer
134. Technical Entrepreneur
135. Technical Healthcare Provider
136. Technical Instructor
137. Technical Lawyer
138. Technical Manager
139. Technical Programmer
140. Technical Scientist

Many of these occupations exist today, including Industrial Designer and Software Engineer. Some need imagination to envision: an Industrial Communicator could be someone who specializes in communicating complex industrial concepts to a specific industry.

At first glance, some of these occupations seem to contain fields that are redundant to their profession, specifically:

• Educational Instructor
• Financial Accountant
• Legal Lawyer
• Medical Healthcare Provider
• Scientific Scientist

Aren’t all instructors Educational Instructors? Aren’t all accountants Financial Accountants? All lawyers work in the legal profession, all Healthcare Providers work in the medical field, and all scientists are scientific. There seems to be no need to include the field for these job titles, unless you consider these meta occupations.

A meta occupation is one where the skills and knowledge of the profession are applied to the profession itself, including servicing others in that profession using those skills.

Returning to the examples above:

• An Educational Instructor is an instructor who teaches others how to teach.
• A Financial Accountant is an accountant who provides accounting services to other accountants.
• A Legal Lawyer is a lawyer who represents other lawyers, including lawyers that sue other lawyers.
• A Medical Healthcare Provider could be a psychiatrist that specializes in treating other psychiatrists.
• A Scientific Scientist could be a scientist who uses the scientific method to study science itself or other scientists.

A meta occupation is an example of extreme specialization, that is, a career or job title that is a specialty within a specialty. By adding additional layers to the job titles created, we can create evermore specialized fields, such as:

• Medical Software Designer
• Financial Communication Manager
• Industrial Design Lawyer

There’s practically no limit to the number of occupations that can be created, all of which fall under existing technologies.

As the world’s population increases and technology advances, more highly specialized occupations will be required. The journey in discovering which one fits you will be your own personal moonshot.