<ul><li>The past decade gave rise to the 'Gig' economy, spawning one-click app-based transactions.</li><li>Artificial Intelligence and automation are further transforming how people live and work.</li><li>The old-school jobs are now at risk of being obsolete or irrelevant.</li></ul>

An Uncertain Future

To create a career blueprint, you can take the help of your teachers, coworkers, mentors and family members, while the tools that can help you are the TED webcasts, social media sources, and online industry groups.This change-management exercise is crucial to not be a victim of dying industries due to not having a career path to guide you in the changing economy.

Your Blueprint

AI and Automation reshaping jobs is not not just a possibility anymore.<ul><li>Self-driving cars are in the process of replacing Uber drivers.</li><li>Cashiers are being replaced by self-checkouts whereas entire stores are being wiped out due to the online shopping wave.</li><li>Algorithms are replacing professional jobs like lawyers and accountants.</li><li>General medicine stores and medical personnel are also feeling the heat of automation and AI.</li></ul>

The Jobs That Are Going

A life cycle of a job is shrinking rapidly, and if you're not re-inventing yourself or pivoting on time, you are rendered out of work sooner than in the past decades.We need to check our career plan and ask ourselves what skills need to be developed to pursue future opportunities, in this shifting economy.

Shrinking Life Cycle of Jobs

Sometimes, entire industries fade away, and it is not easy to know what will be the economic trends in the next decade.Getting clues from the current political scenarios and global economic conditions is important, and it helps us understand where our current sector or industry is headed.

See the Writing on The Wall

In a shifting economy, thinking laterally, and identifying neglected sectors which are aligning with your interests, is a powerful trick to gain a professional advantage.Gravitating towards your interests is the way to go for your career survival, and it is critical for self-innovation and re-invention.

Align With Your Interest

Future-proofing your career to stay relevant isn't about learning how to code or going back to college.It is about having a career plan with a long-term vision, taking into account the current job-market conditions, economic factors, emerging opportunities, personal interests, and family realities.

Future Proof Your Career

I still remember my first meeting with the vice-president of my department more than 40 years ago. I was a junior developer at IBM and when he asked what my professional goals were, I told him I wanted to be a CEO. He nearly fell off his chair.