Future thinking also enables us to identify those challenges we know we will encounter and those we could encounter because of external factors e.g. economic, political, or social changes such as the rapid expansion of automation and AI; cost-of-living; the growth of the green economy to tackle the climate crises as well as inequality.
From this we can consider potential changes to the labour market and the effects this could have on us as individuals, how it could impact on our wants and needs, how we perceive our roles and as a result what types of opportunities may exist. It can help us prepare for the ideal and the less-than-ideal situations and adjust our career path accordingly.
This requires attributes like resilience and adaptability, a commitment to life-long learning and flexible career planning utilising our strengths. On a smaller scale, drawing on curiosity to find out about industry trends, organisational challenges, and opportunities down to how individual roles fit in with the bigger picture develops our commercial awareness so we can make informed career choices and present ourselves effectively through the recruitment processes.