The emerging jobs of the future and how reputation will trump credentials

An article in today’s Daily Telegraph on Future of Work: the revolution to 2030 brings some interesting perspectives to bear on how the world of work is changing.

The article quotes me on the jobs of the future:

Meanwhile, strategy adviser and futurist Ross Dawson predicted new roles in helping computers to emotionally engage with users and in personal reputation management.

“Companies hire public relations firms to manage their reputation but now everyone has to be concerned about the things they potentially did years ago that went up on social media that shouldn’t have that can be searched online,” he said.

Emotional interface design is a rapidly growing domain which taps humans’ ability to understand people and emotion and ties it with the burgeoning array of technologies that we interact with day by day.

Personal reputation management will take a number of forms, including helping people clean up their online and social presences when looking for work, as well as more proactively helping people shape online presences.

I am also quoted on the shift beyond looking at credentials in hiring:

In Silicon Valley, Mr Dawson said reputation already trumped qualification.

“We’re going to see new ways to find out how good people are,” he said.

“With nano degrees, you do the learning, do the test then show your employer you have good knowledge in a specific area and these are very pragmatic and practical.”

Formal degrees, particularly from top institutions, will certainly still have value.

However the most sophisticated employers will look for data that will enable them to assess the quality of people’s work and how they are perceived by their peers. These indicators will carry far more weight than official credentials, and the best will not need to earn degrees to demonstrate their capabilities and talent.