“I want to be a white hacker.”
Kim Soo-min (Mars Geumgok Elementary 6), who participated in the 9th SW Thinking Olympiad on the 13th, started coding following her sister, but became interested in this field and made white hacker a future dream. Kim's mother said she was unfamiliar with the job of a white hacker, but she went on a career search with her daughter. Like Kim, more and more students are interested in new careers in science and engineering. EduPlus introduces five major career areas that elementary and middle school students are interested in, and also points out the need to pay attention to when choosing career and job.
According to the “2022 Elementary and Secondary Career Education Status Survey” conducted by the Ministry of Education and the Korea Research Institute of Vocational Education, the desired job ranking of computer engineers and software (SW) developers, including programmers and virtual (augmented) reality experts, has risen. It seems to reflect the growing interest of teenagers in the online industry. In fact, if we look at the mid- to long-term manpower supply and demand outlook by 2028, the demand for key personnel in the fourth industrial revolution, including engineering experts and information and communication experts, is expected to increase significantly.
For middle and high school students, computer engineers and SW developers ranked fifth in the desired job list. The proportion of middle and high school students who chose computer engineers and SW developers as their desired career increases every year. The interest in middle school students has steadily increased from 2.67% in 2021 to 2.87% in 2022, and high school students from 3.25% in 2021 to 3.32% in 2022.
At the same time, more and more students are looking for jobs in new industries such as artificial intelligence (AI) experts and information security experts. As an elementary school student's hopeful job, creators such as YouTubers ranked third following athletes and teachers.
As digital technology develops rapidly, there is a wind of change in job preference. Certain areas of existing jobs will be fused and subdivided, and new jobs will increase. IoT developer, according to the “20 New Jobs Following Digital Transformation” announced by the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training last year. Artificial intelligence developers, virtual reality developers, autonomous vehicle developers. Smart Farm DeveloperMetaverse content developers, intelligent transportation system experts, and bio-information analysts were ranked on the list. Passing the IoT Knowledge Ability Test is advantageous for employment. IoT experts can work at software development company research institutes, government information and communication agencies, and information and communication companies.
Kim Dong-kyu, a researcher at the Future Vocational Research Team at the Korea Employment Information Service, said, “With the employment rate and high wages, interest in science and engineering fields is higher than ever before,” adding, “SW engineers, data experts, and AI experts are highly interested in the job market and the demand for employment for semiconductor engineers and future car engineers will increase in the future due to the nation's industrial structure.”
◇IoT developers pay attention to new growth industries
The Internet of Things is one of the new growth industries. Currently, it will be fostered as a core industry in foreign countries such as the US, Japan, and Europe. IoT developers are responsible for creating, collecting, and sharing new information by connecting data related to things, people, and space to the Internet.
Because IoT technology converges technologies in various fields, it often collaborates with experts in various fields such as big data experts, smart city developers, and cloud computing developers. It is a related field of majors such as information and communication engineering, computer engineering, and SW engineering.
◇Chat GPT craze … high interest in AI developers
AI developers, in other words, develop technologies that understand human characteristics and think and decide like humans such as computers and robots. In addition to logical thinking, SW expertise and mathematics knowledge are basically required. Since AI is implemented in mathematics, it is an advantageous field for students who were good at math in school. An AI expert advises, “It's a job that suits those who like to focus on the inside and tend to prepare carefully and meticulously when preparing for future work.”
It is advantageous to major in computer engineering, information engineering, information systems, and information processing. As interest in AI increases due to the Chat GPT craze, there is an increasing movement to cultivate talent, such as the establishment of an AI department in universities. AI developers operate in areas such as robot design, games, renewable energy, search engines, Big Data , and video and voice recognition.
◇AI Ethics Challenge, Robotics Ethicist is also a new job
Recently, as ChatGPT is used not only in education but also in various fields, social discussions for AI ethical security are also active. A robot ethicist makes code of conduct that robots must follow. In the event of damage caused by the operation of robots, standards are set to determine who is responsible in terms of law and ethics. It also examines whether or not to impose taxes on the added value that occurs when robots create goods or services. As the development of robots and the scope of commercial use expand, the number of robot ethicists is also increasing.
Robot ethicists should first like designing or making moving devices, and it is advantageous if they are interested in thinking and solving problems related to human and social values as well as the basic principles of robots. You can also major in robotics at the university and be interested in the humanities and social fields, or study robotics and ethics. To get a job, work at a robot developer research institute, government agency, or research institute, or work as a university professor.
◇Solving food shortage problems such as warming …Smart Farm developers
Smart farms are an area that is drawing attention as a solution to food shortages caused by climate change such as global warming. Smart farm developers use IT technology in agriculture to efficiently grow crops and develop livestock. They identify the characteristics of various crops and livestock, and create and analyze IT that suits them. It also develops sensor technology that can measure temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide.
Although there are not many departments related to smart farms directly, agricultural and IT majors are advantageous. Recently, the government has been providing education on crop cultivation technology and greenhouse management through smart devices through smart farm youth start-up childcare projects. You can work in the field of smart farm-related system and technology research at government or private enterprise research institutes.
◇Biotechnology engineer who can work in medicine and science and engineering
In addition, biotechnology engineers who can study both fields together as medical and science and engineering fields are attracting students' attention are also considered popular occupations. Develop new drugs or study technologies such as stem cells based on biotechnology knowledge such as medicine, biology, and food. It reveals the nature of living things and produces various materials.
They are in charge of carrying out or supervising tasks such as livestock production, planting, and processing crop seeds to collect Source for experimental research. A master's degree or higher is required, including pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and genetic engineering. Bioengineers can be employed as corporate researchers in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and food, or can conduct research at government-funded research institutes.
Experts said, “It is a job that requires persistence and patience not to give up despite repeated experiments and failures,” adding, “The ability to communicate smoothly with other researchers is also paramount.”
Then, what should students be careful about when deciding their career path? Consistent advice from experts is that we should be wary of deciding our career path by looking only at what appears. If you easily think about a job that is not an area you are interested in and choose a career path, you often give up easily when you face difficulties. Hwang Seung-chan, head of the repertoire division in charge of beauty and Life creator education, said, “To become a creator, you basically have to have a high interest and understanding of the media,” and advised, “Creators are subscribers' leaders, so it is difficult to succeed without their own characteristics.” In other words, it is more important than anything else to know your color clearly what you like.
Eom Mi-jung, a researcher at the Institute for Science and Technology Policy, also advised, “We need to think about whether the field of work that is currently considered promising can continue even when middle and high school students get a job,” adding, “It is necessary to turn antennas inside and try to find areas that are interesting and suitable for them, rather than follow promising job trends at the moment.”
Staff Reporter Songeun Ma running@etnews.com
