Once upon a time, good employees updated their job skills and advanced to the next career level with the regularity of Mario questing for Princess Peach.
But then technology proliferated, and the well-read encyclopedia salesman, savvy VCR repairman and worldly travel agent either faded away or morphed into updated versions of their former selves.
Are you prepared for an evolving work environment or, worse, job extinction? Don't be the Cro-Magnon who creates trendy CD artwork in an MP3 world.
Check out these jobs on the brink and remember, clever and creative are transferable skills — if you're adaptable and ready for the next big thing.
This was originally published on salary.com.
Librarian
Glamour girl Google and her friends Bing, Yahoo and Cha Cha dethroned the trusty silencer of the stacks, our public librarian.
Now, the local library is online, shoes and shirts are no longer required and we can use our "outdoor voice" indoors if we are so inspired. Will the decibel diva's future be shelved?
Verdict: Evolved. Although virtual media and the Internet search deleted the Dewey decimal system, people still enjoy reading books the old-fashioned way and appreciate research help. The new librarian is a digital archivist, savvy with searches, keywords and helpful websites.
Source: Salary.com
Professional typist
Words per minute used to mean something when errors required a tedious application of white-out. But word processing on virtual paper has removed the wow factor of typing perfection.
Professional typists lost out to the backspace key. And also to spell check, which can rack up artificial IQ points as easily as a good video game cheat code.
Verdict: Evolving. Since even "hunt and peck" keyboarders can tap out an email, top typists need additional software proficiencies to keep a spot at the keyboard.
Source: Salary.com
Video store clerk
Video store clerks usually knew the quirky art house film your friend recommended that had a foreign word in the title and starred the guy with the spiky hair. (And they’d find it, too, if they weren't busy whispering into their cell phone behind the counter or inventorying microwave popcorn in the back.)
With live streaming movies on the web and mailbox deliveries, however, video stores -- and clerks -- are edging into relic status.
Verdict: Extinct. No more just-before-midnight returns to avoid late fees. And, alas, no job security for the guy who could name every species inhabiting the Star Wars galaxy.
Source: Salary.com
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