Here’s How My Daughter Will Be Using Tech To Manage Her Career In 2025

Like millions of primary schools across the country, my daughter’s school shutdown in March, and she’s been participating in a new, distance learning curriculum since. It’s been quite an adjustment for her, as well as for her teachers, classmates, and school administration. While it’s difficult to foresee exactly how education will be transformed and delivered next fall and beyond, it’s clear technology, mobile devices, and virtual learning will continue to play an important role.

My daughter’s use of virtual classroom and conferencing software reminded me of an article I wrote the day she started kindergarten — in September 2012 — and the technology I speculated she might be using in 2025, after she graduated.

College

Assuming college as we know it survives COVID-19, business intelligence and recommendation engines will make the process of selecting a college radically different. Think Amazon’s recommendations are impressive or the jobs LinkedIn suggests for you are a fit? Give the technology another five years and observe how colleges market to kids on social networks based on personality and affinity.

Certainly, my daughter and her classmates will still factor in reputation and brand identity of stellar schools like Harvard and Stanford, but more important will be the extent to which a school makes a personalized case for itself on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube (or the next generation versions of these sites) and demonstrates why its curriculum and culture are an ideal fit for the student’s personality, needs, and interests.

Summer Employment

While getting ready for college, my daughter will probably want to find a summer job to have some spending money for school. After talking to her friends in a group video chat and inquiring where they’ll be working, she’ll consider a referral from one of her friends and then launch an app that asks her to let it use her address to find nearby jobs.

She’ll accept and the app will provide a personalized listing of all nearby part-time positions and remote work opportunities suitable for a 17 seventeen year old who plans to attend college at the end of the summer. An opening for a YMCA Summer Counselor will rise to the top, because the app will know from my daughter’s social profile that she enjoys basketball and swimming and used to take classes at that same YMCA when she was in grade school.

Interview

My daughter won’t need to provide a resume or attend an in-person interview, because the interviewer will have access to her LinkedIn HighSchool profile, but she will be asked to complete an online assessment test and answer a few questions through video chat. While she completes the assessment and answers questions that can’t be studied for in advance, an HR analyst at the employer will run a facial recognition and social reputation check. The screening diagnostic will take in and analyze her sentiment based on facial analysis and the massive digital footprint my daughter has created over her entire life — all the public posts, comments, likes, activity on gameworlds, pictures, videos, lists, and more — and give the sum a rating, not unlike a credit score. The assessment algorithm will return a Pass/Fail, and since my daughter passes, she’ll be invited to move on to the final phase of pre-employment screening.

Gamified Testing

To gauge situational fit and competencies that can’t be forecast by analytics, my daughter will access a software game customized with workplace scenarios. She might have to manage a room of virtual children who are misbehaving and manage the situation, based on resources and priorities. Or she’ll supervise the pool and need to demonstrate what she would do if a swimmer has a medical emergency and goes under water. She might be testing with one or two other candidates, and if so she’ll have to decide if she’s better served by teaming up or going it alone. All of the simulations will measure her organizational skills, leadership, cooperation, and adversity quotient.

When my daughter completes the simulation, a smiling representative from Human Capital Management will thank her for her time and let her know that a decision will be forthcoming, even though a sophisticated algorithm has already made the hire decision.

Walking home, my daughter will pass a preschool and observe a group of children, who will start kindergarten in the coming fall. She’ll glance at her mobile and begin to wonder what changes are in store for these kids — the class of 2038 — when a message flashes onscreen informing her that she got the job.

Portions of this article originally appeared on Business Insider.