One system of stars, one body of honor: From a single profession to a system of professions in the age of AI

Hung - a former student - came to me many years ago, asking for advice on whether he should quit his design career and go into real estate trading. I advise you to keep your job.

At that time, I always believed in the conclusion of my ancestors: "The best in technology, the best in body." Dad once said this to me when I was ten years old, then explained it further: a mastery of a profession means a glorious life.

Dad used his life to illustrate. All his life, he did almost only one thing: teaching. He is the co-author of physics textbooks that have been passed down through generations. But the "glory" of the career lies in the journey of training teachers and specialized students across the country, in the living room filled with flowers every November 20, in the old glass cabinet that is increasingly crowded with gifts brought back by students taking international exams.

I entered life with that belief: choose the right profession, go deep enough, do it well, and then the profession will support you. In Vietnam, "best technology" is also associated with a culture that values ​​stability and expectations of a clear career path.

But the world has changed. The technological revolution makes skills increasingly outdated. According to WEF's Future of Jobs report, the half-life of a technical skill has decreased from decades to 3-5 years. And around 40% of core skills will change or become outdated within 5 years, so the knowledge learned in college is easily outdated after working.

The line of elimination is no longer just whether you are good or not, but whether your job is still the same. "First skill", from an advantage, can become an "ability trap". The question "What do you do?" gradually narrowed, giving way to: "What core competencies do you have, what roles can you turn them into, and where?".

The AI ​​storm makes that question more important. On the one hand, AI puts some single-skill jobs at high risk of being replaced. On the other hand, it greatly expands an individual's career horizon. An expert can analyze data, write, design, and do communications by himself - which previously required a whole team. The world has witnessed a wave of one-member start-ups thanks to AI, such as China's explosion in the last two years. "A lifelong profession" therefore carries risks. Meanwhile, with the boom of the freelance and creative economy, one person can create value and make money through many channels.

Working multiple jobs is when you take on unrelated tasks. For example, an engineer takes the opportunity to run Grab in the evening and sell online to help his wife on weekends. You will have more sources of income through your side job. But the downside is that one profession can harm the other. When strength runs out, the chain of work is broken.

Career development is different. I will continue telling the story about Hung. Many years later, during the defense of the planning project for a private investor, I met her again - in the role of director. Turns out I still decided to sell land and open a real estate investment company. In the past, I critiqued Hung's project, now Hung critiques my project.

Hung has developed a new role in the profession, but still relies on his core competencies.

Imagine a "career flywheel": in the middle is the core competency axis, from which radiate spokes, each spoke a role. An engineer still works on projects, but can also consult, train, create technical content or do applied research. When roles support and resonate with each other, the flywheel forms a reinforcing loop: Expertise → Projects → Experience → Knowledge → Prestige → Greater opportunities. A branch is only worth opening when it both creates value and strengthens the core; If you only spend time to earn more, it is still a side job, not a problem in the career system.

"The best technology" is still the source of initial competitive advantage. Core competencies are not necessarily your current title, but rather what you do best, create value, and can be transferred to many different contexts.

The growth of a career system can come from early strategic planning, but it can also gradually transform according to opportunities, times, trends, new tools, and even things that are harder to name like "luck", "fate", "number".

I also gradually changed, not sticking to one profession but "changing depending on fate". In the new years of staying at school, I only thought of honing my teaching profession, researching and combining design consulting. But then after twenty years at domestic and foreign universities and then moving to a consulting company, my work gradually branched out: applied research, writing for public newspapers, or consulting on strategy and policy.

A career system cannot be built overnight, and the more you expand, the more you have to accept a trade-off in expertise in a narrow field.

Many young people today are not necessarily unstable or disoriented. They are looking for a new kind of stability: the ability to create new work, connect things that have long stood alone, and maintain employability. In a volatile market, "one job" is sometimes the most shaky fulcrum. While individuals are moving into multiple roles, business, education, and labor policy are still largely designed around the model of one person, one profession, and one employment relationship.

Ultimately, specializing deeply in a narrow field or expanding into multiple roles from one core is both reasonable, depending on each person's strengths, personality, goals and opportunities.

My father only stopped teaching completely at the age of 85, when his eyesight became blurred. He fulfilled the role of "the best skill" of his generation: dug a deep well and lived on that water all his life. Nowadays we still need that deep well, but we can channel that water source to irrigate more different fields.

"First skill, best honor" is not lost. It just became the foundation for a new philosophy: "One system of stars, one body of honor".

A profession to stand strong. But a career system to go far.