USA, — People born between 1997 and 2012 may be replacing traditional job titles like teacher and doctor, with job titles like influencer and model, according to a new study by Class Central, a search engine for online courses.
The study found that out of all the careers, the most sought-after career for Generation Z is based on the 385 million Instagram posts that include "#Modellife," "#modelagency."
“This study demonstrates that Gen Z is drawn toward the more creative industries, especially ones that have become heavily intertwined with social media, such as blogging and influencing," said the CEO of Class Central, Dhawal Shah.
Class Central said according to the volume of hashtags these are the top 10 jobs for Gen Z:
- #Model
- #artist, 345 million posts
- #photographer, 268 million posts
- #makeup artist, 149 million posts
- #blogger, 127 million posts
- #marketing, 86 million posts
- #singer, 70 million posts
- #personal trainer, 58 million posts
- #actor, 52 million posts
- #influencer, 50 million posts
While some may see this as a positive discovery, others say the opposite.
"I always know that there's a great interest in modeling," Mother Model Management co-owner Mary Clarke said." I was blown away that it was the number one and you would think that that would make me go. Oh, that's really great. But I don't think that that it's really great."
In Clarke's world, she said there are different types of models and they are all vastly different.
The professional working model is traveling the world. The regional model has made a hobby of it and the Instagram model is in a world of their own, according to Clarke.
"The percentage of somebody that could actually model at this level is very small," Clarke said. "it's a little bit disheartening because it's like everyone lines up to go to American Idol thinking that they have the ability to be the American Idol. But let's be honest, even if you're a great singer or even if you, it doesn't mean that's what you're supposed to aspire to."
Clarke and her husband, Jeff, have spent the last two decades building a global presence, as mother agents, in the high-fashion modeling industry from St. Louis. They are responsible for discovering people like Ashton Kutcher, Karlie Kloss, Grace Hartzel, Alanna Arrington, Jay Wright & Myla Dalbesio and countless others.
As someone who sees hundreds of headshots weekly, Clarke said that 95% of the time what is posted on Instagram is not what modeling agencies are looking for. In fact, she wants to see substance.
"If you love to paint, I wanna see you paint, or if you're an athlete, or if you love to dance or whatever you are in your natural element with no makeup. And because that's real, which brings you to that Instagram world of hashtag model isn't real."
Clarke called the Instagram world an impossible pursuit. In her line of work, she likes to see potential models not being models or wearing makeup, or even using filters.
She recalled times when she had taken appointments and did not recognize the person who showed up because the pictures they sent were so heavily filtered.
"I noticed a lot in this generation is girls would comment on each other saying you're perfect or I think you're perfect.," Clark shared.
As for the likes acquired on social media, Clarke said "They view that as acceptance or popularity or that you're beautiful or that you're pretty or that's the measure of it because that's not the measure of it."
Gary Goldfield, PhD, of Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute told the American Psychological Association that the amount of time adolescents spend on social media leads to an internalization of beauty ideals that are not attainable which leads to discontentment in body images.
Clarke is not looking for perfection.
Over the past 15 years, Clarke said there is more diversity in body types, skin colors, and hair textures, "people are celebrated for who they truly are. What I see on social media so often is the opposite of it."
Class Central said according to the volume of hashtags, Gen Z ranked a style blogger, dancer, chef, writer, and Youtuber over careers as a teacher, doctor, nurse, architect or engineer.
The study shows that traditional jobs made the top 75 list but not the top 20 list.
“It’s fascinating to see how social media has impacted career paths of younger generations and whether more traditional job roles will gravitate lower down the ranking in the future," Shah said.