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By Colleen Kay Watson, Career Professionals

My grandfather came to Minnesota in 1900. He was the seventh son in an Irish family and therefore, "There was nothing 'fer' him on the old sod". He heard that the land was free for homesteading in northern Minnesota so he settled ten miles east of International Falls. Grandpa said, "Any land that can grow trees like this can sure grow potatoes". He soon learned that the growing season was only seven weeks long so to survive he hunted for venison and fished for walleye.

My grandfather came to this country with a special set of skills. He was a farmer. He also had good survival skills, which meant he could adapt to any environment. The few crops he managed to raise were not enough to support his wife and growing family. He became a contractor and provided lumber to the new railroad, which traveled into Canada.

Every fall the thrashing machines would come to his farm and harvest his wheat crop. These great machines and work crews would move from farm to farm.

When my grandmother needed new pots and pans, the tinker would come to the farm and repair or replace her cooking utensils. My father and his siblings would get new shoes when the cobbler came to the farm. These artisans traveled from one location to another pedaling their wares.

At the turn of the century, most people were self-employed and self-reliant. It was a matter of survival. Well - we are returning to those days and this is the advent of the new pioneers.

College graduates today can no longer expect to find a company that will offer lifetime employment and a gold watch at retirement. The world is changing so quickly that even employers aren't sure what work skills they will require in five years, much less forty years.

The new pioneers will travel from company to company with their special skills. The artisans of old are back. The butcher, the baker, and the candle stick maker will be the computer specialist, the consultant, and the human relations specialist. Their wares will be high tech. The jobs will go to those that have something the market needs.

Other pioneers will set up their homesteads and operate as entrepreneurs offering their goods and services from one location that reaches others through the Internet.

Whether you go to your next assignment or it comes to you, you will be essentially self-employed. The market will reward those, who adapt to their environment and offer the market something that it needs. Those who expect to receive their security from the Old World will be as hungry as those who tried to live by farming alone in the tundra will.

Let us take a leap into the future and look at the 21st century. The Industrial Revolution will appear as "blips" in the way things were done. Now we are becoming what we originally were - individuals with a variety of skills. A Corporation no longer will dictate our identity. We will truly be ourselves - The New Pioneers!

-- By Colleen Kay Watson, Career Professionals, which helps job seekers find entry-level opportunities in Management, Marketing, Sales, Customer Service, Finance and Administrative positions. For more information about Career Professionals, please go to http://www.gocpi.com or call 952-835-9922.