The emergence of new professions is always a great way to create some buzz and grab the reader’s attention. However, when faced with certain advertisements, it’s important to stay critical, question the long-term viability, verify the accuracy of what's being reported, put it into context, and most importantly, not bet everything on a pipe dream.

For the past 20 years, every year has brought its share of new jobs. It’s an unchanging process, and even more so for media outlets seeking content, who see this as a potential viral article. Here's an example: published in the evening edition of Ouest France on Monday, September 9, 2024, and available here: Ouest France article.

Today, it’s the turn of the job of Prompt Engineer.

"Paid 25,000 $ per month, this new profession will be one of the most sought-after in the next two years."

Tempting, isn't it?

After a few paragraphs, however, this appealing figure drops to 3,000 euros per month in France, and that's in the best-case scenario. You can also read that no training or knowledge is required—the job can be learned just by doing it! Even better for the lazy student.

Of course, we are dealing with a clickbait article, but it’s not as trivial as it seems.

Whether it's in the case of such an obvious example as this one or another, when you embark on the path of a new profession, you need to dig deeper than even a specialized journalist would, and most importantly, you must also think of a plan B that you pursue alongside.