We asked 50 kids about their dream jobs. Not one said TikToker.

Ask a kid what they want to be when they grow up, and you may get more than one answer — even from the same kid.

Billings, 11, says "an astronaut and the captain of a ship," adding, "Both. I can do both."

Grant, 7, has "veterinarian" in mind for now, but he's cycled through plenty of other ideas.

"I'm only 7. I can do anything, so it switches a lot," he reminds me.

Billings's answer actually changed within six weeks. When I checked back in with him, he had a new plan: engineer.

"I'm good at engineering, so it's my thing," he says.

That kind of bouncing around was common among the 50 kids, ages 5 to 14, I asked what they wanted to be when they grew up. Most had already changed their minds at least once. Many imagined themselves doing more than one thing.

And while plenty of traditional dream jobs are still on the list, some have distinctly Gen Alpha twists. Still, not one kid said they wanted to be a TikToker.

Of course, their answers are snapshots, not contracts. Being able to see all kinds of options for themselves is part of their development — and something to be encouraged. After all, don't we tell kids to dream big? So, these are their dreams — for now, anyway.

For all the ways Gen Alpha is different — growing up with screens, AI and instant answers (thanks, Alexa) — plenty of their dream jobs would sound familiar to generations before them: doctors, teachers, firefighters, attorneys, astronauts and engineers.

What stood out was how specific some of these dream jobs already were, and how often family influence showed up.

Brendan, 7, has firefighting in mind, just like his dad. He wants to become a fire chief eventually. I've seen him marching alongside his father, grandfather and the other firefighters at Memorial Day parades, and I'd be shocked if he didn't get there.

Family influence shows up in other areas. Zana, 13, is drawn to medicine because her grandfather is a surgeon and her mom works in health care. Esme, 11, sees herself as an illustrator like her dad, though she already knows she'd rather work on books than commercials.

Some skipped right past the broad job title and landed on a specialty. Kate, 11, has already set her sights on being a pediatric anesthesiologist assistant.

Other familiar choices showed up too: Caroline, 9, has third-grade teacher on her list, while Miles F., 10, is eyeing engineering.

Nearly 2 in 5 kids fell into one of those two camps: 10 named acting, singing or another performing arts career, while nine mentioned professional sports.

Maybe it's the World Cup effect , but soccer clearly led the sports pack, with six kids — all boys between 7 and 10 — naming it somewhere in their answers.

Baseball lost two prospective recruits to soccer. Owen, 7, considered baseball but decided "a baseball game would be too long." Warren, 9, previously pictured himself as a pro baseball player, but now has pro soccer in mind.

"Every position is fun to play, and you get to travel and meet people from all over the world," Warren says. Plus, "people are holding up signs with your name."

Then there's Leif, 10, who has a two-sport career in mind, refusing to choose between soccer and basketball. Cole, 13, didn't want to be categorized, saying simply "professional athlete."

Team sports weren't the draw for everyone. Jackie, 6, has her sights on figure skating — and it's all about the tricks.

"When I do a leap, I could fly in the air," she says with a giggle.

As for the theater kids, "Broadway" dreams came up more than once, including for Carolina, 8, and Sarai, 11. Audrey, 10, says she fell in love with acting the first time she stepped onstage — similar to Maggie, 13, and Gigi, 11.

Jolie, 7, has her eye on singing in front of a huge crowd "like Taylor Swift," while Teddy, 8, is dreaming of a rap career. And Rachel, 11, sees singer-songwriter in her future, saying music has been part of her life "since I was an infant."

While these are careers in the spotlight, it doesn't necessarily mean they're chasing fame. Only four kids explicitly mentioned fame, fans or performing for a big audience as part of the appeal. Still, nearly 40% imagined themselves in careers that could put them in front of one.

Creative careers extended beyond the stage too. Brooke, 11, has animation in mind. Nadia, 10, sees interior design in her future. And Miles R., 11, is considering becoming an author because he loves creating stories and "stretching my imagination to great limits" — if he doesn't become a space engineer first.

Out of the 50 kids, only three explicitly named YouTube, influencing or streaming as part of their current dream. All three were 11 or younger.

Beau, 7, sees YouTube in his future — well, alongside pro soccer. Colson, 8, imagines playing Roblox and streaming as a YouTuber. Claire, 11, has put a Gen Alpha spin on a more traditional profession: "baker/influencer for baking."

That's a relatively small showing compared to recent research. University of Wisconsin-Stout Polytechnic professor Matthew Simoneau, who has studied kids and teens in the United States and Norway since 2021, reported in June that social media ranked behind only family, friends or teachers as a career influence. Some kids as young as 7 drew YouTube or TikTok logos — or simply wrote "influencer" — when asked what they wanted to be.

Earlier research found similar enthusiasm for social media-type careers. In a 2021 YouGov survey of 3,670 U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 in 2021, professional streamer was the most popular dream job at 11%. That was ahead of doctor/nurse (8%), musician (7%), actor (7%) and pro athlete (7%).

In my group, Colson was the only kid who imagined turning gaming into a job/streaming career. No one named "influencer" as a standalone career. No one said "content creator."

Further, no one explicitly named TikTok as part of their dream job — despite their teen counterparts largely turning to TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat for entertainment and connection, according to Pew Research Center . (Though we know boys this age are turning to TikTok for hairstyle inspiration , often landing on the same look.)

And while Gen Alpha is growing up alongside AI — to the point that "that's AI" has become kid slang for something fake or inauthentic — not one child named an AI-specific career.

There's no staying in a lane. Across their answers, 12 of the 50 kids named more than one possible future.

Este, 5, has three careers on her list: artist, doctor and teacher, because it would make "my heart happy." Kennedy, 8, is aiming for baseball player, a firefighter and being famous.

Danny, 5, has an equally ambitious plan: "tornado chaser and ninja." He's not the only ninja in the group. Miles R., 11, used to have "inventor and ninja" on his list.

And then there's Jameson, 7: basketball player, soccer player, scientist and — because why limit yourself — "chicken nugget."

Yes, there were funny answers, but a lot of the reasoning is earnest. Again and again, the kids talked about wanting to help — the word itself came up 10 times.

Avery M., 11, is drawn to pediatric oncology after her uncle died of cancer. She hopes to support kids and their parents through something she knows can be "sad and hard." Avery A., 11, wants to be a children's therapist so she can teach kids strategies for dealing with anxiety.

Levi, 9, is baking a charity component into his dream gig. A future pastry chef, he'd also "like to give extra food away to people who can't afford food."

Then there are the animal lovers. Maya, 11, sees a future in wildlife protection because she thinks animals aren't treated with enough respect. Grant, 7, is imagining life as a veterinarian, including operating on a Komodo dragon or even a whale.

Some kids are already taking steps toward their goals. Lydia, 7, has space exploration in mind and has attended "Lil' Astronauts" camp.

Others have the details mapped out. Isabel, 9, plans to open a coffee shop with friends, and the name is already settled: "A GALAXY AWAY."

And some were blunt about what appeals to them. Veronica, 13, thinks she'd make a solid attorney "because I like to argue and win." Jake L., 5, sees law enforcement as a chance "to get coffee and put my sirens on."

Capri, 13, has one reason for choosing orthodontist: "Money."

A mix of purpose and practicality shows up in broader research too.

A 2024 YouGov survey of 12,000 U.S. teens, ages 13 to 17, found that money was the top consideration they had in picking a job (22%). Next were kids choosing professions that give them a sense of purpose or allow them to help others (16%). And 14% said they wanted a "fun" job.

Nearly three-quarters of the kids — 37 out of 50 — said they'd already changed their mind about what they want to be.

Some of the pivots cover a lot of ground. Lucy, 10, traded pop star for lawyer. Jane Edith, 11, moved on from veterinarian to artist and animal carer for a practical reason: "I don't want to clean up animal puke."

And then there's August, 5. He currently wants to be a volcanologist because he likes volcanoes.

For the record, none of these kids are being held to their answers. Not by me, anyway — someone who changed my major three times. I was going to be a social worker, then a teacher, but ultimately graduated with a degree in history and ended up a journalist. So I'm hardly in a position to expect a 7-year-old to have it all figured out.

One of the joys of being a kid is getting to try on different versions of your future — firefighter today, vet tomorrow, maybe even an apple or chicken nugget somewhere along the way.