When the hotshots of the broadband world were young, they were no doubt asked dozens of times by inquisitive adults: “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Doctors, they said. Or astronauts. Or firefighters.

It’s certain not a single one of them replied, “I want to be a leader in a groundbreaking technology called broadband that will revolutionize the way information and entertainment is delivered to homes and businesses.”

In an industry so young, there aren’t any wizened old pros. So the ice-breaking question for those in broadband has become: “What were you doing before?”

When the industry’s up-and-comers talk about their pasts, they talk about former careers in computer consulting, telecommunications, advertising or any number of other pursuits.

Broadband is attracting executives from a wide variety of backgrounds because it appeals to just about anyone with an entrepreneurial spirit, according to Bill Simon, a managing director at executive search firm Korn/Ferry International in Century City.

“The lure is that they get to play in this sexy new world,” Simon said. “They get to help build something, which is a really big deal in terms of motivating these people.”

Simon said broadband companies have been aggressive about recruiting from a broad spectrum of corporate America. Targeted professions include telecommunications, established media companies and defense contractors fields that train people how to adapt to new technologies.

“They come from lots of different places depending on the nature of the job,” he said. “Overall, they’re looking for people that are good at teamwork and solving problems like ‘How do we get over this mountain?’ ”

Bob Bowman, a regional manager at Internet Onramp, a subsidiary of Redondo Beach-based Internet Ventures Inc., is one example of the new breed of broadband executive. He has spent his career shifting to a variety of ventures, each time entering what he thinks will be the “next big thing” in the tech world.

In 1979, sensing the impending boom in the popularity of personal computers, he went into computer consulting and worked with small businesses to develop their networks.

As desktop publishing took hold, the 51-year-old Bowman started working with newspapers and advertising agencies. Eventually he pushed his clients toward marketing strategies that used the Internet.

Now he’s trying to get cable companies and Internet service providers signed on to broadband.

“When I went to college, there was no such thing as computer science degrees,” he said. “I actually talked to a career counselor back in 1979 who told me, ‘This new microcomputer thing is really taking off, but it’s in this incredible state of chaos.’ He then said that within chaos, there are opportunities. I guess that’s been my career taking the route of most chaos.”

Even within the same company, people’s backgrounds tend to be wildly divergent.

Reed Olson, chief operating officer of Internet Ventures, graduated with a degree in philosophy and English literature from Gonzaga University.

“In my opinion it was a real good background to come from,” said Olson, 44. “Philosophy teaches you critical thinking, and my primary job is to anticipate problems.”

Olson spent many years in the telecom trade, consulting on large-scale computer networks and installing fiber-optic cable at several airports. Now he deals with the “leased-access” issue, trying to get cable companies to let Internet service providers in on the action.

“Obviously, I learned these technologies as I went along, and I had to turn all those skills around again when I started in broadband,” he said. “Can I say it was intentional? No.”

Jonathon Fishman, co-CEO of Eight Cylinder Studios in Santa Monica, came to broadband software development via a career path that included advertising and video-game design.

“My career really started in advertising in San Francisco,” Fishman said. “But during that time ’91, ’92, ’93 if you lived in San Francisco, there was no way you could ever escape the computer.”

This led Fishman to a job with US West Inc. developing new projects, including a fledgling interactive television. When that fizzled in its infancy, he moved on to video-game development, where he honed his skills on making software more interactive.

That kind of flexibility in the job market is a key asset in a burgeoning industry like broadband.

“A lot of these broadband companies are moving so fast that they don’t have a strategy,” Simon said. “These kind of people bring discipline, sophistication and experience. They are the pieces to the puzzle that are needed to get these projects done.”

But why would anyone leave a secure job for broadband? Despite their wide variety of backgrounds, most of those just starting out share two things in common: They all have a thrill-seeker mentality and they are looking to enter into a potentially lucrative industry.

David Heroux, a director at search firm Romac Information Technology in Gardena, said a top broadband executive can command a salary of more than $100,000 a year, plus numerous stock options.

Simon said he’s recruited employees from rock-solid companies with thousands of employees and brought them to broadband shops that are just starting up “garage-sized,” as he describes them. Broadband pioneers hope that the stock options they receive for making the switch will be worth mega-bucks down the road. “It’s a matter of risk versus reward,” Simon said.