Job seekers with AI skills have an edge over applicants who don't have these skills.
It's time to do or die on the vine. Just as with any technological revolution, it's time for many workers to adapt, according to experts. This is the year of AI, and employees without AI skills are falling behind AI. As Gen Z enters the workforce, new data shows that 71% of leaders prefer to hire Gen Z candidates with AI skills over Millennials with more relevant industry experience. gave The Wall Street Journal Tech reports lower salaries and fewer positions for job seekers who don't have AI skills.
Microsoft's 2024 Annual Work Trend Index declares 2024 to be the year AI skills are needed in the workforce. “The use of generative AI at work has nearly doubled in the past six months,” the report said. “LinkedIn is seeing a significant increase in professionals including AI skills in their profiles, and most leaders say they would not hire someone without AI skills. But many leaders are concerned that Lacking an AI vision in their company, and with employees bringing their own AI tools to work, leaders have reached the hardest part of any technology hurdle: moving from experiments to tangible business impact.”
Sarah Gutierrez, SHL's Chief Science Officer, expects this trend to continue as AI skills drive innovation and efficiency. “This trend indicates a growing demand for professionals skilled in AI, whose skills are proving resilient to market fluctuations,” Gutierrez observed.
She notes that as more companies adopt and invest in AI capabilities for their products and services, expect this investment to be reflected in their hiring strategies, which There will be a greater emphasis on recruiting talent with AI skills to drive innovation and efficiency in their organizations. . “This marks a significant shift in the focus and allocation of resources towards artificial intelligence, within the tech sector.” She points out that AI-related roles command higher pay than non-AI positions, highlighting the high demand for skilled AI professionals and the competitive nature of the job market in the field. “This agility becomes critical in the context of growing labor shortages and skills gaps within the global workforce,” she declares. “We have seen the private sector rapidly adopt skills-based jobs and there is an increasing momentum that suggests more organizations will follow suit.”
AI skills are a twofold trend.
While soft skills are a big trend right now, Gutierrez believes AI is a twofold trend, and engineers and programmers will always be needed. She predicts that soft skills will play a large role in determining who works with AI, but technical skills are also needed to succeed with AI.
soft skills, Employees, she explains, are about to take things to greater heights: “You have AI skills,” she says. “Many employers are looking for those people regardless of role. We're not currently at a point where every job seeker needs these specific AI skills. Instead, we want job seekers Employers are going to look for people with more universal skills that can be transferred from job to job. Skills that revolve around solving complex real-world problems Problem solving is involved and employers are likely to value candidates who can demonstrate strong problem-solving skills, critical thinking skills and the ability to creatively approach challenges.”
technical skills, Creativity, she acknowledges, can go hand in hand with the technical skills needed to further develop and integrate AI. “AI skills may be the more technical skills that employers will be looking for—skills that truly reflect the technology of artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analysis. These may include things like a Finding someone who specializes in specific tools. Other AI skills may be around data analysis or interpretation, so often, AI relies on large data sets that you have to use for training and inference , so employers may look for candidates who are skilled in data analysis. This may include very specific AI skills such as feature engineering, various statistical modeling techniques, etc. Further AI skills may be an understanding of algorithms are and how you can implement them through machine learning. whether it is supervised or unsupervised learning models. if you are working in building AI, tools and technologies It will be important to have.
Five reasons leaders advocate for adopting AI skills
Business leaders expect businesses to use automation to streamline processes and free up employees to focus on more creative and strategic work.
- Sarah Gutierrez believes that by hiring for skills, employers are better equipped to identify candidates with the specific competencies needed for the job, in order to foster a more agile and responsive workforce.
- Jared Pope, founder and CEO of WorkShield, believes that businesses that strike the perfect balance between human employees and AI technology can increase decision-making, efficiency, personalization, predictive analytics and cost savings. .
- According to LevaData CEO Keith Hartley, integrating AI and automation technology streamlines processes, reduces workload and ultimately increases employee satisfaction. Nine out of 10 respondents to a Microsoft survey report said that using AI and automation at work makes workers more satisfied and free to spend more time at work.
- AI-powered hiring tools can provide employers with a consistent and reliable way to screen large numbers of job candidates, explains Will Rose, chief technology officer at TalentSelectAI.
- Rose added that this allows recruiters and hiring managers to spend more of their time on the important human aspects of recruiting and presenting top talent, rather than being bogged down by the more tedious aspects of the hiring process. can
How job seekers can prepare for AI interviews
I asked Rose what job seekers can do to prepare for interviews that use AI. He proposed four strategies:
- Study the job description and be prepared to discuss the specific skills and experiences employers are looking for in your traditional job interview.
- Be prepared to talk in detail about previous work or educational experiences and provide strong answers to questions. The goal is to highlight why you shine as a candidate. For most AI interviewing technologies, the analysis focuses on the content of the interview responses. AI may be looking for certain keywords or topics, analyzing words and phrases used in a candidate's interview to measure a number of important traits and attributes about the candidate.
- Another good strategy is to provide comprehensive answers to interview questions, including real-life examples or detailed stories.
- Don't be afraid to ask hiring managers if AI is being used in their selection process and how they are being evaluated. Exercise your right to know what data is being collected and analysed.