Is it enough to just write "AI skills" on your resume? What is really required for job hunting and career changes today?
Hello! I'm John, a blog writer who explains AI technology in an easy-to-understand way for everyone.
Recently, when you are job hunting or changing jobs, have you often seen phrases like "AI skills welcome"? Many people may feel uneasy, thinking, "You have to be an expert to use AI..." or "You have to be able to program, right?"
But don't worry. In fact, the "AI skills" that many companies are looking for may be much closer to home than you might imagine. In this article, we'll explain in an easy-to-understand way the true nature of the "AI skills" that are really in demand right now, as revealed by the latest job data!
What is the surprising truth behind "AI skills" in job ads?
When the American IT industry group CompTIA analyzed job recruitment data from the past year, they found a very interesting fact.Not "the skills to develop AI from scratch" but "the skills to 'use' AI effectively"That is to say.
Doesn't this seem similar to something?
Yes, I often saw that in old job postings."Word and Excel skills"These are the conditions.
In the past, the skills of creating documents and spreadsheets on a computer were special. However, now they have become basic skills that are "taken for granted" in most office work. AI is starting to follow the same path.
In other words, companies are looking for people who can use the new and convenient tool known as AI to improve work efficiency and come up with new ideas.
So what specific skills should you acquire?
You may be wondering, "What exactly do I need to do to learn how to use AI?" Don't worry. Here are three specific points you can start using right now.
- 1. Good questioning skills (prompt engineering)
The level of answers that AI, especially sentence-writing AI like ChatGPT, gives can change dramatically depending on the quality of your "instructions" or "requests." These instructions are called "prompts." For example, rather than simply asking, "Teach me about marketing," you will get a much more useful answer if you ask, "Please suggest five effective social media marketing ideas, along with concrete examples of posts, to sell cosmetics online for women in their 30s." In this way,Prompt engineering: technology to give precise instructions to AIwill become extremely important from now on. - 2. Know the strengths and weaknesses of AI tools
AI is not omnipotent. While it can write excellent sentences and summarize complex data, it can also tell plausible "lies" from time to time (this is called "hallucination"). It may also not have the latest information or be weak in overly specialized fields. What's important is not to treat AI as a "perfect teacher," but as a"An extremely talented assistant, but one who sometimes makes mistakes."Don't just accept the answers given by AI, but make it a habit to check the facts yourself. - 3. The ability to think about how to apply it to your work
This may be what companies look at most. It is the ability to think, in the job you are doing now or the job you want to do in the future, "If I use AI, this task would be much easier," or "If I get AI to help me come up with ideas, I think I can come up with more interesting ideas."
For example,- Sales representatives can have AI draft the text of emails they send to customers.
- If you are in charge of planning, ask them to come up with 100 ideas for catchy slogans for the event.
- If you work in an office, you can have AI summarize the minutes of long meetings.
In this way, people who can incorporate AI into their work and think of ways to increase productivity are the type of people that will be needed in the future.
"Being able to use AI effectively" will become the new "standard" skill
What do you think after reading this far? When you hear the term "AI skills," you might be intimidated, but if you think of it as being like "the ability to master a new, convenient piece of stationery," doesn't that make it a little less daunting?
It's okay if you don't have programming knowledge or can't develop AI. The important thing is to get along well with your AI assistant and use it to improve your work and life.
It's fine to start with a small step like asking a free tool like ChatGPT, "Please help me come up with a menu for dinner tonight using the pork and onions in the fridge." Please have fun trying out AI.
A comment from the author
When I first started working, being able to use a computer was still just one skill. Just as that has become commonplace now, in a few years AI will likely become something that people can "take for granted" to use. This is not a scary story about jobs being taken away, but rather, I think it's a wonderful opportunity to leave tedious tasks to AI and allow people to focus on more creative and enjoyable work.
This article is based on the following original articles and is summarized from the author's perspective:
Want a job? Just put 'AI skills' on your resume