The career ladder has collapsed. Most career paths are now paved by skill-based moves between roles, organisations or even industries, according to experts Nikhil Daftary (BCom ‘98), CEO of Coral Healthcare and founder of Moments, Melissa Bridge (BCom ‘01), Founder of AI Talent on Demand, 2000 Mondays and GXY Search, and Jayne Howley (MComm ‘15), AI Strategy and Assurance Lead at the Department of Government Services and Chair of the WoVG Artificial Intelligence Community of Practice for the Victorian Government. To stay relevant, you’ll need curiosity to understand what’s changing and storytelling skills to reposition your experience.
Take charge of your career
Let go of predetermined career paths
‘Our careers now are like Google Maps. You take seven different turns and keep on recalculating,’ says Nikhil.
Instead, you need to find your niche. ‘Careers nowadays are about reinventing yourself. You have to see what’s happening in the marketplace and what skills are missing.’
Focus on skills and experience
‘I don’t care what titles you have,’ Nikhil says. ‘I want to know: what have you done? What difference have you made in your company? What skills do you bring to the table for my company? What problems are you solving?’
Build skills technology can’t replace
‘For a lot of technical skills, AI will outdo you,’ says Melissa. ‘It’s going to be those interpersonal skills, those soft skills that you need – that you learn through part-time work, through clubs, through understanding and working with people, through your challenges and building resilience.’
Build skills between jobs
‘I do short-term contracts for the skills. Or I’ll go and volunteer somewhere,’ Jayne shares.
‘Two things happen. One, you’re creating more human connections, so you’re more likely to find opportunities. And two, Murphy’s Law kicks in, and as soon as you organise to go and start the volunteer job, someone will offer you a job.’
Apply for fewer jobs
‘You’re able to, I believe, portray the skill set that’s relevant to the job if you understand and only apply for the jobs that are relevant to you,’ Melissa says.
Consider what you offer your network
‘I started a community of practice around AI. It’s an amazing group of people who are so generous with their time and with their ideas,’ says Jayne.
‘That’s real, positive networking, not networking for the sake of networking.’
Pick up the phone
‘We’re seeing a trend of people now getting back on the phone and calling people rather than LinkedIn messaging them, because there’s so much AI noise,’ says Melissa. ‘You don’t know if a message has been sent automatically through a bot. And people want authentic relationships. If they really want to speak to that person, they’re going to pick up the phone. It’s a soft skill I think is going to be particularly important.’
Stay curious and keep learning
‘It’s going to be really hard for us to predict what individual roles or types of areas are going to look like,’ says Jayne. ‘If you have curiosity and continuous learning – it’s the growth mindset that’s always going to be helpful.’
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