As AI reshapes the way people work, especially at the bottom of the career ladder, many college students and new employees are wondering which skills will best advance them.
Aparna Nair, IBM’s chief people, leadership and culture officer, says there are two skills in particular that are important to develop right now.
Entry-level employees “need to focus on making sure they’re actually building critical thinking (and) judgment,” Nair told CNBC Make It. “There are some things that are going to change rapidly, and there are things that humans can only do now, and we need to double down on them.”
An IBM survey of 1,500 chief human resources officers and 8,800 employees worldwide released in September found that about 57% of CHROs believe critical thinking is an important skill in the age of AI, compared to 49% of employees. Approximately 48% of CHROs believe that making decisions under uncertainty and ambiguity is an important skill, compared to just 29% of employees.
“Traditionally, people developed their judgment by actually doing the work,” Nile says. “Right now, that job doesn’t exist because it’s done by AI.”
Instead, “actually validating the AI’s input” will “help it make better decisions,” Nair says.
Employers are valuing insight in the workplace, but at the same time many employees are reporting a decline in insight. The IBM survey found that three out of four concerned employees said AI has already begun to erode some of their skills, most commonly citing critical thinking, while 57% of executives said they believe the skills are essential to success.
People can build critical thinking and judgment skills through everything from thinking in another language, asking more questions, thinking several steps ahead, and learning from decision-makers in their field.
To demonstrate these skills to potential employers, write LinkedIn posts that share your thoughts on industry topics and show that you’re thinking critically about the job, says Bonnie Dilber, senior manager of talent acquisition at Zapier. Alternatively, in an interview or take-home assessment, you might be able to demonstrate critical thinking and judgment by explaining your thought process when deciding what to complete yourself, what to use AI for, and why.
While AI could be helpful for entry-level workers in some jobs, “no one should use AI for decision-making,” Dilber said, noting that AI could hinder workers from developing basic skills and building expertise.
“People really need to take the time to build their knowledge and expertise and form their own opinions, and then they just turn to AI,” Dilbar says. “Expertise is built over many at-bats.”
Critical thinking and discerning quality are skills that will endure even as some technical skills become more or less in demand, Nair added, and will help employees build expertise.
“You need to have the mindset that you are continually forming and building new skills,” she says.
