Career development

Anonymous member

5d

I want to pursue a certification for accountant but the microfinance I work for doesn't expect it's employees to have anything that distracts them from work.

As a matter of fact, working hours are from 7:30 AM up until 6:30 PM on average days monday to Friday (Saturdays work stops at about 4:20 PM give or take).

I don't know how I'll balance the two because the company has no guidelines... for such and its seen as a potential reason for employee exit which they don't want!

What should I do? more

3

DARD SOUTH SUDAN
2h
Go for professional studies, this would enabled you pursue your further studies specially with e-learning/distance learning programmes.

In case you... are required to do your in-house
exams, you can request for the examination leaves or do it through microwave. more
Joyeve SelmanTsalachChesed
2d
Try evening classes 8pm to 10pm

Career development

2w

Biggest Résumé Mistakes and How You Can Avoid Them

Going into my first year of college, I had no clue what a résumé even was. I had experience, but none of my previous jobs required me to submit a résumé when I applied. So, when my on-campus job asked for one, I scrambled to throw it together. I asked everyone I could for their help. With a horrible résumé (and a ton of grace given by my boss), I was hired.

Now, as a student assistant in the... Journalism Dean's Office, I review résumés daily. This is a list of the biggest mistakes I see in the office and how you can fix them to improve your résumé and chances of getting hired.

Contact information

Contact information is located beneath your name at the top of your résumé. This section includes your phone number, email address, LinkedIn, city and state and portfolio (if you have one).

More than one email address

The first mistake I see in the contact information section is including more than one email address. A lot of college students think it's best to list both their student email and personal email address to give the employer more options to choose from. While this is a good idea in theory, it can be confusing for employers to figure out the best way to contact you. Instead, list the email address that you check most frequently, whether that's personal or school. If you're a graduating student, you should list your personal email and make a habit of checking it regularly.

Not including LinkedIn

If you do not have a LinkedIn profile in college, you're doing it wrong. LinkedIn is an extremely important form of social media used for networking with people in your industry. Although it is understandable not to have a LinkedIn profile your first year of college, it is highly recommended that you create one before the beginning of your sophomore year.

The next step is putting the hyperlink to your profile in your contact section. Don't just link it to the word "LinkedIn;" copy and paste the full URL to ensure your profile can still be accessed easily if your resume were to be printed.

Including a picture

In the United States, federal law prohibits discrimination based on race, gender, ethnicity, age, etc. Including a picture on your résumé may trigger unconscious bias from your employer and prevent you from even making it to the interview stage. Some employers will even immediately reject résumés with photos to avoid potential discrimination accusations.

Education

This section is the most important information on your résumé as a college student. It includes your college, major, degree, GPA (if a 3.0 or above), expected graduation and minors or certificates, if applicable.

Getting your degree and major name wrong

This might be surprising to some, but in fact, many students get their degree and major wrong! All colleges have different degrees and major names, so it's important to check your school website for the official name of your degree.

High school information after your first year

As unfortunate as it is, employers don't care what you did in high school if you're a college student. It is much more important what you are doing in college, so high school should be completely omitted.

The exception to this rule is first-year college students. This is because until the end of the first semester of college, first-years do not have a GPA or much experience in their degree. That being said, it is generally recommended to remove your high school information from your education section after the first semester of freshman year, and definitely before the beginning of your sophomore year.

Experience

Your experience is the second most important information on your résumé. This section includes your past and present work experience with two to four detailed bullet points describing the work you did in each position, as well as the location and time frame you worked.

Missing detail

An important thing to remember when writing the bullet points for your experiences is to add detail! Employers don't just want to know what you did; they want to know how you did it. Instead of saying, "Wrote articles for Her Campus." You should say, "Wrote 6+ articles for Her Campus over topics of self-love, entertainment, culture, etc." This way of writing gives your employer a better understanding of your capabilities while quantifying your work and adding credibility.

Not including unpaid experiences

Unpaid experiences make up a large portion of a college student's experience. From internships to organizations, college students gain lots of unpaid experience. And many students think that because they did not earn a paycheck for these experiences, they cannot include them on their resume. That is not true. Employers care much more about the knowledge you have gained and experience you have in the position, rather than the amount of paid work you have.

Skills

Your skills section should always be the last section of your résumé. This section is a simple list of skills that you haven't expressed in your experience sections.

Soft skills

Your skills section should be solely hard skills. Things like teamwork, leadership and other soft skills are good to have, but they can easily be demonstrated in the bullet points of your experience section or in an interview.

Instead, include hard skills relevant to the job you are applying for. If you're a journalism major, your skills section should include things like AP style writing, video editing and photojournalism. You can also include programs that you are familiar with. Think Microsoft 360, Canva or Adobe. These kinds of skills will give your employer more information about the skills you possess.

Formatting

Although not a section, formatting your résumé the correct way is extremely important to the hiring process.

Using templates

As tempting as a super cute Canva or Word template is, do not give in! Most templates are formatted in a two-column style that doesn't scan well with applicant tracking systems (ATS). This means that your résumé could be thrown out before an actual human even takes a look at it. Instead, make your own one-column template that you can use over and over again.

Typos

This might sound like an obvious one, but it is so important to triple-check your résumé for spelling and grammar errors. Even one typo can get your résumé thrown in the trash. Employers tend to see typos as a liability later down the line. If you're not checking your résumé for misspellings, it signals to your employer that you'll make that mistake with important work as well.

More than one page

Résumés are recommended to be only one page in order to not overload your employer with unnecessary information. The average amount of time an employer spends reviewing a résumé is six to seven seconds. A résumé that is short and easy to read will allow your employer to focus less on trying to decipher your résumé and more on the skills you could bring to their team.

The most important thing to remember is that your résumé is a living document. This means that you can (and should) constantly be updating it. You should change your résumé for every application you submit.

Résumés are a hard skill to master, but once you understand the reasoning behind all the factors, it will all click and you'll have no trouble creating and editing your résumé. more

7

Otes Morgan
7h
My resume expert is the best, I've been using his service for over a year now and a lot of my clients does the same..
His service is... unique......

Anyone need help let me know more
Jim Nicholson
2
2d
Describing WHAT you did is meaningless to me unless there are specific details of what those WHATs translated to RESULTS. What did you propose and... implement to improve the tasks you performed? What did they result in? Higher revenues? Quicker process times? Tasks are meaningless unless results of you performing them are improved. more

Anonymous member

Career development

1d

one thing I have learnt is that opportunities come to those who stay prepared, remain professional and keep developing their skills even during difficult moments. Every experience whether good or challenging teaches us something valuable about leadership, communication, team work and resilience .

4

Otes Morgan
9h
Absolutely, I'm a career coach as well and have a lot of recruiters in my network.
I don't know if you might want to reach out to them if you have any... one that is looking for a job.🙂 more
Scolastica Wambua
2d
Unfortunately this is the trend in many organizations now..

James Petchett

Career development

18h

Hi! I recently became the manager of the courier department and everything has been going well. But last week we hired a new courier and he keeps coming to work with his dad. His father tries to get involved in everything and control the work process. I understand he cares about his son, but it’s starting to bother me. How can I politely tell him not to come to our office anymore and not to stick... his nose into our work? Thanks more

1

Uma Aggarwal
11h
The son is your employee. You should tell him that you have hired him, not his father and the father is not welcome to come in your building and cause... disruption. If it does not stop right away, you may have to consider letting him go. more
1
Flo Caoile
12h
I’d keep it professional and policy-based, not personal. Something like:
‘We’re happy to have your son on the team, but for insurance, liability, and... workplace policy reasons, only employees are allowed in operational areas during work hours. We need staff to work independently, so going forward we’ll need him to come to work on his own. Thanks for understanding.’
Short, respectful, and hard to argue with. more
4

Career development

20h

How to Improve Communication Skills for Job Interviews (2026 Guide)

Communication is one of the most important parts of any job interview. Your skills matter, but how you explain and demonstrate them matters even more.

Interviewers pay attention to how clearly and confident you speak and how you structure your answers. This often decides the outcome and creates the right impression more than technical skills alone.

The good news is that communication is not... something you are born with. It is a skill you can build with practice.

This guide will show you simple and practical ways to improve your interview communication.

Why communication skills matter in interviews

Interviewers are not only looking at your experience. They are also watching how you express it.

Good communication helps you:

* Make a strong first impression

* Show confidence in your answers

* Explain your experience clearly

* Build trust with the interviewer

Many candidates lose opportunities not because they lack skills, but because they cannot explain them well.

What strong communication looks like

Strong communication in interviews has a few simple parts.

Clarity

You should speak in a way that is easy to understand. Avoid long or confusing sentences. Stay focused on the main point.

Confidence

Speak at a steady pace. Do not rush. Do not speak too softly. A calm voice creates a strong impression.

Active listening

Listen carefully to the question. Do not jump into an answer too quickly. If something is unclear, ask for clarification.

How to structure your answers

One of the biggest improvements you can make is to structure your answers.

A simple way to do this is the STAR method.

STAR=Situation+Task+Action+ResultSTAR = Situation + Task + Action + ResultSTAR=Situation+Task+Action+Result

This helps you stay organized when you speak.

Here is how it works in simple terms:

* Situation means what happened

* Task means your responsibility

* Action means what you did

* Result means the outcome

This structure keeps your answers clear and easy to follow.

Body language matters too

Communication is not only about words. It is also about how you act.

Good body language includes:

* Sitting straight

* Making natural eye contact

* Keeping your hands relaxed

* Smiling when appropriate

Avoid crossing your arms. Avoid looking away too often. Avoid nervous movements like fidgeting.

These small things change how confident you look.

How to practice communication skills

You do not improve communication by reading. You improve it by speaking.

Try these simple methods:

* Practice answering common interview questions out loud

* Record yourself and listen back

* Do mock interviews with friends or tools

* Repeat answers until they sound natural

The goal is not to memorize answers. The goal is to speak naturally and clearly.

Using tools to improve faster

Modern tools can help you practice interviews in a realistic way.

Some platforms simulate real interview questions and give feedback on your answers. This helps you understand how you sound to others.

One example is LockedIn AI. It works as a practice assistant that helps you improve your answers and confidence.

You can also use the interview copilot AI assistant. It lets you practice interview questions, gives follow up questions, and helps you improve how clearly you speak.

How to reduce nervousness

Feeling nervous is normal. Most people feel it.

You can manage it in simple ways:

* Take a slow breath before answering

* Pause for a second before you speak

* Focus on structure, not perfection

* Practice more so you feel prepared

Confidence comes from repetition. Not from thinking.

Common mistakes to avoid

Many candidates make the same mistakes in interviews.

Try to avoid:

* Speaking too fast

* Giving long and unclear answers

* Using too many filler words

* Not listening carefully

* Forgetting the main point

Small improvements here make a big difference.

Example of weak and strong communication

Weak answer

"I worked on some projects and helped improve things in my team."

Strong answer

"In my previous role, I improved the reporting process. I automated a manual task and reduced reporting time by 40 percent. This helped the team save time every week."

The second answer is clear. It has structure. It shows impact.

Simple 7 to 14 day improvement plan

First week

Practice speaking every day.

Answer common interview questions out loud.

Record yourself and review your answers.

Second week

Do mock interviews.

Focus on structure.

Work on speaking clearly and slowly.

Small daily practice leads to fast improvement.

Conclusion

Communication skills can change your interview results quickly. You do not need perfect English or complex vocabulary. You need clarity, structure, and confidence.

The more you practice, the more natural it becomes.

Good communication helps you stand out even when other candidates have similar experience.

FAQ

How can I improve communication skills for job interviews?

Practice speaking every day. Use structured answers. Do mock interviews. Record yourself and improve step by step.

What are the most important communication skills in interviews?

Clarity, confidence, listening, structure, and simple body language.

How do I stop being nervous in interviews?

Practice more. Prepare your answers. Take slow breaths before speaking. Focus on structure instead of perfection.

Why is communication important in interviews?

Because it shows how clearly you think. It also shows confidence and helps interviewers understand your experience better.

What is the STAR method?

It is a simple structure for answering questions. It stands for Situation, Task, Action, and Result. more

Career development

21h

The Hardest Person to Stay Loyal To Is Yourself

Member-only story

The Hardest Person to Stay Loyal To Is Yourself

Why real confidence begins when external systems disappoint you -- and you do not abandon yourself with them

There are moments in life when the external world does not simply disappoint you. It destabilizes you.

A job interview does not go the way you hoped. A workplace decision feels unfair. A manager questions your performance... without giving you the feedback you would have needed to improve. You prepare, you document, you try to control every possible risk -- and still, the outcome slips out of your hands.

That is the brutal part. Not only that something painful happens, but that it happens despite all your effort.

You did what ambitious people are told to do. You prepared. You worked hard. You tried to be strategic. You kept records. You thought ahead. You tried to protect yourself from chaos through discipline. And then the world still did what it wanted.

That is when the mind starts asking dangerous questions.

What was the point of trying so hard?

Why did this happen to me?

What else could I possibly have done?

How much more preparation would have been enough?

And underneath all of that, there is usually an even deeper fear:

If the outcome was bad, does that mean I am not good enough?

The Trap of Outsourcing Your Self-Worth

External validation is seductive because it gives us something measurable. A job offer. A promotion. A title. A manager's approval. A successful interview round. A place in the room.

These things feel concrete. They seem to prove that we are capable, desirable, intelligent, valuable. The problem is not that we want them. The problem begins when we start needing them to feel stable inside ourselves.

When self-worth is outsourced, every external event becomes emotionally oversized. A rejection is no longer only a rejection. It becomes a verdict. A professional setback is no longer only information. It becomes identity damage. Someone else's decision starts to regulate your... more

Career development

22h

Professional Résumé Writing and Formatting

NEED IN 1 HOUR, DO NOT BID OVER 20 DOLLARS I am looking for someone who can professionally draft and format a résumé for me. I will provide all of the information needed, including work experience, education, skills, and any additional details. I would like the résumé to have a clean, modern, and professional look while also being ATS friendly. Strong wording and organization are important, as I... want the résumé to stand out and highlight experience in the best way possible. Please let me know what information you need from me to get started. more

cyusa shawn

Career development

4d

hey guys am new here, i had a questioni would like to become the youngest successfully tech entrepreneur, i would like some advice from you on the 5 big mistakes a startup should avoid as experienced people in the field that would mean alot to me

1

Kelvin Mulembe
2
1d
Focusing on the mistakes starts on the wrong page. "Youngest successful tech entrepreneur" sounds like an ego adventure rather than an innovative... idea. Your idea must attempt to solve a problem, improve something, or meet a need. Otherwise, find a job and climb the ladder. more
2
Tawny King
1
1d
I do not know the tech industry but what I can say generally speaking which I could have benefitted from when I started my cleaning services is....1.... do your research and know the industry you are entering 2. look up competition 3. Get a mentor more
1

Career development

1d

Agentic AI In IT Staffing: 52% Of Execs Are Already Deploying -- Is Your Team Ready?

Agentic AI In IT Staffing: 52% Of Execs Are Already Deploying -- Is Your Team Ready?

Originally published at PamTen Blog

The AI Agent Tipping Point

Something shifted in Q1 2026 that most companies haven't fully processed yet.

According to data published by leading enterprise research firms this spring, 52% of executives are already deploying agentic AI tools in some part of their operations.... Not piloting. Not evaluating. Deploying. That number was 18% eighteen months ago.

The companies in the other 48%? Some are planning carefully. But a lot of them are just slow -- and in a market where AI-fluent engineers are already scarce, slow has a cost.

Agentic AI isn't the ChatGPT moment people got excited about in 2023. It's quieter and, frankly, more disruptive. These systems don't just answer questions. They execute tasks, make decisions within defined parameters, and loop back when they need human input. In IT staffing, that means a recruiting tool that doesn't just surface candidates -- it reaches out to them, schedules screens, and flags anomalies in résumé patterns without anyone clicking a button.

Your teams are operating in an environment that's being reorganized around this shift. The question isn't whether to engage with it. It's whether you're building the team that can work alongside it.

What 'Agentic AI' Actually Means for IT Teams

The term is getting muddied fast, so let's be specific.

An AI agent is a system that can take a goal, break it into steps, execute those steps using available tools, and adjust its approach based on what it encounters -- without a human scripting every move. It's not a chatbot. It's not an autocomplete. It's closer to a junior employee who can be handed a project and trusted to run it to a defined checkpoint.

For IT teams, this shows up in a few concrete ways: automated code review pipelines that flag issues before they reach a human reviewer, infrastructure monitoring agents that detect anomalies and open remediation tickets, and data pipeline managers that self-correct when upstream data quality drops.

None of this eliminates the engineers. What changes is what those engineers spend their time on. The engineers who thrive are the ones who understand how to configure, supervise, and course-correct these systems -- not the ones who are doing the repetitive work the agents now handle.

The 52% Statistic Unpacked -- What Early Adopters Are Doing

Early deployers aren't necessarily the biggest companies. Some of the most aggressive adopters are mid-market firms in financial services and healthcare IT -- industries where compliance pressure creates an enormous appetite for reliable process automation.

What they're actually building: AI agents that handle tier-1 IT support tickets (resolving up to 60% without human escalation in the best implementations), agents that manage vendor invoice reconciliation, and agents embedded in CI/CD pipelines that run pre-deployment compliance checks.

The pattern across all of them is the same. They started with one high-volume, low-stakes process. Got it working. Built the internal knowledge to manage it. Then expanded. Nobody went from zero to full agentic operations overnight.

The companies getting this right aren't the ones who bought the most expensive AI platform. They're the ones who hired two or three people who genuinely understood how to configure and oversee these systems.

New Roles Emerging: AI Workflow Architect, AI Ops Lead, Prompt Engineer

Three titles that barely existed 18 months ago are now among the most searched in enterprise IT hiring.

The AI Workflow Architect designs the task decomposition logic -- deciding what a multi-agent system should handle autonomously versus escalate to humans and building the feedback loops that keep the system from drifting. It's a blend of systems engineering, process design, and risk thinking.

The AI Ops Lead is operationally focused. They monitor agent performance, manage the tooling layer, and own the relationship between the AI systems and the human teams working alongside them. Think of it like a DevOps role, but the system being managed is agentic.

Prompt Engineers -- the title that got a lot of hype early -- are evolving into something more sophisticated. The best ones now write structured workflows and evaluation frameworks, not just better prompts. The skill ceiling is much higher than the job title suggests.

These roles don't exist in large numbers yet. That's exactly why companies that need them are struggling to find them through generalist recruiters who've never seen the role before.

How to Hire for AI-augmented Teams Today

Stop writing job descriptions that ask for 5 years of experience in tools that are 2 years old. It signals to strong candidates that you don't understand what you're hiring for.

What actually matters: demonstrated work with production of AI systems (not research, not demos), comfort with ambiguity at the system level, and the ability to evaluate AI outputs critically rather than accept them uncritically.

Practically, this means asking candidates to walk through a project where they built or managed an AI-assisted workflow. What were the failure modes? How did they detect them? What would they do differently? These questions surface real experience instantly. Candidates who've actually done the work answer differently than those who've read about it.

Skills-based screening matters more here than anywhere. There's no standard credential yet. The people who have genuinely built in this space often have nontraditional backgrounds -- philosophy majors who learned to code, infrastructure engineers who got deep into ML systems, product managers who built AI evaluation frameworks. Degree-first filtering will cost you the best candidates.

PamTen's Approach to AI-fluent Talent Matching

PamTen screens for AI fluency as a core competency in every technical role, not a specialization filter. That means evaluating prompt engineering awareness, hands-on experience with AI-assisted tooling, and the ability to work in workflows where AI and human judgment share the decision-making space.

Our recruiting team works from a 200,000+ contact network built over 15 years -- and increasingly, the candidates we're placing in AI-adjacent roles came through our existing relationships, not job board applications. The engineers building real things with agentic systems aren't browsing job boards. They're heads-down in their work.

For clients starting to build out AI-capable teams: brief us on your technology roadmap, not just your open headcount. Knowing that you're moving toward autonomous infrastructure monitoring in Q3 tells us which relationships to activate in Q2.

The Bottom Line

52% of executives deploying agentic AI in 2026 isn't a trend story. It's a workforce restructuring in progress. The roles it creates are real, the skill sets are identifiable, and the companies that staff for this reality now will have a meaningful advantage over those that treat it as a 2027 problem.

Your team is either building the capability to work alongside these systems, or it isn't. There's not much middle ground left.

Ready to build an AI-fluent IT team? Talk to PamTen's specialist recruiters -- pamten.com or 888-344-9837. more

Career development

1d

Apply To Mid-Level SCM Roles

My profile is ready, my résumé is polished, and I now need consistent, strategic applications sent to the right openings. Your job is to identify fresh mid-level Supply Chain Management positions -- specifically in Demand Planning, Logistics Management, and Procurement -- within reputable Indian companies, then apply on my behalf through LinkedIn as well as leading Indian job portals such as... Naukri, Indeed, or Monster. You will log into my accounts (secure access will be arranged) and tailor each application to match the stated requirements, drawing on keywords from the job description and the strengths already highlighted in my résumé. Whenever a platform allows or requires a cover message, adapt my existing template so it feels personal and role-specific; no generic blasts, please. Deliverables I expect each week * A minimum target number of quality applications submitted, agreed in advance. * A tracker (Google Sheet) capturing company name, role title, portal used, date applied, and any follow-up actions required. * Copies of customised cover notes or screening question responses you used. Acceptance criteria * All roles must clearly state mid-level seniority. * Each position must fall under Demand Planning, Logistics Management, or Procurement. * Applications must be completed in full with no missing mandatory fields. * Tracker kept up to date within 24 hours of each submission. Timely communication, respect for confidentiality, and an eye for matching my skills to the right job description will be key to our success. If this fits your expertise, I'm ready to start right away. more

Career development

1d

Celebrating Four Class Acts

BusinessWest launched its 40 Under Forty program in 2007 to recognize the rising stars in the 413. It's become an immensely popular initiative that has created a somewhat exclusive club, if you will, one that now boasts 800 members.

That's a big number, and something to bear in mind when considering a spinoff from that original program, something we call the Alumni Achievement Award, which, as... that name suggests, recognizes 40 Under Forty winners who have continued to build on their résumés, both professionally and with their work in the community.

This is a far more exclusive club and, in many ways, a more notable achievement, just because of those numbers.

Which brings us to our latest AAA competition, presented by Baystate Health/Health New England. There can be only one winner -- and he or she will be announced at the 40 Under Forty gala on June 11. But we celebrate our finalists because it's an honor just to be in that group. And their accomplishments provide us with a great opportunity to tell more stories about individuals who continue to excel and find new ways to give back and make a difference.

Each of our finalists has a unique story, but there are common denominators, especially a commitment to this region and using their talents to improve quality of life here. Each story is compelling, and each finalist is certainly worthy of being the next AAA winner:

* Jim Krupienski, part of the 40 Under Forty class of 2010 and a finalist for the AAA in 2025, has risen to the rank of partner at the accounting firm Meyers Brothers Kalicka, where he is a real leader and mentor to many young people entering the field. And he gives back to the community in many ways, whether it's through his own work with the Westfield State Foundation or the Westfield YMCA, or the way he encourages the firm to support agencies ranging from the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts to Habitat for Humanity.

* When Modesto Montero-Forman entered the 40 Under Forty class of 2020, he had been leading the middle school he founded for three years. Now, Libertas Academy serves grades 6-12 -- around 600 students in all -- and graduated its first class of high-school seniors last year. He has also shepherded the school to a new, larger location, where it has been able to expand its educational and enrichment offerings, while overseeing some of the most impressive math and language arts performances in the state.

* Adam Quenneville launched his roofing enterprise, known today as Adam Quenneville Roofing & Siding, 31 years ago, and he was honored for that success with inclusion in the 40 Under Forty class of 2009. But not only has he continued to expand his client base -- growing revenues by 500% over the past 17 years -- but the company has also become well-known for its philanthropic endeavors, gifting roofs to numerous area nonprofits and donating free roofs annually to veterans, first responders, and teachers.

* It took Ciara Speller only three years since being honored in the 40 Under Forty class of 2023 for her success as evening anchor at WWLP-22 News. And it's not hard to see why. Since that time, she has turned a personal tragedy -- the death of her father to a rare form of cancer -- into the Jeffrey Speller Foundation '4 Change,' which raises tens of thousands of dollars every year to help young people participate in golf. Ciara's father believed in the power of the sport to connect people and improve lives, and she is certainly seeing his vision to fruition.

As noted earlier, all four are worthy of the AAA award, and all four should be celebrated for all they've done, and all they continue to do in -- and for -- this region. more

Career development

1d

Download share of top job searching apps U.S.

During the first half of 2022, ****** was the most downloaded job-searching and professional app among users in the United States, followed by social media ********. In 2021, ****** accounted for over ** percent of downloads, while *********gathered ** percent of downloads from U.S. users in the same year. Freelancing platform ****** accounted for ** percent of downloads of job searching apps in... 2021, up from ***** percent registered in 2020. more

Career development

1d

Young Australians wary of AI despite strong skills

Research by Anyway, KPMG Australia and Microsoft found that 45% of young Australians say they have a strong understanding of artificial intelligence, but only 10% believe it will make it easier to get a job.

The survey of 1,029 Australians aged 15 to 24 points to a gap between growing familiarity with AI and confidence in using it at work.

That divide is most evident in job preparation. Only 34%... said they felt highly confident explaining their use of AI in a job interview, even as employers increasingly seek workers who can use the technology in day-to-day tasks.

AI use was far more common in education than in work-related settings. Some 41% of young people said they use AI regularly for assignments and learning, compared with 15% who use it for work or career development.

Schools and universities may be contributing to that disconnect. More than a quarter of respondents, 27%, said their institution actively discourages AI use, limiting opportunities to build practical experience relevant to early-career roles.

Will Stubley, co-founder and co-chief executive officer of Anyway, said the findings revealed a divide between experimentation and application.

"It's great to see so many young Aussies trying out AI, but what we're seeing is they're not always being supported to actually apply that in a career context. There's a bit of a gap between learning and doing," he said.

"If we can bridge that and give young people the tools and guidance to turn those skills into something practical, that's where the real opportunity is."

Job concerns

The findings also show widespread anxiety about AI's effect on work. Nearly half of those surveyed, 49%, said AI makes them worried about their future.

Most respondents expected AI to reduce employment rather than expand it. Some 63% said they believe AI will eliminate jobs, while 35% think it will create jobs in equal measure.

Two-thirds said AI is already helping them overcome challenges, suggesting young people see direct value in the tools even as they remain cautious about what the technology may mean for the labour market.

Stubley said that concern could persist without clearer support during the transition from education to work.

"Fear will continue to own the narrative around AI unless industry and government work together to create clear career pathways and guidance for students during the school-work transition," he said.

Usage divide

The report found that patterns of AI use differ sharply by career path. Young people pursuing technology and institutional careers recorded the highest levels of regular use, both at 45%.

That compared with 39% among those interested in people-centred roles and 33% among those pursuing practical careers. Creative and cultural pathways recorded the lowest regular use, at 17%.

Career direction was a stronger divider than gender, geography or socio-economic background, although those factors still mattered. Rates of rare or non-use stood at 47% in rural areas and 52% among young people from low socio-economic backgrounds, compared with 35% in higher socio-economic groups.

Microsoft said AI skills should not be limited to those planning careers in technology-related fields.

"AI skills development shouldn't be limited to young Australians pursuing tech-adjacent careers. It's important that everyone, regardless of where they live or the path they choose, has the opportunity to build these skills. We're all on this journey together, and everyone should have access to the AI advantage. AI capability will be valuable across the entire workforce and is highly transferable across roles and careers," said Tim Allen, elevate skills director at Microsoft Australia and New Zealand.

KPMG Australia said employers are already building AI into graduate recruitment and training.

"Demand for AI capability is accelerating across Australia, with employers rapidly integrating AI training into graduate programs. Students who are already leveraging AI to learn faster and work smarter are positioning themselves ahead of the curve. The real challenge now is ensuring young Australians recognise AI not just as a disruption, but as a generational opportunity to step confidently into the future workforce," said John Munnelly, chief digital officer at KPMG Australia. more

Career development

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Graduate job coaches offering access to the 'unwritten rules' of recruitment

Some parents are paying high fees for career advisers even though the results are patchy

Steven Round hoped that by supporting his sons through school and university, "the job was done". However, seeing one struggle to find a job and another desperate to progress in his role, he decided to hire a coach to help them navigate the professional world.

"I didn't realise stuff like this existed," he... says.

Executive coaches have become an established part of corporate life in recent years. They offer counsel to senior leaders, helping them to decide on priorities and navigate the rungs of organisations. But a burgeoning niche is now appearing at the other end of the career ladder: graduate coaches who advise young people on how to choose the right job and help them spruce up their CVs, hone their job applications and network in a recruitment market that has become swamped by AI.

The idiosyncrasies of modern graduate job hunting were alien to Round - his last corporate roles came about through approaches from headhunters, and he came of age at a time when two "E" grades could grant admission to his college.

Despite his sons attending "good universities", he says, "it's tough." "There's been a real paradigm shift in the way people are recruited."

Graduate job searching has spawned a small industry of services offering job placements and coaching, with patchy results. One jobseeker told the FT they felt they were given a hard sell on a coaching service that included "technical training and career support" - for a monthly fee of £5,700 (€6,574).

Anne Clinton, director of careers at the London School of Economics and Political Science, says some advisers make "undeliverable promises of guaranteeing internships, particularly in highly sought-after businesses". They target "highly ambitious" students interested in banking and finance.

But in a marketplace where school and university fees run into tens of thousands of pounds, some parents see the cost of a graduate coach as worth it if it helps their offspring to break into working life.

At the top end, Graduate Coach, for example, offers a package that includes interview preparation and application support and costs £12,500, with an additional £6,000 when the applicant secures a paid job. It also provides cheaper, shorter services including one focused on writing a CV, cover letter and LinkedIn profile for £2,000.

[ AI is turning Ireland's graduate recruitment market upside downOpens in new window ]

Nonetheless, such costly services underline the competitive advantages afforded to jobseekers who can get additional help, typically paid for by parents, says Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at the University of Exeter.

"We tend to think of recruitment as a test of ability, but in practice, it is often a test of cultural fluency, knowing how to signal 'fit'." Coaches, he says, sell "access to the unwritten rules of the system: how to present yourself, how to network, how to approach interviews".

Trudy Morrice decided to pay for help for her son after watching his confidence fade as he made application after application, only to be ghosted by employers. "They've been to university and have a massive debt rocketing up. You can see them think, 'Maybe I won't get a graduate job.' As a parent, it's really distressing."

Georgie Blackburn, a graduate coach, says such anxiety is not unusual as "the sheer competitiveness of the graduate and entry-level job market" can mean "clients applying for often hundreds of jobs and not getting through to the interview stage".

AI is exacerbating the situation by enabling candidates to submit more applications. In turn, recruiters are using algorithms to screen applicants. "Graduates feel a real sense of helplessness as a human rarely reads their application," says Blackburn. "They rarely hear back from applications, so it feels impossible for many to navigate and to improve."

AI-driven video interviews mean graduates can no longer even rely on an interviewer's facial expressions for feedback. For graduates whose education was punctuated by stints of online schooling during the pandemic, this lack of interaction can be particularly dispiriting.

[ 'People like dealing with people': Reed boss on the challenge of AI in hiringOpens in new window ]

Chris Davies, founder of Graduate Coach, says the "principal change" in the 15 years he has been in this sector is that "now nobody wants to hire a graduate without relevant experience".

Advisers encourage graduates to consider less mainstream opportunities than large graduate programmes, and to overhaul their CVs to incorporate AI keywords and create LinkedIn profiles.

Morrice says that when Davies helped her son, the first step was to make sure his CV was compliant with AI, break down extracurricular undergraduate activities and recast them as skills and experience. "You have to spell it out and make it easy for them to fill out their scoring system."

Together with his coach, he rehearsed interview techniques, eventually finding a role that suited his engineering degree.

Chloë Garland works with graduates even before the job-hunting stage, helping them find a vocation they want rather than conforming to parental expectations or being swayed by their peers.

"When a young person is looking for a career, they open their laptop, scroll through LinkedIn and Indeed, find something that they could do based on their degree and might get stuck in that for 10 years. I sometimes get them to slow down," she says. "On the other end of the scale, I get people in their late 20s or 30s stuck in finance who tell me they write poetry and are really creative. Figuring out what you want to do takes time."

Graduates have grappled with how to find a suitable career for decades but the context has changed, she says. AI has increased uncertainty, while social media has fuelled "hyper comparison" among peers, which can make graduates "shrink and feel less confident".

Too often, decisions are made out of fear rather than curiosity, she adds. "They feel they are running out of time. There's still this myth that we're going to have one career for life. The pressure to figure this out at 18 is extreme."

One employer describes a "cottage industry out there" feeding on graduate anxieties. "You shouldn't need to pay money to be successful." Instead, they advise job hunters to use resources on employers' websites and find opportunities to develop leadership, communication and organisation skills.

For those who cannot or do not want to pay for additional help, experts stress the importance of university careers advisers. Some, such as those at King's College London, have created software to help candidates game the AI algorithms. Some social mobility charities and social enterprises offer mentoring.

Blackburn recommends that students consider building experience throughout their time at university. "Aiming for internships, work experience or volunteering in a field that's relevant to their career interests is extremely important. Having a great degree isn't enough." Some parents hire her while their child is an undergraduate "to help them get the best start, or to gain support with internships".

Davies rejects stereotypes of pushy parents and recognises the challenge of steering their children through the modern graduate jobs market. "Many of the people I coach, their parents are graduates themselves [who] got jobs when there weren't that many. [They] went to university, and in banking, law, got jobs through introductions. That has all gone. There's a parental approach of, 'blimey, what are we supposed to do?'"

Georgy Petrov, director of skills and employability at Queen Mary University of London, says coaching can "undoubtedly be valuable ... but it cannot fully compensate for wider economic pressures facing young people."

Still, it worked for Round's sons. "But it's expensive," he acknowledges. "It's like sending your kids to private school; it gives you a set of advantages." - Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026 more

Career development

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Rebuilding confidence and navigating the job hunt

NABS offers practical advice on how to build your confidence, look after yourself, and deal with the practicalities of job-hunting post-redundancy.

Redundancy can severely knock your confidence - even if (in fact - especially if) you're a longstanding adlander with an established career to be proud of.

These feelings are often intensified when you're made redundant after a number of years at one... company. Your feelings of success and security can be shattered in far less time than it took to build them up.

Having to turn your mind to the important matter of a job hunt when your confidence is low is no mean feat.

If you've spent years building your reputation in one place, suddenly having to sell yourself can feel very uncomfortable. In a tough market, this can feel even more challenging. On the NABS Advice Line, we often speak to people who haven't had to look at their CV for years. Suddenly, with redundancy landing on them, these people find themselves launched into an active job search.

So, how best to build up your confidence, look after yourself and deal with the practicalities of job-hunting post-redundancy?

First of all, an uncomfortable truth

The most common issue reported to us by jobhunters is ghosting. Not just reserved for dating apps, ghosting has become the norm throughout the job-hunting process. Rejection is one thing, but silence is another, especially when it happens after completing successful applications and interviews. To hear nothing back but silence can be exhausting and upsetting, and it takes its toll.

Being on the receiving end of silence can make you doubt yourself: your relevance, your ability, your work identity. It can mess with your mind , too. One person we supported told us how emotionally draining it felt to sit at their laptop, refreshing their inbox in the hope of a response after one particular interview.

What helped this jobseeker wasn't doing more applications but stepping away from their desk. They built in regular walks to regulate their emotions - time to break the circuit, reset their nervous system, and come back with a clearer head.

So, be aware that you will probably get ghosted, not just once, but a few times, and that none of this will be your fault. Have some strategies up your sleeve to handle ghosting when it happens.

Regular walks are great, as trailed above. Another helpful tactic can be to call the NABS Advice Line when it happens. We're in your corner and here to chat as many times as you need.

Factors that lie outside of your control

Roles that are put on hold, especially after multiple interviews; communication stalling  between HR and recruiters; and simply the number of suitable roles available to apply for in the first place.

None of the above is a reflection on who you are or what you have to offer. You may be more inclined to take all of this personally when your confidence is low. If you can, try to take an objective step back to remind yourself of the reality: the tough aspects of job hunting are to do with the process and not you.

That said, there are elements to the job search that are within your control. Being clear on these can help build your confidence, as well as your sense of agency and perspective.

Making the choice to support your mental wellness throughout the process is positive, empowering and indeed necessary. Take time to think about how you will look after yourself through the rounds of applications until you get your next role. You could choose a handful of non-negotiables to support yourself during this period.

Tactics that have been shared with us by jobhunters include: keeping to a regular schedule; starting the day with some fresh air; time blocking so that you can match your energy to your job search (ie if you're a morning person, block out hours in the morning to focus on applications); making sure you have time for exercise; building up your skills for free, for example with NABS' training or YouTube videos, so that you can keep yourself current while exercising your brain.

Tips for job searching

The question of how to actually search for a job is, of course, a huge one, especially if you haven't been in the job market for a few years. A few tips to get you started:

* Reframe your CV and profile to focus on your expertise rather than your experience. Where have you added value? Demonstrate where and how you've made a positive impact.

* How to approach LinkedIn - it's worth taking the time to watch one of the many excellent LinkedIn tutorials online to see how the experts do it. Don't feel as though you have to go it alone; there's a lot of information out there that's worth exploring.

* Combine confidence and skills-boosting with a workout for maximum efficiency. The NABS Podcast has much expertise to share, from dealing with redundancy to getting to grips with AI. Every episode features inspiration and support from an industry leader: check one out with your morning coffee and walk.

* Your network can be invaluable, not just for job leaders, but also to lend support. Speaking to others who've been through redundancy can help to normalise what you're feeling, and to give insight into how they successfully approached the process.

* Working with a coach can give a sounding board and a fresh perspective. You may be able to access coaching through NABS; give us a call to find out more.

Steve Rowe is the lead senior support advisor at NABS. Need confidential help with redundancy? Get in touch with NABS today. more

Career development

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I was rejected for a job 6 minutes after I applied. I told the company that AI was screening out strong candidates.

Tellez said he told the company's HR chief that AI was filtering out qualified candidates.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Tony Tellez, a 49-year-old IT professional based in Indianapolis. This story has been edited for length and clarity.

I started my career at the entry level and worked my way up to essentially running IT companies in the managed-services space,... overseeing IT operations for multiple clients. Recently, I found myself on the job market for the first time in 10 years. It's changed a lot.

I got some interviews right away, but I also got a lot of rejections. Nobody likes to be rejected. I've got children, rent, and animals to take care of, and those responsibilities start to weigh on you.

One Sunday night, my frustrations reached a breaking point. I had applied for a senior position at a managed-services firm that I was more than qualified for around 11:15 p.m. About six minutes later, I received an email that simply said, "We have declined your application." The company didn't even provide a reason like, "we're pursuing other candidates."

It didn't make any sense. I applied at a time when no one was likely to be manually reviewing résumés and rejecting them. I reread the job listing, and it clearly said that a bachelor's degree -- something I don't have -- was preferred but not required.

Also, my best friend is an HR consultant, and she made sure my résumé included all the necessary keywords. I even ran it through an open-source applicant-tracking system to check that it was well-optimized.

So, after I saw that rejection email come in, I went to the company's LinkedIn page, found their HR director, and sent him this message.

I sent it partly because it's already frustrating for someone to lose a job and have to search for a new one. It's even worse when you have to deal with rejection from a robot.

Another reason is that I've developed and deployed applicant tracking systems, so I understand what it takes to configure them properly. There's a problem here, and the company's leadership may not know that they're potentially missing out on quality candidates.

I haven't heard anything back, and I probably won't. The job listing is no longer up, so I don't know if it was filled. I just know that I'm not ready to retire anytime soon. I love working. I love fixing things.

I've since used AI to make my résumé more AI-friendly. You've got to fight fire with fire. However, I've also started targeting companies that say in their job listings that every résumé submitted is reviewed by a human. In some of my past jobs, I was responsible for hiring people, and I prided myself on reading every résumé that came in. It's crazy how much the job market has changed. more

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Luella
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Im so sorry. Even medical professionals with master’s degrees cant get hired. There is a manor issue with the entire process. I wish you the best of... luck and know that its not your fault, everyone is dealing with this mess more