AI Skills Now Essential in Job Market: Study Finds 80% Managers Prioritize Them

Research from Resume Genius reveals that 8 in 10 hiring managers prioritize AI skills in job candidates. This trend indicates employers would prefer a candidate with AI expertise over one with additional years of experience.

Despite the growing importance of AI, Lisa Gevelber, head of Google’s “Grow with Google” initiative, notes that few employers offer necessary training for their workers. Companies and academia struggle to keep up due to slow curriculum development in response to rapid AI advancements.

Experts suggest learning AI by using publicly available tools daily. Platforms like ChatGPT or Claude are free, while paid subscriptions offer additional benefits. Some companies also provide free training; OpenAI offers “prompt engineering” programs.

Christine Cruzvergara, vice president of higher education and student success at Handshake, recommends using AI to learn about it. Users can ask the AI for a schedule of courses or how to use AI in their roles over two weeks or one month.

While some signs suggest that growing corporate adoption of AI is weakening demand for entry-level workers, Cruzvergara expects more companies to recruit younger adults who are developing expertise in using technology.

Demonstrating your AI skills to prospective employers is crucial. Career experts advise outlining examples of how AI has helped work more efficiently and productively on resumes and including any additional AI qualifications or training.

Grow with Google offers programs like the “Google AI Professional Certificate” course, available online for $49 per month. This certificate consists of seven modules taking about an hour each to complete.