Ask a recruiter how their year’s going, and you’re likely to see a head shake. According to Gem’s 2023 Recruiting Trends report, nearly one quarter of recruiting teams saw reductions in the second half of 2022. Many are dealing with layoffs, hiring freezes, or limited resources despite headcount growth, but that isn’t the full story.
Talent recruitment is experiencing a strange moment, induced by economic swings and labor market changes. Every industry is feeling the effects of the great skills shake-up where talent on the market doesn’t match the jobs that need to be filled.
If you’re a recruiter who’s been laid off or simply want to advance and future-proof your career, now’s the time to lean in instead of get out. What makes a good recruiter even better? Let’s dig into ways to upskill, advance, and land a lucrative technical recruiting position.
The secret to a successful career is simple. Find a job that suits your natural abilities and working style.
But this is easier said than done. To identify what environments and types of work are best suited for you, you need to have a solid understanding of who you are—a deep sense of self-awareness.
Enter human design.
In this article, we’ll review:
The basics of human design
How to leverage human design for a career in tech
Career paths to consider based on your energy type
The tech workforce of yesterday is not the workforce of today – and it certainly won’t be the workforce of tomorrow.
Technology is evolving rapidly, and companies are struggling to keep up with the pace of digital transformation. Traditional college degrees aren’t evolving rapidly enough to equip entry-level employees with future-proof skills. Software engineers, developers and designers who joined the workforce ten or more years ago already have outdated skill sets.
Many companies are turning to upskilling and reskilling programs to modernize their workforce. But one type of employee is pivotal to shoring up a company’s culture for the next wave of innovation: the T-shaped employee.
In recent years, software engineers have been like the work world’s equivalent to the most popular kids in school. With all the ongoing and rapid advancements in tech and focus on all things digital, their skills and talents have been some of the most sought after across all industries. But now, with AI on the rise, some worry it might steal the “cool kid” crown and that the popularity of and demand for software engineers may soon dwindle. And the AI boom’s impact on software engineering is especially of interest to potential career changers. Many who’ve considered making the leap into a software engineering role may now be having second thoughts.
If you’re one of those people, keep reading. It’s no secret that AI is so hot right now, and all signs are pointing to it remaining hot well into the future. But the idea that AI is going to steal your job and render you irrelevant is a myth. AI alone can’t fully take on the role of a software engineer — but it will help you become a more efficient coder if you have the right skills to harness it.
The AI-powered future is here, and it’s time to make the most of it. Keep reading to find out the best ways to leverage AI in your current or future coding role.
3 Reasons Why AI is a Friend, Not a Foe, of Software Engineering
Some things just go together — peaches and cream, peanut butter and jelly — coders and AI. Being sceptical is a normal part of life (especially when it comes to new pairings), but trust us, coders and AI is a perfect combination. Because picking up new skills and leveraging them with your existing talents is worth its weight in gold. Especially if those skills will help you be more efficient and even better at what you do (or might do in the future). So what exactly can AI help a coder do today? Let us count the ways:
1. It helps with code generation:
In the realm of code generation, AI is transforming the way software is written. Leveraging natural language processing (NLP) models, AI can comprehend human-readable descriptions of tasks and convert them into actual code snippets. By analyzing vast code repositories and programming languages, AI-powered systems offer contextually relevant code blocks, significantly reducing the time and effort developers spend on writing repetitive code. Moreover, intelligent Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) equipped with AI capabilities provide real-time suggestions, code completion, and error anticipation, empowering developers to code more efficiently and creatively.
Frameworks and Libraries Made Easy: Various AI-powered development frameworks and libraries help developers build intelligent applications easily. These tools provide pre-built modules for tasks like natural language processing, computer vision, and speech recognition, enabling developers to incorporate advanced AI capabilities into their projects without starting from scratch. Examples include: TensorFlow, PyTorch, and Scikit-learn, which have become go-to choices for machine learning tasks.
2.It makes the process of debugging more efficient and precise:
AI-driven debugging tools employ advanced techniques like symbolic execution, abstract interpretation, and data flow analysis to detect and locate bugs in the code. These tools automate error detection and offer intelligent insights to resolve issues swiftly. As AI algorithms learn from past debugging experiences, they provide relevant suggestions to fix bugs, ensuring developers can deliver more robust and stable software applications.
AI Automation Tools to Try: AI-driven automation transforms routine development tasks, reducing manual labor and freeing developers’ time for more complex challenges. AI-powered code generation tools, like Codex and Copilot, automate repetitive coding and improve code-writing efficiency. AI-powered testing frameworks automatically generate test cases, enhancing testing processes and coverage. In DevOps environments, AI facilitates smoother deployments, automates continuous integration and delivery, and enables predictive analysis to prevent potential issues.
3.It improves code efficiency and effectiveness:
Automated test generation frameworks driven by AI can produce test cases, reducing manual effort and speeding up the testing process. AI helps optimize test suites by identifying redundant or ineffective test cases, leading to more efficient testing practices. AI-powered test execution tools can detect anomalies and unexpected behavior during testing, facilitating the early detection of defects. By harnessing AI’s capabilities, developers and engineers can achieve higher-quality software, shorter development cycles, and enhanced overall productivity.
AI-Powered Development Tools to Change the Game: OpenAI’s Codex and GitHub Copilot revolutionized code generation by providing context-aware code suggestions, saving developers time and effort. Tools like DeepCode and Code Review lead to more reliable software. Snyk’s AI-driven security testing prevents potential vulnerabilities, bolstering application security. These tools benefit individual developers and contribute to the overall business success by streamlining the development process and ensuring high-quality software products.
An AI-Fueled Future is Here: Ready to Decode it?
AI-driven tech is optimizing software engineering processes across all industries. Need even more proof of the positive AI and software engineer connection? Just check out Netflix’s content recommendation enhancement, Salesforce’s Einstein AI generating insights for sales, and AI algorithms ensuring safety and efficiency in autonomous vehicles. These examples all underscore AI’s role in fostering innovation and delivering tangible benefits across diverse domains.
Software engineers — current and future — have the opportunity to revolutionize the use of AI in coding. AI may be the future, but so are you — if you can embrace and keep up with the pace of change. Imagine the stories you’ll be able to tell future generations about what you worked on during the “fourth industrial revolution.”
If you’re interested in joining the next generation of AI-empowered coders, check out our Software Engineering Bootcamp. Now with Generative AI Modules, to gain all the coding and AI skills you’ll need for the future of work. Because the future of work is today.
What was once thought to be a flash in the plan is now transforming businesses across the globe. If there’s anything we’ve learned this year it’s that generative AI is here to stay—and it’s here to change everything about how we live and work.
According to an IBM report, 35% of businesses worldwide are already using AI—and within the next 10 to 20 years, virtually every business and government agency will, too. Many companies are already tapping AI in new and exciting ways, from customer service chatbots to copywriting and even diagnosing medical conditions. At the same time, AI has brought ethical questions around copyright, employment and bias to the forefront. Today’s business leaders must understand how to harness the potential of AI, and learn to address the challenges it presents.
Most critically, companies need to prepare their workforces for a new world of work, where employees will collaborate closely with AI on a daily basis. As organizations race to adopt AI and gain a competitive edge, talent with AI skills are in high demand. According to some reports, they are landing salaries of $900k. Competing in this landscape can feel like it’s impossible. We’ve got you covered with strategies that will position your workforce for an AI-powered future.
Hot lunch or cold lunch. First day outfit. Which background for your yearbook photo. Those back-to-school choices may be behind you, but you have a new choice right in front of you when it comes to getting Back to Skills.
We’re taking you Back toSkills with our popular free workshopsfrom September 19 – October 26. Whether you’re looking to kickstart a career change, prepare for one of our bootcamps, or simply add new skills to your repertoire, our free workshop series will help you make it happen.
Just like our bootcamps, these workshops are led by our team of dedicated instructors, who have real-world experience in today’s most in-demand tech fields like data, coding, and UX design.
New this Year: A Schedule Packed With Tech Skills that Set You Up for Success
You may remember our free Workshop Wednesdays last year being, dare we say, epic? But we’re always looking to one-up ourselves, so this year we’ve made our free workshops even better.
Each workshop series in software engineering, user experience (UX) design, and data analytics carries a single project prompt throughout five weeks of two-hour long workshops — each week building on the skills you learned in the previous week — until you complete a final deliverable to showcase your new-found tech skills. Check out the list of workshops below to see what you’ll learn:
Software Engineering
UX Design
Data Analytics
Beginner’s Guide to Coding
Beginner’s Guide to Design Thinking
Beginner’s Guide to Data
Build a Simple Website with HTML & CSS
Master User Research & Interviews
Clean & Prepare Your Data
JavaScript Basics
Customer Journey Mapping Basics
Excel Analytics Basics
Build an Interactive Website with JavaScript
Turn Sketches to Wireframes in Figma
Visualize Data in Tableau
Write Your First Script with Python
Turn Wireframes to Prototypes in Figma
Access Data with SQL
In week six, we’ll have live sessions where you’ll get to meet members of our team like admissions specialists, instructors, and career coaches to learn more about our bootcamps, short courses, and career outcomes. Even better? The floor will be yours to ask any of your burning tech questions.
Is the thought of committing to five weeks of workshops giving you a flashback to back-to-school scaries? Fear not. We know committing to that is a lot, and we’ve got your back. If you sign up and end up only being able to attend one workshop, you’ll still get the recordings from the entire series within one week of the last session.
Ready to get Back to Skills? Simply find your region and your tech discipline of choice below. If you don’t see your region, don’t worry. You can still join us, for instance if you live in the UK, the US or Bahrain instances will work best for you. From there you can sign up for one or all of the workshops in the series. Not sure what’s right for you? Don’t worry — you don’t have to choose just one topic.
Wherever you are in your career journey, keeping your tech skills sharp is never the wrong move. Take advantage of this free opportunity to level up your skills and prepare for the possibility of a new tech career.
And if the free workshops themselves aren’t enough, here’s a little something almost as sweet as ice cream after back-to-school night — if you join a workshop live, as a thank you, you’ll leave with a bonus.* Don’t miss out, our free workshops are only here for a limited time.
FAQs
Q: Is there a limit to how many workshops I can sign up for?
Definitely not. We want you to attend as many free workshops as you can.
Q:What if I can’t attend any of the live workshop times? Will I still be eligible for the bonus?
As long as you sign up for at least one workshop, you’ll get the recording of every workshop in that series (Software Engineering, UX Design, or Data Analytics) within one week of the last session on October 26. You’ll be able to access the bonus through the recording, and it’s good through the end of the year.*
Q: If I can only attend a workshop, say on week 4, how will I get the materials to be caught up from weeks 1-3?
We’ll send an email before every workshop with all the resources you need to be prepared, even if your first workshop is on week 4. It will definitely help to get prepared the day before — these workshops have a lot to cover in two hours, and we want you to be set up for success.
Q: Something is preventing me from accessing one or more of the tools/datasets needed to participate live. Should I still attend?
Don’t worry. If you can’t participate in the live demo, you should definitely still join live to watch, learn, and ask questions. Think of it as a livestream demo that you can later practice on your own anytime after the series once you get the recordings via email.
Q: How do I get a workshop recording?
Choose a topic and sign up for at least one workshop, and you’ll receive the recording of every workshop in that series within one week of October 26. Although, we think you should sign up for all of them — if you’re able.
Q:What’s the bonus for attending a live workshop?
That, we can’t tell you. What we can tell you is that it’s only available for residents of the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia and Singapore. And that it’s totally worth two hours of your day. Free tech skills and a bonus? You can’t go wrong.
*Free surprise is only available to residents of the US, Canada, Europe, Australia, and Singapore. Terms and conditions apply.
Artificial intelligence is reshaping how work gets done. Emerging AI tech offers benefits that forward-thinking businesses should take advantage of. But, leveraging AI requires a skilled workforce. This article explores how foundational skills are critical to building an AI-enabled workforce and the benefits of doing so.
Rebecca Szymczak, aka Cardsy B, author of The Saturn Diaries and tarot reader to the stars, consulted her cards and has tips for which signs are going to use the hard-working energy of this earth element ruled season to escalate their careers and which should watch out for Virgo’s notorious perfectionism. She also has insight regarding expansive good news that can indicate raises and new job offers as we approach the full moon in Aries at the month’s end.
If you’re a current or aspiring UX designer who’s a bit (or a lot) unsure of what the future of UX will look like with the rapid evolution of new AI technologies, we’ve got some good news for you. AI isn’t here to steal your job — but it will likely change how you do it. For many, this may still feel scary, but imagine the possibilities of setting yourself free from some of the most tedious parts of your job and instead being able to focus more on the most important part — the users themselves.
Nearly half of organizations worldwide are working to embed artificial intelligence into their products and workflows. Connected, data-driven technologies are transforming practically every aspect of modern business—from improving supply chain efficiency, reducing waste, and automating repetitive tasks, to accelerating product development, creating content, and sharpening consumer research.
As leaders, workers, technologists, and even AI researchers come to grips with the impact of emerging technologies, General Assembly (GA) remains optimistic about the future of AI. We believe people will continue to be key for long-term business success—and organizations that invest in maximizing human-AI connections will come out ahead.
That’s why today we’re excited to announce new Generative AI course modules that will be added to all of our bootcamps and a number of our part-time curriculum. Keep reading to learn more.
