Career Development Category Archives - General Assembly Blog

How to Figure Out What Career You Want With Human Design

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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
  • How General Assembly can help

Human Design, Explained

In short, human design is a tool for understanding how you make decisions, your unique strengths, and your purpose.

The concept was created by Ra Uru Hu, born Alan Robert Krakower, in the late 1980s. During an 8-day mystical experience, he heard a voice that brought the idea to him. Ra details the information he received in a book called Rave I’Ching. These writings are what’s now known as human design and have become increasingly popular over the last few decades.

Like astrology, human design takes into account your birth date, time, and location. It uses this information to identify your dominant chakras and create a personal body graph. The body graph shows you how your energy is designed. While it looks complex at first, there are a few foundational pieces of information to focus on. The first thing to understand about your chart is your energy type.

Source

What’s your energy type? 

There are five distinct energy types that could apply to you. Your energy type tells you how you’re meant to interact with the energies around you. This is important because when you embrace your energy type, it’s easier to navigate the world. When you resist it, you may feel stuck or frustrated. Every energy also has a default strategy.

The five energy types include:

  1. Manifestor

Making up only about 9% of the population, Manifestors have a powerful aura that impacts the people around them. They take initiative and thrive off creating new ideas, movements and innovations.

Strategy: Informing people of their decisions before they make them

  1. Generator

Generators are the most common energy type, representing about 70% of the population. This energy type needs to do work they love and feel energized by. Unlike Manifestors, they’re not initiators. Instead, they respond to opportunities and make decisions based on their gut feelings.

Strategy: Responding with intuition

  1. Manifesting-Generator

As you might have guessed from the name, Manifesting-Generators are a hybrid. They take traits from both energy types. They’re multi-faceted individuals with diverse interests and talents. Like Manifestors, they can initiate and take action. They also share similarities with Generators in terms of their sustainable work energy. Their productivity and motivations are different every day, which makes them well-suited for a life with lots of variety.

Strategy: Respond, then inform

  1. Projector

Projectors are energized by those around them and don’t hold a lot of energy on their own. They also take on the role of advisors or guides. They can recognize the talents and potential of those around them. But they wait for the invitation before sharing their wisdom and guidance.

Strategy: Wait for the invitation

  1. Reflector

This energy type is very rare, and only about 1% of people fall under the Reflector category. Reflectors are very sensitive to their environments and reflect that energy. They also can see and evaluate situations from many perspectives. It’s recommended they take their time making big decisions. 28 days to be exact —in line with the lunar cycle.

Strategy: Wait for the lunar cycle

Using human design to understand how you interact best with the world is a great starting point for assessing your career. Fill out this human design test to understand what energy profile applies to you.

Leveraging Human Design For a Career in Tech

Every job requires a different set of strengths and skills. To improve your career, it’s helpful to understand how you operate most effectively. When you’re able to embrace your strengths and who you are, success follows easier.

Human design can help you on your professional journey in tech in several ways, including navigating career transitions and improving collaboration.

Navigating Career Transitions

Baby Boomers switched jobs an average of 12.4 times over their careers. This number is increasing as job hopping becomes more common for millennials and Gen Z.

This is all to say — career transitions are a natural part of life. Whether it’s a transition to a new role, new industry or completely new path, they can be a challenging time of unknowns.

Navigating these unknowns can be broken down into two distinct stages. First and foremost is internal research. Take stock of who you are, what energizes you, what motivates you, and how you work best. 

The second is finding a career that complements those innate qualities.

Tools like human design and personality tests are helpful approaches for the former. Human design gives you a jumping-off ground to understand what you need to succeed.

Improving how you collaborate

Identifying how you work best with others is another benefit of human design. To do so, you first need to understand your own working preferences.

Here’s an example. Let’s say you’re a Projector and interested in design. Explore which types of design roles collaborate with others more than working autonomously. If you naturally get energy from others, it doesn’t make sense to work in a role that’s mostly solo. Rather, embrace your instincts to find job compatibility. 

Which Tech Career is Right For Me? (Based on Human Design)

So you’ve taken the human design quiz and know your energy type. Now the real question is how to know what you want to do for a career.

While human design won’t give you any definitive answers, it can act as a guide. There are so many paths you can take in tech. Knowing your energetic makeup can help leverage your strengths and habits. That way, you can find a role that’s aligned with your natural abilities and tendencies.

What are career paths that work with different energy types? Here are a few pairings in tech to consider:

Product management for Manifestors: Product managers are responsible for initiating projects. They need to be able to set goals and drive the development of new products and features. Plus, this role requires regular decision-making — including prioritizing work and managing resources. Given the natural leadership capabilities of Manifestors, they’re often well-suited for product management.

Software engineering for Generators: Software engineers need to solve complex problems. They also need to be detail-oriented in their approach. This is a great fit for Generators who have sustainable energy levels — especially when working on projects that excite them.

Digital marketing for Manifesting-Generators: In digital marketing, no two days are the same. Manifesting-Generators thrive in a dynamic environment. This makes them well-suited to juggle the various tasks required in digital marketing — from social media to email to SEO and beyond. 

Data analysis for Projectors: Data analytics isn’t only about analyzing numbers. It’s essential to be able to translate those numbers into strategic insights. Projectors are known for their ability to see the big picture and offer guidance. Their advisory nature can be highly valuable in translating data into actionable strategies.

Keep in mind: human design is only one aspect to consider as you assess your career options. Also, take into account your unique interests, experiences, skills, and desires for the future.

Designing Your Tech Career with General Assembly

Understanding human design is a logical first step for those aspiring to make a career change. But where do you go from there?

You’ve assessed your inner self. Now it’s time to start looking outwards and put your strengths into action. 

One way to do this is through continued education.

General Assembly offers a holistic approach to education for a range of tech careers. Our instructors are experts in the field, with experience at some of the top tech companies in the world. They bring real-world insights and learnings into the classroom. 

But more than that, we don’t take a standardized approach to education. No two people learn the same way. And no two days look the same in a tech career. Learning needs to be ever-evolving to align with both individuals’ changing needs and the fast-paced tech industry. At General Assembly, we offer a range of courses to fit different learning styles and circumstances. This includes part-time learning, immersive courses, on-demand learning, and more. In all these courses, you’ll be working on projects that are hands-on and relevant to your industry.

Equipped with a deeper awareness of yourself through human design and the options to improve your skills, you’ll be well on your way to finding a fulfilling career path. So stop trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. Instead, find a square hole.

Ready to unlock your unique potential? Contact us to receive tailored advice.

Software Engineering and AI: Best Friends or Foes of the Future?

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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.

Back To Skills: Free Workshops To Prep For Your Tech Future

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GA student smiling and walking into a coffee shop with their bike

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 to Skills with our popular free workshops from 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 DesignData Analytics
Beginner’s Guide to CodingBeginner’s Guide to Design ThinkingBeginner’s Guide to Data
Build a Simple Website with HTML & CSSMaster User Research & InterviewsClean & Prepare Your Data
JavaScript BasicsCustomer Journey Mapping BasicsExcel Analytics Basics
Build an Interactive Website with JavaScriptTurn Sketches to Wireframes in FigmaVisualize Data in Tableau
Write Your First Script with PythonTurn Wireframes to Prototypes in FigmaAccess 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. 

Our free workshops fill up fast, so don’t delay. 

us scheduleBAHRAIN scheduleSingapore schedule
Software Engineering SeriesSoftware Engineering Series Software Engineering Series 
UX Design Series UX Design SeriesUX Design Series 
Data Analytics SeriesData Analytics Series Data Analytics Series 

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.

CAREER TAROTSCOPES FOR SEPTEMBER 2023

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Two professionals having a snack and exchanging information

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

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.

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UX Design and AI: Best Friends or Foes of the Future?

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ux design student looking over wireframe with another design student in GA classroom

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes


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. 

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‘Break-Into’ Series at GA APAC: Helping You Make The Switch & Find Your Dream Tech Career

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Whether you’re looking to make a complete career change or invest in learning a new tech skill, our ‘Break-Into’ series gives you the information you need before committing to a tech bootcamp at GA. 

Each event in the series is a fast and convenient way for you to find out if the tech career you’ve been leaning toward is the right fit for you and if breaking into tech is the right choice to make right now. 

What’s a ‘Break-Into’ event? 

Each event provides an easy way to learn about today’s most in-demand tech roles specific to Singapore and Australia. You’ll get information on various tech disciplines, with an emphasis on software engineering, data, user experience (UX) design, digital marketing, and product management. 

Hosted and moderated by our local Admissions Producers, these events include speakers from all over Singapore and Australia and offer real-world insights from experienced industry experts. Who better to address your burning questions about what it’s really like to work in a tech role than the people actually doing it?

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Adapting to the Future: Exploring the Intersection of AI and Career Change

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Student standing next to wall art in GA NYC campus

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

In this blog, we demystify the influence of AI on the job market and delve into the transformative potential it brings to various industries. We believe that embracing tech-forward careers like data science, software engineering, and UX design opens up new horizons for professionals seeking to thrive in the future of work.

At GA, we pave the way for rewarding careers in the AI-driven world, offering competitive salaries, and continuous learning opportunities.


Rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have sparked concerns about its impact on the job market, leading to misconceptions about AI stealing jobs and replacing human skills. 

In this blog, we’ll demystify these notions and explore how recent innovations in AI are not eliminating jobs but instead opening up new opportunities and revolutionizing the way we work. 

Let’s delve into the truth behind AI’s influence on career change and understand how it can augment and enhance various industries and empower individuals with unique human skills. 

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AI myths & steps you can take to harness: debunking fears and embracing career growth in the age of artificial intelligence

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Estimated reading time: 11 minutes

Discover how AI is reshaping industries, empowering professionals, and driving innovation. Read more as we navigate the evolving AI landscape and equip you with the knowledge to thrive in the age of AI.


AI, or Artificial Intelligence, refers to computer systems that possess human-like cognitive abilities, such as problem-solving and decision-making. Its influence is rapidly expanding across industries, revolutionizing processes and enabling innovation. However, many are concerned that AI is coming for their jobs. 

On the positive side, AI has the potential to augment human capabilities. This will increase productivity and provide valuable insights for informed decision-making. By embracing AI as a tool for collaboration, humans and AI can work together to create a more efficient and innovative future.

In this blog, we will debunk the common AI myths, fears, and concerns and offer practical tips for individuals and business professionals to adapt and thrive in the evolving tech industry. 

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5 Hottest Emerging Tech Jobs So Far in 2023

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Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Discover how the dynamic landscape of tech offers a world of exciting new job roles and demands specialized expertise. Whether you’re seeking a career change or aiming to elevate your skills, this article reveals the path to a promising future.


As technology evolves, new job roles are emerging every day. Professionals who have the right expertise are in high demand. If you are looking for a career change or to level up your skill set, these rapidly growing opportunities could be your path forward.

As economic concerns persist, you might be wondering: is now really the right time to jump into something new? A report from CompTIA found that despite the noise around tech layoffs, jobs in the tech sector will actually grow by 3% in 2023 (that’s 286,400 new jobs). Another study from CBRE found that tech workers in the US have increased 11.4% since 2020, a further indication that the tech industry’s hiring slowdown hasn’t impacted the growth of technical roles overall. 

Every company is a tech company today, and demand for talent that can wrangle data, design immersive experiences, and write code continues to rise. New technologies are evolving rapidly. The time to get your foot in the door is now. As more companies invest in areas like AI and immersive experiences, demand for talent with relevant skills will surge. 

So what exactly are the hottest emerging tech jobs? Let’s break down the roles, the job descriptions, what skills you’ll need, and potential salary. 

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