Okay. AI Can Do Coding. So, What Should Engineers Do?

That artificial intelligence has brought about an incredibly huge transformation in the job market by helping with routine tasks such as coding, etc., is a statement the accuracy of which is unquestionable. Amazingly, AI does such tasks more quickly and accurately than humans. So, will the engineers who have been tirelessly doing these jobs all these years become useless in their field of endeavor, the reason being that their chances of employability have suddenly become slender? "We have always been loyal to the company" may prove to be an exhausting, cringeworthy argument. In this context, will they be shown the exit because their bosses will be dismantling the existing workforce structure to infuse new blood with new skills into their organizations? Or will they still be useful to the organizations?

To the above questions, the answer is: Those engineers who are ready to embrace the transformation and equip themselves with the required futuristic skills need not harbor the fear of falling into the dark abyss of unemployment. They should learn to understand contexts, and only then can they use AI-generated work in enterprise systems, including the highly complex ones. They should also check continuously whether the AI-aided systems work in the long term without being subject to vulnerabilities. Simply put, the whole process will be smooth only if engineers understand impeccably the contexts for which clients need their services.

This means that those engineers who have begun to harbor doubts about their employability should look at the kernel of opportunity AI has bestowed on them. To put it bluntly, engineers can overcome their fear of losing their jobs by strengthening their skill sets.

Who are the employees organizations are likely to look for?

Thanks to the changed scenario, organizations have already started looking for those who possess wizard-like knowledge of business domains and the contexts for which clients need services. In addition, they expect that employees must be able to make judgments based on their knowledge. This means employees who can acquire contextual knowledge of high quality and make appropriate use of it will get a preference over others.

How does contextual knowledge help?

Contextual knowledge helps in understanding what the clients need so that systems can be tweaked suitably. It helps in identifying bottlenecks and impediments as well. Those employees who are ready to interact closely with clients will be able to create good, viable, and productive ideas that can be suitably implemented to fulfill clients' needs.

In short, engineers need not lament that AI is robbing their jobs. On the other hand, they should be ready to adapt to changes and make significant improvements in their skill sets. By doing so, their pastures will always remain green.

Liberty to Chalk out Your Career Path

Does the job market offer Carte blanche to choose your career? Even if you are already employed, do you have the freedom to chalk out your career path? Unfortunately, the answer to both questions is that, in the current scenario, you may not have the freedom to choose. But can you have such freedom? The answer is an emphatic 'Yes.' It is not impossible to have such freedom. What do you think you should do to get it? Let us dwell upon this in this post.

The tips suggested here will help you brute-force your career path. You can not only land the job you want but also climb the rungs of the career ladder smoothly.

1. Be resilient. 

Life may throw situations where you have to adopt a sledgehammer approach. But this approach will not work well in all situations. When the question of landing a job or advancing in your career arises, you must be flexible and cannot afford to be rigid. This does not mean you should accept any job opportunity that comes your way. On the contrary, you must be ready to shift your field according to the changing situations.

For example, you may be an accounts graduate or working as an accountant. But in the current scenario, artificial intelligence is the most sought-after field. Being an accounts person, you should not blindly say "no" to opportunities that are available in the AI field. You must equip yourself suitably to embrace those opportunities. In short, tilt your preferences in such a manner that they turn out to be favorable to you.

2. 'Job opportunities' are a bigger canopy than they appear to be.

Opportunities are plentiful, despite the stiff job market. There is nothing wrong with the opinion of a few experts who consider this an aberration. But you must be creative enough to identify those opportunities. For example, a renowned writer has shown a strong interest in coffee. He started a blog and has been posting regularly on coffee brewing and related topics. As a result, he has been earning a very good income from it. 

To summarize this point, if you do not identify the available opportunities and utilize them appropriately, you will be a perpetual job-seeker. But the process of identifying opportunities comes with a caveat. The caveat is too tremendous to ignore. The job market has become murky. It is likely to become murkier in the future. So, you have to use the scenario suitably so that it becomes favorable to you. How to do this? The only way is to enhance complementary skills as well. Enhancing skills and increasing knowledge have never been more essential than in the current scenario.

In short, this post has two endings. Let us first look at the happy ending. The happy ending is that if you succeed in identifying opportunities and equip yourself accordingly, you will have the liberty of choosing your career path. On the contrary, the liberty of making a choice will not be available to you if you do not identify opportunities, and this is the sad part. 

Is AI A Threat to Job Seekers?

Some people purposely turn a blind eye to the stunning technological advancements that have been taking place. However, practical reality demands that they should accept that AI, one of the most recent advancements, is ruling the roost in the present age. The question now is: Is AI a threat to jobs? 

That AI poses a threat to jobs is an imaginary danger. This statement demands hard and long reflection. If you are ready for such a reflection, you may get a few unexpected answers. You may be one of the myriad believers who think that, thanks to AI, the job market will dry up. But one of the unexpected answers that may nix your unfounded belief is that jobs will not go away due to AI. On the contrary, it will enhance the value and scope of the job market. You can see the details here.

1. You may have to agree that there are plenty of jobs in the AI field because AI has become almost all-pervasive. It is penetrating all fields. Please just ask yourself if you are preparing yourself suitably to use this scope wisely. If you train yourself appropriately, you can land a job that not only pays you a good remuneration but also provides you with the utmost job satisfaction.

2. You are not living in medieval times. Unfortunately, several folks (this may include you) think that they can survive with such medieval thoughts. They are oblivious to the fact that their ostrich-like behavior denies them the opportunities that are up for grabs. In fact, these opportunities will help them thrive in the current situation. The change in their thinking pattern will help them survive in any situation. 

You do not need enormous sophistication to change your thinking pattern. Please put forth a little effort and wake up from the slumber you are in. If you miss the chances that come your way, you may be late. Never forget that the skills you currently possess are decaying. This means that escaping the developments on the AI front is not an option available to you at all. You have to necessarily embrace these developments. So, get ready and rid yourself of your ostrich-like behavior.

3. You need not invent anything new in AI. Of course, if you are creative, you can venture into the invention process. Otherwise, equipping yourself with the knowledge and skills that already exist will itself help you enormously. Be organized while taking this step. You will reap rich dividends.

4. The job chessboard has registered a paradigm shift, thanks to AI. The cascading consequences of this technological development are stunning. You should be astute enough to position yourself appropriately so that you need not fear losing your job. You can climb the rungs of your career ladder pretty quickly as well. 

5. AI's "simulation-first" development is helping ideas quickly transform from the conception stage to the reality stage. Virtual environments are almost friction-free now. Rewinding failures, retraining systems, and test-checking edge cases are no longer arduous. The costs of these tasks and the time they need are surprisingly very low. 

So, whether you are a creative job-seeker who comes out with great ideas or an I-will-do-as-I-am-told person, embracing AI will open a plethora of opportunities for you.

How to Convert Your Nightmarish Job Search into a Boss-Less Career

The job market has undergone a seismic shift in recent years. Especially, after the advent of the Internet, things have changed dramatically. But unfortunately, not many career aspirants seem to have the complete knowledge of the shifts and changes that have taken place and that are likely to continue impacting the job market even in the future. If you are looking for a career, you must know the complete details of these changes. Otherwise, you will not be able to shape your career the way you want, not to talk about shaping your life. Let us find out more about this.

Not just small entities but even giant companies have switched gears and are adopting new tactics to manage their operations. Regardless of their motives, the fact remains that these tactics help them save costs to a significant extent. The most important tactic they are adopting is to look for experts with in-depth knowledge in their industry and hire them on a contract basis or on a commission basis. This means that if you have knowledge and experience in specific industries, you can offer your services as a freelancer and earn a huge income. 

Of course, when you were studying, you would have never thought that you would become a freelancer or an expert who would work on a contract basis because that was not the norm then. But in the present-day context, it has become one of the most sought-after options. Even mammoth organizations are on the look-out for experts who are willing to choose this option.

Ironically, even now, there are skeptics who think that working as a freelancer can not be full-belly gratifying. These skeptics are always like that. They never like contemporary ideas. But once the ideas get translated into real successes, they will unashamedly use the phrase "I said so." 

The question you should ask yourself is "What prevents me from choosing the freelancing option when I am in possession of expertise in this in-demand field and when I have time on my hands?" The fact is that freelancing options can be fun as well as lucrative.

There are two main fears freelancers may have. The first one is that they may develop a tendency to be lethargic and hence, may not be able to adhere to deadlines. The second fear can be that chances of a "brain freeze" are high in this option. Let us find out the ways to overcome these two major fears.

How to overcome the fear of missing deadlines?

If your desire to succeed in your life is unquenchable and strong, you will never allow the tendency of turning lethargic to over-power you. Therefore, check if your desire to succeed is strong enough. If you feel that you lack such a passion, you can not do anything about it. You will continue to lead an average or a below-average life.

On the other hand, if your desire is reasonably strong, you should consistently make it all the more strong. There is an easy way to do it. You should split your ultimate goal into smaller sub-goals. When you achieve a sub-goal or milestone, you should reward yourself suitably. By adopting this strategy, you will be able to improve the strength of your desire. This means that you should be taking continuous action in order to keep your desire intact and improve its strength. Never forget the fact that inaction will not take you even an inch forward towards your goal. Experts categorically say that by taking action regularly and consistently, you can keep the flame of your desire continuously burning in your belly

How to overcome the fear that you will be affected by "brain freeze?"

It is true that brain freeze may impact you if you are not surrounded by an ambiance in which all your field-related matters remain pervasive. If you are a regular employee of an organization, such an ambiance will prevail and so, you are not likely to face the challenge caused by a "brain freeze" because your mind will remain "rinsed" in the matters that pertain to your field. 

But when you are a freelancer, there are bound to be several diversions and digressions that may act as a stumbling block to your efforts to succeed. So, the chances of a brain freeze are high. To overcome this, you can adopt the following few steps. 

1. Keep strengthening the neural pathways of your brain.

Though you possess the academic knowledge of your field, you should keep educating yourself on a continuous basis. You should put in place a practicing routine for deepening and strengthening the neural pathways of your brain. One of the classic analogies is that of a much-used and worn path that runs through the forest. The more people have traveled on the path, the clearer and more usable it gets. So, keep sharpening your skills by having a consistent and regular practicing routine. This will help in honing your skills and in addition, will save you from the perils of a brain freeze.

2. Try to teach those who are willing to learn the subject of your expertise.

It has been scientifically proved that by teaching, one can learn and acquire a deeper and more internalized knowledge. Such internalized knowledge will remain with you till the end of your life.

3. Never hesitate to steal or borrow.

We are not advocating the crime of thieving nor are we advising you to borrow and get mired in debts. What we are suggesting is that you can steal or borrow the knowledge of others. There may be several other experts in your field. You should, if possible, get in touch and be in regular touch with them so that there will be knowledge-sharing between you and them. If it is not possible, you can connect with them on platforms such as LinkedIn so that you can get their updated ideas.

You may have heard of a tool known as the grabber-reacher. You should be like that tool because by being so, you can access and grab the knowledge of other experts in your field. 

By adopting these steps, you can surmount your major fears that may be blocking your decision of choosing the freelancing option.

Get Rid of the Barriers That Stop Your Career Growth

An expert has once said that there are no barriers to the entrepreneurial world. The fact that the number of startup companies has been increasing at a very rapid pace might have been the reason behind this observation. Whether these startups are able to sustain in the competitive environment that is prevalent now is a different question altogether. While talking about the entrepreneurial world, you may ask what the situation is in the job market. The job market does not have barriers also. This point needs elaboration.

According to Parkinson's Fourth Law, "The number of people in any working group tends to increase irrespective of the amount of work to be completed."  Let us not debate if this law is right or not. But the fact remains that job opportunities are aplenty. But unless you acquire the talent required for the job you wish to land, you cannot achieve your dream. Therefore, the foremost step for landing the job you aspire for is to acquire the required knowledge and skill. But will you get complacent once you land the job that you have been aspiring for? In fact, if you get complacent at this stage, you can never grow in your career. This means you have to set your eyes on higher levels in order to climb the career ladder. Here are a couple of suggestions that may help you in this process.

1. Acquire the "I Care a Damn" attitude.

When others come to know that you are aiming high and trying to acquire more knowledge and better your skill, most of them will discourage you. Some of these folks may be jealous. A few among them may perhaps be traditional-minded and hence, according to them, aiming high may be a taboo. Some fo these traditional-minded people may even opine that contentment is the best virtue, and aspiring to move on to the highest level is nothing but avarice. There is another group of people who are negativity-personified and so, they will discourage you also. Yet a few others can not just tolerate if someone grows. They will derive a sadistic pleasure if others get defeated and doomed. 

In short, you are bound to confront a lot of criticisms and discouraging comments. You can not move an inch forward if you react to or worry about such javelins and jibes. Therefore, you are advised to learn and practice what is known as the "I Care a Damn" attitude. As Dale Carnegie puts it, "Do the very best you can; and then put up your old umbrella and keep the rain of criticism from running down the back of your neck." Hence, do not worry about what others say and be sincere in your efforts so that your climb can be as smooth as possible.

2. Never relent even if you face hurdles.

During the course of your journey towards career success, you will certainly confront challenging situations. You should not give up even when such situations threaten your aspiration. You should be resilient enough to use your resources and tide over such situations. But there may be situations when you may not have the resources that are normally required for tiding over such situations. In those instances, you must be innovative and look for using the resources that are available with you. For example, if you do not have a camera for doing your work, you can use your mobile phone for taking photos or shooting videos. If you do not have a credit card, you can explore the possibilities of using PayPal, Shrill, etc. for making your transactions. In short, if you apply your mind, you can always come out with innovative solutions, whatever may be the situation you may face.

To summarize, you must have a strong desire to achieve your goal. You must have faith in yourself as well. You should be committed and focused also. These three are the most important ingredients required for making the tastiest of recipes, which is called "success."   

This Secret Can Get You Big Success in Your Career

There are a number of employees who lament that they are not getting the recognition they deserve at their workplace. This means that they are not getting the success they want to achieve. They feel that they have stagnated, that the management does not give them the promotions they think are due to them, and that they are not getting the salary increases they have anticipated. If you belong to this group, it is high time you learn the secret that can get you big success in your career. Let us find out what this secret is.

But before we discuss this secret, it is imperative that you must work on a very important suggestion. The suggestion is that you must honestly evaluate your skills. The following checklist will help you do the evaluation effectively.

1. Are your skills relevant to the field in which you are working?

2. With your existing skills, can you make at least one huge promise to your managers? If you can, can you ensure to fulfill the promise? Of course, the promise should pertain to the growth of the company.

3. Do you feel that your skills are so compelling that the managers will think twice before losing your services?

4. Do you really think that your skills will benefit the company?

5. With your current level of knowledge, are you able to grasp the vision of your company? If you can, how do you propose to help the company achieve the vision?

6. If you were the manager, will you hire a candidate with the same level of skills that you currently possess?

The above checklist will help you in assessing your skills honestly.

Once you complete the evaluation process, you should go to the next step of taking action to fill up the lacunae, if any, in your skills. In fact, you have to be very aggressive in your approach. There should be no compromise because there is strong competition in the job market. Unless you keep updating your skills on a constant basis, you can not be confident of achieving huge success in your career. 

Let us now assume that you adopt an aggressive approach and acquire all the required skills that can help your company achieve its vision. What is the next step or what is the secret that can get you huge success in your career?

Be a great communicator.

Now that you have acquired all the required skills and you are ready to keep updating them, you should communicate to the management that you possess the skills they expect you to have. But how should you communicate? Experts advise that you should "show" them your skills. Mere words will not suffice. Even if you shout from the rooftops, nobody is going to believe you. You should prove your skills and only then, they will believe that you possess them. 

It is not necessary that there should be special or crisis situations to show that you possess the skills the management expects you to have. Even day-to-day tasks are enough for proving the skills. Experts suggest that you should delve deep into every task you are entrusted with so that you can find out how more efficiently you can carry out the task. Remember that there can be more than one way to do a task. You should find out the best, smartest, and the most cost-effective way and carry it out. If you understand and follow this suggestion scrupulously, you can certainly achieve a big success in your career. 

How to Make Yourself an In-Demand Candidate in the Job Market

“The only thing constant in life is change.” This is an oft-used quote but how true it is! The crux of this is that everyone should get this fact imprinted in their minds. More particularly, job aspirants who are looking to begin their career on a strong footing should understand it and change their ways accordingly. The pain you, as a job aspirant, may experience when your candidature is rejected by employers can certainly be vexatious. But if you adopt a few steps and be willing to change according to the circumstances, you will not face such rejections. On top of it, you can land a job more quickly as well. Let us find out the steps you must adopt.

1. The job market has never been more alive and hence, you must keep taking persistent action.

Cynics may say that there are no jobs. You should not blindly endorse their view because this is complete misinformation that is worthy of being dumped into the dustbin. In reality, the job market is very much alive for those who possess real skills. Companies are ready to hire such people and pay them heftily also. This means your primary focus must be to constantly improve your skills. Improving skills can not be a one-time affair. You should constantly finetune and update your skills. Otherwise, you may soon become a misfit in the job market.

2. Certain sectors are growing faster than in other industries. Therefore, choose a fast-growing field.

Thanks to the population explosion, demand in almost all the industries is on the rise. But certain sectors are witnessing more growth than other fields. There is sufficient evidence to prove this. To quote an example, the growth in the E-commerce field is beyond imagination. In 2014, the quantum of retail sales on e-commerce platforms was $1.3 trillion. In 2021, the figures are expected to go up to $4.9 trillion. This shows that there is a paradigm shift in the perception of people. In fact, the way people buy the goods they need has undergone a complete transformation. So, if you hone your skills in digital marketing or selling, you stand a bright chance in landing a very good job in this field.

3. Become an idea machine. 

Not all people have the gift of creating new ideas. If you possess such a creative ability, you can become an idea machine. There are several companies that are looking for great ideas. For example, if you sit before the television and closely watch the advertisements, you will find that there is a complete dearth of ideas. Almost all the advertisements, barring a few, are dull. In fact, most of the advertisements do not have relevance to the products or services that the companies are trying to sell. In this context, if you have the gift of creativity, you can command very high remuneration for the ideas you provide to these companies. You and your employers can develop a participatory relationship as well. 

Even if you are not willing to work in this field, you can be useful to the employers who hire you. Whenever tasks are entrusted to you, you should delve deep to find out the various ways of carrying them out. Remember that there can be different ways of doing a task. You should choose the most efficient and cost-effective idea. By displaying such an insightful approach, you can prove your worth to your employers.  

4. Distances are not at all an impediment. So, be ready to shift base.

Earlier, people were hesitant to move out of their places. But thanks to the connectivity and transportation facilities that are available now, you can relocate to other parts of your country or even to the other hemisphere of the globe. In other words, you must be willing to shift base, if there is a necessity.  

5. Become a magnet.

How can you become a magnet so that companies will flock to you seeking your services? Of course, this is easier said than done. You have to constantly strive and improve your skills. There should never be any let-up in this aspect. You must be proactively active and keep taking all the required steps for attracting employers. 

6. Be focused.

Never lose your focus. Pick a particular field and keep working constantly to hone your skills in the field.

If you implement these steps, you will land a fabulous job very soon.

Breaking Out Of Your Comfort Zone In Your Career

When can you conclude that you have reached your comfort zone in your career? If you feel that you are getting your tasks done not only effectively but smoothly as well, if there is no fanfare in the meetings you conduct, if you meet the milestones without any issues and if you do not encounter any pressure situation in your operations, you can construe that you are working on autopilot. This also means that you are in a comfort zone in your career. 

But experts say that this is dangerous. In fact, this is not an ideal situation at all because this shows that you have started stagnating. You may start feeling complacent very soon and may find your workplace boring. Therefore, risks of your performance beginning to waiver may increase.

The main problem is you may not be able to propel your personal growth. Reaching the next levels of personal growth should involve challenges and since you are not facing any of them, you may not have the right opportunities that will take you to the next levels.

Unlike a few people who are hard-wired to experiment or take risks, you may be afraid of facing risks. But you must make a big leap if you want to have significant personal growth in your career. 

The best way to come out of the comfort zone in your career is to foresee and avoid getting into such a situation. But if you can not avoid it, you should assess the situation properly and make efforts for getting out. If you delay taking action, it may be hard for you to avoid your career stagnation.

Here is the checklist that may help you find out if you have entered into a comfort zone in your career. Ask the following questions to yourself:

1. Am I feeling bored?

2. Are possibilities to progress drying up?

3. Am I being ignored when new responsibilities, projects and opportunities come up?

4. Am I not facing pressure-like situations in my current role? 

5. Is there no necessity to prove myself? 

If 'yes' is the answer to the above questions, you can pretty well construe that you have entered into a comfort zone in your career. You should immediately focus on taking suitable actions.

How do you start?

1. Develop a plan because if you have an outline, you will be able to identify the opportunities that may help you move on to the next steps. 

2. Seek out a mentor. There may be many people whom you have been admiring. If you choose the right mentor, you can learn from him or her. The mentor may give you a lot of advice also. In fact, studying the career road-maps of such mentors may itself teach a number of invaluable lessons. You may get inspired also.

3. Keep track of all the innovations that are happening in the industry in which you are working. A study of the job market of the industry will help you identify the opportunities using which you can plug the gaps you may find. Another benefit of studying the job market is you can compare your resume with what is required in the field. You can acquire new skills or fine-tune your current capabilities so as to suit the current requirements of the job market.

4. Make the right decision. This means you should not commit the mistake of jumping on to a job that is only slightly different from your current job. At the same time, there is no necessity for a 180-degree turn in your career. The best suggestion is you need not change all the variables. You can change the industry in which you can carry out the same functions or there can be changes in the job functions in the same industry or company.

The intention is you should look for the right opportunities that may push you towards higher levels of decision-making, thinking or performance. Experts opine that humans can accomplish great feats when they face pressure situations. When you feel the pressure of proving yourself, you will be able to tap the mental energy you do not know you possess.

5. Do not allow your team to enter into a comfort zone

In addition to not permitting yourself to enter your comfort zone, you must prevent your team also from this danger. Otherwise, the performance of the entire team may suffer. As a leader, it is your duty to ensure that your team members are also groomed to become achievers. Therefore, you should not allow them to become complacent and stagnate.

If you are always on the look-out for opportunities that may help your team members play various new roles or new functions, they can also have personal growth in their career. Ultimately, you will also get unstuck.