You would expect artificial intelligence (AI) to become a valuable tool that helps people to make career decisions and, indeed, there is now some evidence that valuable applications are emerging. (If you are not one of the 83,000 people that have tried careerspro then perhaps you should).
Helping people make an assessment of their skills, interests, personality traits, and work values and then relating the results to potentially suitable career options would appear to be a really helpful application of AI. The use of machine learning algorithms should be highly applicable in this area where users are seeking personalised recommendations based on extensive data analysis. An AI-powered platform that helps to identify your top career qualities and then narrows down the range of possible careers that align with them would appear not only to be feasible but also something that career decision-makers and their advisers have been seeking for many years.
An AI-based system that helps to narrow down “future-proofed” careers through the intelligent (and predictive) use of labour market data (including salaries and the impact of COVID for example) and then presents the facts so that the individual can make an informed decision would be invaluable.
Analysing labour market data, job trends, and economic indicators to provide valuable insights into emerging and declining industries, high-demand occupations, and salary expectations and then making that accessible to users has long been an aspiration. It’s complicated, of course: especially the predictive element that matters in career planning. No one lives their career backwards! Will AI now deliver on this aspiration to help the user make informed decisions about their career paths?
If this type of analysis were to be combined with a personalised pathway planner to help the user identify skill gaps and if it suggested relevant courses or learning resources to acquire the skills required for any desired career then that too could be of considerable value. If a degree of personalisation was to be built in such that the tool also provided feedback and tracked the individual’s progress as they developed the needed skills then AI could be adding value.
In a further step, if AI-powered platforms could analyse any curriculum vitae or resume and match the content with job postings to provide tailored recommendations and highlight relevant job opportunities that align with the individual’s skills and experience that would save massive amounts of job search time. Arguably, it might achieve a step change in the effective functioning of the employment market too.
Perhaps there might also be a role for career coaching in encouraging users of these tools to consider their interests, their values, and long-term goals when choosing a career.