ACM CareerNews for Tuesday, June 18, 2024
ACM CareerNews is intended as an objective career news digest for busy IT professionals. Views expressed are not necessarily those of ACM. To send comments, please write to [email protected]
Volume 20, Issue 12, June 18, 2024
IT Job Posts Rise and Unemployment Dips in May
CIO Dive, June 7
IT unemployment fell for the third consecutive month in May, dipping to 2.5%, according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In contrast, national unemployment increased to 4%. Employers across the economy added 27,000 tech job postings in May, for a total of 209,000 active postings. This is the highest total since June of last year. The jump in tech job postings is an encouraging indicator, suggesting that many employers are starting to add staff again.
Employers continue to seek talent that drives technology forward, with AI at the center of these efforts. AI-related occupations accounted for 12% of job postings, up from 11% in the previous month. Generative AI adoption could have a knock-on effect on tech talent demand. If new AI technologies are a boon to the tech industry overall, they could lead to new IT hiring for other positions as well. If companies are growing, they are likely to hire for other positions that are not directly using these technologies, developing them or interacting with them.
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Generative AI Job Postings Increase Tenfold in the Past Year
Fast Company, June 6
As more companies embrace generative artificial intelligence (AI), it is leading to an exponential boost in demand for AI experts. For example, in the past year, Indeed has seen a tenfold increase in the number of generative AI job postings. Over the past two years, from April 2022 to April 2024, Indeed saw a 75-fold increase in generative AI job postings. Despite those substantial bumps, AI-related jobs still make up a relatively small number of available opportunities. In the U.S., for example, AI jobs comprise approximately 2% of all postings.
For job seekers, greater demand for AI skills could mean higher salaries in a field where the average paycheck is already significantly higher than in many other occupations. According to a recent report, AI-related jobs offer salaries that are more than 77% higher than other fields. Some positions start with compensation that is as high as $450,000 per year. Computer scientists are the most in demand. Nearly 30% of the jobs in that field last year were AI-related. Data science and analytics were the fastest growing work categories among employers, with particular demand for machine learning skills, along with data visualization, data extraction, and data engineering. The fastest-growing skillset in the overall market was generative AI modeling, which centers around building and training models used in generative AI.
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How Developers Can Future-Proof Their Careers
Hackernoon, June 5
The rapid rise of AI is causing some IT workers to rethink how to advance their programming careers. Now that AI is able to generate code on its own, programmers are aware of the need to future-proof their careers and find new ways to remain valuable to their employers. The best approach is to embrace continuous learning. IT workers should also look for opportunities to spearhead new AI initiatives that can lead to greater productivity within the organization.
One way to ward off the threat of AI is to adapt your skill set so that you can capitalize on the emergence of newly created roles. Prompt engineering is a great example of this. Responsible for training AI models, prompt engineers craft the precise and well-defined prompts that inform large language models and effectively facilitate the capabilities of chatbots to come up with answers. For prompt engineering, salaries in the U.S. start at $230,000 and go up to $335,000. Since it is always a good idea to be aware of change in your industry, the current period could be a good time to consider how new AI skills can augment your current coding skill set.
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Employers Must Figure Out What AI Skills They Actually Need
HR Dive, June 11
As demands for artificial intelligence (AI) skills rise, employers need to craft a plan to identify which skills their organizations actually need. AI skill sets are not only limited to technical skills, but also include soft skills such as critical thinking and problem solving. As a starting point, employers need to define the AI competencies they need to reach specific business goals. This will then inform which AI skills should be high priority for hiring managers going forward.
After coming up with a list of which AI competencies are needed, an employer needs to gather an understanding of what proficiencies its workforce has and what gaps are actually present. Leaders may need to call upon outside subject matter experts as well as internal business leaders to evaluate what is needed. Finally, an employer must make a plan to address that skills gap, be it through internal or external training courses, on-the-job training, mentoring or other skill development programs. Given the fears that surround AI, employers may need to start by making workers aware of AI and the opportunities it could offer. They should also be prepared to redesign jobs that might be replaced by automated tools.
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5 Tips For Landing a Dream Tech Job
Built In, June 7
Navigating the tech job market can be overwhelming, with constantly shifting trends and an ever-growing pool of applicants. If you are struggling to stand out, feeling lost among complex job requirements, or simply unsure how to make your skills and experiences shine, then you will need to change your job hunting approach. Whether you are a recent graduate or a seasoned professional, you will need an approach that will help you cut through the noise, confidently present yourself to potential employers, and ultimately land your dream tech job.
Before you start applying for jobs, you need to understand what you want from your career. Are you seeking a specific role, industry, or company culture? Take the time to reflect on your skills, interests, and long-term goals. Jot them down and create a vision for your career. A well-defined career path is far more effective than scattershot job applications. It allows you to target your job search with precision and present yourself confidently in interviews. Also, learn how to use social media more effectively during the job search. When used strategically, social media can be a powerful ally in helping you land your ideal tech job. To harness the benefits of social media, you need to understand your audience and select the platforms that best showcase your skills. Consider the role you are applying for and the type of content that resonates with recruiters and hiring teams. For example, if you are seeking a developer position at a Fortune 500 company, GitHub can be an excellent place to demonstrate your coding skills, while LinkedIn is invaluable for professional networking and presenting your experience.
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Top 10 Crypto Jobs That Could Launch Your Career
Analytics Insight, June 10
Amidst signs of a new crypto bull market rally, demand continues to rise for cryptocurrency jobs. While the majority of these jobs require technical skills related to blockchain development, there are plenty of other openings you can discover inside the crypto industry, such as those related to business development and marketing. Some of the most popular technical job openings include blockchain developer, crypto analyst, crypto trader, and blockchain consultant.
Blockchain developers are in especially high demand in the emerging world of cryptocurrencies. They are involved in designing the blockchain and focus on creating decentralized applications and smart contracts that should ensure its effective functioning and security. Thus, desirable skills include prior experience with the creation of smart contracts for blockchains, proficiency in JavaScript or Python and other scripting languages, and some experience in the use of cryptography. Due to the application of the new blockchain information technology, seeking job vacancies in the developer category is more relevant in the realm of digital currencies, hence making it a lucrative sector.
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What Is the Best Way to Interact with Tech Recruiters?
Dice Insights, June 11
If you build the right relationship with the right IT recruiter, you could find yourself in your dream job. In order to position yourself as a valuable candidate to these recruiters, you will need to showcase your expertise, growth mindset, and genuine interest in the industry. Just keep in mind, your first interaction with a recruiter likely will not land you a position. A successful recruiter experience will often hinge on fostering long-term relationships, so that you can unlock hidden job openings.
Recruiters evaluate a constant stream of candidates, so if one reaches out to you, consider that a win for your skills and experience. If they want a phone call with you about a job, or just to get to know you better, do some prep beforehand. Before the call, research the company and the specific role the recruiter mentioned. This not only shows genuine interest on your part, but also makes the call less awkward, and allows the recruiter to move faster to the exact opportunity. And do not forget to ask questions. In addition to asking about salary and benefits, you can explore the team, company culture, and the impact of the position.
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LinkedIn Leaders on the Future of AI Recruitment
Inc.com, June 13
According to LinkedIn, recruitment and IT hiring will increasingly rely on autonomous systems powered by AI. LinkedIn has already incorporated AI into several of its services, including a chatbot aimed at coaching job applicants that launched late last year. Now the company is releasing AI features that enhance resumes and cover letters, as well as the ability for users to search for jobs in plain, conversational language. These are but the tip of the iceberg for how AI might change the future of IT recruitment forever.
The role of autonomous recruiting systems powered by AI could mean big things for recruiters everywhere, even for those who do not use LinkedIn. AI is going to change every corner of the workplace. For recruiters in particular, AI could mean less time spent finding possible employees and more time engaging with them one-on-one. Any strategic planning around AI starts by asking which processes can be potentially eliminated or automated. These processes may no longer be necessary if they can be done with AI. The goal, say recruiters, is to take the drudgery out of the average workday, freeing up workers to spend more time with customers or other high-value activities.
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The Techno-Pro-Attitude
Blog@CACM, June 10
The current thinking in Silicon Valley and other tech hubs is that all problems have potential technological solutions. There are several versions of this way of thinking, but all of these versions focus on a deployment of technology to solve a non-technical problem, with costs and other drawbacks reduced to secondary consideration. This same thinking is now being used to pitch potential applications of AI. These pitches come with the assumption that AI can solve important problems, with minimal costs imposed on society. But are they right?
When it comes to evaluating new technological solutions, there are some underlying presumptions at play, and these call for greater scrutiny. If we assume that most tech leaders are smart, sincere, and well-intentioned, it is only logical to ask: What gives rise to the tech imperative? The unspoken foundational claim is not that computing technology confers certain benefits. This is a pragmatic claim and a matter of fact. The real claim is that technology carries normative value, and that it should be deployed because it is inherently useful, good, or valuable. In short, technology is good, and therefore should be out there in the world. This claim is worth further investigation, especially when it comes to solutions involving artificial intelligence.
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Considering the Ethics of Online Community Research
Communications of the ACM, May 7
Computer science researchers are increasingly conducting studies that involve people and online communities as research participants, and that is leading to new discussion of the potential ethical issues involved. Oversight mechanisms and boards typically review research studies using well-established ethical standards to ensure individual participants are respected and not harmed. However, review boards are often silent about proposed research on online communities because it falls outside their scope. This leaves computing researchers without mandated oversight of ethical decisions, and that could lead to problems.
When researching online communities, researchers need to be prepared to make their own ethical decisions. Even when ethics review boards judge that a research project on online communities is appropriate, the community may disagree. If research is perceived as harming the community, it could reduce trust in the research process, or even cause the research project to fail. That being said, researching a community with the approval of all impacted community members is impractical. Such an absolute position excludes work that can be ethically executed and is in the interest of the community and the public. Some research opposed by communities has inherent public value or cannot include advanced consent. There is often no correct objective decision regarding ethics. Instead, there are trade-offs and tensions between the benefits of the work and potential harm to individuals and the community.
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