ACM CareerNews for Tuesday, April 22, 2025
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 21, Issue 8, April 22, 2025
Leaders Pursue ML Engineers and AI Researchers in Hiring Efforts
CIO Dive, April 18
Companies at the most advanced stage of AI adoption plan to prioritize hiring of machine learning engineers and AI researchers, according to an EPAM Systems survey of IT leaders. The software services firm surveyed 7,300 C-suite, IT executives and developers in nine countries. Nearly two-thirds of respondents said they are familiar with the skills necessary to deploy AI projects at the enterprise level, and nearly half of those that identified as advanced adopters plan to hire for AI-related roles.
The enterprise push toward AI adoption has put a strain on the availability of in-demand skills. For CIOs, filling specialized job openings, including AI developers and data scientists, has emerged as a key challenge for AI deployment plans. After all, the success of AI depends not just on technology but also on empowering the human expertise behind it. This shows the urgency to train and cultivate AI talent at scale. Not surprisingly, AI and ML analysts soared to the top of in-demand roles in February, another sign of rising enterprise competition to bring specialists aboard.
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New Tech Is Changing Hiring Fast
HackerNoon, April 13
Right now, there are 8 million job openings in the U.S. but only 6.8 million job seekers, emphasizing an increasing mismatch between job openings and worker qualifications. Businesses are under immense pressure to fill positions quickly to keep operations unaffected while ensuring they are finding the most qualified person for the job. To balance this hiring conundrum, companies need to switch up their hiring practices and benefit from new technologies like AI-driven recruitment tools, skills-based hiring platforms, and blockchain to find and hire top industry professionals before their competition does.
Applicant tracking systems (ATS) have already improved HR processes, helping companies track applications and automate messaging. But with AI integration, hiring is taken to the next level as ATS can now analyze and filter resumes, searching for specific keywords like job titles, relevant skills, and industry experience. By offloading manual tasks to AI platforms, HR managers can spend their time on building a more engaged and productive workforce, such as enhancing their employer branding, developing their talent strategy, and developing employee retention techniques. Since top candidates are typically only in the job market for around 10 days, being able to filter through masses of applications quickly is essential. However, when using AI in hiring, decision-makers must take action to avoid bias.
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How Might AI and ML Skills Advance a Medtech Career?
Silicon Republic, April 18
Professionals in medtech need to keep on top of industry trends in order to stay skilled and ready for the next challenge. That is leading to greater thinking about how knowledge of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) might benefit medtech employees. Ultimately, having AI and ML skills will propel you forward professionally. This diverse future-focused skillset will likely put you in a position where you can be considered for leadership roles, or if you choose to move on from an organization, you will make yourself attractive to companies that are hiring.
Technological creativity is always going to be crucial to the medtech sector, making AI and ML an ideal way for experts to expand their skills in a meaningful way. By brushing up on skills in this area, professionals can spearhead the research and development that will advance the next phase of medtech innovation and the evolution of the technologies that will power it. For example, AI and ML are already driving innovation in medical imaging techniques, as well as predictive and diagnostic tools.
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Cybersecurity Job Listings: What Positions Are Driving New Careers?
Dice Insights, April 15
A recent survey offers new insights into the evolving cybersecurity job market. The survey (U.S. Cybersecurity Job Posting Data) analyzed cybersecurity job postings across the U.S. from January 2022 to December 2024 using data sourced from more than 30 job boards and Fortune 500 companies. During the three-year period covered by the survey, the title of security engineer remained the most popular cybersecurity job listing within the U.S. Researchers found the title listed within 64,300 job posts in 2024, as well as 67,456 mentions in 2023 and 85,697 mentions in 2022.
Over time, the data found shifts in which some cybersecurity job listings gained traction, while others lost traction. For example, between 2023 and 2024, the top job titles with increasing listings included: cybersecurity attorney (up 40.7 percent), red teamer (29.2 percent), cybersecurity sales engineer (26.2 percent), cyber threat intelligence analyst (14.2 percent), and cybersecurity specialist (12.4 percent) .A look at the timespan between 2022 and 2024 also showed the title of reverse engineer or malware analyst increased by approximately 25 percent. At the same time, researchers also found decreases in multiple job titles between 2023 and 2024. All these changes point to a rapidly shifting market, according to researchers.
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1 in 5 Workers Say They Feel Their Career Is Out of Their Control
HR Dive, April 11
Twenty-one percent of U.S. workers believe their professional future is out of their hands and that their sense of control has grown worse during the past five years. Half of workers reported burnout, and the majority of workers said they are relying on hope just to get through the year. This suggests a critical opportunity for employers to build a resilient, engaged workforce. Organizations that fail to invest in talent development and develop a focus on long-term success risk losing not just employees but also productivity and competitive advantage.
In the survey of more than 5,000 U.S. adults and 500 employers, workers were 52% more likely to experience burnout when they felt they were not progressing in their careers at the right pace. However, workers named career development as one of the top ways to restore their sense of control and reduce burnout, with 71% saying upskilling is necessary for career advancement. Workers were less likely to feel disengaged and more likely to feel motivated if their current job provided training and career development. About 43% reported a lack of access to necessary training, and 86% said they were actively seeking skill development opportunities. At the same time, 60% of employers said they preferred hiring new employees over training current staff.
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Why AI Resume Builders Hurt Tech Job Seekers
Built In, April 7
A surprising number of tech companies will now auto-reject applicants if their resume was produced by AI, especially if it is for a senior-level role. As a result, it is important to understand what makes a resume feel more human versus AI-generated, as well as how hiring managers can easily tell something was AI-generated. Overall, there is a growing realization that AI is not the perfect solution for building resumes. While AI resume tools promise efficiency, they often produce bland, keyword-stuffed documents that lack the personal branding and storytelling needed to stand out in a competitive job market.
AI resume builders can often fall short when it comes to helping job seekers in tech truly stand out. While AI can generate a well-structured document, it lacks the critical thinking and industry expertise required to craft a resume that gets results. First and most importantly, AI does not know your story like you do. A great resume should not be a generic laundry list of skills and experiences, which is primarily the data that an AI algorithm will have to build from. It should tell a compelling story that connects the dots between where you have been and where you are going. Think of AI resume generation like an enhanced template you can use. AI will give you a structure to begin with, but you will need to build a more complete, cohesive picture with all the personal details required.
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How to Get an Entry-Level IT Job With No Experience
Spiceworks, April 10
If you are willing to work hard, you can land an entry-level job in IT, even without a technical background or degree. In addition to above-average pay for tech jobs, the long-term job outlook for IT roles is positive. Between 2023 and 2033, the government projects that the number of IT positions will grow 3 times faster than average for all occupations, for a net gain of more than half a million jobs. While pursuing a tech-related college degree is a great way to gain much of the knowledge required to start an IT career, it is far from the only path.
The good news for highly motivated IT job seekers is that hiring managers often value adaptability, social skills, and a willingness to learn over formal education. If you have the right attitude and work ethic, you can secure an entry-level job in user support, network support, or an IT help desk without a degree or even prior work history in tech. Keep in mind: many IT professionals actually landed in tech by accident. In a 2024 survey of working IT professionals, only 43% said they intended to go into IT during their education. In other words, most IT professionals said they found their way into the field indirectly, without the benefit of a formal tech degree.
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Should You Get on the Glass Elevator?
Fast Company, April 10
Talent recruiters say they are seeing a new trend in the workplace, where more people are opting for horizontal job moves at their current employer instead of seeking a different role at a new company. This glass elevator takes you not just up and down but also sideways. Many employees are now switching careers every 3 to 4 years to gain new experience, without having to leave their company. HR leaders expect to see more job function crossover in coming years. Given the current economic uncertainty, some workers may think they are better off making a horizontal move rather than seeking out an upward promotion.
For many organizations, a potential recession plus a higher inflation rate will force leaders to make tough calls when it comes to their workforce this year. They will not just be eliminating roles that are no longer needed, but may also need to let go of individuals in order to survive as a company. If you are concerned about stability in your current role and notice that your projects are no longer a priority for the company, it is time to get your resume ready. And consider both internal and external opportunities. This might be a moment to look at a horizontal move. This means taking an assignment in a part of the organization that is growing, and where they need more talent to scale their efforts. You can look at internal openings, and you can also make connections and meet leaders overseeing new initiatives where they may need your skillset.
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The Converging Paths of Computer Science and the Humanities in the Age of Generative AI
Blog@CACM, April 10
Both the humanities and computer science are grappling with questions of relevance, methodology, and purpose in the era of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI). While the share of bachelor degrees awarded in the U.S. in the humanities dropped from almost 15% in 2005 to just 8.8% in 2022, the field of computer science is now facing its own existential questions as GenAI threatens to automate core intellectual tasks. These parallel challenges present an opportunity for convergence, as artificial intelligence technologies simultaneously disrupt and potentially revitalize these seemingly disparate fields.
The emergence of GenAI now presents both the humanities and computer science with fundamental methodological challenges, although they manifest differently in each of the two disciplines. In the humanities, the ability of GenAI to analyze texts, generate interpretations, and produce content raises questions regarding human contribution, potentially rendering scholarly expertise redundant. Computer science faces similar concerns about declining enrollment due to the automation by GenAI of coding processes, which have led to the common belief that GenAI has the potential to undermine the importance of programming fundamentals. The outcomes of this trend may create a generation of developers who are proficient at prompting rather than in understanding computational principles.
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How Immersive Technologies Are Reshaping Education and Healthcare
ACM Ubiquity, March 2025
In a wide-ranging interview, Roghayeh Leila Barmaki, an assistant professor at the University of Delaware, explains how immersive technologies and AI enhance education and healthcare accessibility. In addition, the conversation examines the impact of virtual companions in learning and opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration. Barmaki directs the Human-Computer Interaction Lab in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences at the University of Delaware. Her research interests include applied machine learning, multimodal human behavior analysis, virtual and augmented reality, and human-computer interaction.
Already, substantial research has been done on leveraging emerging technologies to improve accessibility in education and healthcare. As Barmaki points out in the interview, she is interested in increasing the accessibility and inclusivity of education and healthcare resources through virtual reality and AI-driven technologies. Her research is focused on ways to expand the reach and accessibility of virtual learning and therapy solutions for marginalized users. To achieve this, she develops virtual environments and tests them with these marginalized users to meet their needs by analyzing their socio-emotional data. With the growing interest in the metaverse, social virtual reality, and breaking the barriers of real and virtual environments, it is critical to understand, study, and adapt to the characteristics of different users.
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