AI is taking jobs — right here’s Coursera CEO’s No. 1 tip for grads to remain aggressive

With entry-level jobs declining as employers proceed to deploy AI, Coursera’s CEO has shared his prime suggestions for graduates to remain aggressive within the job market and stand out in interviews.

Greg Hart, former technical advisor to Jeff Bezos at Amazon, grew to become president and CEO of on-line studying platform Coursera in February 2025. He informed CNBC Make It that within the age of AI, it is vital for younger folks to pursue further studying alongside a level.

“The recommendation that I give to my sons… is without doubt one of the finest issues that you are able to do is to enhance your college diploma with micro credentials particularly,” he stated within the interview.

Micro credentials are quick programs that present a certification for a particular ability or information they usually take much less time to finish than a conventional diploma or diploma. It is grow to be more and more vital to complement levels with further certifications, as graduate jobs are vulnerable to being changed by AI, Hart stated.

Main corporations have been shedding workers this 12 months and have cited AI as a part of the rationale, from Amazon making 14,000 staff redundant because it bets on AI to Salesforce slashing 4,000 buyer assist roles saying AI can do 40% of the duties on the firm.

In the meantime, 62% of U.Okay. employers anticipate that junior, clerical, managerial and administrative roles would be the most definitely be misplaced to AI, in response to a current survey of two,019 senior HR professionals and determination makers by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Improvement (CIPD.)

Moreover, the U.Okay.’s Institute for Pupil Employers present in its annual Pupil Recruitment Survey that 1.2 million purposes have been submitted for simply 17,000 graduate roles, highlighting the extreme competitors and the restricted positions accessible to younger folks.

“They [micro credentials] display to employers that not solely did you get no matter college diploma you are learning, however you augmented that with one thing that’s typically rather more workforce centered,” Coursera’s Hart added.

As AI dominates, many staff are pursuing upskilling alternatives with LinkedIn’s Abilities on the Rise report, earlier this 12 months discovering that AI literacy was the most well-liked ability that individuals have been including to their profiles.

Hart defined that contemporary graduates going into job interviews ought to spotlight their character and character traits alongside their expertise.

“Say you are a teenager in college proper now, you might be typically going to get employed into your first job primarily based totally on the traits that they see in you,” Hart stated.

“They will be assessing your mindset and your traits as a human being greater than your expertise, as a result of by definition, you actually haven’t got a lot expertise and they also’re probably not hiring you to your expertise, they’re hiring you to your… character traits.”

Hart outlined that “some of the vital traits” that employers need to rent for are “people who find themselves proactive and laborious working and take initiative, who show to be prepared, learners.”

One of the best ways to indicate these traits is having micro credentials alongside your diploma, particularly ones which are tailor-made to your subject. For instance, Hart inspired his son, who’s a finance main, to take a further course on AI for finance.

In reality, consultants beforehand informed CNBC Make It that staff who’ve been laid off because of AI ought to prepare themselves up on new expertise together with growing AI literacy through quick programs, moderately than pursuing a brand new diploma which might be extra expensive and time consuming.

Having the dedication to pursue further studying demonstrates that additionally, you will deliver these traits to the job, they informed CNBC.