It is likely true that the majority of jobs will change due to AI and automation. Regardless of the age or work experience, you can still make that AI career shift. In this post, we will see how To Make A Career Switch Into AI when you are 40 years old.
Age is Just a Number: Here’s How You Can Still Build Your AI Career
Who’s not afraid of robots and automation stealing your jobs? The thought itself is frightening. Will you be left behind the bandwagon “jobless.” Or would you help develop your career by acquiring skills?
Whether you’re at the age of 25 or 40, learning new skills and switching jobs knows no age bounds.
If you’re looking to make a career shift in AI, then it’s high time you need to ask yourself these questions.
An estimation by IDC says, about 75 percent of enterprise applications will be using AI by 2021. Despite your age, your position, or your title, it is wise to ponder upon what your job role will be in the coming years.
It is never too late to become an AI engineer or late to become an AI specialist. Most employees have a misconception or rather a myth which suggests that employers are only keen on hiring young employees over older and experienced employees. Regardless of what your age is or where you’re currently positioned, there’s never a good time to make a career switch.
As Jim Johnson, senior vice president at Robert Half Technology says, “constant learning is key to staying one step ahead of the robots.”
He also said, “the tech industry moves quickly, but keeping up – or staying one step ahead – of the latest tech advancements is a good way to future-proof your career prospects.”
However, grabbing a career in AI does require certain ground rules such as special education. Besides this, upskilling in the latest technologies is one way to go ahead in grabbing a career in AI.
Here’s showcasing multiple ideas to take that career leap: –
- Choose a specific career path in AI
Before taking a leap, it is crucial to understand the job area the individual is interested in, although there are certain job roles an IT professional can choose there are even other job roles a non-IT professional can choose. Regardless of the industry you choose, you need to acquire skills that will be equivalent to your success. As an aspiring AI engineer, you can choose different sectors to work for – art, research, marketing, IT, and health, etc.
- Strengthen your software skills
To get into the AI industry, you need to strengthen your software skills. Based on your past work experience, you need to have a strong foundation that is built on data management skills, debugging, and be proficient in produce well-engineered codes.
Despite being a data scientist or a software engineer, it is still imperative that the individual learns how to build models. Get hands-on experience with programming languages such as Python then start working with Jupyter Notebooks.
- Grab complete benefit from online AI-oriented certification programs
As Jason says, constant learning is what will keep you moving ahead in your career. Choosing credible AI certifications from renowned platforms is ideally recommended.
It is a good practice for non-IT professionals to first get started with programming certifications on credible platforms available online.
- Scout for a mentor
Before making a career shift it is important that you first find a mentor for yourself, someone who will be able to guide you along your learning path. Mentors can pave a pathway toward the right career direction, they can also tell you the right resources to learn from and follow the right practices.
- Learning while on the job
Even if you’re a working professional, you can still learn. You will find multiple online learning platforms that are self-paced and provide a feasible time for you to take up the learning session online. Besides this, you also have open-source platforms like GitHub where the individual or an aspiring AI engineer can come up to and work on projects.
Adaptability is the new prowess to a career shift. If you possess the power to adapt to a newer skill you’re already halfway there.
