How to Future-Proof Your STEM Career in the Age of AI

Future-proof your STEM career with essential AI skills and reskilling strategies to secure your job. Actalent can help you grow in the AI era.

The Challenge of Staying Relevant During the AI Revolution

Generative artificial intelligence is shifting the landscape for STEM workers. Thirty-four percent of STEM professionals are worried about losing their job because of AI and automation, and that number jumps to 44% among younger workers.

However, there are ways you can better future-proof your career that keep you on the cutting edge of STEM technology advancements while also cementing the value of your human-centric expertise.

What Jobs are Impacted Most by the Introduction of More AI

AI is impacting all STEM roles, though its effects aren’t felt equally. Entry-level STEM roles are the hardest hit by generative AI adoption, with automation taking on tasks like coding fixes and data cleaning that would typically go to junior-level employees.

But AI isn’t just changing STEM roles; it’s creating entirely new ones in a range of new and emerging fields, including:

AI governance and ethics
Bioinformatics
Cloud engineering
Machine learning
Natural language processing
Quantum computing
Robotics

The Top Four Ways to Future-Proof Your Career in STEM

Make AI Your Collaborator

Many STEM professionals don’t go further than learning the basic tools of generative AI. But just knowing how to use these tools isn’t enough. To achieve maximum impact, you need to understand not just when and how AI can augment or expediate your work, but what its limitations are. This collaborative relationship with AI showcases a true mastery of the technology and understanding of the human element necessary to use these tools to their best ability.

"AI has shortened the half-life of a skill (the time between learning and needing to refresh) from a decade to just two years."

Continuously Grow Your AI Skills

AI has shortened the half-life of a skill (the time between learning and needing to refresh) from a decade to just two years. To maintain relevant skills in the industry, engineering and sciences professionals must adopt a practice of constant learning.

That goes beyond traditional advanced degrees. Continual upskilling with the aid of certifications and microcredentials, including those from leaders like Google and IBM, will become increasingly important to stay relevant.

Become an AI Manager

As AI takes on more responsibility, your role will likely shift from entirely hands-on to a mix of oversight and manual work. While it may seem like AI is taking responsibilities off your plate, they’ll be replaced with a new task: learning how to manage these systems to get the best results.

These tools still need extensive human oversight. Focus on building expertise in prompting and interpreting AI outputs to ensure you’re getting quality, actionable results.

Be Ready to Adapt to Change

AI is rapidly changing STEM hiring practices, required skill sets and role responsibilities, and the industry is likely to look much different in a few years than it does today.

Technology and tools will change, but what won’t change is the demand for STEM professionals with the willingness and ability to adapt quickly to every phase of the industry evolution. Adaptability is as much about mindset as it is about skills and technology familiarity. Being open to change puts you in the position to respond with agility, rather than hesitation.

Find Your Next STEM Role with Actalent

Building expertise and resilience now is critical to long-term success in the continuously evolving engineering and sciences landscape. Partnering with Actalent gives you the flexibility to pursue opportunities in different positions and industries, quickly building diverse experience and expertise via contract positions.

We offer our consultants continuous learning and development to support you in upskilling, taking on new roles and effectively onboarding to new projects.

Visit our job board to find your next role.

FAQs About Future-Proofing Your STEM Career

What are jobs that AI can’t replace?

AI will always require human oversight. Knowing how to manage these tools and recognizing both their strengths and limitations can help future-proof your career.

Will AI affect engineering jobs?

The use of generative AI will impact all engineering roles. Some tasks will be automated, requiring oversight rather than hands-on work. The demand for entry-level engineering roles may be impacted as AI performs more of these tasks. Engineers should consider upskilling to gain more familiarity with these tools, including prompting and output interpretation.

What AI skills are in demand for STEM careers?

Prompt engineering, output interpretation and auditing, machine learning, cloud engineering, natural language processing, and quantum computing are among the most in-demand AI skills.

How do I list AI skills on a resume?

When listing AI skills on your resume, make sure to call out both the specific tools you have experience with as well as general AI-related skills. For example, you might list experience with tools like GitHub Copilot or Gemini Code Assist while also calling out expertise in prompting and interpreting outputs.

What does it really mean to future-proof a STEM career today?

The key to future-proofing your career is knowing how to remain agile in a changing STEM landscape. Being receptive to change and committing to continually reskilling and growing your AI skills through certifications and microcredentials will help you keep pace within your industry.