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Is AI actually your professional competition?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few months, you’ll know that professionals everywhere are facing a new threat: artificial intelligence. 

As an interim, you might be wondering what the rise of AI means for your livelihood. 

Will it render all roles obsolete? Do we homo-sapiens have any hope of competitive advantage? 

Well, before you surrender your job to ChatGPT, let’s look at the bigger picture and discuss ways in which you can future-proof your role in the public sector. 

Focus on the skills that make you human 

While AI is incredibly talented at mimicking human emotion (just ask it to write a poem about Wetherspoons), our innate ability to empathise with one another is certainly a strong competitive advantage. This is especially true for professionals in the public sector, whose roles are often very people-centric. 

But how do I improve these soft skills? 

In order to stay ahead of the curve, it is important to keep building on your soft skills or rather, the skills that are unique to the human experience. For example; creativity, intuition and emotional intelligence.

People who do this successfully usually have what is known as a ‘growth mindset’. This means having the self-belief that you can develop your skills through continued learning. 

On the other hand, those who have a fixed mindset tend to be stagnant in their mindset (e.g. believe having a certain skill such as strong written communication is either something you have or you don’t). 

The good news? Even if you would consider yourself to have a fixed mindset, it is still possible to change!

This is otherwise known as ‘neuroplasticity’ which refers to the brain’s ability to adapt and re-learn learned behaviours as a result of external experiences. 

The key takeaway here is that it’s never too late to learn new, marketable skills and grow in your career as an interim! 

Next steps? 

Before improving your soft skills, you need to identify areas for improvement. A good starting point might be to look back over your current job description or undertake some market research so you know what skills recruiters are currently looking for when it comes to your role. 

Next, you need to make a plan for your professional growth and think about actionable steps you could take to upskill. The best part? You can make it a fun process! For example, visiting museums to expand on your cultural awareness or organising an escape room for your team so everyone can develop their problem-solving skills. 

Whatever you decide, make sure you’re regularly checking in with yourself to ensure you’re meeting your needs while actively enhancing your interpersonal skills. 

Remember, AI is nothing to fear and should be seen as a tool for collaboration, rather than direct competition. Stay focused on your selling points as a sentient being with an awareness of the world around you and enjoy developing those soft skills!

To speak to a member of our team about current opportunities in the public sector, give us a call on 0203 929 4000.

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