Young employees at the office PHOTO Pixabay
Artificial intelligence may not be greeted with enthusiasm at graduation ceremonies this year, but it is rapidly transforming the job market the class of 2026 is about to enter.
Until recently, employers provided new recruits with basic, often monotonous tasks to help them learn the trade. But now, AI tools like ChatGPT can accomplish much of this work in record time, and some companies it gives new employees more responsibility from day one.
“Artificial intelligence is changing the early career experience for an entire generation of white-collar workers,” Peter Cappelli, professor of management and director of the Center for Human Resources at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, told Business Insider.
With these changes in mind, career experts have offered some advice for young people starting their careers.
AI used without company consent can become a major risk
AI is a technology extremely powerful, so employees should strictly adhere to company guidelines on its use, says Chris Lyon, director of engineering at communications infrastructure platform Twilio.
He recommends using only company-approved AI tools and avoiding so-called “shadow AI” because sensitive information can get outside corporate protection systems.
“You have to be extremely careful,” he says.
Don’t rely too much on AI
It can be tempting to use artificial intelligence for almost every aspect of your work. But overdoing it can impair your ability to solve problems and think creatively, warns Jeff LeBlanc, lecturer in management at Bentley University.
“If every email, every idea and every decision go through AI, people run the risk of not developing their own professional instinct,” he says.
“The early years of your career should include uncertainty, mistakes, and learning on your own. From that discomfort, confidence is built.”
Be skeptical of AI
Matthew Bidwell, a professor of management at Wharton, compares AI to “a frivolous colleague” — sometimes brilliant, other times completely wrong.
“You have to make sure the outcome makes sense,” he says. “You can’t blindly believe everything you get.”
This is important because teaching poor AI-generated material can irritate superiors, says Dr. Andrea Derler, chief researcher at Visier, a workforce analytics company.
Senior employees, who started their careers doing basic jobs, don’t want to have to fix superficial AI-generated content by younger colleagues.
Don’t hide behind the screen
With AI at your disposal, you might think it’s inappropriate to ask a more experienced colleague for help to understand a task. But questions about the importance of an activity or the criteria for success are actually evidence of critical thinking, says Hebba Youssef, director of human resources at media company Workweek.
Even when you don’t need help, it’s important to build relationships with more experienced colleagues, says Rebecca Port, director of human resources at identity management company Okta.
A chatbot won’t help you deal with office politics, and professional relationships can matter as much as performance when it comes to promotions or bonuses.
“Whether we like it or not, organizations are social organisms,” she says.
Be reliable
The workplace is not as forgiving as college. If you’re consistently late, dress inappropriately, miss deadlines, or make other behavioral mistakes, you can hurt your career, warns Dr. Derler.
She describes seriousness and reliability as an essential “hidden expectation” to gain an employer’s trust.
“If you say something will be ready at 5 o’clock tomorrow, then it has to be ready at 5 o’clock tomorrow,” she says.
“Don’t try to renegotiate the deadline two minutes before it expires.”
