Two engineers using AI to diagnose a problem.

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“Nobody should give or receive any career advice right now. Everyone is broadly underestimating the scope and scale of change and the high variance of the future.” This opinion is from “Roon” on X, quoted in Jason Wei’s recent presentation on artificial intelligence.

The statement is both wise and useless. It is wise because we are, indeed, in times of great change. The old, standard career advice may not work, as AI changes how we learn and what skills will be useful in the coming economy. (Plus globalization may be dying, population growth is dwindling, and mobility has dropped.)

But the statement is useless for young people thinking about colleges, careers and first jobs. What are they supposed to do? Does Roon recommend that they spend a year on the beach and wait for things to settle down? And wouldn’t that itself be career advice?

People are making career decisions now. That’s unavoidable. Similarly, as an economist I’m often asked how I can possibly make forecasts in such uncertain times. The question sounds sensible, except that business leaders are making decisions today: Invest in new equipment, revamp an internal process, hire or fire workers. Decisions must be made every day. Nobody expects a forecast to be perfect, but decisions should be made with the best vision that we have right now.

Career advice for uncertain times mirrors business advice in an uncertain economy. I advise business leaders to be ready to pivot—shifting in a different direction if market conditions dictate. A business pivot could mean changing products, or changing how a product is made, or changing how it is sold. For an individual thinking about a career, a pivot could involve using existing skills in a new industry, or gaining new skills in a familiar industry, or starting completely fresh.

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What skills will be valuable in the coming decades? Roon followed that first post with additional tweets, including “Stay nimble and have fun,” That is valuable, both the first part and the second. Staying nimble has been important in years past, as many occupations died out. It will be important in the future as changes continue to increase demand for workers in some categories while reducing demand in others.

How does a young person—or an mature person wondering about the future—be nimble? First, awareness of broad trends enables a person to spot opportunities. Read or skim articles about industries, occupations and tasks that seem to be doing well or on the verge of increasing demand.

Second, have a broad tool kit of skills. I have suggested six one-semester college courses that will be valuable (economics, statistics, computer programming, calculus, communications and financial planning and management). The communications angle is very important. Technical skills may help get a first job. Communication skills help get a first promotion. That includes oral presentations as well as small group discussions. Writing capability should include short—like texts and emails—as well as long articles.

Artificial intelligence will pervade many occupations, but in-depth knowledge isn’t too important at this point. In the future, many people will be using AI without any real understanding of how it works. For example, a sales person will talk to a customer and have a summary automatically uploaded into the database. The sales person may know nothing about AI, but appreciates that the boss is no longer complaining about poor documentation of sales calls.

Today, though, it’s important to understand the wide range of capabilities of AI. Being able to find an AI app to help do a job is a valuable skill. Only a few hours’ effort are needed, but those who have been avoiding the subject should spend that time. In addition to reading/watching videos about how AI works, play with a chatbot such as ChatGPT or Claude. Learn a little about prompts, test the chatbot on a wide range of topics (including your hobbies and interests in addition to career-related topics), and search for AI apps that will perform a task that you find tedious.

The second part of Roon’s wise advice is “…have fun.” A typical American spends about 40 hours a week working. That’s too much time for a miserable job. Further, people do better at work they enjoy. If you can find work that’s fun, you’re more likely to excel—and be well rewarded—than if you sign up for a drudge job. This is the career advice that you really should take.