How should companies hire early-career talent as AI replaces entry-level roles?

We used to run a business that drove a Social Mobility agenda into early career technology roles.

We stopped that because we saw AI taking over those early-career roles in the future. And that now appears to be happening in a number of industries.

The problem is that you still need to hire early-career people, or else you will not create the next generation of expertise for your business.

Having spent quite a bit of time in this area, here is my advice for any company hiring the next generation of talent.

1. Cancel the graduate programme. Graduates are not going to be a guarantee of success in the future. Graduates have high confidence mostly created through significant academic knowledge transfer. Academic knowledge is heading to zero for most roles: AI will offer knowledge at a new level of democratisation. Exception: very specific and difficult sciences, maths, technology and similar areas.

2. Test for EQ. The ability to build relationships, gain trust and understand agendas will usher in far more productivity than raw IQ.

3. Self-learning. A number of grads (myself included) were spoon fed their lines and did not question them. You want people who operate outside the normal parameters, question everything and research tangentially related topics. That is where you will find the future.

4. Agile. I believe the job market is about to enter a period of sustained turmoil and change. The ability to be flexible and adjust your skills to meet new and changing demands will be critical. You can't hire someone at 21 to do the same job forever.

5. Commercial. The reality of the bottom line gets missed by a lot of early-career people, on the basis that it's either someone else's problem or it's trivial. I have met so many graduates who have zero interest in how their future role is to be financially supported by the company. I look for early signs of entrepreneurial awareness.

6. Determination. All of the above is a harder play for the next generation of people entering the workforce. It's going to be a long slog. They had better show grit and fortitude in the first months of a role or they are going to struggle.

I'm passionate about this topic and see the future as an opportunity to rebalance the socio-economic state for many people from poorer backgrounds. They have these life skills.