AWS’s Kevin Kelly shares how graduates can land jobs in a tough market

This summer, an estimated 2 million graduates are expected to enter the U.S. workforce - and they are already said to be experiencing challenges while searching for their first roles. With more than 4 million Gen Z candidates currently unemployed, the current job market feels daunting for many graduates.

With growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) skills, development programs in these fields are a popular option for many graduates.

We spoke with Kevin Kelly, Director at AWS Cloud Institute, who previously led the growth of AWS Education programs such as AWS Academy, AWS Educate and AWS re/Start, about how graduates can differentiate themselves in today’s tough market.

How are AI and ML changing what employers are looking for today?

AI is fundamentally reshaping how we live and work, similar to previous waves of innovations such as the cloud or the internet. For recent graduates, it’s more important than ever to acquire AI skills to demonstrate their fluency in this transformative technology to employers. Our research has shown that having AI skills could boost paychecks and accelerate career growth. In fact, employers are willing to pay more for employees with AI skills - an average of 47 percent more for IT workers, 43 percent more for sales and marketing professionals, and 41 percent more for business operations employees. 

What AI skills are employers looking for?

The answer varies depending on the role in question. However, broadly speaking, AI literacy could become a requirement across the board. For example, just like many employees had to learn how to use computers in the 1980s, the employees of today and tomorrow will need to know how to use AI tools at work. That’s why it’s important for everyone, not just technical employees, to understand the basics of AI and how to use it effectively and responsibly.

At AWS, we offer more than 135 free and low-cost AI/ML courses to the public through our digital learning centers, AWS Skill Builder and AWS Educate. We have foundational AI courses, such as “Introduction to Generative AI – Art of the Possible,” and “Foundations of Prompt Engineering” to help people with varying skills, backgrounds, and roles to get started on their AI learning journey. 

How can graduates gain experience and expertise in AI/ML at the start of their careers?

Graduates can take advantage of the AI/ML courses that we offer. In addition, they can pursue AI certifications, which are industry-recognized credentials that they can put on their resumes and LinkedIn profiles, to validate their AI skills and fluency to employers. 

At AWS, we launched two new certifications last year. People without a technical background can pursue AWS Certified AI Practitioner. It’s a foundational-level certification designed for people from a variety of backgrounds and experiences to showcase their understanding of AI and generative AI concepts, their ability to recognize opportunities that benefit from AI, and their knowledge of using AI tools responsibly.

AWS Certified Machine Learning Engineer – Associate is designed for individuals with at least one year of experience building, deploying, and maintaining AI and ML solutions on AWS. It is beneficial for people who want to demonstrate their ability to make AI models available for real-time usage.

With so many AI courses available, do you have any advice for graduates on selecting the most suitable one for them?

All graduates should have a baseline understanding of AI. Acquiring AI skills can help them stand out in the job market by demonstrating how they continue to upskill and learn after graduating. The foundational courses I mentioned before - Introduction to Generative AI – Art of the Possible” and “Foundations of Prompt Engineering”– are a great starting point. In fact, they were some of our most popular courses on AWS Skill Builder last year.

AWS Training Live is our dedicated channel for free live and on-demand training on Twitch. AWS experts teach many free AI/ML courses through this program. These programs and courses are are part of Amazon’s AI Ready initiative, a commitment to provide free AI skills training for two million people by 2025, which we met a year ahead of schedule. 

Graduates can also try our game-based trainings to make AI and cloud learning as interactive and fun as possible. Those with a technical background may want to explore deep-dive courses that are specific to the roles they want to pursue. At AWS, we offer technical courses, such as “Building Generative AI applications using Amazon Bedrock” and “Generative AI Learning Plan for Developers.”