Tech’s Big Secret: AI Disappoints
We’ve all heard the predictions that generative AI would upend every industry. Google’s AI tools were especially touted as likely to disrupt marketing as we know it with prophesies that AI would seamlessly write personalized e-mails and even determine when and where ads should run.
Except it didn’t. A Chief Marketing Officer told Business Insider reporter Alastair Barr that one of the Google AI tools was so disruptive to the company’s advertising strategy that it had to be discontinued. Another tool was no better than its human counterpart and was only successful a little more than half the time.
Marketing wasn’t the only industry with less-than-stellar AI experiences. A pharmaceutical company stopped using Microsoft’s Copilot AI tool when one of its executives compared the results of an AI generated presentation to a middle schooler’s.
These kinks do not spell the death of gen AI. On the contrary, tech trends often need time for users to work out the wrinkles. But as of now, the growing pains have only just started.
Source: DeFrancesco, D. (2024, August 8). A lack-of-demand problem. Insider Today. https://www.businessinsider.com
Failure, the Stepping Stone to Success
It may sound counterintuitive, but the key to career success is accepting that failure is a natural part of the process. Young workers tend to look at a defeat as a reason to never try again, but that is the wrong attitude, experienced workers explain. The most successful people in history, from Sir Isaac Newton to Steve Jobs, experienced many stumbles before hitting on success. We rarely hear about their roadblocks because their ultimate successes were so noteworthy.
All people, not just the superstars, often fail when trying something new. But when an individual views failure as a way to learn instead of as a defeat, that person is better prepared to face challenges in the future. Taking chances within one’s career, whether it’s starting a new business, looking for a promotion, switching jobs, or changing fields entirely, can certainly lead to a setback. But instead of looking at those admittedly painful experiences as reasons to never take a risk again, those who have had a setback should get some perspective. One option is to pay it forward by doing something for the needy, always a great way to remember what one has to offer the world.
Finally, new workers especially ought to look at failure as a teacher who may be hard-nosed but who will toughen them up to try and try again.
Source: Moran, A. (2024, July 14). Why failing is essential for success. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com
Résumé Advice from LinkedIn
Résumés need to be scannable, meaning they need to include lots of information in few words so that busy readers can skim quickly to find what they are looking for. The editor-in-chief for Jobs & Career Development at Linkedin News offers the following advice for designing bullet points to make a résumé one that will land the applicant an interview:
- Explain how well you completed a task rather than simply listing what you did.
- Quantify, quantify, quantify! Include metrics to illustrate the impact your actions had on the company or the department.
- Name the skills you used when you write about your accomplishments.
- Cut your prose to the bone. No one wants to wade through wordy résumés.
Source: Seaman, A. (2024, August 5). What’s the secret to great bullet points on your #resume? Linkedin Get Hired. https://www.linkedin.com