Greg Hart, President and CEO of Coursera
Coursera
With entry-level jobs on the decline as employers continue to deploy AI, Coursera’s CEO shared his top tips for graduates to stay competitive in the job market and excel in interviews.
Greg Hart, former technical advisor to Jeff Bezos at AmazonHe became President and CEO of the online learning platform Coursera in February 2025. He told CNBC Make It that in the age of artificial intelligence, it is important for young people to pursue additional learning alongside a degree.
“The advice I give to my children… is one of the best things you can do is to augment your university degree with small qualifications in particular,” he said in the interview.
Microcredentials are short courses that provide certification for a specific skill or knowledge and take less time to complete than a traditional certificate or diploma. Hart said it is becoming increasingly important to supplement degrees with additional certifications, as graduates’ jobs are at risk of being replaced by artificial intelligence.
Major companies have laid off employees this year and have cited artificial intelligence as part of the reason, made by Amazon 14,000 workers are redundant He is also betting on artificial intelligence Sales force Reduced 4,000 customer support roles Artificial intelligence can complete 40% of tasks In the company.
“Let’s say you’re a guy in college now, and you’ll generally be hired for your first job based primarily on the traits they see in you.”
Greg Hart
President and CEO of Coursera
Meanwhile, 62% of UK employers expect entry-level, clerical and management roles It would most likely be lost to the AIAccording to a recent survey of 2019 senior HR professionals and decision-makers conducted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
In addition, the UK Employers Institute found in its annual student employment survey that 1.2 million requests Only 17,000 jobs were offered to graduates, highlighting the intense competition and limited positions available to young people.
“they [micro credentials] “Show employers that you don’t just have whatever college degree you’re studying, but you’ve backed that up with something that’s more workforce-focused overall,” Coursera’s Hart added.
With the dominance of artificial intelligence, many employees are seeking upskilling opportunities through LinkedIn Skills on the rise reportearlier this year, found that AI literacy was the most common skill people added to their profiles.
“Utilizing your qualities”
Hart explained that new graduates who will conduct job interviews should highlight their personality and personal characteristics in addition to their experience.
“Let’s say you’re a young person in college now, and you’ll generally be hired for your first job based primarily on the traits they see in you,” Hart said.
“They’re going to evaluate your mindset and your traits as a human being more than your experience, because by definition, you don’t have a lot of experience, so they’re not really hiring you because of your experience, they’re hiring you because of your…personal traits.”
Hart explained that “one of the most important traits” that employers want to hire is “proactive people who work hard, take initiative, and who demonstrate that they are prepared and educated.”
The best way to demonstrate these traits is to have small qualifications alongside your degree, especially one that is tailored to your field. For example, Hart encouraged his son, a finance major, to take an additional course on artificial intelligence in finance.
In fact, experts previously told CNBC Make It that workers laid off as a result of AI should Train themselves in new skills Including increasing knowledge of AI through short courses, rather than pursuing a new degree that may be more expensive and time-consuming.
A dedication to pursuing additional learning shows you’ll also bring these traits to the job, they told CNBC.
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2025-11-29 06:03:00
