I am writing a story for the Globe & Mail that explores how AI is rewriting the first-job experience. As AI gets better at basic tasks like data entry, research, and drafting, internships and other entry-level and stepping-stone roles are being impacted. If you are an early-career-stage recent college or university graduate in Canada who has been impacted - positively or negatively - by AI, I'm looking for answers to the following questions: 1 - Has AI hurt your ability to find a job? If so, how? How have you responded or changed course? 2 - Has AI opened up new opportunities that you would otherwise not have had? If so, how? 3 - Are you worried that AI is making it more difficult to get into the field of your choice? If so, what are you doing to adapt? Ideally, looking for first-person experience of how AI is changing the entry-level job experience for new/recent grads. Deadline: Wed Oct 01, noon Eastern.

While I'm not a recent grad, I've been hiring entry-level talent for my AI-powered SEO agency SiteRank for years and have seen this shift firsthand. The landscape has completely changed - both for better and worse. AI has definitely eliminated traditional entry-level roles at my company. Tasks like basic keyword research, content drafts, and data entry that used to take junior staff 8+ hours now get done by our AI tools in minutes. I've had to turn away several recent grads who would have been perfect fits for these roles just two years ago. However, I've also created entirely new positions that didn't exist before. My current junior hire spends their time prompt engineering our AI tools, analyzing AI-generated insights, and managing our automated workflow systems - skills they learned on the job. Their starting salary was actually 30% higher than traditional entry-level roles because they're managing AI systems that produce the output of what used to be a 3-person team. The key difference I see in successful new hires now is adaptability over specific technical skills. The recent grad who got our latest position impressed me by showing how they used ChatGPT to create a content strategy for their personal project, then manually refined and optimized it based on performance data. They understood AI as a tool to amplify human insight, not replace it.

I would like to given an answer from the perspective of the employer. Five or ten years ago when I was a young professional attending job interviews i have been given difficult legal cases to solve either during the interview or shortly after it. Nowadays, as an employer, I find it challenging to hire young professionals because I can't always be certain whether the tasks I assign are genuinely completed by them or generated with AI. For instance, i would like to check a person's skills and ability to draft basic contracts. How am I supposed to do that when he or she opens chat gpt that can make a simple document from scratch? From my point of view AI is stealing an opportunity from young professional of learning new things. They do not need to do that as they already have a ready-made solution.

I graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor's degree in 2012, and since then, I've seen how the path into a first job has changed — especially now with AI becoming part of almost everything. Has AI hurt my ability to find a job? Yes, in certain ways. Entry-level roles that used to give graduates a way in — like basic research or data entry — are disappearing because companies now rely on AI tools. That's made the first rung on the ladder feel like it's missing. I've had to adjust by focusing more on skills AI can't easily replace, like analysis, creativity, and communication. Has AI opened up opportunities? It has in surprising ways. In one role, instead of just doing routine tasks, I was asked to supervise and refine what AI produced — like checking drafts, fact-checking, and improving clarity. That meant I got exposure to higher-level work earlier than I might have otherwise. Am I worried about AI making it harder? Yes, a bit. It feels like the "apprenticeship stage" of work is shrinking, which makes it harder for new grads to learn the ropes. To adapt, I've been developing a portfolio that shows I can work with AI rather than compete against it. Employers seem to value that balance. Overall, I think AI is both removing some traditional entry-level jobs and creating new ones that require more oversight and judgment. It's definitely reshaping the early career experience.

AI has not destroyed entry-level jobs but transformed them. Routine tasks like data entry and basic research are now handled by AI, letting new grads contribute to meaningful projects from day one. AI opens doors for those who treat it as a skill multiplier, helping them produce results faster and stand out early. The key is to focus on creativity, judgment, and human connection, skills AI cannot replace. Georgi Dimitrov, CEO of Fantasy.ai

Expanding My Reach Another opportunity I didn't expect: visibility. AI has made it easier to optimize my online presence — from writing SEO-friendly blog posts to making sure I show up in searches when someone types "Realtor Portland OR." These tools help me connect with people who may not have found me otherwise, especially those relocating to Portland and searching for a Realtor who can offer both market expertise and a local's perspective on lifestyle. Human First, AI Second At the end of the day, AI is not replacing me — it's supporting me. My clients don't come to me for robotic answers; they come because they want someone who listens, advocates, and truly cares about their family's next chapter. What AI does is help me be more present, more prepared, and more creative in how I deliver that experience. For me, that's the greatest opportunity AI has created: the freedom to focus on relationships, while knowing I have smart tools in my corner that keep me ahead of the curve.

Artificial intelligence has removed many entry-level jobs connected to repetitive tasking, like data entry or basic research, creating a challenge for some graduates to get that first foothold. Candidates are increasingly choosing to concentrate on skills of greater value, data analysis, communication, and decision-making rather than compete with automation to get an entry-level job. Artificial intelligence creates opportunities through the lowering of entry points for specialty jobs. Graduates being able to command artificial intelligence tools are accessing jobs that would have required a number of years of the professional experience, like an investor report or market analysis the same quality professionalism but produced in a quicker time frame. There are worries that artificial intelligence limits entry points into some professions, because there are not any of those traditional entry point tasking. The approach to work around that is to pursue 'fluency' with artificial intelligence systems, while foregrounding distinctly human skills of relationship building, contextual reasoning, and adaptabilityas employers increasingly want to use those as differentiators.

AI has transformed entry-level jobs by condensing many of the repetitive tasks that made internships what they were. Tasks that once required hours to complete, like formatting datasets, writing reports, or checking code syntax, now take minutes. As a result, managers expect interns or juniors to be much more ready to contribute at a higher level. In my practice, I see young professionals needing to adapt by leaning into their ability to interpret AI outputs, identify wrong answers, and connect technical answers to business context. The value is moving from execution to judgment, which makes the learning curve steeper, but more enriching. At the same time, AI has created opportunities for emerging professionals who are willing to leverage it to scale their skillset. I have observed students get roles not because they duped the tasks with AI, but because they demonstrated how they could build workflows around AI and save teams hours each week. Instead of missing out on roles, the candidates who disruptively employ AI have become even more competitive, because they demonstrate the ability to deliver what is important to the employer and thinking through the instructions.

As a recent graduate entering the workforce, I've seen firsthand how AI is reshaping entry-level roles—both as a challenge and an opportunity. On one hand, AI has made it harder to land traditional internships. Roles that once relied on junior staff for data entry, research, or first-draft writing are now being automated. I applied to several editorial assistant positions only to learn that many of those tasks were now handled by AI tools. It felt like the ladder had lost its first few rungs. But I've also found new doors opening. Because I understand how to collaborate with AI—prompting, editing, and adding human nuance—I've been able to pitch myself as a hybrid content strategist. One client hired me specifically to refine AI-generated drafts into media-ready commentary. That opportunity wouldn't have existed two years ago. Yes, I worry that AI is narrowing the path into creative and strategic fields. But I'm adapting by building a portfolio that shows how I enhance AI output, not compete with it. I also focus on skills AI can't replicate—empathy, originality, and contextual judgment. The entry-level experience is changing, but it's not disappearing. It's becoming more about value-add than task execution. For new grads, the key is to position yourself not as a replacement for AI, but as the person who makes it smarter and more useful.

AI has definitely reshaped the way entry-level opportunities look today. When I first started out in digital marketing, much of the work involved manual research, data entry, and pulling analytics—tasks that are now quickly handled by AI. If I were entering the field today, I could see how this might make it harder to land that "foot in the door" role because companies often expect new hires to come in with higher-level skills right away. I've watched interns struggle with this shift, so instead of focusing on what AI replaces, I encourage them to double down on strategy, creativity, and learning how to guide AI rather than compete with it. On the positive side, AI has opened doors I couldn't have imagined when I was getting started. For example, I worked with a recent graduate who used AI to streamline keyword research and draft outlines for clients, which freed up time to learn advanced SEO strategies in just a few months. That kind of accelerated learning curve wasn't possible before. My advice to new grads is to lean into AI as a collaborator—treat it as your assistant while you develop the judgment, communication, and creative problem-solving skills that machines can't replicate. Those are the abilities that will help you stand out and thrive in a crowded job market.

I see AI changing the face of the first job experience, when I'm mentoring and leading teams of new talent. Coming out of college, entry-level roles once gave interns and junior hires the opportunity to knock out basic data entry, drafting, or routine research. But now that AI is taking over these tasks, there are less "easy wins" to fill the gap, and a lot of new hires, both from school and from the ground floor, are now staring down thinner runways for skill building. On the flip side, AI is also creating a new wave of opportunity. Instead of spending weeks in a cycle of unproductive tasks, interns can now contribute to higher-level projects much sooner. They could be analyzing AI outputs, stress-testing models or basically sharpening up the creative strategy. For those graduates who can hit the ground running, this can accelerate their learning.

When AI tools got strong enough to handle tasks like drafting and quick research, I noticed it changed how juniors were hired. Back when I started SourcingXpro in Shenzhen, our interns did a lot of the repetitive checks—crossing supplier lists, chasing MOQ details, double typing invoices. AI can do most of that now in seconds. At first I thought it might limit opportunities, but it actually opened space for people to work on negotiations, relationship building, and spotting quality risks that software misses. We had one new hire use AI to cut inspection prep time by 60 percent, so they could spend more hours at the factory floor catching defects. Honestly, the value shifts, but the chance to prove yourself is still there if you adapt quick.