Shane Young

Want to learn AI. Play. At the end of the day we all need to get our 10,000 hours in with AI. Taking courses and reading help you get a basis but then you need to apply that concept. The best way? Integrate AI into your daily routine. Use AI chat instead of search. Get Copilot or ChatGPT to help you write an email or a proposal or a power point or a love letter. It doesn't matter. Just use AI more and your skills will follow naturally. The same way you had to "learn to Google it" now you need to learn to "prompt it". Classes give you a basis but practice makes perfect!

Taking an online course is a great way to get up to speed quickly. As long as you find one that is practical and not pie in the sky. The benefit here is someone spent hundreds of hours playing and clicking and learning so you could get the same knowledge very quickly. Looking for a course? Might I recommend https://training.powerapps911.com/courses/copilot-jumpstart 😉

Here is a thought. Do the work? Often people get too hung up on having too much to do so they spend time making lists and talking about all they must do. Instead, just start doing something. The first task you can think of just sit down and knock it out. Then move to the next. Don't over think it. Just do something. Once you have accomplished a few of the tasks you will feel better, and you will have momentum. Maybe then try reevaluating or getting help. But step 1? Just get something done.

Make better decisions?! Your job is to align with the business goals and move things forward. If you are fighting the machine then time to look for another job. There are ways to provide feedback and suggestions but at the end of the day you have to get on board.

Get involved in the community. User groups in person or virtual, LinkedIn groups, conferences, forums, YouTube, twitter, etc. It doesn’t matter you just need to be involved. Being involved has 2 benefits. One you get smarter by interacting more with like minded people about your tech. Two you understand job trends and often see job openings first. We hired a guy last week that I met after he did a community presentation for 10 minutes. No one he would have known about or gotten the job if he hadn’t been plugged in.

Build something. And then build something else. Certs are useless if you can’t actually use the tech. The best way to prove you can use the tech is having demos that you created. Make sure they work and look nice if applicable. Running a cool network or server at home shows hands on experience and passion. Building an app to help in your life is great. This is how you show you actually know the tech.