With entry-level jobs declining as employers continue to deploy AI, Coursera’s CEO has shared his top tips for graduates to stay competitive in the job market and stand out in interviews.
Greg Hart, former technical advisor to Jeff Bezos at Amazon, became president and CEO of online learning platform Coursera in February 2025. He told CNBC Make It that in the age of AI, it’s important for young people to pursue additional learning alongside a degree.
“The advice that I give to my sons... is one of the best things that you can do is to augment your university degree with micro credentials specifically,” he said in the interview.
Micro credentials are short courses that provide a certification for a specific skill or knowledge and they take less time to complete than a traditional degree or diploma. It’s become increasingly important to supplement degrees with additional certifications, as graduate jobs are at risk of being replaced by AI, Hart said.
Major firms have been laying off staff this year and have cited AI as part of the reason, from Amazon making 14,000 workers redundant as it bets on AI to Salesforce slashing 4,000 customer support roles saying AI can do 40% of the tasks at the company.
