Canva's chief people officer Jennie Rogerson says she looks for two fundamental attributes in all candidates, regardless of their role or department. These traits are vital for workers in the age of AI, Rogerson said during a talk at Charter's New Employer Brand Summit in New York City on June 9."Curiosity is a baseline," she said in the session. "In a world that's moving as fast as today, with so much changing, you have to be curious."Rogerson values curiosity about what's coming with technologies like AI but also curiosity about "why decisions were made to begin with," she told CNBC Make It at the event. The latter, to her, means "understanding what came before to honor where it came from [and] the philosophies that mattered, to then build stronger on top of it."To gauge a candidate's curiosity, she might ask a question in a job interview like, "What have you learned outside of your core discipline that you then put into practice for impact?" For example, maybe a candidate experimented with vibe coding and then used it in a creative way to move a project forward at work. Being curious is one thing, but Rogerson says it's also important that employees apply their learnings to take initiative and contribute beyond their direct scope. "We want to build a culture of givers," she says, who feel "like they are responsible for our culture" and who, as "part owners," "are going to give to that culture as much as they experience it."She looks for candidates who haven't simply fulfilled their immediate responsibilities, but who "gave above what was necessary in just their core domain," she says. That could mean efforts like starting a club, pitching an idea or seeing something broken and helping to fix it.To assess a candidate's ability to step up and contribute to a team, she might ask a question along the lines of, "What did you do outside of your core remit that added to either product development or shipping some great things to your users or that you added to team culture?"Leaders often stress the importance of going the extra step, particularly in the age of AI. Coursera CEO Greg Hart told Make It in 2025 that, to stay competitive today, employees should take initiative by completing certifications or earning micro credentials to learn new skills. Building stronger relationships with colleagues and cross-functional partners also helps the most successful professionals be proactive, career coach Phoebe Gavin told Make It in 2025.As for curiosity, it's one of five irreplaceable human skills in the age of AI, if you ask former LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky. And Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said he owes much of his career success to being "very open to anything.""Be curious about meeting new people, be curious about interests that are outside of your immediate field of education," Khosrowshahi advised during a fireside chat at Brown University in April 2025. "That curiosity will open you up to the world and open you up to opportunity." Want to get ahead at work? Then you need to learn how to make effective small talk. In CNBC's new online course, How To Talk To People At Work, expert instructors share practical strategies to help you use everyday conversations to gain visibility, build meaningful relationships and accelerate your career growth. Sign up today!