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How to Future Proof Your Career in the Age of AI, with Marguerite McAleer

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What does it take to thrive at work when AI keeps changing the rules? This week on Find Your Dream Job, HR leader and career coach Marguerite McAleer talks about how to future-proof your career in the age of AI. Marguerite sees AI less as a replacement and more as a tool for handling routine tasks, freeing you to focus on the work machines can’t do: strategic thinking, creativity, and human relationships.

Marguerite also pulls back the curtain on what hiring looks like from her side of the desk, where a single job posting can attract more than 150 applications. She says to forget the spray-and-pray approach. Be choosy, go after roles that feel like a fit, and put your own voice back into anything AI helps you write. She explains why skills are increasingly valued over credentials, how the STAR method can help you stand out in an interview, and why anyone changing careers should lead with connection rather than an apology.

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Find Your Dream Job, Episode 558:

How to Future Proof Your Career in the Age of AI, with Marguerite McAleer

Airdate: July 1, 2026

Mac Prichard:

This is Find Your Dream Job, the podcast that helps you get hired, have the career you want, and make a difference in life.

I’m your host, Mac Prichard. I’m also the founder of Mac’s List. It’s a job board in the Pacific Northwest that helps you find a fulfilling career.

Every Wednesday, I talk to a different expert about the tools you need to get the work you want.

Whatever your job, AI is shaping what you do at work forever.

AI is also changing the job search.

Marguerite McAleer is here to talk about how to future-proof your career in the age of AI.

She’s an HR leader and a career coach. Marguerite guides professionals through values-aligned career transitions. And she joins us from Portland, Oregon.

Well, let’s jump right into it. Marguerite, let’s talk about AI. How exactly is it shaping the world of work, especially jobs with repetitive and routine tasks?

Marguerite McAleer:

Absolutely, and thanks for having me. Well, first of all, I do believe that AI is the next, well, it’s here. It’s very revolutionary, and it’s not going away.

I do believe that we need to be embracing this revolution. I do believe that many people are still unsure of how AI can exist and how the job market can be really competitive these days, and it’s creating genuine anxiety in folks.

I think folks could be feeling anxious about job prospecting or even how they manage their day-to-day routines at their own jobs. And I think this whole revolution is kind of really fundamentally reshaping the world of how we work through automation, routine, repetitive task work.

I think what I want to be able to share is that how it’s shaping the world is that AI is thought of as less of a replacement, but more of being a compression. So what I mean by that is that we’re, we’re kind of left to the human component parts.

Mac Prichard:

Okay. And I want to get to that in a moment, Marguerite. Let’s step back and talk about the world of work, and also about looking for work.

So, as an HR expert, what kinds of jobs do you see facing the most change from AI right now? You mentioned positions with routine and repetitive tasks. Are there other characteristics that you see that AI is shaping jobs?

Marguerite McAleer:

Yes, I think AI is shaping jobs through skills-based roles. And I think it’s creating new roles, actually, especially technical. I want people to think that it’s not necessarily taking away jobs. It’s setting a certain bar for people to explore, maybe if they want to do a career pivot. But it’s up-skilling, too.

So I think with what we’re seeing with AI and jobs, we’re gonna be seeing new jobs such as career coaches, AI coaches, ethics coaches. So there’s gonna be a lot of different creative roles that AI is going to produce, and they are producing now.

So I think it’s really critical for people to just be able to skill up on those things.

Mac Prichard:

And every job, whatever your occupation, has some routine and repetitive tasks. So what do you see in the HR world when people turn to AI for help to take over those tasks? What does that free them up to do with the time that has been saved by AI?

Marguerite McAleer:

Well, as I mentioned earlier, I think it helps. It’s been changing the way work has been compressed. So in many ways, it’s helping with lower-level tasks.

And I think it’s creating greater bandwidth for people to be able to manage their jobs more strategically and to be able to offer more time of the day to get to the work that employers are looking for.

So think of AI as almost like your assistant. The whole technology behind it is to be able to help, I guess, streamline the work that you’re doing. For example, in my work as an HR professional and leader, I’m seeing that HR can really help our team with a rote type of work where, for example, job descriptions, writing job descriptions, we can use AI for that.

We can use AI to help kind of center how we do, how we operationalize our work, creating templates, creating agendas. So I think a lot of those are helping with the gaps that we need to be able to do our own jobs better and more effectively.

Mac Prichard:

Okay. So, as you said a moment ago, AI can be a tool that can help you with repetitive routine tasks. And you also mentioned a moment ago, Marguerite, that it frees you up to do more creative work. And how is that going to help you in your career if you use AI as a tool and focus on creative work? What do you see in the HR space?

Marguerite McAleer:

Well, I think in the HR space, it will help you to free up for creativity because you’ll be able to bring the human element, the human factor to the team that you’re working with, whether you’re working on a project.

In HR, there’s a lot of strategic and project work. And I think where the differentiation comes in is that you’re able to bring the relevance of your work into that, and with that creativity, you’re also able to provide the evidence, and with the human factor in that.

So I think being creative and showcasing what you can do, what you said you could do when you were interviewing, and when you put on your resume, is going to be able to highlight that.

So being creative also means problem-solving. And I think more and more employers are looking for that. They’re looking for someone who can look, identify their pain points, and be that strategic thinker, that problem solver. And so I think just digging deep and being able to show that you’re a valuable player. And that’s something that AI can’t really do.

They can’t really understand the messiness of things. don’t understand ambiguity. They don’t understand human emotion. So that’s where you need to come in there to provide your value with that.

Mac Prichard:

Okay, so AI is not gonna replace strategic thinking, it’s not gonna replace creativity, and it’s also not gonna replace human relationships.

Let’s talk about how, and I wanna get into the second segment about how you can future-proof other steps you can take to future-proof your career in the age of AI, but let’s talk about how AI is affecting the way people apply for jobs.

What are you seeing as somebody who manages application processes? What’s changed now that AI is in its third or fourth year?

Marguerite McAleer:

Well, a lot is changing. AI is just adapting a lot quicker than people are anticipating. And I think that there is a great effect on the job search and the recruitment process. And so I see it as a two-sided problem. I think there is actually a paradox that’s happening right now with the hiring process.

And what I’m seeing, because I’ve kind of gone through it myself, this year has been quite tumultuous for many people, and I’ve also experienced some of that. I feel that AI, while it’s very good, it’s made it easier for candidates to apply for jobs, right? You just have one-click type of applications.

And where I think it’s helpful, it does help polish people’s resumes, right? And it can produce auto-generated cover letters. So with that, I think the result of that is that you’re seeing so much volume with applications.

It’s literally exploded. And so I think one of the challenges is that a single posting, for example, in an organization like Oregon Episcopal School, where I currently work, can attract upwards of 150 applications. And so that’s a little bit daunting.

Mac Prichard:

Okay, and it is, and I want to pause there because we’re going to take a break, but when we come back, I want to talk about your thoughts as somebody who reviews those applications for how to use and not use AI when you’re doing a job search.

So stay with us. When we return, Marguerite McAleer will continue to share her advice on how to future-proof your career in the age of AI.

We’re back at the Mac’s List Studio. I’m talking with Marguerite McAleer. She’s an HR leader and a career coach. Marguerite guides professionals through values-aligned career transitions, and she joins us from Portland, Oregon.

So Marguerite, we’re talking today about how to future-proof your career in the age of AI. And in the first segment, we talked about what’s happening in the world of work and job search in AI, and how it is creating a lot of change, but there are opportunities for people to do more strategic work, more creative work, and to focus on relationships, things that AI can’t replace.

We close by talking about those people using AI to create a lot of applications easily. And as somebody who’s on the receiving end of that, as an HR manager, it’s not uncommon, as you said, for 150, 200 people to apply for a position.

What would you recommend to somebody who’s attempted to use AI to generate cover letters in large numbers or resumes? Is that a good thing, or is there a better way to use AI when you’re applying for jobs?

Marguerite McAleer:

Those are great questions or great points. I think it’s perfectly fine to use AI to maybe create the template of your resume or even a cover letter. However, the problem with using AI completely is that it comes out as what it is, a template.

It doesn’t sound very human, so you have to humanize it. And so I think it starts before you even actually hit the submit button. So I think a lot of times with applications, you have to be able to adopt it side by side. And sometimes when applications fail, it’s because maybe the candidates applied to the wrong roles, or they were not the right match for it.

But I think using AI to help you target the match using the AI tool. So, for example, LinkedIn offers a paid subscription where you can go in there and actually use their tool to see what kind of match you have with your experience, your skills, your resume, with what the job description or what the job posting says.

And I think that’s perfectly fine to do that because AI can help you identify keywords to be able to strengthen your resume, to be able to articulate authentically in your own words, but at least AI is helpful to kind of build that framework for you.

Mac Prichard:

Okay, so use AI to be selective and try not to cast as broad a net as possible. Another point you made in the first segment, Marguerite, was that skills matter more than credentials.

So in the world of AI, why isn’t your degree enough to get you not only an interview but a job? Why do employers who are making hiring decisions, like you, care increasingly more and more about skills rather than credentials?

Marguerite McAleer:

That’s a really great question and a really good point. And the reason why is that the world is changing so fast. Globally, it’s changing fast with technology. And the reason why I think employers are now prioritizing skills over credentials is, I think, for many reasons, a degree obviously from a good school is important, right?

It tells you that someone has the ability to learn to think and to complete something, but the environment, I think, is where entire skills are being created or recreated. Now, it is truncated into three to five-year cycles because technology is changing so quickly.

So I think a credential earned like a degree that was earned, let’s just say someone like myself over 10 years ago, doesn’t really tell you much about what I can do today, for example.

Mac Prichard:

And I know, as an employer who interviews a lot of applicants, you’re a big fan in the age of AI of an old-fashioned tool. It’s called the STAR method. Tell us what the STAR method is, and why you are impressed when candidates, particularly in the age of AI, use the STAR method in interviews.

Marguerite McAleer:

Well, the STAR method, and for those that don’t know what the STAR method is, it’s just a way to be able to demonstrate what your expertise is.

And so in an interview, you’re oftentimes recruiters and even employers want to hear about what the situation is, what the task was, what action you took, and what the results were.

And I think too often people are stuck on the situation and the task, or they could be stuck on the action, but they don’t really highlight the results of that. And I think what employers want to know is, can you do the work that we need you to do? Can it be done? And can you learn what you, what we haven’t taught you yet, right?

So I think demonstrating the star can help answer those questions more and provide more clarity in an interview to make you stand out. And I think also introducing a portfolio or some kind of demonstrated project or some kind of skills that you feel confident with will be well received with the STAR methodology.

And I think it’s just basically a gold standard for behavioral-type interview questions.

Mac Prichard:

It’s striking, Marguerite, as you talk in the age of AI, it’s very easy for an employer to attract lots and lots of resumes and cover letters that have been auto-generated by an algorithm.

Is it harder to find people who can actually talk about a point you made in the first segment, which is that employers like you are looking for problem solvers and people who can use tools like the STAR method to tell stories about the results they’ve created?

Marguerite McAleer:

Yes, sometimes it can be hard because some candidates are not maybe able to hone in on something specifically. But I think if they can just prepare ahead of time and focus on what the needs of the organization are. So it’s a lot of pre-work that you need to identify first before the actual interview takes place.

So if you kind of understand what their pain points are, or you understand what their objectives are, if you’ve reviewed their job description, reviewed their website, and you kind of get a feeling of what their mission is all about, what their culture is all about, you can kind of pretty much figure out, okay, I am the right person for this role.

And I can pick one or two key points to be able to specify clearly, contextually, and to be able to explain why I’m the right fit for them using this methodology.

Mac Prichard:

And to do that, you really have to go back to a point you made earlier, which is you’ve got to be selective. You could just hit the Easy Apply button regularly and send out lots of applications.

But when someone like you is looking at those applications, you’re looking for people who understand your needs and can show you’ve solved problems. Final question, Marguerite. You’ve mentioned skills a number of times.

If you’re changing careers, how can you, in the age of AI, show that your skills transfer to your new field? How have you seen people do that effectively?

Marguerite McAleer:

Well, I think when you are possibly doing a career pivot, I think being able to tell a story perhaps across a discontinued path. And it’s okay for people to pivot in their careers. I’ve certainly done that. 30 years ago, I was doing something entirely different.

But I think a common mistake that career pivoters make is leading with an apology. So, for example, I know my background isn’t traditional for this role, but I’m trying to get into this. And so the framing of that kind of will put doubt into the hiring manager’s mind.

So instead, I think we need to lead with a thread of connection. So where you’ve been and to where you’re going can be very important to point out, because I think what you bring to the table, they can connect. We can somehow connect the story with the dots.

And I think if you can connect it to the logic, right? And if you have a set of skills in one field that you feel is valuable, right? It could even be undervalued in the new one. I think your personal experience can drive you to showcase that towards a new mission when you are looking at a different career.

So I think understanding your core strengths and making them better, and tailoring them to the new organization or the new career.

Mac Prichard:

Terrific. I’ve really enjoyed our conversation, Marguerite. Now tell us what’s next for you.

Marguerite McAleer:

I think what’s next for me is to continue with the Oregon Episcopal School. I really enjoy education. I’ve been doing it for quite a while, so I’m hoping to stay put here for a while, and I enjoy doing the strategic work and working alongside other leaders at OES.

Mac Prichard:

Terrific. Well, I know that our audience can learn more about you and your work at the Oregon Episcopal School by visiting the school’s website. We’ll include that in the show notes. And that you also encourage our audience to connect with you on LinkedIn.

And when you do reach out to Marguerite on LinkedIn, hope you’ll mention you saw and heard her on Find Your Dream Job.

Now, Marguerite, given all the great advice you’ve shared today, what’s the one thing you want our audience to remember about how to future-proof your career in the age of AI?

Marguerite McAleer:

I think that working with AI can be a very good partner for yourself. Just being selective, being strategic about how you apply to roles, right? When volume applying is everywhere and keeping things relevant, providing that you can have the humanity behind it, but providing the work with evidence.

So make sure that you feel good that AI is not taking your job away, but how you can elevate your role by being that strategic partner.

Mac Prichard:

Thank you for listening to Find Your Dream Job.

You can support our show and help others find it by leaving a review and rating on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Have a question or a suggestion? Email me at mac@macslist.org, or connect with me on LinkedIn.

To make sure you never miss an episode, sign up for our free weekly newsletter at macslist.org/podcasts.

This show is produced by Mac’s List.

Susan Thornton-Hough schedules our guests and writes our newsletter. Lisa Kislingbury Anderson manages our social media and creates our transcripts.

Our sound engineer and editor is Megan Hattie Stahl. Our music is by Freddy Trujillo.

This is Mac Prichard. See you next week.

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