My job is AI-exposed — what now?

Not career advice. This article describes general strategies. Concrete decisions deserve individual counseling — career coach, mentor, or labor-market service in your country.

Step 1 — Take stock (1 week)

Before you change anything, understand your risk profile. A high overall score says nothing about which tasks disappear first. An accountant scoring 75 has very different options depending on whether they mostly book receipts (very exposed) or advise on tax planning (less exposed).

• Look up your profession in the database — which of the 6 skills score highest?
• Map your last 4 weeks — which tasks did you actually do?
• Compare: what makes you currently valuable to your employer?
• Market check: how many open roles match your profile — trend over the last 3 years?

Step 2 — Re-skill or sidegrade?

Three paths — usually one fits you:

1. Re-skill within the same profession, different specialization. From clerk to process manager, from junior copywriter to brand strategist, from standard accountant to tax-tech implementer. If your profession has high score variance, this is often the easiest.
2. Sidegrade to a neighboring profession. From marketing into customer insight, from sales into account management, from teacher into education coaching. You leverage existing domain knowledge, paired with more AI-resistant skills.
3. Full switch into an AI-resistant profession. From office work into nursing, trades, social work. High effort, big change — only when your current profession is structurally dying and no sidegrade is close.

Step 3 — Make a plan (3 months – 3 years)

Give the re-skilling or switch a clear timeline. Three patterns that work in practice:

• Side project (3 months): first experience in the target field on the side. Low risk, fast reality check.
• Course or certification (6–12 months): formal qualification, often employer- or government-funded.
• Sabbatical / lateral entry (1–3 years): full re-orientation with reduced income. Only with financial cushion.

Step 4 — Use AI as a lever, not as an enemy

The professionals who thrive during the transition aren't the ones who avoid AI — they're the ones who use AI better than others. Concretely:

• Learn to operate ChatGPT, Claude, etc. — not superficially, but as a tool for your work.
• Automate the routine parts of your work yourself — before someone else automates them.
• Become the person on the team who introduces AI tools to colleagues — that's a new role in every organization.
• Document how much more productive you are with AI — that's your argument in salary talks and on the job market.

Step 5 — Build a financial cushion

Re-skilling, switching, and transitions often cost 3–12 months of income. Without a cushion you can't act when the job vanishes — and end up taking the first job available. Minimum recommendation:

• 3–6 months of expenses in an easy-access savings account
• Check disability and unemployment insurance — does it cover career switches with income drop?
• Education budget set aside (1–3% of gross income annually for training)

What not to do

• Panic switch. Leaving a high-risk job without a clear target is a second career loss.
• Denial. "Won't happen to me" — but if it does, no plan.
• Too many horses. Three trainings in parallel = three half-finished qualifications.
• Unrealistic tech switches. Becoming a software engineer at 50 with no prior experience is rarely realistic.

The first step is always the same: see where your job actually stands. Browse the database →