Careers

Careers

Some 99% of hiring managers in the U.S. say they've used AI in some form during the hiring process, a 2025 report reveals. AI can whiz in and speed up cumbersome workflows (or make them disappear altogether). But after Fast Company spoke to several hiring managers and chief human resources officers to understand how HR is using AI to hire today, it became clear that for every benefit that AI offers there's a human cost.

You finally snagged an interview for your dream job, so obviously you've studied the company, and you can talk for days about why you'd be a perfect fit. But it turns out that 33 percent of bosses will determine whether they're going to hire you within the first 90 seconds of meeting you, according to a survey by Come Recommended, a content marketing and digital PR consultancy for job search and HR technologies. Want to ace the interview? Here are the five top tips from the pros.

A safe anchor point for many senior engineers has always been technical mastery. You see a problem. You design some architecture. You work in a team to crank out some code. You build a complicated system, roll it out at scale, rinse and repeat. This is a happy place for many engineers. Naturally, you think in order to progress, the journey should in theory look something like this. You expect to be rewarded as you take on more technically challenging problems, climbing the ladder.

The first time I got on a plane was memorable - not because I was heading to a fancy vacation spot, but because I was going to boot camp for the Marine Corps. From the moment I arrived at the recruiter's office, the energy was intense. Family members were calling to wish me good luck, and my nerves mixed with excitement. I'll never forget when the pilot announced, "Let's give a round of applause for the future Marines on board."

"It handled like 60 million passengers, but it was originally designed for 40 million passengers. So, there were increased queues, delays, so on and so forth, plus very limited options for expansion," Istanbul Airport CEO Selahattin Bilgen told Business Insider in an interview at London's Savoy Hotel. After deciding to build a new airport from scratch, a huge logistical challenge remained: transferring operations without too much disruption.

Operating out of a NATO ally that shares a border with Russia, Origin Robotics has been closely following the war, even building combat systems for it. The CEO told Business Insider that the feedback they're receiving is providing important lessons not just for it, but for the West as it equips itself for potential future fights. The company makes autonomous aerial and airborne systems, including a drone-launched precision-guided weapon known as the BEAK, which is in use in Ukraine.

Vadym Voroshylov, a well-known Ukrainian MiG-29 pilot with the call sign Karaya, wrote on Instagram this week that the JAS-39 Gripen "is the only fighter jet in the world I'd be willing to sell my soul for." He said that this jet us "ideal option" for Ukraine today and also reliable for the future. Voroshylov's post came after Ukraine and Sweden signed a letter of intent to export up to 150 JAS 39 Gripen E fighter jets to Kyiv.

technical skills don't cut it.

Losing your job doesn't mean you suck.

One professional who followed a decidedly squiggly career pathway before doing a six-month bootcamp in 2020 is Lucy Ironmonger, a tech lead at fintech Zuto, who studied English with creative writing at the University of Birmingham 13 years earlier. While there, she found a bar job and, due to her love of music, seized the opportunity to run the establishment's music night every Tuesday.

Having lived and worked in London, Hong Kong, and New York, and rebuilt my network from scratch each time, I have learned that real business relationships are grounded locally and deepen over time. You can extend them globally, but authenticity is earned face to face and reinforced through consistent, in-market presence. Over the past decade, I have been fortunate to have been given the opportunity to work across legal markets that are loosely connected yet distinctly different.

In today's evolving workplace, leaders have a powerful opportunity to attract and inspire the next generation of talent by embracing a strategy that's both timeless and essential: mentorship. Once relegated to the realm of "nice-to-have" Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, mentorship has emerged as a core business strategy and a lever for growth, employee retention, and technological innovation. When done right, it doesn't just change lives, it drives organizational ROI.

My first boss told me, "Don't make the client's problem your problem." I think about that a lot. Come early to work. Gives you time to settle in for the day. Every morning, skim your calendar for the week. Once a week, check your calendar for the month. Double-check all your events and deadlines are properly calendared. The cases are yours, not your legal assistant's.

What if, instead of "work-life balance," you had no balance at all-your life was your work... and work happened seven days a week? Did I say days? I actually meant days and nights, because the job I'm talking about wants you to know that you will also work weekends and evenings, and that "it's ok to send messages at 3am."

Fifth-generation fighter jets are the most advanced in the skies, boasting low observability, or stealth, as well as advanced sensors and avionics. Some also feature advanced networking. The American F-22 Raptor entered service in the early 2000s. The newest US fifth-gen fighter is the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter, another Lockheed Martin aircraft that is operated by both the US and its allies and partners. Russia is developing the Su-57, and China has the J-20 and J-35, the latter supporting new carrier advancements.

Ukraine's internal security agency has unveiled new variants of its "Sea Baby" naval drone, giving the boats an extended range and arming them with automated machine guns and rocket launchers. The modifications highlight Ukraine's continued efforts and investment in the development of its naval drone programs, which are among the country's most important innovations of the war.

I immigrated to Canada from South Korea when I was in fourth grade, and then to the US in high school, and my parents didn't have firsthand experience with how the corporate world works here. My friends meant well, too, but we were all fresh out of college and figuring things out. None of us really knew how the industry worked yet, and we repeated what sounded "safe."

Learning how to fail: intentionally, reflectively, and repeatedly, can build the resilience and insight that long-term careers truly depend on. 👉 ​Read more​. Slack: The Accidental Success Story (Synergy Startup) What began as a failed multiplayer game pivoted into one of the fastest-growing workplace tools: proof that a collapse in one project can spark something far bigger. 👉 ​Learn more​.

It goes without saying: Getting fired sucks. The moments before are excruciating, especially if you get invited to a last-minute meeting with HR and know exactly what's coming. The aftermath is even worse: losing a steady paycheck and health insurance, diving into a daunting job market, and taking a massive hit to your self-esteem. It's a true walk-in-the-rain-and-feel-sorry-for-yourself moment. Being laid off is hardly any easier.

Workplace experts can't decide what's the optimal number of working hours for Gen Z workers-but they know it's not "every waking minute" of the day like Cerebras' CEO suggested, or the 60 hour "sweet spot" Google's Sergey Brin recommended earlier this year. That schedule is unsustainable, but 40-hour workweeks aren't enough for the young and hungry. The CEO of $8.1 billion AI chips company Cerebras recently hit back at the idea entrepreneurs can launch an innovative business working "30, 40, 50 hours a week."

Starting a new job is exciting, but it often comes with uncertainty and the pressure to make a positive first impression. For employers, this is an opportunity to lay the groundwork for long-term success, as an effective onboarding timeline can help guide new hires through their initial days and weeks at the company, making them feel supported and more productive. A well-designed onboarding timeline also benefits HR teams and managers, who can use it to provide a consistent onboarding experience.