What skills are necessary to stay competitive and employable when AI, automation, layoffs, and a rapidly changing economy are rewriting the rules of work?
On this episode of Worthy for Thirty, I sit down with Nicholas Wyman and Dr. Deborah Williamson, co-founders of the Institute for Workplace Skills and Innovation America (IWSI America), to discuss the future of work, and why preparing for it may have less to do with predicting what is around the corner and more to do with understanding the skills you already have.
Nicholas and Deborah have spent their careers helping employers build stronger talent pipelines while connecting job seekers with apprenticeships, skills development, mentorship, and meaningful employment. Their point of view is especially resonant right now: entry-level opportunities are changing or being wiped out, experienced workers are being displaced, and AI is forcing people at nearly every stage of their careers to reconsider where they fit.
But this conversation isn't about fearing AI.
It's about becoming more adaptable because of it.
We break down why Nicholas and Deborah prefer the term “employability skills” over “soft skills,” and how qualities like reliability, resilience, communication, curiosity and the ability to work with others can become genuine career advantages.
We also talk about one of the ideas that resonated most with me: sometimes the best way to figure out where you're going is to connect the dots looking backward.
What have you already done? What did those experiences teach you? Which skills have you developed without realizing they could transfer to an entirely different career?
Deborah calls it “backwards design” taking inventory of your past experiences rather than simply looking at a job description and trying to force yourself into it.
Nicholas also makes the case for apprenticeships as an increasingly relevant alternative, or complement, to traditional education: a way to earn, learn, and develop practical skills on and off the job. His own career began through apprenticeship before eventually taking him from professional kitchens to workforce development.
We get into:
• How AI is reshaping jobs without eliminating the importance of human skills
• Why recent graduates need to get out from behind the screen and build real relationships
• How apprenticeships can create alternative pathways into growing careers
• Why transferable skills are often hiding in plain sight
• What employers are actually looking for from entry-level talent
• Why mentorship matters after someone gets hired—not just before
• How IWSI helps bridge the gap between what employers need and what workers bring to the table
• Why job retention can be a more meaningful measure of success than simply getting someone hired
• How lifelong learning can help us remain adaptable at any age
And Nicholas leaves us with perhaps the simplest advice of the entire conversation:
**“Do it now.”**
Make the call. Take the course. Follow up on the application. Meet someone for coffee. Learn something new. Get yourself into circulation.
Deborah's advice underscores it perfectly: understand what you've already accomplished and stop selling your experience short.
The future of work may be unpredictable and perhaps a bit scary. But our ability to remain curious, adaptable, useful, and human is still very much within our control.
This is Worthy for Thirty.
