How can you get hired for AI work?
· By Deborah Butler
AI certifications are everywhere. But UK employers are hiring on evidence, not badges. Here's what actually matters and where to learn.
Most weeks I’m here testing AI tools, running comparisons, and giving you an honest verdict on what is actually worth your time. This week we’re going a different direction. If you or someone you know is trying to break into AI work or pivot into it from another field, this one is for you. The certificate completers are everywhere right now. Coursera badges, Google AI certificates, BCS credentials, Microsoft Azure foundations. LinkedIn profiles stacked with them. And for what? To get screened out in round one anyway. Here is the thing nobody selling AI courses wants to admit: UK employers are not hiring on the basis of what you know in theory. They are hiring on the basis of what you have already done. What employers actually want I have spoken to enough people building teams in 2025 and 2026 to notice a pattern. The candidates who move forward are not the ones with the longest certificate section. They are the ones who turned up with something to show. A workflow they built. A process they automated. A before-and-after that shows time saved or cost reduced. A project, a case study, a GitHub repo, something that demonstrates they have actually put AI to use in a real co…
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