AI: The new Field of Dreams - If you prompt it, jobs will come
They say, “If you build it, he will come.” But what if you’ve already built your career, and all that came was burnout?
Welcome to your Field of Dreams moment—minus the baseball and emotional men in cornfields. You’re standing in the middle of your current life, whispering into the void: “There has to be more than this.” Then suddenly, the void whispers back: Artificial Intelligence.
Yes, AI. The growing field of opportunity. Whether you’re starting from scratch or bringing a trunk of tech baggage with you, the new field of dreams is wide open. Let’s walk through how to actually get into AI with real, practical steps…
Part 1: I know nothing, please save me (The entry-level path)
So you want to break into AI, but the only thing you’ve ever trained is a Gen Z intern with time blindness. It’s okay. You’re not late. You’re just right on time with a mild identity crisis - which, honestly, is a totally normal vibe for entering tech.
Here’s what to do if you’re starting from zero:
🧠 Step 1: Understand what AI actually is
We’re not talking Skynet or full-on robot therapists (yet). Think language models, data labeling, content generation, machine learning, and a whole lot of “wow, that sounded smart but made no sense.”
Helpful and informative blogs:
📈 Step 2: Follow the curiosity
Start stalking the world of AI like it’s your ex’s new girlfriend. TikTok videos. Podcasts. Free courses. Articles. ChatGPT.
Some beginner-friendly resources:
💼 Step 3: Entry-level roles you can actually get
You don’t need to be a tech wizard. Here are some human-friendly roles:
AI content assistant - (help feed the machine)
Prompt engineer - (yes, that’s a job and yes, you already do it)
Manual QA for AI tools - (break stuff so it gets better)
Customer support for AI companies - (be the voice of sanity)
Data labeler - (aka training wheels for AI brains)
📚 Step 4: Put some stuff on your resume
Read: How to use ChatGPT to get a job (because crying yourself to sleep at night isn’t working)
Play with tools like:
ChatGPT, Claude, Midjourney, DALL·E, Poe, Perplexity
Document what you made or learned
Add a “Projects” section like: “Tested and evaluated outputs from generative AI tools to identify hallucinations, UI friction, and alignment errors.”
Sounds spicy, right? Let’s keep going…
✨ Step 5: Say you’re In AI (because you are)
You don’t have to wait for a W-2 to start telling the world what you’re doing. Make content. Share learnings. Post a project. Join a Discord channel. You’re in the field now, baby. Start walking like you own the place.
Part 2: I’m tech-adjacent and ready to level up (The associate path)
So you’re not totally new to tech, but you’re definitely AI-curious. Maybe you’ve been working in QA, product support, front-end dev, customer success, analytics, or even a cursed combination of all of them (startups, amirite?). Good news: you’re perfectly positioned to make the leap.
🧳 Step 1: Audit your tech superpowers
Look at what you already know:
Worked with APIs? You can work with LLM APIs.
Written SQL? That’s useful for querying embeddings.
Manual testing experience? You already think like a user (which AI needs desperately).
Handled customer pain points? You understand UX better than half the devs out there.
💡 Step 2: Learn just enough to sound dangerous
You don’t need to build your own neural network from scratch. You just need to:
Know what a vector database is (ChromaDB, Pinecone)
Understand how embeddings work (like word/sentence meanings in number form)
Be able to use an API to do something cool (like call GPT to summarize Slack threads because your brain is tired)
📘 Step 3: Add a sprinkle of buzzwords
Update your resume and LinkedIn with stuff like:
“Applied prompt engineering for LLM tools to enhance user interactions”
“Tested and evaluated AI-generated content for accuracy, tone, and alignment”
“Collaborated with generative AI systems to prototype user-facing features”
You know, things that sound impressive but are actually just you playing with ChatGPT like a sorcerer with a keyboard.
🔰 Step 4: Target jobs that need what you know
Some good fits:
AI QA Specialist
Technical Support Engineer, AI Tools
Prompt Engineer (Mid-Level)
AI Product Tester or UX Researcher
Implementation Specialist / Integration Engineer for AI companies
These are roles where your existing skill set + light AI knowledge = very hireable.
👀 Step 5: Start showing up
Write about what you’re learning. Share how you’re applying AI to your current job. Post a spicy LinkedIn rant about how AI tools break (because they do). Be a nerd in public. The AI world moves fast, but it notices the ones who are already sprinting.
Part 3: Where the jobs are (and where they’re hiding)
So now you’ve played with the tools, thrown some glitter on your resume, and shouted “I AM TECH NOW” into the wind. Love that for you. But where are the jobs?
Let’s be honest—they’re not always where you’d expect, and they don’t always say “AI” in the title. Here’s where to start digging:
🌍 The big boards
Wellfound (formerly AngelList): Great for early-stage startups
Y Combinator Jobs: Pure startup energy. High risk, high weirdness.
Himalayas: Filter by AI/ML or just vibes
LinkedIn: Still king of the corporate jungle. Use filters. Save searches.
🔗 Sneaky AI job titles
“Generative Tech”
“Conversational Interfaces”
“LLM Integration”
“ML Ops”
“AI-Enhanced Customer Experience” (lol but it’s a job)
🧐 The hidden world of Discord, Slack, and X
Join Discord servers for tools you like (Midjourney, Perplexity, etc.)
Follow indie builders and early-stage AI folks on X
Lurk in tech Slack communities
The best jobs? Often posted in random threads and never make it to Indeed.
📓 Your LinkedIn can manifest things (kind of)
Post about what you’re learning or building
Share your AI experiments, even if they’re messy
Comment on other people’s projects
People in AI love curious nerds. Be one. Loudly.
💡 Bonus: Go direct
Love a tool? Check their website for careers.
DM someone who works there. Ask nice. Be human.
Try: “Hey, I love what your team is building—if you’re ever hiring for [insert your magic here], I’d love to be considered.”
You’d be surprised how often this works. Especially in a field where nobody knows what they’re doing and everyone is making it up as they go (shhh, it’s our little secret).
Final scene: If you prompt it, they will hire
This is your invitation to walk into the unknown, corn rustling behind you, laptop in hand, and just go for it. You don’t need a PhD in machine learning or a time machine to 2016 when prompt engineering was still cute. You just need curiosity, consistency, and a little delusion. (We call that “vision” now.)
The AI field isn’t some secret society. It’s a bunch of builders, writers, testers, and thinkers trying to figure it out—just like you. The doors are open. The bots are waiting. The job of your dreams might just be one well-worded prompt away.
So go ahead. Step into the field. And don’t forget to bring Kevin Costner. The future is weird…
