The five prompts — work through these in order
1
Prompt 1 of 5
Set your context
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Before Copilot can help you, it needs to understand who you are and what you do. This prompt gives it the raw material to work with. Be honest and specific — the more real detail you give, the more useful the output will be.
Your prompt
I want you to help me think about my career development. Here's some context about me:
- My job title is: [your role]
- My main responsibilities are: [briefly describe what you actually do day-to-day]
- I've been in this role for roughly: [X years / months]
- The industry I work in is: [e.g. consumer goods / baby products / retail]
- One thing I'm good at in my role: [something you'd put on a CV]
- One area I know I could develop: [be honest — this is just between you and Copilot]
Please confirm you've understood my context and ask me one follow-up question to help you get a better picture of where I want to go.
Tips for this step
- You don't need to write an essay — bullet points are fine
- Replace everything in [square brackets] with your own words
- If Copilot asks you a follow-up question, answer it — that's the conversation starting
5-min discussion
What did Copilot ask you? Did it pick up on anything you hadn't expected? What felt surprising about putting your role into words?
2
Prompt 2 of 5
Build your skills assessment
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Now you bring in the WEF data. This prompt asks Copilot to create a personalised skills assessment based on what the research says matters most for the next five years — mapped to your specific role.
Your prompt
Based on the context I've just given you, I'd like you to create a simple skills self-assessment for me.
Use the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025 as your reference. The report identifies the following as the top skills for 2030:
Growing fast: analytical thinking, creative thinking, technological literacy, AI and big data fluency, resilience and adaptability, curiosity and lifelong learning, leadership and social influence.
Declining: routine data processing, manual task repetition, basic memory and recall tasks.
Please select the 8 skills from the growing list that are most relevant to my role, and present them as a simple rating exercise. For each skill, give me a one-sentence plain-English description of what it means in the context of my job — not generic definitions. Then ask me to rate myself from 1 to 5 on each one.
Tips for this step
- Rate yourself honestly — there's no right answer, and no one else will see this
- If a description doesn't feel right for your role, tell Copilot and ask it to adjust
- Don't overthink the ratings — your first instinct is usually accurate
5-min discussion
How did Copilot tailor the skill descriptions to your role? Did any of the 8 skills surprise you — either how relevant they felt, or how they were described?
3
Prompt 3 of 5
Get your honest gap analysis
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You've done your ratings. Now ask Copilot to tell you what they actually mean. This is where it stops being a quiz and starts being useful — a clear, plain-English read of where your gaps are and what's most urgent to address.
Your prompt
Here are my ratings for each skill: [paste in your ratings from the previous step]
Based on these, I'd like three things from you:
1. A plain-English summary of my skills profile — where I'm strong, where the gaps are, and what stands out.
2. An honest assessment of how AI and automation are likely to affect someone in my role over the next 3–5 years, based on the WEF data. Don't soften it — I'd rather know.
3. The top 3 skills I should prioritise developing, and a brief explanation of why those three specifically — not just what's lowest rated, but what matters most for someone doing my kind of work in the next few years.
Be direct. I can handle an honest answer.
Tips for this step
- The last line matters — asking Copilot to "be direct" changes the tone of the response significantly
- If the response feels too generic, say so: "That feels a bit vague — can you be more specific about my role?"
- Push back if you disagree with any of the priorities — that's a valid conversation
5-min discussion
Did anything in the gap analysis land differently than you expected? How did Copilot's read on AI impact compare to your own sense of how your role is changing?
4
Prompt 4 of 5
Build your development plan
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This is where it becomes a plan. You take everything Copilot now knows about you — your role, your ratings, your gaps, your priorities — and ask it to turn that into something you can actually act on.
Your prompt
Based on everything we've discussed — my role, my skills ratings, and the three priority areas you identified — I'd like you to help me build a focused development plan for the next 6 to 12 months.
For each of the three priority skills, please suggest:
- One thing I could do right now (this week or this month) to start building it
- One type of learning or resource that would help — be specific, not just "take a course"
- One way I could practise or use this skill in my current role, without needing to wait for a new opportunity
Keep it realistic. I'm not looking for a wish list — I want things I could genuinely commit to alongside my normal job.
Tips for this step
- If a suggestion doesn't fit your life, tell Copilot your constraints: "I work part-time", "I don't have budget for courses", "I work remotely"
- Ask it to prioritise if the plan feels too much: "If I could only focus on one of these for the next month, which would you recommend and why?"
- You can ask it to format the plan as a table if that's easier to save and refer back to
5-min discussion
What felt genuinely useful in the plan? What would you actually do? Is there anything Copilot suggested that you'd never have thought of yourself?
5
Prompt 5 of 5
Look further ahead Go deeper
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This prompt is for those who want to go beyond the 6–12 month plan and think more strategically. Where does your profession need to be in five years — and what does that mean for who you need to become? This is where the conversation gets more interesting.
Your prompt
I want to zoom out and think longer term. Based on everything you know about my role and the WEF data, I'd like you to help me think about the next 3–5 years.
Specifically:
1. What does someone in my profession or role type need to look like by 2030 to still be valuable and relevant? What skills, behaviours and mindset shifts matter most?
2. What's the biggest single thing standing between where I am now and that version of me — based on what I've shared with you today?
3. If you were advising me as a mentor rather than an AI, what's the one thing you'd tell me to start doing differently — and why?
Don't give me a list of ten things. Give me clear, considered thinking on these three questions.
Tips for this step
- The "mentor rather than AI" framing shifts the quality of the response — try it
- If the answer feels too safe, push: "What would you say if you weren't worried about being too direct?"
- This is a good prompt to return to every few months as your situation changes
- Try asking: "What questions should I be asking myself that I haven't asked yet?"
5-min discussion
What did the "mentor" framing change about the response? Did it surface anything that felt genuinely challenging? What's the one thing you're taking away from this whole session?
Your notes
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WEF 2025 Skills Reference
▲ Growing fast — build these
Analytical thinkingBreaking down complex problems, interpreting data, and making evidence-based decisions — the #1 skill employers want by 2030.
Creative thinkingGenerating original ideas and unconventional solutions. AI can suggest options, but humans still lead on genuine creative leaps.
Technological literacyKnowing how to use digital tools effectively — not just basic IT, but understanding what technology can and can't do in your work.
AI & big data fluencyBeing able to work with AI tools, understand outputs critically, and use data to inform decisions rather than just accepting results at face value.
Resilience & adaptabilityStaying effective through change and uncertainty. The pace of workplace transformation means this is now a core professional skill, not a personality trait.
Curiosity & lifelong learningActively seeking new knowledge and skills throughout your career. The WEF flags this as essential — roles will keep evolving and so must we.
Leadership & social influenceMotivating others, building trust, and shaping how a team or organisation moves forward. Distinctly human and increasingly valuable.
Environmental stewardshipUnderstanding sustainability and how it applies to your role and organisation. Growing in importance across all sectors, not just environmental ones.
Talent managementDeveloping, retaining and getting the best from people — a skill that becomes more strategic as routine tasks get automated.
▼ Declining — be aware
Routine data processingManually entering, sorting or formatting data. AI and automation now handle this faster and more accurately than humans in most contexts.
Manual task repetitionPerforming the same physical or digital task repeatedly. Automation is increasingly taking over repetitive workflows across industries.
Basic memory & recallRemembering facts, figures or processes that could be looked up. With AI assistants always available, this as a core skill is losing value.
Manual dexterity (office)Physical tasks like filing, printing, or operating basic equipment. Declining in relevance as digital-first workflows become the norm.
Reading & writing basicsBasic literacy skills are now a baseline assumption. The value has shifted to higher-order communication — critical reading, persuasive writing, storytelling.