Teaching the Skills of Tomorrow: How CMU’s ETC and IDeATe Programs Match What Employers Want

When LinkedIn published its first “Skills on the Rise” report earlier this year, the findings reinforced what Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) and IDeATe programs have long understood: the future belongs to professionals who thrive in collaborative workplaces and seamlessly combine creativity and technology.

LinkedIn’s comprehensive analysis examined millions of user profiles, job postings, and hiring patterns to identify the 15 fastest-growing professional skills. AI literacy topped the list— not a deep technical knowledge of machine learning algorithms, but the practical application of AI tools like ChatGPT and GitHub Copilot for business purposes. 

The ETC is responding to this demand by adding a new Faculty Position in AI for Games and Experimental Media, specifically seeking professionals who can teach students to integrate AI tools creatively in game development and interactive experiences.

Just as important were the interpersonal skills ranked on the list in seven of the top ten slots. Traditionally classified as “soft skills,” these included conflict mitigation, adaptability, process optimization, innovative thinking, public speaking, and customer engagement.

These skills are at the heart of the ETC curriculum. Designed around the principle that meaningful innovation is by nature interdisciplinary, the ETC brings artists, technologists, designers, and storytellers together on a single team to work on real projects with real deadlines. In the process, they figure out how to communicate across their different ways of thinking and working that transcend any single role. Students present and test their work with outside clients and partners, frequently reworking their projects again and again. It’s great preparation for the working world, where things rarely go according to plan.

“The ETC has always been built around the idea that the most interesting problems require diverse perspectives,” said Derek Ham, director of the Entertainment Technology Center. “Our students learn to speak multiple ‘languages’ — technical, creative, and business — because their projects demand it.”

IDeATe brings this same approach to undergraduate students across the entire university. Students from any major are able to enroll in IDeATe classes, where they can learn to design games, create interactive art installations, or build smart environments alongside classmates coming from schools across CMU. 

“Our classrooms are spaces where students have the structure they need to push their thinking into new terrain,” said Rich Nisa, associate dean for IDeATe. “We want students to recognize that some of the most powerful learning experiences happen when we are willing to fail, so they are supported in their efforts to take creative risks, iterate, and treat missteps as opportunities to grow.”

This resilience was identified by LinkedIn as essential in today’s workplace: adaptability ranks third among rising skills, driven by rapidly changing workplace dynamics and technological advancement. The curricula of these interdisciplinary programs treat adaptability not as an abstract concept, but as a skill honed through iterative project work.

As AI changes how we work, the skills LinkedIn highlighted will become basic requirements for most jobs. For ETC and IDeATe graduates, this flexibility is already second nature, preparing them for careers that — as the report suggests — will involve double the amount of job changes as previous generations. The challenge for universities is creating learning experiences that develop these abilities in meaningful ways.

“The ETC and IDeATe show a path forward: collaborative, creative, and hands-on learning that prepares students not for specific jobs, but for careers, many of which don’t exist yet,” said Helen and Henry Posner, Jr. Dean of the University Libraries and Director of Emerging and Integrative Media Initiatives Keith Webster, who oversees both programs. “In a world of rapid change, these programs demonstrate what’s possible when you design education for the future, not just the present.”

---