ChatGPT can be a great tool to use as a starting point to spark your ideas, enhance your job applications and save you time. If you’ve not used it before it is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool which responds to your prompts or questions. It is a bit like having a text conversation, even though you’re not talking to a human, and it’s free! Responding to the input you provide, it will generate text based on anything you’ve shared or any questions you ask. For example, in the summer I was planning a game for a party I was throwing. The game involved carrying out a mission and I ran out of ideas, so I asked ChatGPT! I typed in the following:
Give me ideas for a mission to complete at a party undetected.
It gave me suggestions like ‘change one accessory every 15 minutes without anyone noticing’ and ‘take photos of 5 different guests without them seeing.’
You can also ask follow-up questions or give more prompts to refine, revise or improve its responses like:
Can you give me some alternative suggestions? or Can you give me some missions that would be good for children?
ChatGPT can be a useful tool in job searches and in the application process. Let’s now look at these in more depth.
Job and Company Searches
ChatGPT can be a useful starting point if you’re changing role, trying to identify a new career path or find your ideal career. It can kickstart your research into different types of roles, industries or companies and give you valuable insights.
For example, if you’re a lawyer and wanting to change career but not sure what companies or roles might be good for you, try asking ChatGPT the following:
If I have worked as an employment lawyer for my whole career, what transferable skills do I possess that are valuable in other fields?
You can then ask a follow up question:
What are some other careers that I could transition to using these transferable skills?
If you already know what types of roles you want to apply for, you can copy and paste example job descriptions into ChatGPT and ask it to list the top transferable or technical skills that you would need to be successful in that position. This can help you determine whether you have the experience required for a particular role or help you to highlight particular skills and experience in your application.
If you already know the company you’d like to apply to, you can ask ChatGPT to tell you about the organisation to begin your research. For example, if you’re interested in the travel industry, you could ask the following:
What can you tell me about the company, Trailfinders?
You can then ask follow-up questions such as:
What entry level jobs are available at Trailfinders?
When I tried this myself, ChatGPT gave me results based on searching 4 websites.
CV Writing
There is a ‘Resume’ section on ChatGPT and you can ask it to analyse your CV for you and identify your transferable skills. This will help you match the skills you possess to the jobs you’re applying to.
Warning!
Avoid including your name or any personal details and only copy and paste the main body of your CV into the text box.
You can ask ChatGPT to review your existing CV and help tailor it to a job description to help you think about how you present your skills and experience to a specific audience:
Can you tailor my CV to the following job description for a (job title) role at (company name)?
Or, if you’re aware that one section of your CV is descriptive rather than outcome focused you can ask ChatGPT to edit particular bullet points for example:
Revise these bullet points in my CV to make the contributions I made in the role more specific and demonstrating the impact of the work I did.
Beware!
- You need to be careful and review any text ChatGPT generates, checking for accuracy and ensuring it reflects your accomplishments. Use it to give you ideas of the types of metrics you might want to include or to help you phrase your bullet points. Don’t just copy the text exactly as it’s given – make it your own.
- Always provide some source material – you can ask ChatGPT to write something from scratch but if you’re using it to help you with your CV or cover letter, without any source material it will create something that doesn’t reflect you and your skills / experience.
- Always check the text for accuracy of information.
- Remember that the text generated will lack your own personal style and tone – use it as a starting point only and then make it your own.
- Avoid using the exact text ChatGPT generates as this can be considered plagiarism – use it to generate ideas and then edit, revise and refine.
Cover Letter Writing
Many find drafting a cover letter a real challenge. Just as with your CV, ChatGPT can help as a starting point if you provide it with some source material. You can give it the job description and your CV and ask it to generate a cover letter or you can ask it to improve a letter you’ve already written.
Remember that you will need to include your reasons for what attracts you to the role, either by sharing this with ChatGPT or by adding it in afterwards when you revise and edit the text.
Review my CV and the following job description and write a three-paragraph cover letter that highlights my relevant experience and qualifications.
Help me write a cover letter for a (job title) role. I want to highlight my skills in (name the skills) and my experience with (name the experience).
Can you tailor my cover letter so that it speaks to the following job description.
Beware!
- ChatGPT is a useful tool to help you overcome writer’s block but avoid using the text generated exactly as it is. Use the text provided as a framework which you check for accuracy, edit and revise and make your own.
- Reword the text so that it reflects your own personal style and tone.
Interview Preparation
Preparing for an interview can be daunting. ChatGPT is a useful tool in providing you with some common and more specific sample questions. For example:
What are the common interview questions for a role in data analysis?
You can also ask for more specific sample questions using the job description. For example:
What are the 10 behavioural interview questions I should be prepared to answer based on the following role?
You can then ask it to provide some example responses based on your CV to give you ideas about the experiences you want to share in the interview, followed by further prompts such as:
How can I answer this question using the STAR method?
Beware!
- Use the responses to give you ideas and help you with your thinking – you will need to check for accuracy and edit and refine.
- You don’t want your answers to sound scripted or rehearsed – use the ChatGPT responses to help you identify the talking points or stories you want to tell about your past experience, not to learn verbatim!
Some final advice:
Ask ChatGPT what it can do for you. For example:
I would like some help writing a cover letter for a job as an accountant, what information should I give you and what prompts do you recommend I use to get the best results?
Play around with ChatGPT and see what works best for you. For example, ask it to write your tagline for your LinkedIn profile or to craft a tailored professional summary.
Use ChatGPT to enhance your research, enhance your applications and be more efficient with your time, but use the responses as starting points rather than the finished product.
