Searching for a new job can be a grind. It can also be the quickest way that many people can earn more money or achieve a better work-life balance. While Chat GPT can’t do a job interview for you, it can help you navigate and prepare for the hiring process.
Learn how Chat GPT can be leveraged to create a better resume, craft a cover letter and help you prepare for an in-person interview.
Use Chat GPT to Help Write a Resume
As a test, we copied a job posting from indeed.com and pasted it after the following prompt in Chat GPT-4.
Create 15 actionable resume bullet points that speak to experience, success, and include power words for the following job description: <Paste Job Description here>
Even though you will only use 3 to 5 bullet points in a resume, asking ChatGPT to provide to 15. This number could really be anything you want, but we like to ask ChatGPT for more than we need so that we can pick and choose some of the best points. It’s likely that at least some of the bullet points could be related to your current or past work experience.
This is an example of the output that ChatGPT-4 generated related to a job posting for an Oracle Functional HCM Analyst. (If unfamiliar, it’s a job for someone who helps manage Oracle’s HR software for companies)
Use Chat GPT to help write a Cover Letter
To write a professional Cover Letter, ChatGPT can be utilized. The cover letter is a step that many people will skip, and can be considered antiquated by some. However, there are companies that specifically require a cover letter to ensure that applicants are truly interested in the job. The more effort that a company requires an applicant to go through is an indication of how much they want the opportunity.
Try copy and pasting your resume, or some of the key points about the company into ChatGPT and have it outline a Cover Letter for you. The final product should be customized and tailored to your specific situation and explain why you want the job, and why you are a good fit.
Chat GPT can assist in writing but does not know your specific reasons for applying for a position.
Be Aware of AI Detection Tools for HR
Applicant Tracking Systems and Recruiting Software have been utilizing Artificial Intelligence and advanced algorithms for years now. They’re especially common at large companies that need a way to efficiently screen high volumes of candidates.
For better or worse, these application tracking systems analyze your resume looking for keywords and assign a probability score for how successful they think you may be at the job. While we have not heard of any specific instances at this point in time, it’s entirely likely that these tools will also be setup to detect AI generated content.
Meaning that a personal hand written cover letter could provide more weight to an application vs. one that was computer generated. This is purely conjecture in our part but is will within the realm of possibility.
Chat GPT can Help with Interview Preparation
No two interviews are exactly the same. Companies can have different processes from multiple rounds of 1 on 1 interviews to dreaded group panel interviews. However, there are some common threads.
Many companies will use similar behavioral interview questions. These will look something like, “Tell me about a time when you had to resolve a conflict with a difficult co-worker”. Chat GPT can provide a list of common behavioral questions that you can practice answering ahead of time.
The other use case that’s more interesting, is asking Chat GPT to provide common interview questions for a specific job role. In the example below, we asked Chat GPT to provide common interview questions for a Business Analyst position.
It does a very good job of creating realistic questions. If you want to take it a step further, you can even have Chat GPT provide recommended responses.
We would caution anybody using this method to ensure that they do not use this as a memorization practice. Memorizing the answers and repeating them verbatim will come off as robotic and unenthusiastic for a position. You want to be prepared, but you don’t want to seem unnatural in delivering responses to interview questions.
Should you use Chat GPT for Technical Interviews?
Many programming and computer based jobs will require candidates to pass a skills test. It’s historically been a way that an employer can verify that a candidate has the skills that they say they do on a resume and in an interview. The advent of AI means that these tests could be easier to pass with the help of an AI assistant.
We recognize that Chat GPT is becoming part of people’s work life. If the tool is available to use in your day to day, why not use it for a test?
However, this misrepresentation of skillset is both unethical and can lead to termination if your new employer discovers that you don’t actually have the skills to back up your resume. In addition to this, Chat GPT and other AI coding tools are not 100% accurate. It helps to have a level of familiarity with whatever programming language you are using to be able to quickly and efficiently correct the code that it’s generating.
In the case of timed tests, it may also be faster to write code yourself than rely on an AI Assistant. We expect that much like AI writing detection tools, that there will soon be AI detection for computer programming code that will be deployed by software companies that publish testing software.
Chat GPT can Automate Follow-up e-mails and Thank You Letters
It’s best practice after someone takes the time to interview you to follow-up with an e-mail thanking them for taking the time out of their day to speak with you and to consider you for a position. The thank you note is also another touch point where you can re-iterate your interest in the job that you’re applying for. Many hiring managers prefer hiring people that are enthusiastic and bring an upbeat energy to their team. They will typically lean towards an enthusiastic candidate over someone who does not seem that interest, all things being equal.
Try writing a thank you note, and if it doesn’t sound the way that you want it to, try running it through Chat GPT. It’s best to be sincere and genuine but Chat GPT can help you find the right words. You could also use Chat GPT to help write an e-mail following up on a job that you applied for but have not heard anything back on.
Many hiring managers do not mean to be intentionally rude but can get caught up in the day-to-day tornado of work. A quick note might be the thing they need to prompt a response and let them know that you’re still interested.
Conclusion
Finding a good fit and the right next job can take a lot of time and effort. The greater the salary you are seeking, the fewer jobs there are and the longer a job search will take. It can be a grind and take a lot of hard work and determination.
Tools like Chat GPT can help you create a Resume, draft a Cover Letter, prepare for an interview question and even assist you in preparing for a technical assessment. Keep in mind that as you use AI tools, companies are hiring a person. The hiring manager is hiring a person, and they want to see your personality and get to know you.
We spend over 8 hours a day, 5 days a week with our co-workers. It’s important that there’s a good personality fit with the existing team and that factor can be more important than technically answering every interview question perfectly and having a precisely optimized resume or cover letter.