5 Ways ChatGPT Can Make Applying to Jobs Easier
When ChatGPT first hit the scene, I scoffed (I’m a writer, after all) but inside I was quickly filling up with anxiety, thinking that one day soon this thing was going to take my job (I’m a writer, after all).
So I avoided ChatGPT like the plague, just as I avoided Uggs in the early 2000’s, until I started the job application process. It doesn’t matter if you live and breathe writing, I can’t think of a single person who enjoys writing a resume or cover letter. Oh god — the dreaded cover letter.
This is when I realized ChatGPT might finally prove useful!
What is ChatGPT?
I asked ChatGPT to answer that question for you:
ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence chatbot developed by OpenAI, based on the GPT (Generative Pretrained Transformer) architecture. GPT is a type of large language model that uses deep learning techniques to understand and generate human-like text based on the input it receives. ChatGPT is designed to conduct conversations with users, answer questions, provide information, generate creative content, and assist with a wide range of tasks, from writing and summarizing to more complex problem-solving.
and then I asked, “can you dumb it down?”
Sure! ChatGPT is like a robot on the computer that you can talk to. It's made by a group called OpenAI. This robot is really good at understanding and replying to what you say, kind of like having a chat with a friend. It can help answer questions, write stories or even give advice on lots of different topics. It learned all this from reading lots of stuff on the internet, but it can't learn new things after it was last updated, so it might not know about the very latest news or events.
What is Prompt Engineering?
To begin testing my theory, I bestowed ChatGPT its new identity:
“You are a seasoned career advisor and expert cover letter writer.”
This is prompt engineering. I set ChatGPT up with a prompt to become whatever I wanted it to be, be that an identity, tone of voice, or length of speech, the list goes on.
Then I gave my instruction:
“Review this job description, my resume, and this cover letter I wrote and write me a new cover letter.”
Next, I copy and pasted the job description, my resume, and my cover letter into the search box and pressed Enter.
ChatGPT spewed out a new, shiny cover letter in about 15 seconds. It was a little bland. generic, and white lie-y, but it had all the right points. So I spent the next 10 minutes coaching ChatGPT in drafting rewrites until it gave me a cover letter I could tweak and submit.
Okay, now I get it, I thought. This isn’t so hard!
Don’t believe me? Well here’s exactly how ChatGPT has made my job search easier. It can make your job application process easier too!
Writing your resume with AI
There are two avenues you can take, the lazy route (no judgement) or the proactive route.
The “lazy route” is to have ChatGPT write your resume from scratch. But you’ve got to give it something to go off of. Like a bulleted list of:
Places you’ve worked
Dates you worked there
Things you’ve done and important successes you’ve contributed to.
Where you went to school, certificates you’ve been awarded, etc
And if you don’t know what to give exactly – literally ask ChatGPT what it needs in order to write your resume for you.
The “proactive route” is to write a draft of your resume and then ask ChatGPT to “make it better”.
Tip: The best way to write a resume with ChatGPT is to be specific. If you’ve got the job description in front of you, give that to ChatGPT to analyze and help write the best resume for that role.
Writing a cover letter with AI
Take the same avenues I mentioned in resume writing with a cover letter: lazy or proactive.
If you’re going “lazy”, give ChatGPT your resume and the job description and ask it to make a cover letter for you.
If you’re going “proactive”, write a draft of the cover letter and include that with your resume and job description.
Tip: Go one step further by including specific job “wins” that aren’t in your resume and reasons why you want to work at that company.
Company and job role research
How do I know if I’m the right fit for this job?
It’s safe to say we all struggle with imposter syndrome.
Whether you want to know if your experience aligns with the role, or you love the role but you don’t understand what the company does, ask ChatGPT for insight.
Generate a SWOT analysis
Check out Awais Khan’s step by step process for implementing a SWOT analysis prompt into ChatGPT. A SWOT analysis will show you why you’ll succeed in the position, where the gaps are, and how you can improve.
Example: In a SWOT analysis by ChatGPT, I discovered that I was lacking in SEO strategy experience. I asked ChatGPT what the best resources were for learning this strategy and was given a list of links. (Shout out to SEMRush’s Keyword Magic tool for helping me optimize this post!)
Just ask…
Or literally just dump your resume and the job description into the chat box and ask ChatGPT: “Would I be the right fit for this job?”
ChatGPT is very chatty, so it won’t just give you an answer without going into great detail to defend their answer. This will help your confidence for any unsure feelings you have about applying.
Company research
Sometimes a company’s About page has industry jargon that reads as gibberish to you. I used to rely on Reddit’s Explain Like I’m 5 form when I needed something distilled for me. Now ChatGPT can do that and way more.
Example: I was applying for a marketing role at a business consultant firm. The job description mentioned “value propositions”. I wanted to understand these VPs and how the company’s consumer experienced them. I asked ChatGPT to give me a detailed User Persona related to each value proposition.
ChatGPT gave me full names, ages, job descriptions, wants, needs, and desires like that! (pretend I snapped my fingers). So I didn’t just memorize the value propositions, I was able to understand each one and why they mattered in real-life situations.
This hack works best with large public companies that have seemingly been around since the dawn of time. ChatGPT only knows as much as the internet tells it, so researching a start-up might not be as useful.
However, if the company itself doesn’t have much info, ChatGPT will get enough of the gist to help you understand what they do and compare it to other companies with similar services. Or they’ll point you in the right direction to find more info. (The downside is that they use Bing as their search engine…)
Here’s an example with a private company based in CT called Rocket Air and Dell - both questions ChatGPT couldn’t answer but it did its best.
Prepping for a job interview
I’m sure you’ve heard people say that interviewing is its own skill, and they’re right. Hate it all you want, how you do in interviews can make or break your chances at landing the job.
The hiring team will want to see the energy you give off, how you communicate off-the-cuff, and most of all – how well you can pitch yourself.
If you are like me, you get super awkward in interviews and end sentences with “So, yeah...”
I was terrified of making this mistake in my next interview so I prepped. Hard. You would’ve thought I was auditioning for a role in the local production of “Wicked!”
Here’s what I did:
I researched the company’s career website and Glassdoor, noting anything related to interviews or interview questions, and put each of these into a spreadsheet.
Next I asked ChatGPT to review the job description and generate more questions. It put those questions into my spreadsheet.
Then I went through and answered the questions as best I could. Not with a script, but with specific bullet points and word vomit.
And finally, I went back to ChatGPT one question at a time with this prompt:
You are a seasoned career and public speaking coach. Imagine I am in a job interview with the hiring manager. Help me write a 1 minute script to answer this question, based on the bullet points I’ve given you.
Here’s the question: [Question]
and here are my bullet points: [Bullet points]
Tip: ChatGPT likes to go overboard. Sometimes the scripts will be way longer than 1 minute, or contain fluff that you don’t want. Remember that ChatGPT is giving you a guide. It’s your job to tweak the script so it sounds like you, not a computer.
Once I have my bank of questions and answers, I practice, practice, practice!
Check out the comment section of this Reddit post for tips on how ChatGPT can conduct your mock interview.
Interview Assessment and Case Study Prep
There is always a possibility that the hiring manager will give you a pop quiz or a take-home task to complete. This could be like a coding challenge for a Software Engineer role or a case study for a Marketing Analyst role.
The hiring manager of my current job sprung a live assessment on me during my interview and I was totally caught off-guard. I’m sure he heard the panic in my voice. So anxious that I failed to notice how the image of woman in a bikini didn’t exactly go with the rest of the kitchen appliance landing page…
If you’re nervous about this unknown and don’t want it sprung on you like it was for me, ask ChatGPT to list possible assignments or case studies you may be asked to complete.
For fun, I asked ChatGPT what assignments it thought my job interview would’ve included and bingo, the exercise I did is on the list!
Make ChatGPT your assistant
I would like to end this post with a word of caution and address the elephant in the room when it comes to applying for jobs with ChatGPT. AI is not human.
Treat ChatGPT as the authority, and you’ll fail.
Treat ChatGPT as the assistant, and you’ll succeed.
You may see the big words and enthusiasm in ChatGPT’s copy and think its well-written, but it lacks authenticity and your personal brand.
So keep challenging ChatGPT. Tell it to stop giving you nonsense and fluff.
Eventually it’ll keep going in circles and you’ll get frustrated when it’s not giving you exactly what you want. When that happens, take the reins and finish writing with your own words.
YOU are the authority. ChatGPT is just the assistant.
Good luck!