TLDR: I got an interview for a job using ChatGPT within 12 hours of applying. What was more impressive is that it was the first interview I landed with absolutely no connection to the company or its employees.
Conversational AI is a hot topic right now, and for good reason. AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Google Bard can automate tasks, improve customer service, and even help you land a job interview.
As a content professional who’s been working with artificial intelligence (AI) and automation for years, I know it’s value first hand. I’ve seen the increasing reliability of machine translation and the way individuals successfully use it to improve their workflows.
Since the hype coincided with my search for a new job due to tech layoffs, I decided to dig in to see how this new tool could help me eliminate the tedious, boring parts of my job search and give me more time for strategic and productive tasks.
Large-language, conversational AI models rely on well-crafted prompts. If you’re going to spend time using these tools, spend time learning to create quality prompts. I’ll dive more deeply into prompt creation when I share how I used ChatGPT to write a book about ChatGPT, but for now, here are the details about how I leveled up my job search.
After finding a job posting for which I was well qualified, I started the online application process. The company’s website and job postings were very upbeat and humorous and included quite a few puns loosely related to the company name. I won’t tell the pun details because that would give away the company.
My ChatGPT Process
Prompt: Optimize my resume for a specific job. I will provide you with my resume and the job description.
I pasted my resume and the job description into the chat.
Result: A few suggestions, but nothing noteworthy. To be fair, the resume had been tweaked to death prior to that using other tools and professional feedback to maximize it for everything.
Prompt: Write a cover letter for this job based on my resume and the job description.
Result: A well-written, yet very standard, cover letter that included details from my experience and the job description.
Prompt: Add a pun about topic A or topic B to the cover letter.
Result: A new cover letter with several appropriate, funny puns and a lighter tone.
Prompt: Write a closing pun that says thank you for considering me.
Result: A surprisingly good pun.
Prompt: Write a LinkedIn message to the hiring manager to express interest in the company and the role.
Result: A short, but solid LinkedIn message.
I made a few edits to the cover letter and the LinkedIn message.
I finished the online application, attaching my resume and the edited ChatGPT-generated cover letter.
I pasted the edited ChatGPT message in a LinkedIn message to the hiring manager.
Outcome
I received a LinkedIn response from the hiring manager in less than twelve hours and an interview was scheduled within two days.
In the end, the job wasn’t the right fit for my next career move, but using ChatGPT to improve my job search was a win. Why? The time it took me to tweak my resume and create the needed artifacts to apply for a job was reduced by hours.
Fortunately, I didn’t get to practice the method long, as I ended up accepting a position with a different company with which I was already interviewing.
Closing Thoughts on ChatGPT
Will I keep using large language model tools like ChatGPT and Google Bard? Absolutely. You’ve probably been using tools like Microsoft Word grammar and spellcheck for years, and maybe you’re using tools like Grammarly or Acrolinx. Conversational AI is the next evolution.
Am I worried about my profession becoming obsolete? Not yet, but I plan to evolve with the tools and learn to be an expert in them as they change the profession. How do you feel about using artificial intelligence in the work place?
What’s Next?
Check back soon to hear about:
- How I wrote a book about ChatGPT using ChatGPT
- Writing structured content with conversational AI
- ChatGPT vs Google Bard
- Translations in conversational AI vs neural machine translation
