Technology is changing the way job searchers search for, prepare for, and find jobs, and advances in artificial intelligence (AI) will hasten those changes. ChatGPT, a large-language model from OpenAI, an AI research facility, is one of the most recent developments in AI. In layman’s words, it’s a sophisticated chatbot, a computer program meant to mimic human speech. ChatGPT is cutting-edge software that uses millions of texts to predict the next words in a sequence.
ChatGPT has gone popular since its inception in late 2022. In reality, if you’ve tried to access the program in the last few weeks, you’ve probably been confronted with a message that says “the site is at capacity,” and some users claim they’ve been held in ChatGPT’s waiting room for many days. There are, of course, workarounds for this stumbling issue. For example, you can keep refreshing your browser until you are allowed admission, which can take up to an hour in some situations.
However, depending on your intended use of the software, the delay may be well worth it, reducing hours of effort into one (or several) carefully-phrased searches. There are obvious and, some could argue, problematic uses for ChatGPT, such as producing articles or academic essays, but the program has the ability to aid in many ways; all that is required is understanding how ChatGPT works.
To that aim, we decided to put ChatGPT to the test to see if it may be a useful tool in the job search. We specifically investigated how it may be used to conduct corporate research, produce a résumé and cover letter, or prepare for an interview. Continue reading to find out what we discovered.
The program can only retrieve texts from 2021 and earlier, so anything more recent is out of bounds. Unlike other popular AI, it does not actively search the internet. It is also susceptible to generalization, so the more information you can provide it with, the better. We’ll walk you through some interactions with ChatGPT below to help paint a clearer picture.
After completing OpenAI’s simple enrollment process (you only need to supply an email, password, and phone number), you’ll be presented with a chat window in which you can ask ChatGPT almost anything. According to an NPR investigation, educators are wrestling with the fact that it can write many of their students’ assignments for them. Vanity Fair writers have discovered that ChatGPT can write in their voice quite accurately.
- ChatGPT for corporate research
Whether you’re just starting your job hunt or investigating a company with whom you have an interview, research is an important part of the process. In this section, we will look at how to use ChatGPT to find information about a specific job field and firm.
Because of its iterative capability, ChatGPT can be far more useful for research than Google. To find something specific on Google, you must currently enter a random assortment of search engine-optimized words. If you Google “Web designer job Portland,” you’ll receive a list of available positions. ChatGPT cannot access specific job vacancies, but it can inform you where to look for them. It recommends you to a local institute where other members of the profession take lessons and attend networking events in this situation. Search engines tell you what to do, but ChatGPT informs you how to do it, which can be quite effective.
However, even its rendition of what is superior to search engines. If you ask it, “Who was the CEO of Indeed in 2021?” it will tell you. It will advise you that the CEO’s name is Chris Hyams and provide you with detailed information about his past. While you can get this information on Google, ChatGPT processes it for you and provides it in an easy-to-digest package, eliminating the need to navigate through many web pages. This is an excellent opportunity to conduct research and learn more about any companies to which you may be applying. One big caveat: as previously said, ChatGPT does not have access to any information after 2021, therefore everything you discover should be cross-checked with other sources. If and when the programme has access to the internet,
- ChatGPT for assistance with resume and cover letter writing
ChatGPT can help you with cover letters and resume writing in addition to research. You can use it as a guide to build a cover letter or resume if you provide as much information as feasible. Reporters and writers from various publications put ChatGPT-written cover letters up against real-life recruiters. However, one recruiter noted of ChatGPT in an Insider piece, “It lacks the personal touch where we learn about a candidate’s human experiences, anecdotal evidence to back up their skills, and passion for the role.”
In other words, while ChatGPT can provide you with an incredible template that shows you exactly what to put where, it cannot speak to the visceral experience of your previous employment. There are, however, several methods to make this limitation work for you. According to Joshua L. Ritter, a creative executive in the film and television industries, he used ChatGPT to construct a cover letter paragraph by paragraph. He’d type in a few detailed phrases on his experience, then let the programmed edit them. He’d simply add, “Expand this into a full cover letter paragraph” or something like, and the results were perfect. He also said that ChatGPT is a good tool for coming up with interesting project titles.
- Use ChatGPT to practice for job interviews.
Interviewing is the last but not least. Though this is the most talked-about element of ChatGPT job search aid, it is also the most hardest to grasp.
“What are some tips for preparing for a job interview?” you might ask ChatGPT. It will respond by instructing you to conduct research on the organization, read the job description, and prepare to answer common queries. You might then follow up by asking for some examples. “Tell me about yourself,” it will respond. What are your strong points? “What are your flaws?” Everything is fairly general.
You can request sample responses to any of those questions, but it’s preferable to iterate if you want to get the most out of ChatGPT.
Iteration is essential.
In other words, ask increasingly specific variations of the same question. Instead of simply asking it how to prepare for any job interview, provide specifics such as the job title, company, and level of experience. Entering “interview questions for a senior software engineer” yields responses such as “Can you describe your experience with code review and testing processes?” “How do you ensure the quality of the code you write?” You could even go a step farther and ask it questions about specific programming languages and other topics.
However, these responses will ultimately be more valuable for your personal preparation than for providing functional solutions. If you answer the questions correctly, ChatGPT will likely score your answer as “satisfactory” and go on to the next question. It is, once again, merely a text generator. It has no knowledge whether your response was good or bad; it can simply generate what it considers to be the most likely follow-up response, which is roughly
“Thanks! Next question…”
Similarly, if you ask ChatGPT to answer the questions for you, the outcomes will be different. When given the prior coding question, for example, it will respond, “As an Artificial Intelligence, I do not have personal experience with code review and testing processes.” It will then go on to discuss the code review procedure.
As a result, it’s best used as a question generator rather than a mock interview partner. However, you may soon find yourself in a situation where ChatGPT–or a similar chatbot–is conducting the interview.
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According to a 2019 Harvey-Nash survey, more than 20% of organisations now employ chatbot technology in their recruitment process. These chatbot interviews are frequently used to screen out unqualified candidates or those who do not fit with the company culture. Interacting with ChatGPT can assist you in passing these interviews by teaching you which keywords and phrasing will advance you to the next round. As always, carefully read the job description. But why not approach ChatGPT for assistance?
Overall, ChatGPT is a valuable and promising tool that’s easy to start with but hard to master. It’s a great editor and brainstorming partner, but it can’t read your mind, and it can’t come up with new ideas. While it can prepare you for an interview, it’s always going to be your own passion and experience that land you a role. And once you’re there, there’s no AI that can do your job for you.