Artificial intelligence (AI), including ChatGPT, has emerged as a powerful career development tool when used correctly. Learn more about its strengths and limitations below.Â
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- ChatGPT and other AI tools can be used to enhance your résumé (not write one for you!). Choose prompts that are specific to the role you're applying for. This will help you create materials that are tailored to the position and demonstrate your relevant skills and experience.
- Just like any other writing, it's important to edit and proofread anything generated by ChatGPT before submitting it. Make sure the content flows well, the wording is typo- and error-free, and the metrics are accurate. You should be able to speak to every bullet point on your résumé if asked about it in an interview.
- While ChatGPT can be a helpful tool for enhancing your resume, it shouldn't replace your own creativity and perspective. AI-generated results are meant to provide suggestions—not be copied and pasted word-for-word. Think of these ChatGPT resume prompts as a supplement to your own ideas and insights, not a replacement.
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- If you provide detailed prompts, ChatGPT and other AI tools can help you determine the crucial qualifications that the employer is looking for in a candidate based on the job description.
- ChatGPT and other AI tools are . It cannot provide evidence of how you learned from personal experiences or how that learning will impact your role.
- It's crucial to proofread your cover letter several times while using ChatGPT or any AI writing program. This ensures that there are no typos and that the information you provide in the cover letter is truthful and accurate.
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- ChatGPT and other AI tools can help you gather information about the company at which you are interviewing, the role you are interviewing for, and any insights on the company's background, mission, and values.
- , a free online platform for Ď㽶Đă students, helps you build confidence in interviewing and provides “AI Feedback” on your interview skills. When you save a video, Big Interview’s AI will process your video and offer you immediate feedback on key behaviors and how to improve.
- Ask ChatGPT to help brainstorm and refine a list of thoughtful questions to ask the interviewer, thus demonstrating your interest in the role and the company and providing important information to help you determine your fit within the organization.
- Engage with ChatGPT to help guide you through proper interview etiquette—e.g. body language, when to sit down, how to greet your interviewer, etc.
- ChatGPT and other AI tools can be used as a mock interviewer, asking questions and providing feedback on the answers. Use a diverse set of interview prompts and do not stick to one type of question. Having variety will better prepare you for different interview scenarios and help you get comfortable with being interviewed. You can also use ChatGPT as a mock interviewer, asking questions and providing feedback on the answers.
- While AI tools are great resources, it’s important to be specific with the interview prompts, use the regenerate response function to fine tune certain behavioral or technical questions, and to fact-check the responses to make sure they make sense to you.
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- As you may know, networking starts with identifying who you want to connect with and how best to make that initial connection. ChatGPT and other AI tools can be a helpful resource in crafting effective outreach and communication.
- Using an example networking email from the Ď㽶Đă Career Center outreach sample, first create your own and then provide it to GhatGPT (or another AI tool) to optimize.
- Ask ChatGPT how to prepare an elevator pitch and customize/enhance to reflect your story. An elevator pitch is a brief (30 seconds) way of introducing yourself, getting across a key point or two, and making a connection with someone.
- Exploratory career conversations (or Informational interviews) are a great networking tool. Ask ChatGPT to help you generate a tailored list of questions for an informational interview. Be specific in the prompt, for example, “Provide a list of questions for an informational interview with a marketing executive”. Change the function or person you are interviewing with and ChatGPT will have you on your way!
In addition to helping you enhance (not write!) your résumé and cover letters to tailor them to your interests and helping you prepare for interviews, ChatGPT and other AI tools can help you with your job or internship search in the following ways:
- Conduct job and / or organization research—e.g. ask where to find job listings for a particular type of role or to find organizations that hire for a particular type of role. The generated lists will not be comprehensive, but can provide a great place to start.
- Identify the core competencies you should include in your application materials based on a job description—e.g. provide the link to a job description and ask “If I'm interested in this role, what competencies should I highlight in my application materials?”
- Identify types of roles you might want to explore based on your interests, skills, and values—e.g. share some of your key interests, skills, and values and ask for suggestions of types of jobs you might want to further explore.
- Generate alternative job or internship titles you could search for—e.g. “If I'm interested in social work roles, what specific job titles should I search for?”
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- Because many graduate schools do not yet have explicit rules about using AI tools like ChatGPT, applicants might assume it is perfectly fine to use them while preparing their application documents. Although there are no clear rules just yet from all universities, general advice from graduate/law admission professionals is to be wary about ChatGPT use when it comes to application materials.
- There are several reasons you might not want to lean on tools like ChatGPT as you prepare personal statements, essays, your CV and other application materials, including 1) ChatGPT sometimes generates inaccurate information, 2) AI-influenced essays may trigger plagiarism alarms, 3) your essays will not be in your own voice, and 4) the use of ChatGPT is controversial.
- Still, there may be some ways to use ChatGPT effectively and ethically when working on your graduate school applications. The key is to use AI tools for discrete activities with work you have already produced yourself, such as: re-writing a sentence in your essay using other words and phrasing, reducing the word count from a paragraph of your essay, or summarizing your ideas for dissertation research.
- Researching up-to-date policies surrounding AI and ChatGPT should be a priority for graduate and law school applicants. Recently, the University of Michigan Law School announced that ChatGPT would be banned in law school applications and is considered “malpractice.” Other universities, like Arizona State, are actively offering courses on ChatGPT use and see AI as a vehicle for equity.
- Most graduate and law schools remain unclear about the use of ChatGPT (or have not publicly shared an official position), so students must be keen to ongoing policy changes at schools they apply to and aware of what is expected of them in terms of generating materials and AI disclosure.
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