Chat GPT is not the first technological innovation that’s promised to upend the job search industry. There have been many huge leaps forward in technology that have changed the way we job search.

The rise of computers eliminated the need to write correspondence by hand. The internet gave rise to one-click job applications. Applicant Tracking Systems automated much of the application process.

But, all this progress also increased the number of applicants each role receives. One of the biggest problems job seekers face.

Now, we have Chat GPT and other natural language AI tools. These tools are already changing the way we write and communicate with one another.

How should you leverage Chat GPT for your job search? How might this new technology revolution change the job search landscape? In this article I’ll give you my run down of Chat GPT from the perspective of a Job Search Coach and Executive Resume Writer. 

 

Can Chat GPT revolutionize your job search?

Chat GPT can certainly help your job search efforts. The bottom line is, Chat GPT can help you search for a job. I’ve tried out Chat GPT across many stages of a job search and there are 3 areas of your job search where it’s most beneficial.

 

Coming up:

• Chat GPT can help you prepare for a job interview
• You can use Chat GPT to help you write a good LinkedIn About section
• Chat GPT can help you write and enhance sections of your Resume

 

1. Chat GPT can help you with your interview preparation

Copy and paste the job description into Chat GPT and ask it to generate potential interview questions. This will give you a great starting point for preparing and developing your interview answers.

When I tried this, two things surprised me. Firstly, the level of detail in the questions. Secondly, the mix between technical, soft skill and competency-based questions.

Take a look at what it generated below:

1. What experience do you have negotiating distributor/reseller agreements for “top-up” products, such as prepaid cards or mobile phones?

2. Can you describe a time when you had to navigate monetary settlements across borders in the Middle East Africa region?

3. How do you stay motivated and driven to achieve sales targets? Can you provide an example of a time when you exceeded a sales target and how you accomplished it?

4. Can you walk us through a successful partnership or collaboration you initiated and built within the Arab Africa region? How did you approach negotiations and ensure the partnership was mutually beneficial?

5. How do you handle feedback and incorporate it into your ways of working? Can you give an example of how you have improved your work based on feedback you received?

6. How do you prioritize and manage your workload when dealing with multiple incoming distributor/reseller requests?

7. Can you share your experience working in a fast-paced, results-driven environment? How do you handle pressure and prioritize tasks to ensure success?

8. How do you stay informed and up-to-date on industry trends and developments in the digital payments and money transfer space?

9. What do you think are the biggest challenges facing the digital payments industry in the Arab Africa region, and how do you plan to address them in your role at Pyypl?

10. How do you approach building and maintaining strong relationships with partners, customers, and colleagues? Can you provide an example of a time when you had to navigate a challenging relationship and how you resolved it?

Not sure how to answer a question? Ask Chat GPT to provide you an example answer

This can be a helpful way to get inspiration. When I tried this, I was impressed with how it structured the answers along a STAR framework.

 

Take a look at what Chat GPT generated for me:

Sure, here’s an example answer to one of the interview questions for the Regional Business Manager – Arab Africa role at Pyypl:

Question: Can you walk us through a successful partnership or collaboration you initiated and built within the Arab Africa region? How did you approach negotiations and ensure the partnership was mutually beneficial?

 

Answer: Sure, I can share an example of a successful partnership I initiated and built in the Arab Africa region. In my previous role as a Business Development Manager for a digital payments company, I was responsible for expanding the company’s presence in North Africa. One of my key objectives was to build strategic partnerships with local banks to enable seamless transactions for our customers.

I identified a local bank in Tunisia that had a strong presence and a large customer base in the country. I reached out to the bank’s business development team and scheduled a meeting to discuss potential collaboration opportunities. During the meeting, I highlighted the benefits of partnering with our digital payments company, such as increasing revenue streams, improving customer experience, and expanding the bank’s digital offerings.

To ensure the partnership was mutually beneficial, I proposed a revenue-sharing model that would incentivize the bank to drive more transactions through our platform. I also provided training and support to the bank’s team to ensure they were comfortable using our platform and could provide top-notch customer service.

As a result of this partnership, we were able to significantly increase our customer base in Tunisia, while the bank was able to offer its customers a more seamless and convenient payment option. The partnership was a win-win for both parties, and it was a great example of how collaboration and innovation can drive growth in the digital payments industry.

In summary, my approach to building successful partnerships in the Arab Africa region is to identify mutually beneficial opportunities, clearly communicate the value proposition, and provide support and training to ensure the partnership is successful.

 

2. Use Chat GPT to write your LinkedIn About section

Ideally, your LinkedIn About section should not be a copy and paste of your resume. However, it can be tedious to reformat and reword your resume to suit the style of writing on LinkedIn.

 

That’s where Chat GPT can help

I copied whole resumes into the programme and asked it to generate a LinkedIn About section. It did a surprisingly good job summarizing the experience.

Here’s an example:

Hello and welcome to my LinkedIn profile!

I am Stephen, a passionate and innovative Content Designer with a broad skillset across UX/UI design, strategic content, and design thinking. With experience in project management and client engagement, I am dedicated to creating engaging and user-friendly designs that drive business growth and convert browsers to brand advocates.

My technical skillset includes proficiency in user-centered design, HTML/CSS/JS/PHP, Figma/Sketch/Adobe Suite, project management, website and mobile content, WordPress, Webflow, SEO, SEM, animation, website design, and information architecture.

I am proud to have made significant impacts in my career, such as boosting online donations by 20% for a non-profit organization, designing and launching over 25 unique websites in a single year, and playing a key role in the growth of a company by at least 25% year-over-year.

Currently, I am a Consultant/Freelance Content Designer based in Nîmes, France, where I craft, design, and develop website solutions that are grounded in strategy and leveraged on research. In my self-employed role, I guide complex website projects from inception to launch, producing meticulous and beautiful experiences that consider business and user objectives, brand guidelines, and any other specifications or requirements.

Previously, I worked as a Lead Designer & Developer and a Team Lead at Candybox Marketing, a premier digital marketing agency in Toronto, where I honed my skills in project management, design system implementation, team culture development, and stakeholder coordination.

I hold a degree in Audio Production & Music Business and have also completed a UX Design course at Juno College of Technology. In addition to English, I am proficient in French at a B1 level and am a Canadian national.

Thank you for visiting my LinkedIn profile, and please feel free to reach out to me via email or LinkedIn for any potential collaboration or opportunities.

My opinion

I like how it took the content of the resume and turned it into a narrative. It also switched from the formal style of resume writing to a friendlier first-person approach. I was also impressed with how it included a call to action at the end!

Of course, the quality of the output depends on the input. It re-used a lot of the wording from the resume as well as the key accomplishments. If the resume you input does not include the right information then you will get weaker results. More on this later.

 

3. Use Chat GPT to re-word sections of your resume

I gave Chat GPT the following prompt to see if it could improve the wording of the below bullet points:

Can you re-write these resume bullet points to be more results-focussed? The new bullets should be in the past tense.

• Reporting to H.E. the minister to address inquiries of the center of government
• Manage three investment development departments (Machinery & Equipment, Automotive and ICT)
• Supervise the development of investment plans including determining the investment targets and investors across value chain
• Participate in the industrial investment opportunities identification, prioritization, development, and deal execution
• Took part in the design of sector tailored incentives
• Participate in the sector ecosystem assessment
• Facilitate investment discussions
• Analyze the value chain of specific product categories
• Vice chairs the industrial committee and ICT committee (subcommittees of the national deal flow committee)
• Support the deputy minister in government, strategic, administrative, and technical related issues
• Represent the ministry in several local committees and international events
• Provide professional advisory to HEM

Here’s the result:

• Successfully reported to H.E. the minister to provide prompt resolution to center of government inquiries, resulting in increased efficiency and streamlined communication.
• Managed three investment development departments (Machinery & Equipment, Automotive and ICT) to achieve investment targets and attract investors across the value chain, resulting in increased investment and growth in these sectors.
• Supervised the development of investment plans, resulting in the identification and execution of high-potential industrial investment opportunities.
• Participated in the design of sector-specific incentives, leading to an increase in investment and growth in targeted sectors.
• Conducted thorough assessments of sector ecosystems, resulting in tailored investment strategies and increased investment in these sectors.
• Facilitated investment discussions and negotiations, leading to successful deals and increased investment.
• Analyzed value chains of specific product categories, leading to more informed investment decisions and improved investment outcomes.
• Vice-chaired the industrial committee and ICT committee (subcommittees of the national deal flow committee), providing expert guidance and contributing to the development of national investment strategy.
• Supported the deputy minister in government, strategic, administrative, and technical issues, ensuring smooth operation of the ministry and achievement of goals.
• Represented the ministry in several local committees and international events, strengthening relationships and promoting investment opportunities.
• Provided professional advisory services to HEM, resulting in informed decision-making and effective leadership.

My opinion

Now, the new bullets aren’t perfect and I would want to refine them further. But, they are definitely a better starting point than the original content. The Chat GPT re-wording was far quicker than if I had done it.

Asking Chat GPT to re-word sections of your resume could help if you know what you want to say but struggle to write the sentences in a compelling way. It’s also very helpful if English is not your first language.

 

Chat GPT limitations

We’ve discussed 3 useful ways that Chat GPT can help in your job search. But, it’s important to be aware of the limitations. I talked about this earlier; the output is only as strong as the input.

Chat GPT doesn’t know your career path, your achievements or what role you are aiming for. If you feed it generic instructions, it will give you generic content.

One of the biggest mistakes job seekers make is writing generic professional summaries or bullet points that sound good but don’t actually say anything.

 

Here’s an example

I asked Chat GPT to write me an executive resume summary. I didn’t give it any further details and it produced something that sounded nice, but in fact, meant nothing:

Results-driven executive with over 15 years of experience leading high-performing teams and driving business growth in Fortune 500 companies. Proven track record of developing and implementing successful strategies that increase revenue, reduce costs, and improve operational efficiency.

Skilled in building strong relationships with clients, stakeholders, and team members to achieve organizational goals. A strategic thinker and problem-solver with a passion for innovation and a commitment to excellence.

My opinion

When I read this I had a serious case of déjà vu. Not only does it feel like something I’ve read before, it feels like a combination of every executive summary I’ve ever read. And it’s not surprising. Effectively, this is a combination of every executive summary. It is the ultimate generic summary.

As more and more people use AI tools, well-written but non-specific content is going to become ever more prevalent. In other words, if your content sounds like an AI bot wrote it, then you are not going to stand out. Your application will fade into the generic masses.

 

So, what should you do?

1. Focus on what makes you unique

You need to know how you have helped each company you have worked for. Aim to produce specific metrics. Consider how you’ve increased sales, reduced costs, improved customer satisfaction or streamlined operations.

Also, think about how you accomplished these achievements. Which steps did you take? What is it about your approach to work or leadership style that makes you successful?

What are your key skills? These should be specific to the roles you are applying for. If the skill is relevant to any job then it’s not specific enough. Think ‘teamwork’, ‘communication’, ‘multitasking’ etc.

You should also be clear about your target job. Knowing exactly what role you are applying for will help you give more specific instructions to Chat GPT. It will ensure that the content produced is aligned to your job target.

 

2. Edit

Don’t assume that what Chat GPT creates is the finished product. Instead, use it as inspiration to get you started. For everything Chat GPT generates ask:

Is this accurate? You should always present yourself accurately to potential employers.

Does this sound like me? As more and more content is AI-generated, it will be more important than ever to have a unique voice.

Could this be improved? Chat GPT tends towards wordy responses. Use a copy editor’s approach to shorten answers or improve wording as needed.

 

Conclusion

If Chat GPT has done anything to the job search industry, it’s increased the need to be original. Nearly every job search innovation, from one click applications to ATS, has made it more important to be stand out.

In many ways the rise of Chat GPT and similar AI will make it easier to stand out. The more people that use AI scripted content, the more unique original content is going to sound.

Sure, use Chat GPT to save time where you can. But always strive to be unique and original. What makes you you, is what makes you great.

 

Contributed by:

Hannah Mason, International Resume Writer at The English Meeting Room