Unlock the Power of AI: Boost Your Job Search Productivity with ChatGPT
- Job-Hopping: Pros and Cons for Veterans and Military Spouses - January 12, 2024
Are you hesitant about embracing Artificial Intelligence (AI) platforms like ChatGPT for your job search? Do you find yourself wondering whether these tools can truly work for you, and how they can contribute to your career development? Perhaps you dismiss AI as just a passing trend, not worth investing your time and effort into.
Let me pause you right there and share the wisdom of Mark Cuban, quoted by Barbara Corcoran: “Artificial intelligence, deep learning, machine learning – whatever you’re doing if you don’t understand it – learn it. Because otherwise, you’re going to be a dinosaur within 3 years.”
AI is not a fleeting fad, it is an integral part of our modern world and is here to stay. Ignoring it or remaining unfamiliar with its capabilities will undoubtedly put you at a disadvantage in your job search and career advancement. But don’t fret, embracing AI is more accessible than you might imagine.
If you already use web browsers like Google or Safari for browsing job information or even do online shopping, you are already on your way to becoming proficient in utilizing AI platforms like ChatGPT. By gaining this knowledge and experience, you can make yourself more marketable both as an employer and a job candidate as AI now plays a significant role in many aspects of business and companies.
In this blog post, we will explore the power of ChatGPT and how it can enhance your value proposition, networking efforts and resume tailoring. Embracing AI in your job search is not just a choice, it’s a necessity in the ever-evolving job market. Let’s dive in and discover the impressive potential AI holds for taking your career to new heights.
ChatGPT Tips
Be Specific: ChatGPT’s lengthy responses can be streamlined with precise prompts. If the initial answer isn’t on point, redirect or refocus your question. For example, when inquiring about a value proposition for a job seeker, tailor the prompt to get the desired, spot-on definition.
Provide Feedback: Help AI platforms like ChatGPT improve by giving feedback. Utilize the thumb-up and thumb-down icons to acknowledge helpful responses or point out areas for improvement. Your input matters in refining and optimizing performance.
Efficient Copying: Found a response you love? Click the clipboard icon to copy the generated text directly to your document, saving you valuable time and effort.
Concise Answers: If you prefer brevity, simply ask for it! After receiving a response, request a more concise answer, specifying the desired length or number of sentences.
Regenerate for More Options: Seeking alternative responses? Click “Regenerate response” at the bottom of the page. ChatGPT will provide additional suggestions if it has more data to pull from, enriching your experience.
Verify and Proofread: Remember that ChatGPT is an AI language model and may not discern fact from fiction. Always review and validate the information it generates before using it, ensuring accuracy in your job search endeavors.
Value Proposition & Networking
Let’s begin with your value proposition, otherwise known as the “elevator pitch.” The value proposition showcases your personal brand, who you are as a job seeker, and what’s next in your career. You definitely want your authentic job-seeker self to show through. A strong value proposition can help you stand out in a competitive job market, demonstrate your value to potential employers and increase your chances of securing interviews and job offers.
It can be difficult to craft a 30-60 second elevator pitch and be flexible to tailor it to specific job positions. In ChatGPT you can type in the directive and then paste your resume, and ChatGPT will give you an example.
Let’s focus on a logistics, and operations manager with 10+ years of military experience. I typed in “Use the resume below to write a value proposition for a job seeker looking for a logistics manager role.” The first example generated was detailed but was a bit long for some situations. Then I directed “Make the above value proposition more concise,” and the next version was a four-sentence paragraph that I could easily customize to fit me. This is the perfect opportunity to target specific job opportunities that align with your strengths, experience, skills, and career goals. Add your own customization to make it uniquely “you.”
ChatGPT Response: I am a highly organized and motivated logistics professional with over 10 years of military experience in operations and personnel management. As a logistics manager, I have supervised large teams and successfully managed complex supply chain operations while ensuring customer requirements are met. With my skills in strategic planning, risk mitigation, and financial management, I have a proven ability to optimize operations, reduce costs, and increase efficiency. My experience in joint operations planning, quality assurance, and administration support has allowed me to deliver high-quality service to customers while meeting business goals.
My Response: I am a logistics professional with over 10 years of military experience in supply chain operations with a focus on quality assurance and customer support with the recent five years managing large teams. I am known for my ability to optimize supply chain operations and reduce costs. As a leader I excel at training and developing teams and meeting and/or exceeding original goals.
ChatGPT provided a starting point you can then customize by weaving in the information that is unique to your experience and skills. You can also make the response more specific depending on the audience. Additionally, each of us has our own vernacular and speech pattern, so make sure your response is one that upon practice you can easily adapt and use.
Tailoring the Resume
Tailoring your resume to the job description is absolutely critical. This is definitely where you want to be authentic and clearly demonstrate to an employer how well your skills and experience align. ChatGPT is beneficial for pulling keywords from the job description and generating relevant accomplishment bullets in an efficient way.
Keywords: Using ChatGPT, start a “new chat” and ask “What are the keywords in this job description?” Cut and paste the job description. As an example, I used a job description for an Area Manager for Amazon Operations. The initial generated list was 30+ keywords, I prompted ChatGPT to “Reduce this list of keywords to the top 15 important keywords” and it produced a more manageable list.
Accomplishment Bullets: Then I pasted my resume into ChatGPT and prompted ”Using my resume below, create accomplishment bullets that use the keywords above and include metrics.” It generated well-constructed accomplishment bullets and they were organized under the same headings and chronological sections. By clicking on “Regnerate response”, ChatGPT gave me another set of accomplishment bullets to consider.
Examples of accomplishment bullets with keywords “Safety Programs,” “Compliance,” and “Quality Assurance:”
- – Implemented quality assurance and control measures, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and reducing errors by 30%
- – Spearheaded strategic planning efforts, identifying and mitigating risks to base facilities and company grounds resulting in a 25% reduction in maintenance costs
These ChatGPT-assisted keywords and accomplishment bullets can make the process quicker and give the job seeker a fresh perspective on highlighting their experience. Be sure to modify to show the specifics of your skills, certifications, education/training, and experience. These will be your selling points and what makes you stand out from other applicants.
Let ChatGPT serve as a starting point and provide inspiration. When some of the foundation is laid, you will have more time to customize content specific to you and focus on another aspect of the job search. Additionally, you can use it for cover letters, communicating with others on LinkedIn, drafting letters of interest and requesting informational interviews.
ChatGPT is only one of many types of AI tools to help in not only the job search but also career development and daily work life. You may find one that better works for you such as Google Bard, JobScan, YouChat, or Microsoft Bing’s Sydney. ChatGPT can also help with interview preparation but do check out AI-specific interview tools like Google interview warmup, Yoodli, and roundoneinterview. Check out Zain Kahn (The AI Guy) on LinkedIn, he posts excellent content about how to “Leverage AI to accelerate your career.”
ChatGPT and other AI programs can assist you to work smarter, not harder. They are ingenious collaborative tools to help highlight your unique qualities for your employment transition and career development.
Kara Sparkman is the Virtual Services Specialist at Hire Heroes USA. Check out upcoming virtual events such as upcoming employer and industry webinars and virtual career fairs at https://www.hireheroesusa.org/event-calendar/.