3 Ways to Use ChatGPT & AI for Your Resume & Job Search

Everyone on the internet seems to be talking about artificial intelligence (AI) lately—especially a new tool called ChatGPT that people are increasingly turning to. But what's ChatGPT exactly? And how do you access it? Here's everything you need to know about how the platform works, and how you can leverage it for your job search.

What's ChatGPT and how does it work?

You may be more familiar with artificial intelligence than you think. If you've ever used AI-enabled assistants like Siri and Alexa, where you can ask questions and get an immediate response in return, you've experienced firsthand how artificial intelligence can integrate with your day-to-day life to provide real-time answers.

Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer—ChatGPT for short—is a powerful new artificial intelligence tool developed by OpenAI, one of the world’s most ambitious AI labs, that uses natural language processing (NLP) technology to help people communicate with computers more naturally and intuitively.

Since its November 2022 debut, the tool and its sophisticated data science have taken the world by storm, showing us how exploring new forms of machine learning can result in powerful use cases—including for your job search.

What are the benefits of using artificial intelligence in your job search?

The job search process can be exhausting: Checking multiple job sites and job boards. Keeping track of all the relevant jobs of interest and the various job descriptions from target companies. Remembering which positions you've already applied for, which ones are in progress, and which ones require follow-up. Optimizing your LinkedIn profile. Customizing and tailoring your resume for multiple job descriptions. Prepping for interviews. Ensuring you stand out from other qualified candidates. Writing thank-you notes.

The process of looking for a new job is daunting—and especially in an ever-changing job market where hiring trends are evolving amidst mass layoffs and reductions in the workforce. If artificial intelligence can help streamline the process for job seekers, that may not be such a bad thing.

Should you use AI for job search? We'd say yes, but with caution and the caveat that machine learning—while impressive—isn't a total replacement for putting in the work. Candidates searching for a boost from technology are in luck, but ChatGPT and other AI solutions aren't 100% accurate; they do the best job they can with the information they're given, but it's up to the job seeker to provide the appropriate inputs and adjust the outputs accordingly.

What are the drawbacks of using artificial intelligence as a job seeker?

There's a lot of debate over whether using a chatbot like ChatGPT and leveraging AI to enhance your job search is "cheating"—a replacement for doing the work yourself. Our take: Technology was created to support our work, but it's not a substitute for doing the work.

Only you know your real work history: your achievements, metrics, and accomplishments. But platforms like OpenAI's ChatGPT can lend valuable insight into the process.

A word of caution: The ChatGPT platform is trained to decline inappropriate requests, but it notes on its site that it may occasionally produce harmful instructions or biased content, may occasionally generate incorrect information, and has limited knowledge of the world and events after 2021. Proceed with caution and, if you feel inclined, review the company's privacy policy to make sure you're comfortable with the way they use personal data.

How can you use ChatGPT for your job search?

So you've decided to try out artificial intelligence to help speed up your process. When it comes to AI and ChatGPT, the use cases are seemingly endless, but here are three ways to start to leverage ChatGPT in your search to help you land a job you're excited about:

Write resume achievements and tailor your resume to job descriptions

You've heard it's important to tailor your resume to the job description to show that you're a qualified candidate for the role—but how can you ensure your bullet points reflect that? In addition to using Teal's free Achievement Assistant tool within the Resume Builder, try leveraging ChatGPT for this part of the process:

1. Go to "Matching Mode" in your Teal Resume Builder and select one of the jobs from your Job Tracker to focus on.
2. Go to the "Job Description" tab and scroll to the "Responsibilities" section.
3. Copy the responsibilities and paste them into ChatGPT. Enter this prompt: "Write resume achievements with metrics based on these job responsibilities."
4. Watch the magic happen!
5. Copy the output from ChatGPT and, one at a time, paste them into your Teal Resume Builder as achievements.
6. Make sure to carefully proofread and edit the bullet point achievement, tweaking it as needed using the Achievement Assistant tool. Remember: AI tools are intelligent, but they're not foolproof. You want to ensure you actually have the experience that AI says you do, and you want to double-check for spelling, grammar, punctuation, and clarity. Tweak the language as needed. Need a stronger action verb? Swap it out. Need to change the verb tense for consistency? Go ahead and do that.
7. Turn on and off the achievements that make sense for the job you're applying to.

Craft a personalized professional summary and/or "About" section for your LinkedIn profile

Professional summaries are another hot topic, with some recruiters and hiring managers saying they're helpful as they speak to a candidate's career in aggregate and highlight their key accomplishments. Others argue it's a waste of space and job seekers should dive right into their skills and achievements.

We tend to be fans of the professional summary, especially if you have multiple years of work experience or are pivoting to a new career or industry. Here's how to use artificial intelligence to create the first draft of your summary:

1. Head to the Teal Resume Builder and copy the text from your desired resume.
2. Paste it into ChatGPT.
3. For the prompt, say: "Write a professional summary using my resume."
4. When you get your result, click "Try again" to generate two more versions.
5. Copy and paste those back into your Teal Work History so you have all three options in one place and can pick and choose which one to use on which resume.
6. If you're using the summary for the "About" section of your LinkedIn profile, go ahead and paste it there.
7. Want to cross-check the results against a summary you've written yourself? Use Teal's free Professional Summary Builder tool to help guide you.

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Check out the videos below to see it in action:

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For a more specific breakdown of how to use ChatGPT for LinkedIn, check out our article, "4 Ways to Use ChatGPT to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile (with Prompts.)"

Create a customized cover letter

Controversial topic number three: Cover letters. Spend five minutes on LinkedIn or TikTok and you'll see heated debates over the value and importance of cover letters, whether recruiters and hiring managers even read them, and whether they're an outdated part of the job search in 2023. We'll dive into the specifics below, but we encourage you to also check out "How to Use ChatGPT to Write a Cover Letter," for a more detailed approach.

But regardless of how you may feel about cover letters, many companies still require them as part of the application process, so here's how to crank out a first draft quickly. Be sure to edit and tailor it as needed before submitting it!

1. Once you've used "Matching Mode" to create a tailored resume that's tied to a particular role in your Teal Job Tracker, go ahead and copy the text from that resume and paste it into ChatGPT.
2. Head back to your Job Tracker and go to the job description for this role. Copy and paste the requirements and responsibilities into ChatGPT alongside your resume.
3. For the prompt, write, "Write a cover letter using my resume and a job description."
4. Edit in Google Docs as needed before saving and sending.

Tips for using ChatGPT for job searching

If you do choose to leverage AI tools for your job search, here are four best practices to keep in mind.

1. Be specific and provide detailed prompts to ChatGPT. Some may argue that the AI space is oversaturated and that everyone will get the same outputs if they enter the same inputs. Although your AI-generated response may not be 100% unique, it can be modified once the foundation's in place.
2. Review and edit the output from ChatGPT to ensure it's accurate and professional. Again, we don't condone lying about your experience (with our without AI!) Use in this capacity is meant to assist job seekers, not to fabricate career histories that can't be backed up with truthful examples.
3. Proofread and double-check for errors before sending any materials generated by ChatGPT. Though artificial intelligence is sophisticated, it's not always 100% spot-on. (And neither are we as humans.) We always like to recommend a tool like Grammarly for a grammar and spell check.
4. Ask for human feedback before submitting. Whether you ask a mentor, friend, or career coach for input before submitting, it's a good idea to get a second set of eyes on your resume before submitting it to keep a human eye out for any potential problems. If you're interested in a peer review, join the Teal Slack community, where you can connect and network with fellow job seekers to offer support, feedback, and encouragement.

Conclusion

It's important to use various strategies to increase the chances of success in your job search.  ChatGPT is one of many tools that can be used in the process; though it shouldn't be the only technology you implement, it has powerful capabilities that can help you best position yourself as a top job candidate, especially when used in partnership with your Teal Job Tracker and Resume Builder.

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