AI Tips and Prompts to Support Career Management

Many people are wondering how they can use generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Bard to assist them during their job search. I am cautious in adopting AI to help in a job search but also realize progress tends to win out—after all, the Luddites’ destruction of machinery in the nineteenth century didn’t stop the Industrial Revolution. So, to help job seekers and others who are interested in experimenting with generative AI, I’ve compiled a list of AI prompts and tips that support career management. I’ll also share my thoughts on the liability and opportunity of using AI in this capacity for your consideration as you embark on this journey.

Liabilities and Opportunities of Using AI

Liabilities

Like countless others, I have ethical concerns about using generative AI. These programs were, and are, trained using Large Language Models that draw on work from content creators without their permission. Somehow, it seems that many users have bypassed concerns about violating copyright and committing plagiarism.

This thread in Quora about the use of AI in essay writing covers the ethical concerns well, and I recommend you read it. This quote from the article “AI’s Dreadful December: Lawsuits, Plagiarism and Child Abuse Images Show the Perils of Training on Data Taken Without Consent” on the Tom’s Hardware website also sums up the issues:

“Using generative AI today is like buying from a seedy pawn shop…The popular models are built on a foundation of stolen intellectual property: copyrighted texts, images and videos taken without permission or compensation from sources both good and bad, and used to ‘train’ the software so that it can create similar content.”

The New York Times and others have sued based on mass copyright infringement. Time will tell how the courts decide, although it’s difficult to fathom generative AI being constrained.

On a personal level, when people use AI to write for them, they often bypass a critical stage of any process: thinking. Writing requires thinking. The first time you think about something that is on your resume should not be during an interview because you used ChatGPT to write it. I’ve worked with several people who have shared documents with me and don’t fully know what is on them because “ChatGPT wrote it.”

AI gives people an easy way to delay thinking about a topic—whether that is their views on their top strengths and weaknesses, their greatest accomplishments, their day-to-day work responsibilities, or why they are interested in a particular job. For more on the risks of using generative AI specific to job applications, see executive resume writer Thomas Powner’s LinkedIn article, “The Dark Side of AI in Job Applications: Risks and Pitfalls.”

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AI presents the opportunity for you to gather extensive material quickly. Consider using AI for brainstorming, or as you would a research assistant or intern: it can help you generate ideas and information, but the ultimate responsibility for verifying the information is on you.

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Opportunities

AI presents the opportunity for you to gather extensive material quickly. Consider using AI for support for brainstorming, or as you would a research assistant or intern: it can help you generate ideas and information, but the ultimate responsibility for verifying the information is on you. Important note: AI has not only been known to plagiarize large passages of copyrighted material, but it also has been shown to create fake information. Consider the information it provides only as a starting point; don’t let it replace your own thinking or judgment, and proceed cautiously.

AI Tips and Prompts to Support Career Management and Professional Development

Below is a list of ideas for using AI to aid you in your job search campaign and support your ongoing professional development and career management. Each idea has a sample prompt or two to get you started; the bracketed content indicates information you need to specify. The quality of the AI response can vary dramatically based on the prompt.

Sample AI Prompts

Explore Career Options

• What is a career path for someone with a/an [insert degree]?

Brainstorm How to Leverage Skills and Passions

• How do I combine my skills in [A] and [B] and my love of [C]?

Identify Skills to Develop or Strengthen

• What are the top skills needed to be a/an [X]?
• How can I get [skill identified in AI’s response] if I want to be a/an [X]?

Identify Professional Growth Opportunities

• What are prominent professional organizations for [insert career/job type]?
• List the top certifications for professionals interested in becoming a/an [fill in the specialty] expert.

Analyze Job Postings and Related Information

• Analyze the following job posting and list the most important skills required for it [paste in the job posting text].
• Analyze the following strategic plan [insert text of strategic plan] and list the key priorities a leader needs to know before interviewing for [name of job].

Learn about Industry Trends

• What are trends in [X] industry?
• What is the economic climate for [name of industry] companies?

Research a Company

• What is the history of [name of company]?
• What is the company culture like at [name of company]?

Create a List of Companies to Apply to in Similar Fields

• What companies are competitors of [name of company]?

Help with Time Management

• How can I use tested time management techniques when I’m [doing X at type of company]?
• What is the Eisenhower Method and how can I use it when [doing X]?

Takeaway

Generative AI has taken the world by storm. It will take time for the court system to handle all the lawsuits against it. In the meantime, if you choose to experiment by using the above AI prompts and tips to support career management or to aid your job search, proceed with caution and always refrain from using text directly generated from it.

In addition to ethical concerns, I have personally heard hiring managers and recruiters tell me that they can sometimes tell when people use AI because materials like cover letters seem uncannily similar. Moreover, I recently read about a firm that realized many applicants used ChatGPT for answers during a recorded interview. In response to a question about who the applicant would like to have dinner with, a large number picked the same person even though they could have chosen anyone alive or dead. What odds! Using AI in this way will not help you stand out in the way you are hoping.

Good luck out there! It’s a tough road to navigate right now, with ample risk and opportunity.