Chat GPT: Work Smarter

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Index

1. Why use Artificial Intelligence during a career transition?

2. Creating your CV & cover letters

3. Enhancing your job search

4. Interview preparation

5. Changing careers

6. Enhancing your skills and qualifications

1. Why use Artificial Intelligence during a career transition?

Several very similar Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools are freely available to you that you can utilise in your quest to secure a new role. You can use Microsoft Co-Pilot, Google Gemini or my favourite, the original trailblazer in this space, Chat GPT. Its a personal preference, however, I find ChatGPT seems to remember more of what you have said in previous conversations and gives you more of the detail that you need in its answers than the others. Things change all the time though, so find the one that works best for you and periodically try out the competition.

My key message here is that AI is an enormously useful tool for you at this point in your life. DO NOT underestimate how useful it can be and how easy it is to get started. Just register for an account using your email address and get started. Its very intuitive so treat it like a person-to-person conversation, ask questions, ask for more detail, challenge it and push its boundary on what you can think it can provide you. You will be amazed at what information it can deliver to you quickly and in a conversational manner, making it so much easier to get the structured answers and data you need, than say just using Google.

2. Creating your CV & cover letters

ChatGPT can create, tailor, or optimise CVs and cover letters to showcase your achievements and match specific job descriptions. If you are for example a teacher applying for a senior role in another school you could paste in your current CV and the job description of the role you are applying for into ChatGPT. Then just instruct the AI tool to rewrite your CV to highlight your teaching and management skills so they are tailored for the specific role you are applying for. Always be specific and include as much direction as possible, so in this example ask it to include specific achievements you might have earned, industry keywords, or soft skills you’d like to emphasise, and then let ChatGPT blend that information into its response

Remember that you can also get ChatGPT to rewrite an existing CV or cover letter with a specific brief from you. You might want to ask it to cut down the length by 20% or limit it to 500 words, or make it more professional, or to just check your grammer. Always remind it that you want its answer in UK English not American English!

Ultimately the CV and Cover letter is yours so you can change the AI output in whatever way you want. Its just a tool to get over that "blank sheet of paper" nightmare we all face and to also enhance your documentation to give you the best chance of standing out from the crowd. (See CV Advice & Best Practice resource).

3. Enhancing your job search

Get guidance on finding and targeting the right jobs, including tips on where to look, how to structure your search, and how to stay organised. If you are looking for a management role in marketing in the charity sector for example, ask it to recommend the best job boards, networking strategies, recruiters and general tips for standing out in applications for this type of role. (See Job Searching resource).

4. Interview preparation

My favourite use of Chat GPT is in interview preparation. You can instruct it to look at the job description for the role you are interviewing for and to offer up say 6 competency based questions and 6 role specific questions. Then you paste in the job description and await for the response. If you want more information then ask for some more questions. If you want to know what sort of questions might help to clarify the scope of the role then again ask that question.

Another powerful approach is to paste in your CV too and ask it to compare the role profile with the CV and to suggest questions that might be asked around the relevance of your experience to the job. You can push it further by asking what challenging questions might be asked on the basis of the information it has to really stretch and enhance your preparation.

ChatGPT can help you prepare for interviews by summarising a company’s culture, goals, and challenges or offering insights into its industry. Just ask it to summarise the companies recent business performance, key focus areas, main competitors etc.

For a very focused section on using ChatGPT to prepare for interviews see the Interviewing Tips & Skills resource.

5. Changing careers

If you’re considering a career change, ChatGPT can suggest roles and industries aligned with your passions, skills, and experience.
You can give it as much background about you as you want, but do make sure you outline your key skills, passions, interests and desired working pattern, location and any other information you are keen to be incorporated in its answer. You can even include factors in a job that you don't want, such that its response will really take into account your full perspective.

Then ask it to suggest potential jobs or industries. Following on from that ask it for the names of recruiters or firms that fit this profile to push your research another step forward. (See Changing Your Career resource).

6. Enhancing your skills and qualifications

ChatGPT can recommend training, certifications, or steps to help you transition into a new field or strengthen your employability in your current one. If, for example, you want to move into project management but have some basic experience but no formal qualifications. you could ask for recommended next steps you could take to enhance your profile and gain relevant certifications. Don't forget to ensure your questions includeds your budget, time availability for training, and current skills to receive practical and actionable advice.