Can ChatGPT help you land your next dream job?

Remember when “you’ve got mail” felt like cutting-edge technology?

Now, a little thing called ChatGPT is poised to change the way we work.

If you’re not familiar, a brief primer: ChatGPT utilizes artificial intelligence via a downloadable app from OpenAI.

It’s free, or $20 a month for premium, and uses machine learning to understand natural language processing.

That makes it possible for the chatbot to compose humanlike prose.

Lest you think it’s a temporary craze, Cliff Jurkiewicz, vice president of global strategy at Phenom, a global HR tech company based in Philadelphia, emphasized that in 2023, we’ll see businesses look to the ability of generative AI to perform tasks better and faster, and with increasing levels of precision.

“Its adoption will be unlike anything we’ve seen before and it’s already started to prove this,” he said. “ChatGPT is a real-world example of generative AI, and it gained one million users in just five days in December 2022.”

In comparison, it took Netflix more than 3 years to reach one million subscribers.

When Jurkiewicz first logged into ChatGPT, he asked it to write him a song, a job description and a screenplay, but, “it really needed to be prompted and fed examples to learn my style,” he recalled.

That’s why Jurkiewicz recommends that people using ChatGPT share 10 writing examples with the program and prompt it to “analyze my tone” so that it becomes more personal.

In the field of human resources, ChatGPT “can change the future of job recruiting by using it to reach out to candidates, write job descriptions and generate interview questions,” said Mitch Chailland, president of Canal HR in New Orleans.

Job seekers, meanwhile, can use the tool to help prepare for interviews, enhance résumés, match cover letters to job descriptions and improve LinkedIn profiles, among other things.

Ahead, what to expect from ChatGPT in the job application landscape, from HR pros.

Buff up your job application

Yep, experts say it’s kosher: Jurkiewicz equates using ChatGPT when job hunting to using an autocorrect spelling and grammar tool.

Generative AI can also help candidates identify skills, competencies and even important keywords that are often missed by job candidates.

“These tools, if used responsibly, can act as a powerful agent, helping the candidate represent themselves in ways they may have not thought possible,” said Jurkiewicz.

Chailland also thinks using ChatGPT on a job application is OK, but cautioned that you’ll still want to make sure your writing is personable, makes sense and highlights your personality.

“To best utilize ChatGPT, have it proofread your work, or help optimize for a particular keyword rather than asking it to draft your cover letter or response to an application question,” he said.

Consider it your assistant in a job search

ChatGPT can help with overcoming writer’s block, researching alternative job titles, uncovering similar jobs in a new industry, creating a list of target companies and making prospective interview questions. But, how you go about landing that dream job hasn’t changed.

“You still need to do your homework to get ahead,” said Morris Isaacson in Montebello, NY, executive vice president of sales at HR platform Empeon.

But, “for motivated job hunters, ChatGPT can be a valuable information tool that makes the process easier. They can ask ChatGPT to research the role and identify key talking points for an interview, or request an analysis of keywords. They could even ask ChatGPT to assess their résumé and suggest improvements.”

Whatever ChatGPT gives you, proceed cautiously.

“Remember, AI-generated information is sourced from a data set that is far from perfect or even complete. Don’t assume it to be 100% accurate,” said Isaacson.

Use it to draft work emails

Bots to the rescue, again.

“ChatGPT can be utilized to take the routine and repetitive elements out of drafting templated or scripted emails and cover letters,” said Isaacson. “However, it’s always important to view the output of ChatGPT as a ‘first pass’ that will require a person to review before sending.”

Not all email communication can, or should, be handled by ChatGPT.

“Many business emails are of a specific nature and require information not discoverable via ChatGPT’s data set,” he said. “And with some subjects, sensitivity and a human touch is a must.”

Chailland also advised proceeding with caution.

“If you input any confidential employer information, the AI can learn from that and could create legal issues,” he said.

Never use ChatGPT for this one thing

Firing employees via AI is a no-no.

So if you have the dreaded task of giving someone on your team the ax, stick to your own lower-tech, albeit human, devices.

“Not only would this not be best practice (for many reasons including liability and erroneous responses), this scenario represents a general misunderstanding of what AI is intended to do,” said Isaacson. “The employee who is being let go is a person who deserves the respect of being communicated with by another person, not a text message or AI bot.”