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Artificial Intelligence and Chat Bots are on the rise in the modern job market. While they are continually being used by recruiters and hiring managers to save time and costs when recruiting, they also keep the process inclusive by removing human bias. As the software has developed and become more accessible, many job seekers have started to use Chat Bots and AI in a different manner - to kickstart their career transition.
This article shines the spotlight on the rise of AI & Chat Bots and includes the positives and negatives of using Chat AI as part of your career transition.
A Chat Bot is a computer program designed to simulate a conversation with a human user (you) over the internet. Unlike a typical search engine where you input one command, it interacts with you in a conversational way, allowing you to ask questions and providing responses to follow-up questions to gather information in a dialogue format.
Chat Bots can also be used to generate ideas and create content too, however this has been met with some controversy having been banned in some schools over fears of cheating. However, if used appropriately and with common sense, they can be useful to kick start your thinking when actively job seeking.
ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence Chat Bot, developed by OpenAI. It launched in November 2022 and has since gone viral. Google-owned Alphabet Inc announced it would launch its own chatbot service called Bard. Meanwhile, Chinese tech giant Baidu Inc is close to completing its own ChatGPT-style project called "Ernie”, so expect to see more entering the marketplace.
Chat Bots may vary in terms of user experience. For a more personalised experience and recommendations, you may be prompted to setup an account and provide contact details. Some Chat Bots may require you to complete a fuller profile so they learn more about you and your interests. Once you are logged in, the conversations happen in real time.
If you are job seeking, there are many interactions you can have with a Chat Bot to support your thinking.
Here are 3 ways you could use a Chat Bot to aid your career transition but some considerations to be aware of.
A lot of job seekers suffer from ‘Blank Page Syndrome’ or ‘Writers Block’ and struggle with where to start when writing their CV, cover letters or updating their LinkedIn profiles.
Pros
Chat Bots can be used for inspiration when putting together content for your job search. For example, you can copy and paste a specific job description with a command ‘Write me a cover letter based on this job description’ and it will create one for you for you. This is ideal if you need a starting point for the baseline of a cover letter if you are unsure of the format or what to include.
Cons
It wouldn’t be authentic and a full representation of yourself until you personalised it. Teachers have been asked to look out for indications that students are using the tool at home. So don’t be surprised if Hiring Managers and Recruiters become suspicious too. They will be in receipt of hundreds of applications so make sure any cover letter or content the Chat Bot creates for you is tailored to each application you make. It needs to include your own skills and achievements that you have considered against the job description to differentiate your application from others. You will also need to be confident to talk through your CV and Cover Letter, so if it isn’t written completely by you, you may get caught out!
Online job searching is one of the quickest ways of searching for new jobs but you may find yourself aimlessly scrolling and looking at hundreds of job advertisements and get lost in the detail.
Pros
Chat Bots will allow you to extract information. You can copy and paste a job specification with a command such as ‘Summarise this Finance Director job description’ and it will highlight the key features of the role. As a starting point this will allow you to consider the key aspects of the job specification when it comes to tailoring your application.
Cons
Remember, it isn’t the hiring manager responding to you, it is a robot making predictions so you will still need to fully understand the job description and tailor your response accordingly. If you have held a similar role before, re-read through the job specification to clarify your understanding and to determine what you consider to be the main aspects of the job. If you are still unsure, ask someone else for their opinion. If you rely on the Chat Bot itself, you may find yourself not being shortlisted.
Similar to a search engine, typing a question into a Chat Bot will give you an instant response. However, Chat Bots will converse with you and allow you to ask to follow up questions.
Pros
You can ask the Chat Bot questions such as ‘What are the most popular questions for a Project Manager interview’ The interview questions provided can give you an initial idea of what you may be asked so you can start to consider your responses.
Cons
A Chat Bot won’t be able to predict exact interviews questions or correctly advise you the style or format of interview you are likely to experience. You will need to research the company further and use the job description to predict the questions you are likely to be asked.
So if used with caution, Chat Bots can be a great tool to use as part of your job search.
Renovo is the UK’s leading outplacement specialist. We work with both organisations and individuals to support all their career transition requirements. If you would like to understand how Renovo can help you please email info@renovo.co.uk
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