Using AI in your career development
Understand how to use AI effectively in your career development, whilst recognising its limitations.
The recent growth in artificial intelligence (AI) has had a profound impact on the world of work, jobs and the skills we need to manage our career in this new technological age. Digital skills are becoming more and more important, as are interpersonal skills and the emotional intelligence required to use AI sensitively. Whilst AI can and will change the nature of jobs, particularly in the automation of more routine or repetitive tasks, the human touch is still essential and it is still very early days for AI with clear limitations on its accuracy and potential usage. However, AI tools such as ChatGPT can play a useful role not only in your career development but also in your future working life, you just need to know how to use them effectively and ethically.
What do we mean by AI?
AI refers to the intelligence of machines, usually in relation to their ability to replicate human processes, for example thinking, synthesising or learning. This section will focus on a specific form of AI – generative AI. Generative AI typically refers to software that can produce and create content itself – you may have heard of popular generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, BingAI and Claude.
How can AI help with my career development?
Generative AI models such as ChatGPT can help you with your career development in two main ways:
1. Researching jobs – AI can quickly summarise and present you with important information relating to career exploration, job market analysis and learning path suggestions. For example you might ask ChatGPT the following prompt:
2. Enhancing your applications – AI can enhance your CV, cover letter, application form answers or LinkedIn profile. It could even help you predict questions you might be asked at an upcoming interview! Whilst AI can enhance your applications, it can also seriously hinder them, especially if you don’t adapt or personalise AI-generated content.
How to use AI effectively
Whilst we have outlined two ways in which AI can support your career, it is important that AI is used effectively and ethically. We recommend viewing AI tools like ChatGPT as a careers assistant. What this means in practice is that they can’t – and shouldn’t – do all the work for you, but they can help you you to summarise, clarify and refine.
What could go wrong?
Well, quite a lot! As AI is a hugely evolving field, the full risks and limitations of using it are yet to be fully known. What we do know though is that AI:
- Isn’t always accurate – you cannot fully rely on what a model like ChatGPT creates
- Lacks personality and authenticity – employers are finding it easier to identify applications that have been written using AI, and some immediately reject these applications as a result
- Is sometimes biased – do not presume AI-generated content is bias-free. Be critical with the content you receive and analyse its validity and neutrality
There are also growing concerns about confidentiality and data protection within generative AI models so be very careful about what information you provide.
Learn how to prompt
With the limitations of models such as ChatGPT, what you get out is only as good as what you put in. The requests you make to AI models for it to generate content are known as ‘prompts‘ and the better your prompts are, the more tailored and useful the content will be. With any AI prompt you give, make sure it is as specific as it can be and provides useful context for the AI model to tailor its response.
We recommend following the CLEAR acronym below when asking any AI model to review or generate content for you:
Provide clear context or background for the question, so the AI understands the situation or subject matter.
Set a scope or limit to the response (e.g. desired length).
Be specific and detail what it needs to include/consider. This will enable the AI to provide a more effective and suitable response.
State any additional information the AI should consider whilst generating a response.
Always prompt it to ask you any questions for any further information it will need to complete the task to the best of its ability.
Below you will find an example of how to use this acronym to enhance your CV in a generative AI tool:
I am applying for a (role title) position at (company). Please review my CV’s structure, language, grammar and relevance to the job role and provide suggestions on how to tailor my skills and experiences to the job description.
My CV should be no longer than 2 A4 pages with size 11 font.
From reviewing the website and speaking to current employees, the company looks to hire people with (insert values) and (insert skills).
Here is the job description: *insert job description*, here is my current CV: *insert CV*.
Please ask any questions you need to complete this task to the best of your ability.
Top tips for using AI
- Be specific – use very specific and focused prompts to tailor the response you receive
- Be critical – analyse and check any AI-generated content for accuracy and bias
- Be honest – adapt AI-generated content and use it to help you enhance your own work; don’t submit entirely AI-generated content as your own! Not only is it this unethical but it is also a risk – employers can tell straightaway when something has been produced by a model like ChatGPT so it’s important that you use it as inspiration and modify it to suit your own style and make it unique to you
- Be personal – add the personal touch to anything you have asked an AI tool to create. Some employers may use value-based recruitment for example, where it’s very important for them to see evidence in your application of how and why their values are important to you. No matter how much information you feed AI, it doesn’t know you, your interests and values. Don’t underestimate how important this personal touch is to your applications!