How AI can help you get a job

If you really want to leverage the full potential of this technology and upgrade your interview performance. Story by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic

Generative AI can help you in your job search. Picture: iStock

Though AI recruitment tools have historically catered to employers and hiring managers, generative AI (or GenAI) is now empowering job seekers to improve their ability to get hired. With the right strategy and prompts, you can leverage these platforms as if they were digital career coaches – bespoke virtual agents who can help reduce your anxieties and educate you on what to expect during the interview process, as well as how to approach it.

If you’re interested in experimenting, here are some easy ways to leverage GenAI ahead of your next job interview to set yourself up for success.

1BE AWARE OF THE LIMITATIONS.

Before we jump into the benefits of GenAI, it’s important to acknowledge a few caveats you should keep in mind as you experiment with these tools.

● Don’t assume that all information provided is bulletproof: Treat anything you learn – good and bad – with a pinch of salt and healthy degree of scepticism. Cross-checking your research with different tools, reading up on public forums and paying particular attention to recurrent themes will help you separate the signals from the noise.

● Remember that human behaviour is never fully predictable: No person or tool can tell you exactly what your interviewer is going to be thinking. This will depend on their individual backgrounds, preferences, implicit biases, professional trainings, personality traits – and even their mood on the day, among other factors.

● The point with GenAI and any technology is not perfection: Rather, it’s giving us an incremental improvement over the status quo. It’s allowing us to do better than we could do without it. In that sense, treat GenAI as another tool in your toolkit. Use it to the degree that it is useful – even if it is simply to ease your anxiety and become more familiar with the interview process.

Now, let’s dive into how you can use GenAI to your advantage.

2USE IT TO GATHER INTEL ON THE COMPANY CULTURE.

A company may look perfect for you on paper, but there’s really no way to gauge the company culture until you start working there, right? Not exactly.

As I illustrate in my latest book, I, Human: AI, Automation, and the Quest to Reclaim What Makes Us Unique, the AI age has democratised access to information on both jobs and company culture. Sites like Glassdoor now function like a Yelp for employers, and rankings on great places to work – with detailed characterisations of companies – are widely available. Among other data, these resources can fuel GenAI engines, which can then provide you with quick and easy intel to assess the employee experience at different firms.

Prior to your interview, it will be useful to do a little research in this area. GenAI can help you identify any red flags you should look for as you enter into and continue the interview process.

As an example, I asked ChatGPT 4 (A) about the culture at a large, global technology company. This is a lightly edited excerpt of the conversation:

P: What kind of culture should I expect if I join (company X)?

A: Joining (company X), you can expect a company culture that emphasises several key aspects: recognition and reward, empowerment and self-development, teamwork and collaboration, empathy and growth mindset, evolution of performance management, internal mobility and talent development, continuous feedback and adaptation.

P: What are the downsides/negatives of (company X’s) culture?

A: Aversion to conflict, toxic management, and diversity and inclusion.

Remember: There’s no point in being accepted for a role at an organisation you won’t end up liking. To perform to your full potential, it’s generally beneficial to land a job that aligns with your preferences, values, interests and dispositions.

3USE IT TO UNPACK THE KEYWORDS IN THE JOB DESCRIPTION.

Just like GenAI can scrape data on company culture, it can gather valuable information from job boards and job listings. Namely, it can break down the main skills, attributes and values associated with certain jobs.

To prep for your interview, choose a few keywords or skills highlighted in the job description and ask GenAI to tell you a little more about what companies generally look for when analysing them. For instance, if you’re applying for a role that’s looking for someone who’s savvy at business development, you could use the following prompt:

P: Name the top three personality traits, values and skills associated with people who are great at business development.

A: Personality traits: relationship building, strategic thinking, adaptability. Values: integrity, persistence, collaboration. Skills: communication skills, analytical skills, project management.

With this insight, you can plan to focus on some of these attributes in your answers to interview questions. When asked about overcoming a challenge, think about stories that demonstrate your ability to adapt and change directions. When asked about a great accomplishment, choose one that demonstrates your communication and project management skills.

While GenAI is not perfect, it can help you identify and amplify qualities that will make you seem like a natural fit for the job.

4USE IT TO GET GUIDANCE ON POTENTIAL ­INTERVIEW QUESTIONS AND HOW TO ­ANSWER THEM.

There are many potential prompts to help you prepare. For instance, you can ask GenAI what kind of interview questions are most common, how to best answer them and what a hiring manager would typically try to assess. You can also ask about what mistakes you should try to avoid, what sort of body language or non-verbal communication cues you may attend to, as well as best practices for interview etiquette.

Some generic prompts (and illustrative answers) to help with this:

P: What are some of the most common questions asked in job interviews?

A: Tell me about yourself; why do you want to work in this company; what are your greatest strengths and weakness; tell me about a challenging situation and how you handled it; where do you see yourself in five years?

P: How should I answer the dreaded question about what my greatest weakness is?

A: Identify a genuine weakness that is honest and relevant for the job, but not a critical job requirement. Show self-awareness, explaining how you became aware of it. Discuss actions taken to address it, including personal training and learning initiatives to mitigate it. Highlight progress and results, and end on a positive note.

For example: One of my greatest weaknesses has been my public speaking skills. I realised this during a presentation at my previous job when I noticed I was feeling anxious and struggled to convey my ideas effectively. To address this, I enrolled in a public speaking course and joined a local Toastmasters club.

Over time, I’ve seen significant improvement in my confidence and ability to engage an audience. I recognise that communication is crucial in this role, and I’m committed to further honing my public speaking skills to contribute more effectively to team discussions and client presentations.

P: What are some examples of bad behavioural etiquette to avoid in job interviews?

A: Arriving late, inappropriate attire, lack of preparation, interrupting the interviewers, not making eye contact, showing nervousness, neglecting the question, bringing up sensitive topics.

When crafting your prompts, try various commands. The more detail and nuances you provide – context about your background, experience and skillsets or specifics about the job, company and requirements – the more useful and relevant responses you’ll receive.

Here are a few examples of how you can add context to your prompts surrounding interview questions:

● I’m new to the workforce and applying for a marketing co-ordinator role, what questions should I expect?

● I’ve just finished my college degree in business administration, what could a job interviewer ask me regarding the relevant job skills I have developed during my studies?

● I’m interviewing for my first management position and have never supervised or managed a team before. How will a recruiter or hiring manager assess whether I have the relevant experience or knowledge to manage a team?

5HOLD MOCK INTERVIEW SESSIONS.

If you have specific answers to interview questions in mind, and want to see what hiring managers might make of them, ask GenAI to play that role – and to give you honest, critical feedback on how to improve.

Some GenAI tools are specifically designed to hold mock interview simulations in which GenAI plays the role of an interviewer or interviewee (you can alternate roles).

Others, such as ChatGPT, can evaluate your answers if you paste them in the chat box on the platform and ask the tool to give you feedback.

Here’s an example:

P:Imagine I’m a job candidate answering the below question during an interview. I will provide some answers and you can tell me what job interviewers are likely to think, and what I can do to improve.

Question: Do you enjoy working with others?

My answer: Sometimes. When they agree with me and share my values. However, when they think differently, I tend to find them rather obnoxious, so prefer to work alone.

A: Here’s what interviewers might think and how you can improve your answer:

● Lack of teamwork: Your response suggests a preference for working alone and a potential difficulty in collaborating with colleagues who have different perspectives. This could raise concerns about your ability to function effectively in a team-oriented work environment.

● Close-mindedness: Stating that you find people “obnoxious” when they have differing opinions or values could be perceived as close-minded and intolerant. Employers often value diversity of thought and expect employees to work well with colleagues with varying viewpoints.

● Negative attitude: The overall tone of your response is negative, which may not leave a favourable impression. Interviewers typically seek candidates who are positive, adaptable and open to different working styles and personalities.

A more positive and effective response might be: I do enjoy working with others. Collaboration can lead to innovative solutions and a richer work environment. I appreciate diversity in thought and perspective because it often brings fresh ideas to the table.

While I may have my own opinions and values, I believe in open communication and constructive discussions to find common ground and reach our goals together. In the end, I believe that working as a team allows us to achieve more than we could individually.

This revised response demonstrates a more open and adaptable approach to teamwork, which is generally more appealing to potential employers.

Even in the simple examples I provided, it’s clear that GenAI has a great deal of expertise – not to mention common sense – on how to improve our interview performance. Importantly, the more you play around with customising prompts and experimenting with questions and answers, the better equipped you will be.

Here are a few more basic prompts you can use to initiate a mock interview exercise:

● I’m applying for an interview in X role. Pretend you are the interviewer and ask typical questions in this context.

● Now tell me what you think of my answers, and how I can improve them.

● Now tell me how you would answer these questions if you were a top candidate

● Now let’s repeat this with other questions/answers.

Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic is the chief innovation officer at ManpowerGroup.