RALEIGH, N.C. — Landing the right job can be challenging, especially in today’s market. For one North Carolina job seeker, artificial intelligence has become a partner in the search for her next career move.
“Fifteen years ago, I was a stay-at-home mom,” said Alice Pryor, who previously worked for the likes of Fiserv and U.S. Bank. “Fast forward, be in a position where the last position I left, I was making $100,000 a year.”
A partner Pryor has turned to for help in finding the right role is artificial intelligence. She uses AI tools on LinkedIn, including a feature that analyzes her resume and compares it with the job description to offer personalized feedback and recommendations.
“This helps give you a few things that you can hone in on to put your best foot forward,” said Pryor, who’s looking for a job in business relationship management.
Pryor has also turned to ChatGPT to jumpstart cover letters, generating a draft in seconds by copying her resume and the job post. While she finds it helpful, Pryor said it lacks specifics and a human touch. She cautions anyone who uses AI to make their own edits.
“You want to go through and use your own language so it sounds more like your voice,” Pryor said. “So they (recruiters) see you in that letter instead of ChatGPT.”
ChatGPT has also helped refine her daughter’s resume. Her daughter came to Pryor for help shortening it from three pages. By asking the AI to include only the most relevant bullet points, Pryor was able to edit it down to two pages.
“What she originally had was very task-oriented, and this was impact-oriented,” said Pryor, talking about the changes ChatGPT made. “She got the job, by the way.”
If a resume leads to a callback, ChatGPT’s voice can help candidates polish their responses with mock interviews. Pryor experimented with it by asking the AI to act as a hiring manager.
“She was a better interviewer than I have had sometimes,” said Pryor after experimenting with it.
Career experts are also using AI to help their clients land roles.
John M. O’Connor with CareerPro Inc. in Raleigh has used it to tweak resumes and cover letters. He compares it to adding flavors to the ingredients of a meal. While AI can enhance what you already have, he cautions that you can lose authenticity if you become too reliant on AI tools.
“Bring out who you are, how you work, and what you’ve done,” O’Connor said. “Then allow AI to augment that, possibly. But ‘you be you’ is the most important thing.”
O’Connor believes AI can be useful for people who aren’t great at expressing or talking about themselves, but he warns not to let it do the bulk of the work.
“AI can be your partner,” O’Connor said. “But certainly don’t let it be the lead, because only you can market you at the end of the day.”