Generative AI for Career Preparation

Career & Post-Graduate Success

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Using Generative AI for Career Preparation and Life Design

Generative AI, including tools like ChatGPT, DALL-E and Gemini, can be powerful resources for college students exploring their career path and designing their life with intentionality. These tools are capable of generating written content, answering questions, summarizing complex topics, suggesting strategies and even helping to visualize potential futures. However, like all tools, their effectiveness depends on how thoughtfully they are used.

Pros

Fast and available: Available 24/7 for help with writing, brainstorming, summaries, and more.

Wide Knowledge Base: Pulls from a large pool of internet-based knowledge.

Multilingual Support: Useful for international students or those practicing other languages.

Useful Prompts: Can help you generate ideas or content quickly.

Cons

Limited Context: Doesn’t know you or your lived experiences. You need to provide relevant context.

Biases and Inaccuracies: AI may reflect biases in the data it was trained on or provide outdated or incorrect information.

Lacks Empathy: Unlike career counselors, it doesn’t offer emotional support or nuanced advice.

Not a Substitute for Feedback: Generative AI can’t replace the real growth that comes from feedback and iteration.

How Generative AI Can Support You

A Tool, Not a Replacement

Generative AI is a great starting point for brainstorming, learning about industries, writing drafts of resumes or LinkedIn summaries or even practicing interview questions. But it's not a substitute for the critical skill-building, reflection and self-awareness that come from doing this work yourself. Use AI as your co-pilot, not your chauffeur.

Human Judgment is Still Key

AI doesn’t have personal context, emotions, or real-time feedback from your life. It pulls from patterns in data. That means it can be helpful, but it's not definitive. Be sure to fact-check suggestions, assess tone and accuracy, and always make sure what you're submitting or sharing sounds and feels like you.

Protecting Your Privacy

When using AI tools, especially ones where you upload resumes, transcripts, or other personal information:

Don’t include personal identifiers like your full name, address, phone number, or email.
Check your settings (e.g., in ChatGPT) to turn off chat history and training mode.
Never rely on AI for confidential information, and always be skeptical of anything that seems too good to be true.

How to Use AI in Your Career Planning and Life Design Journey

Career Awareness:

Do: Use Generative AI to explore different career paths and industries based on your interests and skills.

Example Prompt: "Generate a list of career options that align with my interest in biology, and (insert descriptors from your PathwayU assessment)."
Example Prompt: “I have interests in philosophy and computers [or insert interests]. What are five career paths that match my interests?

Don't: Rely solely on Generative AI for career decisions. Use it as a supplement to other resources and your own research.

Advice: Use Generative AI to generate job descriptions for roles you're interested in to get a better understanding of the responsibilities and qualifications required.

Resume and Cover Letter Writing:

Do: Use Generative AI to generate initial drafts of your resume and cover letter.

Example Prompt: "Create a draft of a cover letter for a marketing position highlighting my experience with social media marketing."
Example Prompt: “Provide suggestions on strong action verbs that can make my resume bullets more dynamic and impactful.”

Don't: Submit resumes or cover letters without reviewing and editing them for accuracy and relevance. Recruiters state they are seeing more AI generated cover letters and they can tell!

Advice: Tailor the content generated by AI to match the job description and company culture you're applying to.

Use Big Interview’s Resume AI feature to get feedback on your resume.

Internship and Job Searching:

Do: Use Generative AI to search for internship and job opportunities based on your criteria.

Don't: Rely solely on AI-generated job listings. Use multiple sources to find opportunities.

Advice: Use Generative AI to create personalized job search pitches or elevator pitches for networking events.

Life Design Ideas:

Visioning and Goal Setting

Use Generative AI to generate possible future scenarios based on a person's interests, values and aspirations. This can help individuals visualize different paths and set meaningful goals.

Prompt: "Create a vision board or roadmap for someone who wants to work in [type of industry/field/position], incorporating their interests in [XXXX], values of [YYYY], and aspirations [ZZZZ]. Use a mix of images, quotes, and descriptions to visualize their ideal life in [specific timeframe, e.g., 5 years]. Include both short-term and long-term goals related to [specific areas of focus, e.g., career, relationships, personal growth]."

Personal Development Planning

GAI can generate personalized learning plans based on an individual's goals, interests and learning style. This can help individuals develop new skills and knowledge to achieve their objectives.

Prompt: "Generate a personalized learning plan for based on a goal to [XXXX], interests in [YYYY], and [ZZZZ] learning style . Consider incorporating a mix of formal education, online courses, workshops, and self-directed learning activities. The plan should be tailored to help this person develop the skills and knowledge needed to achieve their objectives in [specific area or field]."

Creating a LinkedIn Profile

Do: Use Generative AI to draft sections of your LinkedIn profile, such as the summary, experience and skills.

Example: Use AI to generate a draft summary that highlights your key skills and career aspirations.

Don't: Rely solely on AI-generated content for your LinkedIn profile. Ensure that the information is accurate and reflects your authentic self.

Advice: Customize the content generated by AI to match your personal brand and career goals. Add personal anecdotes or examples to make your profile more engaging.

Example: Use AI to create a list of skills and then select and personalize the most relevant ones for your profile.
Use AI to generate a draft of your work experience section, then edit it to include specific accomplishments and results from your previous roles.

Interviewing:

Do: Use Generative AI to practice common interview questions and responses.

Don't: Use AI to generate false information or exaggerate your qualifications.

Advice: Use Generative AI to analyze job descriptions and company information to prepare thoughtful questions to ask during interviews.

Example Prompt: "Generate interview questions for a marketing coordinator position and provide sample responses."

Position and Industry Research:

Do: Utilize Generative AI to gather information about specific companies, industries and trends.

Example Prompt: "Summarize recent trends in the biotechnology industry based on articles from the past year."

Don't: Assume all information generated by AI is accurate. Verify information from reliable sources.

Advice: Use Generative AI to summarize lengthy reports or articles related to your industry research.