5 Ways to Use ChatGPT In Your Job Search (With Powerful Prompt Ideas)

I recently blogged about how ChatGPT is going to take your job (and the jobs of many others)… let’s turn the tables a little and learn how to use ChatGPT in your job search!

First, perspective: The Internet was an awesome technological advancement. I remember, years ago, when my boss would book all of his travel (flights, hotel, car rental, etc.) by himself instead of asking an admin to do it for him. I thought it was a waste of time for him to do all of this administrative stuff when he could have easily given it to someone else. Then, I learned that either way he was going to do a lot of work (like, 80%), make key decisions, etc., why not just do 100% of it and not get anyone else involved (which might create more work).

The ability for us to book all of this travel is astounding when you think about how hard it would have been before the Internet. This tool, the Internet, changed things.

It also disrupted the travel agent industry. It was brutal and many travel agents had to leave the industry completely.

The tool provided opportunities and it shook things up, just like ChatGPT and GenAI is doing right now. And while ChatGPT might take over some jobs (or at least roles/functions), we can use ChatGPT in our careers, lives, etc. I hope this post, and the example prompts I share, help you see how.

This post was inspired by an article I saw titled How ChatGPT Can Help You Land Your Dream Job. I’ll take the five main points of that article and share my thoughts, and then some sample prompts you can use.

NOTE: A “prompt” is basically what you type into ChatGPT’s box to get a result. Think of it as what you type into a search engine, but it’s a little different in that you aren’t getting the same results (or type of results) that a search engine returns. This will make sense as you read through my example prompts.

1. ChatGPT in Your Job Search: Help Refine Job Search Criteria

I’ll be honest, I don’t quite understand what the article is talking about here, and without solid examples I’m not sure where the author heading. But I can come up with some ideas of how to use ChatGPT in your job search by better understanding the criteria you are keen on for your ideal jobs.

Back in 2018, after working on JibberJobber for 12 years, and having a few changes in some of my other work, I thought it would be good for me to look for a day job. That is, I had freed myself up with systems and my team on JibberJobber and I had time to do something else. I also felt like I needed to level up and get some additional training, hoping that would help me run JibberJobber. But I had no idea what job titles I should look for.

I reached out to a good friend, a recruiter, who said, “Jason, you are a product manager! You always have been!”

Of course I was. But I had a hard time seeing it. I did so much in JibberJobber, and throughout my career, I was kind of blinded to what value I could offer to companies back in 2018. I just needed a third party to help me sift through and see the real me.

You can use ChatGPT in your job search to help with that, and other ways to help refine your job search criteria. Here are five prompts to help… these are ideas so take what works and adjust others, or come up with your own:

1. Based on my six years with this job title, four years with that job title, and a degree in XYZ, what are the jobs I should look at applying to? (Bonus: Add something like “in growing industries” or something that adds more details that are interesting to you (like start ups, or location-based, etc.).
2. I have been working as a product manager for three years but I’m bored. What are jobs that I could go into that would value my experience as a product manager?
3. I’m looking for senior product manager jobs in a mid-sized city. What are some criteria (perks, benefits, work conditions, growth opportunities) I should look for in my job search?
4. What are important keywords or phrases to use on a resume for software product managers in high tech?
5. Please give me feedback on my resume for a product manager (then, paste the contents of your resume into ChatGPT).

Speaking of resumes, you could also paste a job description (or a few job descriptions) into ChatGPT and ask to get a resume out of it optimized for that/those description(s). I’d definitely use that as a data point, as a start, but not copy word-for-word what it spits out.

2. ChatGPT in Your Job Search: Research Potential Employers

I wonder about the current ability to help you research potential employers because ChatGPT historically hasn’t had the most updated information it draws from. I think a while ago it was a couple of years outdated. If you want research about a company that is six months old, you might find nothing of value in ChatGPT’s results. This is where you can see the difference between a search engine that shows you super current news vs something like ChatGPT…. two completely different tools.

However, all is not lost. You can indeed research potential employers with ChatGPT in your job search, and get some good information.

Back in 2006, when I was in my Big Fat Failed Job Search, I would drive to big business buildings, go to the elevator area, and write down names of companies in that building. I’d then go home and try to find their webpage or anything I could about them. I figured that if a business was in a Class A (read: expensive, nice) facility, they were probably doing okay, and they might have a need for what I could offer.

Today, you don’t need to physically go there and do that. You could use Google Maps to find companies/businesses near you (or near a certain area). And, of course, you could use ChatGPT. Here are five example prompts you might use to research potential employers:

1. I’m looking for a product manager job but I have no experience. What kinds of companies would be the best to start out in as a new product manager, and why?
2. I’m in a job search and I’m mid-career. What should I look at in potential employers to enjoy a good quality of life and also have some semblance of job security?
3. I’m looking for a new company to work at. Based on recent history, what industries are going to do really well over the next 10 years?
4. What are some of the best work/life quality perks to look for in a new employer, and why?
5. If two companies are offering me a job at the same salary, what are other criteria I should consider when choosing the best company for me?

Once you get a response to any of the prompts you put in, drill down with more questions. Remember, part of ChatGPT is CHATTING back and forth.

3. ChatGPT in Your Job Search: Craft the Perfect Cover Letter (and Resume)

ChatGPT can provide a friendly back-and-forth to brainstorm and think through things, as we showed in #1 and #2 above, but where it might shine more is in wordsmithing. This is one reason why marketers and content creators (like me) need to pay attention and either be concerned about our jobs OR think about how to use this tool to help us do our jobs better.

Whoever has been involved in making ChatGPT a wordsmith tool is to be commended! Of course, there will be garbage results for various reasons (including the sentiment or tone it was written in). But I’m here to say, whatever ChatGPT spits out can simply be used as a starting point, giving you ideas and specific words or phrases to use, and not the final answer.

I’ll also say I’m a huge fan of finding a professional resume writer to help you with this. Too much of a hiring decision is made by flawed humans, and sometimes it takes a human to know how to work with and around the human systems in place.

Here are five example prompts you could use to help you craft a cover letter and/or resume in your job search:

1. Please write a cover letter for a product manager with 13 years of experience applying for a senior level job at a high tech company.
2. What are changes you would make to improve this cover letter? (and then paste your cover letter in)
3. Please give me the main, most compelling points I need to include in a cover letter for (specific position, organization type, your level (years of experience), etc.).
4. Based on this job description, please write a compelling cover letter I can use. (paste the job description into ChatGPT)
5. Please critique the last paragraph of my cover letter and rewrite it so it’s more compelling.

I like the ability to paste stuff in and have ChatGPT analyze and give feedback or actionable steps from that (like you see in 2, 4, and 5). Again, once you get results, you can keep the chat up by asking more questions, for more examples, etc.

4. ChatGPT in Your Job Search: Prepare for Job Interviews

By now I hope you can see how to use ChatGPT in your job search, and are excited to try it! One thing I experienced in my job search was that the job search is lonely. There aren’t many people you can talk to help with various parts of the search, including how to prepare for an interview.

That’s where ChatGPT comes in, of course. If you don’t have anyone to talk to, fire up ChatGPT and have a discussion (er, a chat). I hope by now you can think of some prompts you might start out with… here are five ideas to help you use ChatGPT in your job search to prepare for interviews:

1. Please give me 10 questions, with their responses, for a job interview for a senior product manager working in a high tech company.
2. Based on the job description I just pasted in, please give me 10 most likely interview questions I would be asked, and how to best answer them.
3. Give me 5 solid responses to “what are your greatest weaknesses” for a product manager interview.
4. Please help me craft responses to behavioral questions for a product manager interview.
5. Help me come up with appropriate responses to “why did you leave your last job” for my next senior level job interview.

The key to coming up with prompts is… just write prompts! Play around with ChatGPT by putting in prompts, maybe even imagining that you are having a conversation (er, chat) with a real person. Will all of the responses make a lot of sense? Perhaps not! But take the responses, use your critical thinking, and either get to your own results or continue to chat with ChatGPT and get closer to what you need!

5. ChatGPT in Your Job Search: Identify and Network with Industry Professionals

Ah, networking! Not a four-letter word when you are a job seeker! Because networking might be the key to landing your next job, you really need to get comfortable with the idea of networking, and practice the tactics to help you become a better networker. Of course, you can use ChatGPT in your job search to network better. Here are five example prompts to start with:

1. Please give me ideas on how to best network as a product manager in a job search.
2. Can you tell me 10 places I should go to network while I look for a new job as a product manager?
3. What are opening lines I can use in a networking environment, and how do I follow up with those opening lines?
4. What are the most important parts of a networking conversation, and what is the wording I can use when networking with other professionals for each of those parts?
5. Please write a casual and interesting introduction to someone on a social network (like LinkedIn) that I want to network with. I don’t want it to sound too professional or too casual, and I’d like to end up on a phone call or face-to-face meeting soon.

Notice that in the 25 example prompts I’m not using perfect grammar. It doesn’t matter. ChatGPT is usually smart enough to figure out what I’m after.

Play with ChatGPT in your job search. Be creative. Use critical thinking. It might be the perfect tool to accompany you on this emotional roller coaster, especially if you feel alone in this job search.