Tool can serve as an invaluable assistant in charting career path
If you ask an AI tool to generate a list of other AI tools to help you in your job search, it will produce a dozen or so in seconds. It’s that easy. Then you just plug in the right info and watch the interview requests roll in!
Tempting, isn’t it? But will that actually lead to a job?
A 2024 survey commissioned by resumebuilder.com says yes – and no. Querying those who’d recently used ChatGTP as part of their job search, the responses revealed several positives. Users, for example, did actually tend to get more interviews. They even negotiated higher salaries.
Others, however – almost a third – said they were denied positions specifically because interviewers knew they had used the AI tool as part of their process.
So, should you or shouldn’t you use AI in your job search strategy? According to academic and career adviser Melissa Rudachuk and education coordinator Jacob Caley at NAIT, there’s value with the right approach. In fact, it’s not unlike the quality of the prompts you feed AI.
As Rudachuk and Caley suggest, what you get out will only be as good as what you put in.
NAIT’s Career Advising team helps students and grads find meaningful employment that aligns with their long-term goals and aspirations. Staff can help refine resumés, cover letters, LinkedIn profiles, conduct practice interviews, offer networking tips and ideas, and even do psychometric assessments to help match skills and interests to opportunities.
Students and grads can book appointments on the MyNAIT Portal, reach the advising team by email, or drop in virtually on Tuesdays from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. and in person on Main Campus at T203 on Thursdays from 12 - 1 p.m.
Find the opportunities
Identifying opportunities is the kind of busywork that Rudachuk and Caley feel is perfect for delegating to AI. Input your skills and aspirations, and the tools will get you started, indicating possible roles as well as sites and resources likely to provide real postings that match your talents.
If you’re not getting the answers you need, simply rephrase your line of questioning, says Rudachuk. “There’s no pressure at all. You can just iterate and refine.”
To get the clearest responses, she adds, stick to asking one question at a time.
Refine a resumé and cover letter
Treat AI as an assistant in your efforts. Rudachuk recommends feeding it the job posting and asking it to identify key words that you should consider highlighting in your resumé.
“It's really good at pulling out important pieces [of information],” she says.
That also applies to cover letters. In Rudachuk’s experience, AI-generated letters “all sound the same”; off the top, for example, everyone tends to be “thrilled” to be applying. What’s more, the tools struggle to draw personal connections between you and a company and its values in the same way as a well-crafted letter can.
Once you’re done writing drafts, refrain from asking AI to review. If a resumé or cover letter is shared with a tool, “that information becomes public knowledge,” says Rudachuk. If anything is confidential – including names, addresses and personal records or identifying documents – keep it to yourself.
Check out a NAIT adviser’s tips for writing great resumés and cover letters
Prepare for an interview
Technology has evolved such that tools exist to not only conduct a mock interview with you but to also make a video to evaluate your answers, delivery, body language and more.
These, however, can be expensive to access (strengthening the case for leaning on a real live human – see “Meet with a career adviser at NAIT”).
As an alternative, Caley suggests, “If you just have a basic platform, like Microsoft Copilot, [and] you feed it the right information, it can give you some great interview questions to practise.”
Be yourself
Throughout your job search, “Be cautious,” says Caley. “Be true.”
That is, don’t let AI write your documents. This isn’t just a plea to honorably and accurately represent yourself; it’s a warning.
Rudachuk and Caley note that human resource departments have gotten good at sniffing out AI-generated documents. If one sneaks through, the situation is likely to be rectified at the interview.
“Employers say they are getting top-notch resumés,” says Caley. “But when they meet with that candidate, they can tell their resumé has been fabricated. “AI isn't ethical. It doesn't have any objections to creating a false statement to make you sound better.”
That said, there’s no need to avoid using AI if you’re comfortable with the technology, but limit its use to strategy and guidance. “AI is very helpful but it can’t replace you,” says Caley. “It can't replace that human touch.
“You need to be the moral centre for your AI project.”