How to Use AI to Find Your Dream Job

It’s a tough time to be looking for a new job. Job listings are flooded with hundreds of applications, so you have to work hard to stand out. But it’s easy to get disillusioned by fake job ads and mass rejections, or worse, get ignored after applying somewhere.

Take a breath and use new tools to help you land a job you love. Create your resume and a personalized cover letter and optimize your job search using artificial intelligence.

AI tools are being used in HR to streamline an otherwise arduous process. As new solutions roll out to market, ChatGPT has a lot to offer. It’s a catch-all tool for creating your documents, a research aid, and a career “counselor.” Just be aware that, like many AI chatbots, it requires intelligent prompts from you, which may require some trial and error.

You can create an account to use a free version of ChatGPT, or pay $20 per month for more features, like the latest data, priority access, and image generation.

Here’s how to land a job with the help of AI. And if you’re looking for more ways to use AI, check out our articles on how to use Midjourney to create wedding invitations and how to use AI-powered Grammarly for all your editing needs. For more AI tips, news and reviews, check out CNET’s AI Atlas hub.

Tell us about yourself at ChatGPT

Present your sales pitch to him, introducing him to your career, your experience, your ambitions and your values. I am a journalist, but the same processes apply no matter what your field.

Fast: “I am (career) and have worked at (previous companies). My top skills are (XYZ) and my aspirations are (1, 2, 3). Can you suggest roles, types of companies, and career paths that best match my experience and goals?”

Here is what I got:

The study came back with detailed findings on specific positions, company types and career paths to target, such as prestigious publications, media companies and publishing houses, think tanks and startups.

Feed it with your CV

To be even more specific, enter your resume into ChatGPT. Just make sure to remove sensitive information that you don’t want to see in the AI, such as your contact details, to avoid any future data breaches or unnecessary risks.

Fast: “Here is my resume. Give me other suggestions.”

This time, he provided me (without me asking) with advice on how to improve my career, as well as even more detailed suggestions on roles and career paths. But I wanted even more specific guidance.

Ask for advice

Since I’ve been a freelancer for 10 years (working as a journalist for publications and as a copywriter for brands), I wanted to know where ChatGPT thought I would have the most success.

I asked: “What is the strong point of my CV? Will I be more successful applying for positions as a journalist or copywriter?”

Although I have a solid decade of experience in corporate writing, ChatGPT knew I would find more fulfillment in a journalism role, particularly in cultural criticism. He offered suggestions on the strengths and opportunities I would have in applying for each type of position, and gave me an overall recommendation.

For greater clarity, I added, “Joan Didion is my professional inspiration.” In response, ChatGPT inserted a summary of Didion and sprinkled mentions of her throughout its job, company, and career suggestions, briefly explaining how they related to her career.

Here is some of what was suggested:

Generate a list of the best companies to target

Next, I went through everything ChatGPT had said so far, highlighting the positions or recommendations that I liked. Then, I fed that information back to ChatGPT and asked them what the best companies were for me to contact, adding my location.

Fast: “I’m particularly interested in positions like senior reporter, features editor, culture critic, managing editor, editorial director, content director, and content director. What are the top 30 companies I should target for a new job? I live in the New York area, but I work remotely.”

It gave me a lot of information, but no new ideas for companies to target. I replied, “Provide a secondary list of 30 companies that aren’t that big and might be easier to find a job at.”

The results were better, with suggestions divided into categories for mid-sized and smaller publications, specialty and niche publications, and regional and local publications. It also gave me strategies on how to apply to these publications, including leveraging my network, showcasing my versatility, writing tailored pitches, and showcasing my portfolio.

A message to recruiters

I selected 10 companies from ChatGPT’s list and then asked him to write a message to a recruiter to introduce myself and express my interest.

Fast: “Write a short message to the recruiter at the following five companies to introduce myself and express my interest: Narratively, Longreads, Mother Jones, Salon, and The Cut.”

He came back with a fairly generic suggestion, so I pushed ChatGPT further: “For the Narratively post, remove the generic intro and mention the previous reporting I did on the corporatization of LGBTQ+ fertility, expatriation, and cultural fragmentation.”

I tweaked it a bit to make it sound more natural and closer to me, this is the version I’ll tell ChatGPT to use for the other four messages.

Once you have written your messages, send them to the best contact via LinkedIn DM or email. It may be helpful to use LinkedIn Premium during your job search.

Use this strategy to target employers directly, personalizing your application approach and bypassing job boards.