Latest / Talking FACS / Harnessing the Power of AI in Your Job Search

Transcript

Harnessing the Power of AI in Your Job Search · Talking FACS

• 0:01
  Welcome to Talking FACS, what you need to know about family,
• 0:04
  food, finance, and fitness.
• 0:08
  This nationally recognized, award-winning podcast is hosted by the University
• 0:12
  of Kentucky Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Program.
• 0:15
  Our educators share research knowledge with individuals, families,
• 0:20
  and communities to improve quality of life.
• 0:25
  Lots of people are looking for jobs today, and if you have tools in your toolbox
• 0:29
  to make the search a little less intimidating, you're going to feel more empowered
• 0:34
  and ready to tackle the task at hand.
• 0:38
  You are listening to Talking FACS, and we are here with information you can
• 0:43
  use to strengthen your family, your community, and our state.
• 0:47
  My guest today is Amy Gamblin, the Associate Director of Alumni Career Services,
• 0:53
  and she's going to help us understand how to use AI in the job search. Welcome, Amy.
• 1:00
  Thank you so much. I'm happy to be here, Mindy. I think that this is going
• 1:04
  to be a really fun conversation because I certainly did not have the benefit
• 1:09
  of using AI when I was searching for a job.
• 1:13
  And so I think that those who have this as a tool in their toolbox to use are
• 1:18
  certainly going to find that it's going to be just another benefit.
• 1:22
  So tell me, what role does AI play in the job search?
• 1:26
  Well, I kind of laughed when you
• 1:28
  said that, Mindy, because I didn't either have AI as part of my toolbox.
• 1:33
  And I can tell you what time saver it would have been for me had I had that. Definitely.
• 1:40
  So I think one of the biggest role AI does play in the job search,
• 1:44
  it does save people a lot of time, you know, their job search.
• 1:49
  You can almost think of AI as like your personal job search assistant,
• 1:53
  if you will. And, you know, it does play a big role, and it continues to get
• 1:57
  bigger and bigger each day.
• 1:59
  You know, the things are changing constantly, how we can use AI in the job search changes.
• 2:06
  So, it's a lot of information that it can help you with.
• 2:10
  So, for example, tools like ChatGPT, which is one that I use most frequently, is the ChatGPT.
• 2:17
  It can help you suggest career paths or help you with resume writing,
• 2:22
  interviewing skills, salary negotiations, doing research on the company that
• 2:29
  you might be interested in.
• 2:31
  So it just can give you a lot of tools for research and for how to write the
• 2:36
  resume, which scares a lot of people of how to write a resume or how to write a cover letter.
• 2:42
  So that does play a big role in the job search.
• 2:45
  On the flip side of that, it's also important to note that employers are using
• 2:51
  AI, too, and reviewing candidates, screening resumes, maybe ranking candidates.
• 3:00
  Analyzing those interview videos.
• 3:03
  So that's why it's so important to understand how it's being used and who is
• 3:08
  using it so you can have that information for strategic purposes as you go forward.
• 3:14
  I think that that is so beneficial because most people who are searching for
• 3:19
  jobs don't have a lot of extra financial resources to pay someone to do the
• 3:24
  job that AI might be able to do for them.
• 3:26
  And so having that at their fingertips certainly is a beneficial resource.
• 3:32
  So what are some common misconceptions people have about using AI in the job search?
• 3:38
  There are some big ones here, and I hear them all the time.
• 3:43
  But one big one that I really want to express is people may think that AI will
• 3:49
  do the whole job search for them, and it won't.
• 3:54
  So don't get lazy in your job search.
• 3:58
  Don't get lazy. It is a great tool, a powerful tool.
• 4:01
  But, you know, job seekers need to bring their own strategy,
• 4:06
  their own authenticity to the process.
• 4:08
  So for example ai doesn't give
• 4:11
  you the perfect cover letter or resume and i'll
• 4:15
  tell you employers can definitely tell when someone
• 4:19
  is for example cutting and pasting you know what ChatGPT gives in a resume because
• 4:25
  the content sounds so inauthentic it sounds very robotic and recruiters are
• 4:32
  getting very savvy about picking those out.
• 4:36
  And in fact, I remember one story, a recruiter told me that they had literally
• 4:41
  posted a job online a few hours before, and within a couple of hours,
• 4:46
  they received several resumes.
• 4:48
  And so they're reviewing those resumes, and amazingly enough,
• 4:52
  two of those resumes, their wording was almost identical, similar in content what it gave them.
• 4:59
  So they knew that someone just put in the ChatGPT, here's a job description,
• 5:04
  write me a resume based on my skills.
• 5:07
  And a lot of the words, the same words were being used.
• 5:10
  That's a major red flag to pay attention to.
• 5:14
  Kind of reminds me of the sample cover letters of old when people would just
• 5:20
  insert their name and their contact information into those old cover letters.
• 5:25
  And if you were going through several, it's like, oh my goodness,
• 5:28
  these are all duplicates.
• 5:30
  Duplicates, yes, exactly.
• 5:33
  Yes, I can definitely see that that would be an issue. People need to,
• 5:38
  put their own spin on whatever it is that AI churns out for them.
• 5:43
  What are some practical tips that you can give to our listeners for using AI
• 5:49
  in their own job search strategies?
• 5:51
  Yeah, so first of all, I want to start here. I think this is the number one practical tip.
• 5:56
  If you're using tools like ChatGPT, I always caution my clients,
• 6:01
  never put any personal information in there.
• 6:05
  So that means your name, your phone number, your address, your LinkedIn address,
• 6:09
  anything that would identify you. You want to protect your privacy.
• 6:14
  So starting there, number one
• 6:16
  practical tip. It's a great tool for job seekers. For example, ChatGPT.
• 6:22
  There may be some people out there that aren't sure of the career path that they want to go on.
• 6:28
  Maybe they're wanting to make a career transition. Maybe they are exploring
• 6:32
  options in semi-retirement, you know, whatever it is.
• 6:36
  So ChatGPT can be a very helpful tool in helping others decide what that path may look like.
• 6:43
  So, for example, a prompt that you can give it is saying things like,
• 6:47
  I'm interested in making a career transition and really ensure the path that
• 6:52
  I want to take. Below is my resume.
• 6:55
  Again, not putting in your contact information.
• 6:59
  And here are some ideas I'm thinking about. So maybe, for example,
• 7:03
  you are currently a project manager.
• 7:06
  Maybe you want to explore the hospitality industry.
• 7:10
  So you can put an actual profile in ChatGPT to say, here are some ideas I'm thinking about.
• 7:17
  Here are some skills that I have, some strengths that I have.
• 7:22
  So giving it a profile to start with.
• 7:25
  Then ask it to give you some careers that may align to those skills and strengths,
• 7:30
  or maybe some job titles that fit that description.
• 7:35
  And what this does, it really helps with that brainstorming process for yourself
• 7:39
  so that you can say, oh, I never thought about, you know, doing this type of work.
• 7:44
  And let me explore that some more. So it helps with that brainstorming process.
• 7:48
  So that's one thing that ChatGPT can do.
• 7:52
  We talked about resume writings. So if you're inputting a resume and then maybe
• 7:58
  following that, a job description that you're interested in,
• 8:01
  you can give it prompts, like write a profile statement based on my resume and this job description.
• 8:08
  Now, again, do not cut and paste what it gives you.
• 8:12
  Use what it gives you for brainstorming for yourself.
• 8:17
  Oh, yeah, that's a great way to say this. Let me tweak it so it's my own voice.
• 8:22
  So, again, you're writing it using your own authentic voice.
• 8:26
  Maybe you can prompt it to say, highlight some of the keywords in the job description
• 8:31
  so I can highlight those in my resume.
• 8:34
  And one of the favorite questions I love to ask is taking my resume,
• 8:39
  what questions can I ask myself to quantify or qualify more?
• 8:46
  So it gives you specific questions that you can ask yourself,
• 8:49
  and we call those resume boosters, because that really helps you stand out in
• 8:55
  your resume, where you can, you know, quantify,
• 8:58
  be more specific in those job descriptions, that's really helpful.
• 9:02
  It's a great tool, again, for interviewing, maybe putting in that job description,
• 9:08
  prompting it, saying, give me 10 possible interview questions that might be
• 9:14
  asked in this interview and how to answer those questions.
• 9:18
  So, again, it's taking some of your own experience, taking the job description,
• 9:24
  and, again, giving you some ideas of how you may be able to answer that.
• 9:28
  Maybe creating some star stories, we call them star stories,
• 9:33
  which helps you answer those behavioral types of interview questions that can be helpful for you.
• 9:40
  So, the one quick thing I want to say about prompts. the
• 9:43
  quality of your prompt will
• 9:48
  affect the quality of the output it gives you so
• 9:51
  for example i used to ask how can i quantify or qualify more now i ask myself
• 9:58
  because it helps me in the process to be more creative for myself what questions
• 10:03
  can i ask myself to quantify or qualify more As you talk about prompts,
• 10:09
  for those of you who aren't familiar with AI.
• 10:13
  Typically you're going to want to put together a really good prompt or a really
• 10:17
  good question to help the artificial intelligence craft whatever response that you are looking for.
• 10:25
  And normally, you're going to attach or upload a document for it to scan to
• 10:33
  figure out what it is that you are trying to answer.
• 10:36
  And then in this case, it might be your resume or transcript or something else along those lines.
• 10:42
  A word of caution there, too, when you're uploading, say, a resume,
• 10:47
  again, making sure that what you're uploading doesn't include your contact information. Definitely.
• 10:52
  And your transcript as well. You don't want them to know exactly who you are,
• 10:56
  but just what classes you've taken and what kind of grades you've gotten and those sorts of things.
• 11:01
  Are there risks for relying too heavily on AI?
• 11:05
  Well, I think the number one risk is if you rely too heavily on AI,
• 11:11
  it's not being your authentic self.
• 11:15
  So, you know, AI tools are machines. They don't know your own voice.
• 11:20
  As mentioned earlier, you know, for resume writing, it can spit out some generic
• 11:24
  content or maybe big words that sound important, sound good,
• 11:29
  but it just isn't your style.
• 11:31
  And recruiters can spot that right away. So if they spot that,
• 11:36
  then your resume is going to go at the bottom of the pile.
• 11:38
  So I think there's a big risk for being lazy.
• 11:43
  Right. In the job search, I want to mention also networking,
• 11:47
  you know, building those relationships, getting out there, meeting people. That's where it is.
• 11:53
  And most jobs are found with the networking that you do, the relationships that you build.
• 11:58
  And you can't do that sitting behind a computer, you know, using AI to rely on for your job search.
• 12:06
  So I think those two things are the biggest risk
• 12:10
  for relying too heavily on AI and also
• 12:15
  AI can get it wrong yeah right definitely they can get it wrong they can get
• 12:22
  it wrong you know again it may be it may sound great and think oh man who wouldn't
• 12:27
  hire me for what it just gave me But it may not be true,
• 12:31
  you know, based on your experiences and skills So again,
• 12:35
  I caution people to to use these tools for brainstorming purposes,
• 12:41
  but also being creative for themselves and Using these tools so that they can
• 12:45
  put out the content that is authentic for them,
• 12:49
  Should you document somewhere that you use AI to create your resume?
• 12:55
  There are tools out there, I think it's called Zero GPT, where people can kind
• 13:02
  of scan your document to see if you've used AI.
• 13:06
  I think the overall answer to that is people know that you're going to use AI
• 13:12
  in your job search because it does save you time. And people already know that.
• 13:17
  So I don't think there's any reason for you to say, I've used AI to write my
• 13:21
  resume because you're not using AI to write your resume.
• 13:25
  You're using it for brainstorming to write your own resume. Okay.
• 13:30
  So I think that was an interesting question that we had at a conference recently.
• 13:36
  That same question was asked, and the consensus was with the slot leaders,
• 13:41
  was people already know that we're using tools like ChatGPT for our job search. That's a given.
• 13:48
  So I don't think there's any reason to disclose I've used AI to write this because,
• 13:54
  again, you're not writing it based on what exactly it gave you.
• 13:59
  You're writing it to brainstorm for yourself on what to write for yourself.
• 14:03
  So where we used to go to those trusted individuals and say,
• 14:07
  help me make this better.
• 14:08
  Now we're going to artificial intelligence and saying, help me make this better. Yeah.
• 14:14
  Okay. All righty. So what's your number one piece of advice for someone just
• 14:19
  starting to use AI in their job search?
• 14:22
  I don't know if I have a number one. I have several thoughts. Okay.
• 14:27
  Making your top five list. Yeah. I think for someone just starting out,
• 14:33
  it can be scary because I've worked with, you know, different clients that have never used it.
• 14:39
  They don't want to use it because of privacy concerns or they don't know how to use it.
• 14:45
  So I explain some of the prompts, you know, and show them what it can do to get them comfortable.
• 14:52
  On how to use it. So I think start small. Start small of using something like
• 14:59
  ChatGBT in your job search.
• 15:01
  See how it works for you. If you don't like it, don't have to use it, right?
• 15:06
  And then the other things are, again, going back to using it responsibly,
• 15:13
  making it your own work, your own content.
• 15:16
  It's a, again, great tool for brainstorming, giving a starting point,
• 15:21
  a jumping off place, but use it as part of your own creativity of how you write things.
• 15:28
  And again, protecting your privacy.
• 15:30
  I think overall, you know, the biggest piece of advice that I would say is remember
• 15:37
  that AI is a tool, it's a machine, but it doesn't replace that human interaction.
• 15:43
  And that's so important to remember.
• 15:46
  You know, we don't rely on AI, just AI. We want that human feedback.
• 15:52
  You know, here at UK Alumni Career Services, we encourage our clients to use
• 15:58
  tools like AI in partnership with a career counselor who is a human,
• 16:03
  you know, that can help guide them through processes and tools,
• 16:08
  providing feedback based on the extensive knowledge and, you know,
• 16:13
  as career development professionals we have.
• 16:15
  In using these areas. So I mentioned networking, for example.
• 16:20
  We know a lot of people in different industries that we can help connect people to.
• 16:25
  So don't forget the human component.
• 16:28
  We know our clients better than the machines do, and we don't want that to get lost.
• 16:33
  And finally, you know yourself better than a machine does, and you don't want that to get lost either.
• 16:40
  So making sure that you're staying true to who you are, what content you want
• 16:46
  out there that AI can't give you necessarily.
• 16:49
  I think that's a wonderful way to wrap this up because you are who you are and
• 16:54
  we don't want the machine to tell you who you are, right?
• 16:59
  Amy, I think that this was a fun conversation and I do hope that people will
• 17:04
  remember that AI is just a tool.
• 17:06
  It is not the end-all and be-all for their job search. Exactly.
• 17:11
  Thank you for taking the time to share with us today.
• 17:14
  Thank you so much, Mindy. Appreciate it. And if you are interested in more resources
• 17:19
  from the Alumni Career Services,
• 17:21
  as we have discussed on the podcast before, the alumni services are available
• 17:26
  to anyone who is an alumni member and you don't have to be a graduate of the
• 17:32
  University of Kentucky to be an alumni member.
• 17:35
  So reach out and we will link the alumni services in the show notes.
• 17:41
  If you are just tuning in, you're listening to Talking FACS and we're available
• 17:45
  on all major podcast providers.
• 17:48
  Thank you for listening to Talking FACS. We deliver programs focusing on nutrition,
• 17:54
  health, resource management, family development, and civic engagement.
• 17:58
  If you enjoyed today's podcast, have a question or a show topic idea,
• 18:03
  leave a like and a comment on Facebook at UKFCSEXT or send us an email at UKFCSEXT@UKY.edu.
• 18:15
  Visit us online at fcs.uky.edu to learn more about the University of Kentucky
• 18:22
  Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Program or contact your local extension
• 18:26
  agent for Family and Consumer Sciences. We build strong families.
• 18:31
  We build Kentucky. It starts with us.
• 18:39
  Music.