If you haven’t heard of ChatGPT, you must have been living under a rock!
The newest AI conversational interface, ChatGPT, makes Siri look like a toddler who has just started learning to talk. It’s taken the world by storm and already had huge implications for business and education – good and bad!
You’ve probably already had some rules dished out to you at school about not using ChatGPT to cheat on your schoolwork.
But what are some of the other uses this innovative tech could have in your life?
Well, for one, it can definitely help you on your career journey!
First Things First: A Bit More About ChatGPT
ChatGPT was created by Open AI, which is funded by several technology and venture capital firms, most prominently Microsoft, who have already invested $10 billion in the tech.
It’s a conversational interface, which is basically a fancy word for Chatbot. It’s far more advanced than the ones we have known previously, like Siri and Alexa, and capable of handling more complex questions.
Essentially, you can ask ChatGPT anything, which will formulate an accurate answer for you. ChatGPT can use existing data from the internet and generate a completely new output for you in response to whatever you ask.
From writing an email or computer code to a poem or a song – ChatGPT is a pretty powerful wordsmith!
How Can ChatGPT Support Your Career Journey?
ChatGPT has been proven to be highly accurate and informative, presenting information in an easy-to-read and understandable format.
Obviously, your teachers don’t want you to use it to write your homework or essays, but let’s think bigger here for a moment.
What if you had a question about the most common and successful pathway to becoming an electrical engineer?
Or what the most requested professional skills for the retail industry are?
OR how best to translate the things you like doing into positive strengths for your resume?
These are definitely things ChatGPT could offer a helping hand with.
3 Ways to Use ChatGPT On Your Career Journey
1. Research career pathways and new job roles.
The world of work is ever-changing, with new job roles being created every year and alternative pathways to popular jobs popping up too!
Keeping up to date can be a challenge, and this is where Chat GPT can help. You can ask it some questions to help you start planning your next step, such as:
- What are some of the newest roles in the construction industry?
- What are the new requirements to enter an apprenticeship in childcare?
- What are the entry requirements for a fast-track nursing degree?
If you’re unsure what you want to do or haven’t been able to get onto the pathway you initially had in mind, ChatGPT can also help you explore the alternatives around your interests. For example, you could ask what are ten job roles similar to XXX? and see what it comes up with.
2. Translate activities into strengths.
We know many young people struggle with vocalising their strengths and providing examples of how they’ve demonstrated them. When you don’t have any prior work experience, it can be tricky to see how anything you’re interested in translates into skills and strengths an employer would be interested in!
Again, ChatGPT can help.
Think about your hobbies and interests – painting and drawing, a sport, playing Minecraft – anything! Formulate this as a question: what strengths can I develop from XXX hobby that would be valuable in the workplace?
Use the list generated to reflect and think about the strengths you feel you can confidently discuss and include on your resume or future job applications. Remember – don’t just copy and paste what ChatGPT gives you. Think about these things in your own terms and write them in your own words.
3. Prep for interviews and assessment days.
It’s a tip we give out a lot – find a buddy to help you practice answering common questions before any big interview, and ChatGPT can help you in this regard too!
You can start by asking ChatGPT for the most commonly asked interview questions for the type of interview or assessment you’re attending. Whether for an apprenticeship, traineeship, graduate program or entry-level role.
Pick a question and have a go at answering it yourself. Write out your responses or record yourself if you find that easier. Then ask ChatGPT to provide an example of a response to the question. Compare your answers with the one given and see where you could improve.
Using AI to Help Not Hinder
Advancements in technology and AI, like ChatGPT, should be used to help – not hinder – our access to our goals, purpose and dreams for what we want to achieve in life.
These things are resources that can aid us to become better at the things we want to do and explore our ideas, like what our future career pathways might look like.
Approach ChatGPT with this mindset, and you’ll be well on your way to a career you can be proud of.
