Utilizing Generative AI in Career Preparation & Development
Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) platforms have grown in popularity and are helpful tools that can assist with many daily tasks. When it comes to career preparation, students may use platforms (e.g. Copilot, Gemini, and ChatGPT) to elevate their professional application documents, facilitate a successful job search, and even explore different industries and opportunities. The UCLA Career Center encourages students to be knowledgeable on the use of these resources, and understanding the limitations and the ethical obligations of using AI in the job and internship search process. Please refer to the UCLA GenAI Guides and Training website for further information.
AI is convenient and relatively easy to use, but we encourage students to also use the professional assistance that the UCLA Career Center can provide that can help to further personalize the results. So, if you use AI to develop your professional materials or to explore the world of work, follow up with an in-person or virtual visit to the UCLA Career Center. To illustrate the potential of generative AI in your career journey, let’s explore these practical applications.
Exploring Career Pathways with Generative AI
Generative AI can be a valuable tool in exploring potential career paths. By leveraging AI, you can gain insights into your interests, skills, and potential career options in the world of work
Identifying Potential Career Paths
Leverage Your Skills and Interests: Clearly articulate your skills and interests to a generative AI tool to receive tailored career suggestions. For example, you can start with a prompt such as, “Identify potential career paths based on my skills in [list specific skills] and my interests in [list specific interests]” or “Identify potential career paths based on my major [list major(s)/minor(s)] and my resume below [attach or copy and paste resume or portions of resume].
Explore Diverse Options: Generative AI can suggest a wide range of career paths, including those you may not have considered. Be open to exploring new possibilities and expanding your horizons. If you want more information, do not be afraid to build on your previous prompt by asking a follow up question. For example, “What does a person in content acquisition do in the music industry and what is a typical job description?”.
Gaining Deeper Insights
Request Additional Information: Once you have a list of potential career paths, ask the AI platform to provide more details about specific roles, required education, and industry trends. For example, “What degree(s) or certificates are required for this position?” and/or “What are steps in attaining this education/certificate”. This will offer a foundational roadmap to help you decide what path is best for you.
Identify Necessary Skills: Understand the key skills and qualifications needed for your desired career path. Use this information to develop a targeted skill-building plan. For example, “What skills are typically needed for a manufacturing engineer that I can learn in general college-level classes or from joining UCLA organizations?”
Note: Reach out to your department academic counselor or advisor to gain updated information on available course listings specific to UCLA.
Considering Further Education
Explore Educational Options: Generative AI can suggest educational paths, such as graduate programs or certifications, to enhance your career prospects. You can also use generative AI to suggest program degrees or certificate names that you can use as keywords in an online search engine.
Note: Though there may be degrees that do not exist exactly as generated by AI, use them as ways to expand your search for a program/opportunity that is right for you.
Evaluate Program Fit: Research the suggested programs to determine if they align with your career goals and personal aspirations. Generative AI can give you a general idea of programs, but it is always best to learn about the program on the program’s official website.
Remember: While AI can provide valuable insights, it’s essential to conduct thorough research and explore multiple resources to make informed career decisions. Use Generative AI as a starting point for your career exploration journey, and supplement its information with additional research and networking. See Chapter 13 for further tips on networking.
Leveraging Generative AI for an Efficient Job/Internship Search
Precision Matching: Generative AI revolutionizes the job search by analyzing your resume and matching your skills with suitable job openings. These tools compare your qualifications with job descriptions across various industries, helping you focus on roles that align with your career path. This targeted approach increases your chances of securing interviews for positions that truly fit your profile.
Tip: Create a prompt for suggestions of keywords that can be used when setting up a job alert. You can also ask Generative AI to create a list of platforms where you can create personalized job alerts.
Informed Applications: Beyond matching and alerts, generative AI provides detailed insights into potential employers. By aggregating data on company culture, employee reviews, and industry trends, AI helps you make informed decisions about where to apply. Additionally, AI assists in starting and crafting tailored resumes/cover letters and application materials, ensuring each submission is professional and customized to the job at hand. This combination of insights and personalization brings you closer to securing the job you desire.
Generative AI provides different perspectives when crafting and refining resumes. These tools can help you:
- Optimize Keywords: Many companies use applicant tracking systems (ATS) to filter resumes. Generative AI tools can analyze job descriptions/posts and suggest keywords that align with the role, increasing your chances of passing the initial screening. An example of a prompt would be, “Based on the following job description, what would be the top 5-skills required of an exceptional candidate? [copy and paste job description]”.
- Personalize Content: Generative AI can tailor your resume to specific job applications, ensuring that your skills and experiences match the requirements of each position. By using generative AI, you can receive drafts of customized bullet points and summaries that reflect your unique background. It is important to note that you must provide the information in order to make it personalized (i.e. resume, summary of past experiences, etc.).
- Identify Gaps: Advanced generative AI tools can highlight areas that need improvement, such as missing skills or unclear job descriptions, and offer suggestions for enhancement based on vast datasets. You may consider asking generative AI to list specific skill or gaps in your resume based on a job description you are applying for.
Tip: While generative AI can provide valuable insights, always review the final product to ensure it accurately reflects your unique experiences and voice.
Preparing for interviews can be daunting, but generative AI can be a powerful ally in building your confidence. Consider the following use cases:
- Common Industry-Specific Questions: You can utilize generative AI to provide you with common questions typically used in your target industry. Generative AI can also suggest potential questions you can ask the employer at the end of your interview based on the job description and the company website.
- Mock Interviews: AI-driven platforms like Copilot and Gemini can simulate real interview scenarios, providing practice questions and immediate feedback on your responses.
- Example prompt: You are a recruiter for top companies and interview hundreds of candidates in business. Can you please conduct a job interview for me, with the top 5 questions in the industry. Please pause after you ask each question. Afterwards, provide me with constructive feedback for my answers.
- Feedback and Improvement: Generative AI can identify patterns in your responses and suggest ways to improve your answers, ensuring you are well-prepared for a variety of questions.
Tip: Use generative AI tools to practice, but also seek feedback from peers, mentors, and/or the Career Center to gain diverse perspectives on your interview performance and aspects that would not be tracked, such as non-verbal cues, tone, etc.
Networking is a crucial aspect of career development; generative AI can help you connect with the right people more efficiently:
- Social Media Insights: Generative AI tools can analyze your LinkedIn profile and suggest adjustments that can improve your visibility and brand for certain industries.
- Content Suggestions: If you have trouble on what to post, you can use generative AI to suggest relevant content to share, or assist in formulating a post on one of your recent experiences you want to share, helping you stay active and visible in your professional community.
Tip: While generative AI can enhance your networking efforts, remember to engage authentically and build genuine relationships. Review all content to make sure it is true to your voice and your beliefs/values, and take the time to meet with people in your network to build connections and your career community.
It is essential to provide effective prompts to generate specific and personalized results.
To make the most of generative AI for resume building, cover letter writing, job searching, and career preparation in general, it is essential to provide strong, clear prompts. The B.R.U.I.N. prompt guide can get you started in creating effective prompts that yield high-quality results:
B. Begin with a Clear Basic Prompt: Start with a straightforward and specific prompt that clearly states your objective. For example, “Create a resume summary for a digital marketing professional with five years of experience.” This sets a clear direction for the AI to follow.
R. Review the Generated Output: After the AI generates content, review it thoroughly. Check if it aligns with your goals, accurately represents your experience, and matches the tone and style you want. This ensures the content is relevant and polished.
U. Utilize Established Formats and Examples: Guide the AI by requesting content in recognized formats or templates. For instance, ask it to generate a cover letter following a standard structure, ensuring the result is professional and organized.
I. Incorporate Specific Details and Keywords: Enhance the AI’s output by including key details and industry-specific keywords. This can involve asking the AI to emphasize certain skills or achievements that are important for the job you’re targeting.
N. Navigate Through Iteration and Refinement: Improve the content by iterating—make adjustments, refine prompts, and ask the AI to focus on specific aspects. Repeating the process helps you achieve a final product that meets your expectations.
By following the B.R.U.I.N. method, you can effectively harness the power of AI to create high-quality career documents and enhance your job search efforts.
Tip: The B.R.U.I.N. method can be applied across various career development tasks, ensuring that AI-generated content is tailored, effective, and aligned with your goals. While AI can be a valuable tool, it’s essential to maintain a human touch and ensure your documents accurately reflect your unique qualifications and personality.
B. Begin with a Clear Basic Prompt
Start by giving the AI a clear and specific prompt using “I” statements:
Prompt: “I want to generate a resume bullet point for my experience leading a social media campaign for a campus organization that increased event attendance.”
R. Review the Generated Output
Review the AI-generated bullet point to ensure it captures the key achievements and is well-structured:
Generated Bullet Point: “Increased event attendance by 30% through a social media campaign for a campus organization.”
Assess whether the bullet point reflects your role and accomplishments.
U. Utilize Established Formats and Examples
Guide the AI to follow the recommended format (Action Verb + Task + Result) and provide more structure to your request:
Refined Prompt: “I want a resume bullet point using the Action Verb + Task + Result format. I led the social media campaign and want to emphasize the increase in attendance.”
Revised Output: “Led a social media campaign, increasing event attendance by 30%.”
I. Incorporate Specific Details and Keywords
Enhance the AI’s output by including specific strategies, tools, and details relevant to your role:
Prompt Addition: “I want to include specific strategies and tools I used, such as Facebook event pages and Instagram Stories to promote the event.”
Enhanced Bullet Point: “Led a social media campaign, increasing event attendance by 30% through targeted promotion using Facebook event pages and Instagram Stories.”
N. Navigate Through Iteration and Refinement
Refine the bullet point further by asking the AI to focus on particular aspects, and repeat the process if needed:
Further Refinement Prompt: “I want the bullet point to also highlight my role in planning and using data to optimize the campaign. For example, I used Facebook Analytics to refine our strategy.”
Final Bullet Point Using B.R.U.I.N.
Final Result: “Led and planned a social media campaign that increased event attendance by 30%, using Facebook event pages, Instagram Stories, and Facebook Analytics to optimize promotion strategies.”
The final bullet point showcases your leadership, planning, and use of specific tools and strategies in a college experience, in detailed, impactful resume content.
From here, you can further refine the bullet point to make sure it aligns with your accomplishments and connects to the role you are applying for. You can also adjust words directly, or ask for other words that align with the position (i.e., can you place “led” with another action verb that aligns with the position description: (copy and paste position description). You can reiterate and continue to strengthen the bullet point with more prompts. Lastly, we recommend connecting with a mentor/career counselor and/or a professional in the field to provide comments on your resume.
Be Wary of Overrelying on Generative AI
While generative AI offers numerous benefits, be wary of overuse, as it can hinder your creativity and identity and lead to ethical concerns.
- Authenticity: Employers value authenticity and personal effort. While AI can be a helpful tool for resume and cover letter writing, along with interview preparation, it’s important to remember that your professional documents and interview responses should be authentic and reflect your unique skills and experiences. Overusing AI-generated content can make your applications and communications appear generic and impersonal. Do not rely solely on AI-generated content; use it as a starting point and personalize it with your own voice and perspective.
- Skill Development: Relying too heavily on generative AI can hinder your personal skill development. It’s crucial to actively engage in the resume-building, interview preparation, and networking processes to hone your skills.
- Bias in AI Tools: Be aware that AI tools can sometimes perpetuate biases present in the data they are trained on. Carefully review any AI-generated suggestions and ensure they accurately represent your qualifications and experiences.
- Ethical Considerations: Be mindful of the ethical implications of using AI. Ensure that the tools you use comply with data privacy regulations and that you understand how your data is being utilized.
By using generative AI strategically and thoughtfully, you can leverage its power to enhance your resume, prepare for interviews, and build a strong network. Remember, generative AI is a tool, and the most effective career development strategies involve using generative AI in conjunction with your own skills, knowledge, and human touch.
Tip: Companies may include hidden prompts in their position description that a human would see and disregard, but a generative AI model would follow. Be sure to read thoroughly if you prompt with a position description.
