Do you have an important job interview that you need to prepare for? Up until recently the best way to prepare was to search common questions for your position online and practice in the mirror. With the release of ChatGPT, it became much easier to get ready and boost your confidence for a job interview.
I've been reading that people use ChatGPT in this way a lot, so I decided I was going to give it a try too. I came up with a good prompt that made me feel like I was in a real interview. Here's what I wrote:
"I have a very important job interview tomorrow and I want you to help me out. I'm applying for a content writing position at a great company. They are looking for someone to cover the blockchain industry. I want you to act as the recruiter and ask me a series of questions. You will ask me between 5 and 7 questions, one by one. You will give me the next question only after I answer the current one. After the interview is over, I want you to evaluate my answers and give me tips on what I could've done better. I will write "START" when I want to begin the interview. Do you understand what I'm asking you to do?"
You can use the same prompt to get ready for a job interview you have in the near future. Simply change a few details so that it fits the position you're applying for.
I have to mention that I'm definitely not applying for a job as a content writer in the blockchain industry. It's just something I made up to write this article and explain how to use ChatGPT in this way. But who knows what might happen in the future. I stay ready so that I don't have to get ready.
The Mock Job Interview with ChatGPT
I actually do keep up with what's going on in the blockchain industry to a certain degree. I find it interesting and believe it will be more widespread in the future. I didn't prepare for these questions at all and just answered as quickly as I could to see how I would perform.
The first question I got asked was "What first sparked your interest in blockchain technology and how have you kept up with the latest developments in the industry?"
That's a pretty good question and I could definitely see the recruiter asking me something similar if I applied for a position like this. I answered truthfully and started to look forward to the next question.
As a content writer, I have to say that it's really important to make articles easily digestible for a general audience - especially when you're writing about complex technical topics. That's why I really liked this question.
In the first paragraph, I responded truthfully. The second paragraph in my answer was completely made up since I never wrote about anything related to blockchain technology. Or maybe I did but I just signed an NDA so I can't really talk about it. Still, I think it was a pretty good answer.
The third question is one I would dread in an actual interview. I don't like talking about myself. I wouldn't like to talk about what sets me apart from other writers. I like to let my work speak for itself.
I am that funny and smart friend that can come up with witty comments on just about anything though. As you can tell by reading this article, I also use a conversational tone in my writing. The answer I gave is exactly how I'd respond to a job interview question like this.
You need reliable sources when you are writing about something. Writing about AI is more of a personal journey I'm on right now. I will write about my experiences. But whenever I'm writing a news story or something technical, I triple-check my sources to ensure my readers get factual information. I appreciate the time every reader takes to get through an article and I want to make sure what they read is correct.
This is how I would go about checking information in the blockchain industry. In most cases, you can get it straight from the source. Business owners and developers in this industry often let everyone know what they're up to on Twitter before news articles get written.
SEO is a passion of mine. It's something I fell in love with years ago. There is something about using your wits to achieve a high ranking and experimenting with many different strategies, analyzing the results, and then improving your approach. It's honestly an art, and I'm happy I mastered it.
Good luck with finding out my SEO strategies though, ChatGPT. It takes years to come up with and perfect a solid strategy. It's not something I'm too big on sharing with the public. I may have given a few nuggets of wisdom here, but if you're familiar with SEO at all you'll know what I'm talking about.
I gave ChatGPT the option to give me between 5 and 7 questions for the mock job interview. It decided that 6 questions was enough. That works for me.
My answer here is completely true, but I don't recommend you ever try it. Unless you're up for a good challenge. But if you can't handle it, you'll only let your clients down. It takes superior research skills to write content on topics you're not familiar with at all.
I have to admit that sometimes the best thing you can do as a content writer is start exploring topics you don't know anything about. This way you'll be prepared to dive deep into something new and exciting, like me writing about all of these great AI tools that were only recently made available to the public.
Okay, that's it as far as the interview goes. As you might remember from the beginning of the article, I also asked ChatGPT to evaluate my performance and provide me with feedback. It did that right after I gave the answer to the final question. This is the feedback I received.
This is great feedback. I'm extremely impressed by the comments above. I did not expect ChatGPT would be this good at evaluating my performance. What's really great is that I found out I would be an impressive candidate for a content writing position in the blockchain industry. Maybe I will really quit doing this and cover blockchain topics. No, I'm kidding. I love AI too much.
I know I completely made up the scenario, but it felt like I was at a real job interview. It was quite stressful and exhausting. I wanted to relax after the interview ended, so I decided to have a laugh and asked ChatGPT to write a joke in the voice of Larry David about my dull wish of becoming a content writer in the blockchain industry.
AI-powered Larry makes a pretty valid point. It would be writing about something that's so confusing, even the people who work with it can't explain it. It sounds like it would require too much effort. What made me happy though is that maybe I won't have to wait in agony for the new season of Curb Your Enthusiasm if I use ChatGPT to write Larry David jokes for me.
Write Resumes and Cover Letters with AI (ChatGPT)
Another thing you can use ChatGPT for is writing resumes and cover letters. When I was working at a few different digital marketing agencies, I helped a bit with recruiting new talent. Some people were extraordinary at their jobs but couldn't write a decent cover letter. This was especially the case with social media managers. I guess they're used to writing shorter content.
In their honor, I asked ChatGPT to provide me with an example of a cover letter for a social media manager position. This is what I received.
This is a decent cover letter. I love that certain social media management tools like Hootsuite are mentioned. However, I have to say that just because you have a CV generator at your fingertips doesn't mean that you shouldn't put in any effort.
Take the time to make small but important changes that will help you sprinkle a bit of your personality in the cover letter. Using ChatGPT to write cover letters will save you a lot of time. As long as you put in a little more effort to make it perfect, your cover letter will stand out. Unless everyone is using the same strategy as you now, which might be the case.
I was also interested in finding out how good of a resume ChatGPT could write. I entered a prompt that said I'm applying for an SEO strategist position at a company called kekSEO and that I need a resume. I also mentioned that I have 7 years of experience in this field. Here's the resume ChatGPT wrote:
This is the first part of the resume. Once again, I love that specific tools are mentioned here. I actually use them a lot. I would change a few things here regardless to be completely honest about who I am.
I'm not familiar with website design and development. I would not put that on my resume. Statements like that are exactly why you need to pay close attention to what ChatGPT generated instead of just filling in the necessary blanks and sending the resume as it is.
Here's the other part of the resume.
Previous work experience is a must when you're looking for a job in this field. On second thought, today it's essential in just about any field. You need to have a good degree and a lot of experience to get many entry-level positions. It's the competitive market we're currently in.
Let's be honest. Writing resumes and cover letters isn't the most fun thing to do. Now you won't have to deal with the boring stuff because you can use ChatGPT to your advantage.
Final Thoughts
You can set up as many mock job interviews with ChatGPT as you want. The more you practice the better your performance will be at the real interview. It will also boost your confidence. You can set up parameters however you see fit. You can tell ChatGPT to ask you more than 20 questions and it will do it.
If you're looking at job listings and want to apply for a few positions, you can save a lot of time by letting ChatGPT generate a resume and cover letter for you.
