It’s been a little while since I last delivered a live presentation, so I appreciated being invited to share a talk on AI at the recent Career Summit hosted by Ezrah, an amazing non-profit in Bergen County with the goal of helping every family become self-sufficient. In addition to a mind-blowing set of financial support and educational services, Ezrah has Jeff Mendelson, their Director of Employment, who offers assistance to job-seekers, including training, resume advice, networking, and several events like the Career Summit each year.
The day began with a keynote presentation from Shmuel Shayowitz, then moved to a set of two breakout sessions, of which I was one. The other was delivered by Jayde Massin of SOAR Executive Coaching.
My talk was titled AI and Your Job Search: What You’re Not Using Yet, and I talked about some common misconceptions about AI then walked through some real-world strategies for using Claude, ChatGPT, or similar LLMs to help with the job hunt.
People have asked, so you can view the slides here.
As part of my talk, I shared two example prompts that you can use as part of the process:
First, I suggested using an LLM as a practice interviewer. Here’s the prompt:
Act as an interviewer for [role] at a company like [type of company]. The market for this role is [competitive / tight / open]. Ask me one question at a time. Push back if my answer is vague. Rate my answer before moving on.
I suggest that you use the AI’s voice feature instead of typing. Be as specific as possible and run through it multiple times, changing the parameters as you go.
I also suggested that you could use AI to help brainstorm ideas for blog/LinkedIn posts you can write. It’s important to stay visible since most jobs come from recommendations… and you have to make sure people are aware enough of you to think of you when the time comes.
Here’s an example prompt:
I'm a [role] with experience in [areas]. Give me [twelve] [viral],[current] LinkedIn post themes things I could write about from my experience.
Again, change it up to suit you… and be as specific as possible.
Good luck with this stuff. I hope you find it helpful. And be sure to reach out with questions, suggestions, examples, and your success stories!