Save time on your job search with ChatGPT

DISCLAIMER: Do not use this to lie on resumes or cover letters. ChatGPT is a language model, not a subject matter expert. It’s a powerful tool that can act as a contextual templating engine, but not a replacement for human expertise. If you’re using ChatGPT to generate job-application content, always carefully edit the outputs for accuracy and add your own voice.

You’ve heard of ChatGPT. This human-like text generation tool/chatbot can be used for pretty much anything; people are using it to write code, make (somewhat non-sequiteur) poetry, generate recipes… The list of possibilities is endless.

I started using ChatGPT recently, and it is already saving me hours and hours of work. I do not mind job hunting, on the whole. It’s interesting to learn what commpanies in my region are up to, and I always learn a lot about different technologies when looking for a new job. The worst part, though, is writing cover letters. Using a template is too stale and does not capture the nuance of the position.

This is where ChatGPT comes in. Let me show you how.

Note that I am mostly sharing the prompts used during these chats; I am not providing every Chat GPT response because they are wordy and not directly related to this demonstration.

Create our applicant

First, I create a professional description of myself. For the purposes of this article, we are going to use an invented persona named Morgan Williams. The name itself was suggested by ChatGPT as a generic, fictional, ungendered name! So, I prompted ChatGPT to come up with a profile for Morgan by giving it some prompts such as:

Morgan Williams is a software developer. They have 8 years of professional experience. They know Python, a little bash, and JavaScript.

Morgan Williams worked at a consulting company for the past two years

Before consulting, Morgan worked at a large corporation as a senior software engineer

… and so on. After I had built up some background information, I asked ChatGPT to generate a resume for Morgan.

Morgan Williams
Software Developer
Email: morgan.williams@email.com
Phone: 555-555-5555
Location: San Francisco, CA

Summary:

Software developer with 8 years of professional experience, specializing in Python, bash, and JavaScript. Proven track record of delivering high-quality software solutions on time and on budget. Strong problem-solving skills and ability to work collaboratively in a team environment.

Experience:

Software Developer
Consulting Company
San Francisco, CA
2021-present

    Develop and maintain software systems for clients in a variety of industries
    Collaborate with cross-functional teams to design and implement new features
    Provide technical guidance and support to junior developers

Senior Software Engineer
Large Corporation
San Francisco, CA
2018-2021

    Designed and developed software systems for the company's products and services
    Led a team of software engineers in the development and maintenance of applications
    Worked with product management to understand and prioritize company goals

Education:

Bachelor of Science in Computer Science
University of California, Berkeley
2014-2018

Skills:

    Programming languages: Python, bash, JavaScript
    Tools: Docker, Docker Compose
    Testing: Unit testing, integration testing
    Operating systems: Linux, Windows

Not bad, robot, not bad… So, now that we’ve built out some information on our candidate, let’s get GPT to create a job description.

Create the job description

I thought about just using a job description and obfuscating company data, but since we’re buildking a fictional candidate, we might as well make a fictional company too!

Foozit is an online music platform. Foozit enables musicians to buy and sell used gear, helps match people with hard-to-find boutique instruments, and enables musicans to meet each other and form groups via its online platform. Foozit is a python and django shop using containerization to run on AWS Fargate.

Foozit is looking for an innovative senior software engineer to refactor and improve its existing systems as well as create new services

ChatGPT generates the following job description:

Title: Senior Software Engineer
Location: San Francisco, CA

About the company:

Foozit is an online music platform that enables musicians to buy and sell used gear, helps match people with hard-to-find boutique instruments, and enables musicians to meet and form groups via its online platform. We are a Python and Django shop using containerization to run on AWS Fargate.

About the role:

We are seeking an innovative and experienced senior software engineer to join our team and help improve and expand our platform. As a senior software engineer, you will lead the design and development of new features and services, as well as refactor and improve existing systems. You will work closely with cross-functional teams to understand the needs of our users and deliver high-quality solutions that meet their needs.

Responsibilities:

    Lead the design and development of new features and services for the Foozit platform
    Refactor and improve existing systems to increase efficiency and scalability
    Collaborate with cross-functional teams to understand user needs and requirements
    Provide technical guidance and mentorship to junior software engineers
    Debug and troubleshoot issues as they arise

Requirements:

    Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science or a related field
    5+ years of professional experience as a software engineer
    Strong experience with Python and Django
    Experience with containerization and cloud computing (preferably AWS)
    Excellent problem-solving skills and ability to work collaboratively in a team environment
    Strong communication and leadership skills

Preferred qualifications:

    Experience with agile development methodologies
    Experience with unit and integration testing
    Experience with Git and version control systems

Good stuff, right!? Now, let’s see what kind of cover letter ChatGPT can write for our hypothetical engineer, Morgan.

Generate the cover letter

Giving ChatGPT the following prompt:

Write a cover letter for Morgan Williams to Foozit Senior Software
Engineer

We get the following cover letter.

Dear Hiring Manager,

I am writing to apply for the Senior Software Engineer position at Foozit. I am excited about the opportunity to join your team and contribute my skills and experience to the development of your innovative platform.

As a software developer with 8 years of professional experience, I have a strong background in Python, bash, and JavaScript, and have delivered a range of high-quality software solutions on time and on budget. I have experience working at both a consulting company and a large corporation, where I have had the opportunity to lead teams of software engineers and work with cross-functional teams to design and implement new features.

I am also proficient in tools such as Docker and Docker Compose, which I have used to streamline the development and deployment process. In addition, I have experience with unit and integration testing, which has helped me ensure the quality and reliability of the applications I have developed.

I believe that my skills and experience make me an ideal fit for this position. I am excited about the opportunity to work with your team at Foozit and contribute to the development of your platform. Thank you for considering my application. I look forward to the opportunity to discuss how I can contribute to your team.

Sincerely,
Morgan Williams

This is pretty mind-blowing, but then we can even ask ChatGPT to edit/iterate on our cover letter. For example, if we tell it to add Django to Morgan’s cover letter:

Morgan Williams is skilled with Django. Add that to the cover letter.

ChatGPT updates the 2nd paragraph! ...As a software developer with 8 years of professional experience, I have a strong background in Python, bash, and JavaScript, and am skilled in the Django web framework..

A discussion on ethics

Personally, I see nothing disingenuous with using ChatGPT to reduce the legwork on applying for roles as long as I am not introducing false information. I can understand how ChatGPT can seem like “cheating” or threatening to existing professionals. Personally, I think tools like this are about to change how we work in a big way. It’s important to look at this as a tool, not as a replacement.

ChatGPT can save hours of unspiring work, freeing my time and energy for things that matter more.