Getting an interview for a job can be exhilarating if you’ve spent a lot of time sending resumes and cover letters out, but that excitement is often matched by trepidation as you now have to convey why you’re the one for a role to an actual human, whether in person or over a video call. But the days of manually hunting for the most common interview questions, awkwardly practicing in front of mirrors, and guilting friends and family into practicing may be over, thanks to ChatGPT.
I’ve used ChatGPT for everything from dinner ideas and children’s entertainment to New Year’s Resolutions and many other tasks. So, why not see what it can do for your job interview preparation?
Here are some of the best ways to use ChatGPT to help you nail that interview for a job.
Research
One of the first things you’ll want to do is research the company you’re interviewing for. Yes, you know enough about them to apply for the job, but more information is always a good idea. While that usually has meant filling tabs with articles and interviews bout a company, ChatGPT can streamline the whole thing by summarizing data in as much detail as you want. You can pull together the company’s key values, recent news, and the competitive landscape for their industry into digestible nuggets.
For instance, you might prompt ChatGPT with “Give me a concise overview of Patagonia’s mission and recent sustainability initiatives,” or “Summarize recent developments at Airbnb relevant to a content strategist role.”
Come up with questions
Next, consider what questions you might face. Think about your industry and role. Sure, you can resort to internet searches and write down questions in the same ballpark, but the more specific you are, the better you’ll prepare. ChatGPT is great at zeroing in on hyper-specific questions if you let it.
For example, you could ask: “Give me interview questions commonly asked for UX design roles in tech startups,” or “What kinds of strategic questions might come up during an interview for a product manager at Amazon?”
Instead of generic advice, ChatGPT provides nuanced, detailed lists of questions and can even ask you for more details as it puts together lists to practice with that are relevant to real-world scenarios you might face.
Mock Interviews
With all of this in place, you can start a major aspect of job interview prep with ChatGPT running mock interviews. Usually, you’d beg a friend or mentor to take pity on you and spend a half-hour pretending to be your future boss. The problem? Friends might go too easy on you (unhelpful) or overdo the tough-love approach (also unhelpful but emotionally scarring).
ChatGPT struck a comfortable middle ground, providing realistic questions without making me feel like I’d botched my entire career before it even started. If you want to try it, use a specific prompt for a company, like “Pretend you’re interviewing me for a senior programming role at Spotify,” or angle it for the kind of questions you might expect, like, “Give me a mock behavioral interview focusing on managing difficult colleagues.”
Refine and improve
The mock interview doesn’t mean your work is done. Answering questions confidently is one thing; answering them concisely and persuasively is another. Traditionally, refining your responses means scribbling notes and potentially becoming a flat-toned robot in what you say. ChatGPT offers a new way to improve your answers without losing your voice. Think about where your answers need aid and ask ChatGPT for help.
For example, you could prompt the AI with a lame answer like: “My biggest weakness is perfectionism,” and then ask, “How can I answer this in a way that sounds genuine and less cliché?” Or you might request, “Make my answer about resolving a team conflict sound less defensive and more collaborative.”
Interview AI
ChatGPT can be great for aiding in job interview preparation, but there are a few caveats worth mentioning. While impressive, it can’t quite replicate human intuition or emotional intelligence. Sometimes, its suggestions may veer into overly robotic territory, so it might be better to think of its advice as a starting point rather than absolute truth.
Still, when so much is riding on a conversation, the more research, prep, and practice you can do, the better. ChatGPT might not guarantee your dream job, but it can at least help you feel confident and ready to convince the interviewer that you’re the one they’ve been hunting for all this time.
