Center for Professional Development and Inclusive Excellence <->(C-Hub)

Using Generative AI

Generative AI as a Tool in the Job Search Process

There is a range of opinion about the best ways that generative AI such as Chat GPT can be used in the job search process. When it comes to student work at OIST, please see the Graduate School's policy, "Policy on Use of Generative AI Tools for Education and Learning" (link here). Prospective job seekers in both the academic and non-academic job markets alike should be aware that with the emergence of the widespread accessibility of these technologies, some employers have adopted strict policies such as the following recent job advertisement for a climate scientist position at NATO/OTAN:

NATO will not accept any phase of the recruitment and selection prepared, in whole or in part, by means of generative artificial-intelligence (AI) tools, including and without limitation to chatbots, such as Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer (Chat GPT), or other language generating tools. NATO reserves the right to screen applications to identify the use of such tools. All applications prepared, in whole or in part, by means of such generative or creative AI applications may be rejected without further consideration at NATO’s sole discretion, and NATO reserves the right to take further steps in such cases as appropriate.

Often, AI detection tools are utilized by employers, including universities, to discover whether a prospective job candidate submits materials that wholly or partially contain AI-generated content. Here are three examples of such AI detectors:

More broadly on university professional and career development sites, there are three main purposes suggested for using generative AI technologies in the job search process, both within and outside of higher education:

analyzing data about job trends
practicing interviews
generating examples and stimulating ideas for application materials

*Note: C-Hub does not recommend using Chat GPT or similar technologies to draft application materials.

One of the biggest drawbacks to using these technologies to directly draft application materials, even if one manages to avoid the pitfalls of plagiarism or new forms of collusion, is that it can then become very difficult to regain authentic tone and voice in the same portfolio of materials. Such authenticity is key to distinguishing yourself in a competitive pool of applicants.

*Note: Revising job application materials to achieve authentic tone and voice can be especially challenging for English language learners. Starting from drafts that have been generated with vocabulary and phrasing produced by AI tools only increases this challenge.