Three golden pieces of advice when applying for a job:
- Network with people at the company, who have the role you’re applying for or work closely with the department, and learn about their experience. If applicable, get a referral link.
- Identify a project (interviewing people who do what you’d want to do, writing posts about what you’ve, etc) that highlights your ability to deliver value for that role.
- Customize your resume to speak directly to needs and specific words listed in the job posting, adding quantifiable impact when possible.
Last week I was helping a friend, who’s currently working at Starbucks, customize their resume for a social media job, an industry they’ve worked in previously.
Here’s how I used ChatGPT to help customize the resume.
Query:
“Write a two-sentence about me section for someone applying for a social media role where the qualifications are:
• Passion for content and social platforms, who keeps up to speed with the latest developments and trends across the space
• Experience managing and contributing to a marketing calendar, specifically building a social content calendar
• Experience working with influencers, content creators, or brand ambassadors
• Ability to create presentations (in either Powerpoint or Google Slides) that visually communicate ideas
• You are an entrepreneurial individual who cares about the brand and finds opportunities to be creative and proactive in helping achieve business and brand goals
• Highly collaborative and able to quickly establish credibility within the team to impact decisions through both formal and informal influence”
ChatGPT’s answer:
“The candidate is a passionate individual with a strong understanding of content and social platforms, who stays up to date with the latest developments and trends in the space. They have experience in managing and contributing to marketing calendars, specifically in building a social content calendar, and have worked with influencers, content creators, or brand ambassadors in the past.”
I then modified the above to be accurate to the individual, adding some metrics and specifics where applicable.
Query:
“With the above context, in two sentences what job experience would you highlight on a resume from working as a barista at Starbucks that applies to a social media management job?”
ChatGPT’s answer:
“As a barista at Starbucks, I gained experience in creating visually appealing drink presentations that effectively communicated ideas to customers. Additionally, I honed my skills in collaborating with a team, quickly establishing credibility and using both formal and informal influence to drive decisions and achieve business goals.”
Query:
“With the above context, in two sentences what job experience would you highlight from working as a freelance photographer that applies to a social media management job that you’d highlight on a resume”
ChatGPT’s answer:
“As a freelance photographer, I have experience in visually storytelling, creating content that resonates with the target audience and editing images/ videos to tell a cohesive story. Additionally, I have experience working with clients and managing their expectations, negotiating and collaborating to achieve the clients’ and my creative vision.”
And because of the overall quality of was pretty high it was only fitting to end with an AI-appropriate thank you.
Query:
“Write yourself a thoughtful and genuine compliment based on your above answers as well as two ways your responses could have been improved.”
ChatGPT’s answer:
“You provided very thoughtful and well-written responses that effectively highlighted relevant job experiences and skills for a social media management role. Your answers were concise and to the point, effectively communicating the candidate’s qualifications. In terms of improvement, you could have provided more specific examples or metrics to bolster your points and further demonstrate the candidate’s proficiency in those areas. Additionally, you could have included additional qualifications or experiences that the candidate has that would be relevant to the social media role, such as experience with social media analytics or paid advertising.”
Elizabeth Beeli 