5 Ways AI Can Help Boost Your Career

Amid salespeople pushing big-screen demonstrations and the hottest recruiting software, the booth at the HR tech conference seemed bare. A lone man sat behind a table, upon which was a single piece of 8 1/2 x 11 paper. It read, “Using AI to Get the Interview.” The recruitment solution he was selling didn’t need a flashy presentation to attract attention. It was an artificial-intelligence program that identified the keywords and screening algorithms major employers use when evaluating résumés. 

That was nearly a decade ago, but it made an impression on Nathan Blain, global lead for optimizing people costs at Korn Ferry. Blain was intrigued by the idea of someone pitching an AI solution for job-seekers at a conference aimed squarely at corporate-recruiting professionals. If AI is considered from an employee perspective at all, the discussion often focuses on its biases. The question of how AI can help job-seekers get hired and boost employees’ careers is often absent from the recruiting conversation. 

But with advances like the new bot ChatGPT, which mimics human conversation in a way never before seen in AI, “bots can provide everything from résumé feedback to job suggestions to comments on energy level in an interview,” says Blain. By understanding the feedback AI is giving employers, for instance, job-seekers can address any perceived shortcomings in their candidacy. 

The technology is far from perfect and is still being developed. But here are some ways it may be able to help improve career moves. 

It could offer interview advice. 

AI can comb through social-media posts about interview experiences with a particular company. It can analyze all that commentary and recommend the best interview strategy based on a job-seeker’s skills and the company’s hiring tendencies, says Chris Cantarella, global sector leader for software at Korn Ferry. “AI can warn candidates about ‘gotcha’ questions and scenarios, and provide advice on how to highlight specific capabilities and skills,” says Cantarella. In this sense, AI can function as a de facto interview counselor, he says.

It could improve your writing skills.

The tech world is gaga for ChatGPT in part because the bot’s natural-language-processing ability represents a significant advance in human-to-bot interaction. Though ChatGPT is still flawed, its ability to write both creatively and authoritatively on a wide range of subjects has led employees to experiment with using it to draft emails, press releases, content marketing, and other types of business communications. 

It could offer career counseling.

As companies focus more on skills-based hiring in the wake of the pandemic, AI can serve as a sort of career counselor for people looking to transition to new roles or industries, says Jason Burt, vice president of global talent acquisition at Korn Ferry. He says AI can help map different roles and titles to a candidate’s skill set, for instance, or recommend skills needed for a higher or better-paying role. 

It could help read body language.

Companies are increasingly using AI to read the body language of employees and candidates to gauge anxiety, depression, enthusiasm, and other nonverbal cues. But this doesn’t have to be a one-way street. For their part, both employees and job-seekers can leverage AI to provide real-time feedback during interviews or presentations, says Blain. “AI is increasingly capable of telling people how an interaction is going,” he observes. By extension, it can alert employees and job-seekers to behavioral cues that impede performance. 

It could power productivity.

According to research firm Gartner, 70% of white-collar workers already interact with chatbots and other AI in the workplace. For instance, chatbots are being used to analyze emails, Gchats, and Teams messages to determine their importance. The technology can alert employees if an immediate response is required and even schedule time with the appropriate contact, if necessary. AI’s ability to boost productivity is often framed as good for business, but it is also good for an employee’s career prospects. After all, more productivity can lead to bigger and better opportunities. 

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