Did you know that a couple of months ago, ChatGPT ALMOST landed a software programmer role at Amazon?
That's right - at the beginning of the year, an Amazon employee decided to test how ChatGPT would answer the company's interview questions.
"I was honestly impressed! I'm both scared and excited to see what impact this will have on the way that we conduct coding interviews."
Even though some of ChatGPT's answers had a "buggy" implementation, the solutions were correct. ChatGPT was even able to improve the code.
“ChatGPT is empowering job seekers. It can provide answers to their specific questions beyond what a basic Google search will find (articles and videos). For example, ChatGPT can help develop a list of questions a job seeker can ask during an informational meeting."
Samantha Foster, Executive Recruiter
This Enhancv guide will focus precisely on that. Welcoming you to the light side of the force or using ChatGPT as a tool to prepare for your next job interview.
Before we start, get your resume, possibly your cover letter, and a couple of job adverts ready to go.
What you'll learn in this guide:
- How to start thinking about your job interview with ChatGPT's help;
- Prompts to help assess your answers and provide you with follow-up questions;
- Acing behavioral questions: how to talk about your soft skills more efficiently;
- Getting ready for the technical part of the interview: focusing on technologies and impact;
- Turning ChatGPT into your interview preparation coach on the go.
How to use ChatGPT to prepare for your job interview
Within this next section of our guide, we’ll provide you with some of the most useful prompts for research, practicing your interview, assessing your answers, and so much more.
ChatGPT prompts for interview preparation and research
At times, you feel the stress of that very first interview for the role as an Atlassian burden that’s weighing you down.
You start to wonder how to dress for the interview, how to explain those gaps in your work history, what questions you should be asking at the end of your interview, etc.
That's where ChatGPT comes in - it can help you answer some of those more general questions you happen to have before your interview.
Use these prompts to get prepared for your interview:
This will be my first interview for the role of [JavaScript programmer] at [Meta]. How should I dress, and also what should I bring to make a good first impression on the company?
What do companies look for when interviewing for a [copywriter] role in the [advertising] industry?
This is my first interview for the role of a [junior lawyer] at [White & Case]. How can I best showcase my skills and experience during the interview?
N.B. If you’d like to be more specific with this prompt, you could also specify the industry or niche you’d be working in.
You could also use ChatGPT for research about the company:
I'm currently in the application process at [Facebook] for a [junior developer] role. What should I research about the company before an interview?
I'm feeling a bit nervous about my interview, which is set to be [next week]. Could you provide me with some effective communication tips with a focus on making eye contact, using appropriate body language, and speaking clearly?
Or, alternatively, to top up your skills:
In the past [six months], I've been unemployed as I've been [taking courses to top up my SEO skills]. Can you suggest ways to answer questions about gaps in my employment history?
The more context you can provide to ChatGPT, the more personal the response would be.
Just remember that the platform uses all user inputs to learn - so if you’re uncomfortable with disclosing the full reason for your resume experience gaps, provide it with information that hints at this.
Don’t let recruiters get the best of you with surprise questions:
Can you provide me with instructions on how to handle difficult or unexpected interview questions?
And let ChatGPT help you to avoid the awkward silence at the end of your interview:
I'm currently at the [interview stage] of my application process for the role of [nurse]. This will be my [second meeting] with the recruiters. What are some good questions to ask at the end of the interview?
Use the questions to not only show interest in the role but actually gather more information about the company.
ChatGPT's questions should be used as merely a compass - if you can personalize your queries, this would leave an even more lasting impression on recruiters.
Elevator pitches and ChatGPT
Every single job-related communication always starts with the same question, “Tell me about yourself.”
Your elevator pitch (elevator speech) - or the 30-second opportunity you’ve - is to introduce your experience or background to recruiters or potential employers at job fairs.
So how can you summarize your whole career to fit into the length of an elevator ride?
Use ChatGPT to inspire you with new ideas for your elevator speech.
This first prompt is more about giving you instructions on how to think about your elevator pitch.
Can you help me practice my elevator pitch? I'm a [senior chemical engineer] looking for a new job.
Absolutely! I'd be happy to help you practice your elevator pitch. An elevator pitch is a short, persuasive speech that you can use to introduce yourself, your skills, and your career goals to a potential employer or networking contact in the time it takes to ride an elevator.
Here's an example of an elevator pitch for a senior chemical engineer:
"Hello, my name is [Your Name] and I'm a senior chemical engineer with [X years/months] of experience in the [Name of Industry]. I've had the opportunity to work on a range of projects from [Project 1] to [Project 2] and have gained expertise in [Skill 1], [Skill 2], and [Skill 3]. I am passionate about [what you are passionate about] and I'm eager to take on new challenges that will allow me to continue growing as an engineer. I'm currently exploring new opportunities and I would love to hear more about how I can contribute to your team."
When delivering your elevator pitch, remember to speak clearly, maintain eye contact, and be confident. Practice delivering your pitch in front of a mirror or with a friend, and be prepared to adapt it depending on the situation or the person you're speaking with.
Good luck with your job search!
The next prompt is a bit more detailed, crafting an elevator pitch for you.
Guide me in creating a 30-second elevator pitch highlighting my key skills, experiences, and career goals for a [Senior Chemical Engineer] role in the [manufacturing] industry. I'll provide you with my resume as background:
"Hello, my name is Jane Watson, and I am a Senior Chemical Engineer with over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. My proven record of outstanding leadership and project management skills makes me the ideal candidate for a Senior Chemical Engineer role in the manufacturing industry. I have managed multiple projects simultaneously, successfully delivering critical project milestones under time constraints. My expertise in plant troubleshooting and optimization, quality assurance, and process modification has resulted in increased production and significant savings for previous employers. With proficiency in programs such as MathLab, Simulink, and ChemCAD, as well as safety standards like ANSI, PHA, and LOLA, I am confident in my ability to add value to any team. My life philosophy is to make improvements, not excuses, and to seek respect, not attention. Thank you for considering my application."
Practice common interview questions with ChatGPT
As much as recruiters try to be creative about the interview process, there are a couple of standard-textbook questions they may ask for each role.
Wondering what these could potentially be for that dream role you’re applying for?
- What inspired you to pursue a career in software engineering?
- Can you walk us through your experience with a specific programming language or technology?
- How do you approach problem-solving and troubleshooting in your work?
- Have you worked on any particularly challenging projects in the past, and how did you overcome obstacles?
- Can you describe your experience with software development methodologies such as Agile or Waterfall?
- How do you stay current with industry trends and technologies?
- Can you give an example of how you have implemented test-driven development in your work?
- Have you ever had to refactor a codebase, and if so, what was your process?
- How do you collaborate with other developers, designers, or stakeholders on a project?
- Can you discuss a time when you made a significant contribution to a project, and how it impacted the outcome?
To make this prompt even better, you could also add the company name you’re applying for so that your prompt looks something along the lines of: “... during the interview for a [job] role at [company name]?”
Another alternative, that could really help you during the job search stage, is this:
Identify 10 common interview questions for a [software engineer] role with this job description:
- Can you tell us about your experience with Java and Python?
- How do you approach complex problem-solving, especially when working in an Agile environment?
- What experience do you have with React Framework and front-end development tools and technologies?
- Can you describe a time when you had to collaborate with other developers to deliver a complex software solution?
- How do you ensure the quality of your code, and what best practices do you follow when writing software?
- Can you discuss a project you worked on that involved interfacing with technical personnel or team members to finalize requirements?
- How do you stay up-to-date with new developments in software engineering and technologies?
- How do you approach working in different development environments, such as Agile or Waterfall?
- Can you describe your experience with writing and reviewing detailed specifications for complex system components?
- How do you balance your work and personal life, and what techniques do you use to maintain a healthy work-life balance?
Now that you have your questions, ChatGPT can even start helping you prepare for the interview.
Check this prompt out:
[Can you tell us about your experience with Java and Python?
How do you approach complex problem-solving, especially when working in an Agile environment?
What experience do you have with React Framework and front-end development tools and technologies?
Can you describe a time when you had to collaborate with other developers to deliver a complex software solution?
How do you ensure the quality of your code, and what best practices do you follow when writing software?]
Note just how detailed the outline for each answer is:
How do you approach complex problem-solving, especially when working in an Agile environment?
Outline:
- I believe in breaking down complex problems into smaller, more manageable tasks and prioritizing them based on their criticality and dependencies.
- When working in an Agile environment, I collaborate with my team members to understand the requirements, identify potential roadblocks, and brainstorm solutions.
- I make sure to keep the stakeholders informed of the progress and seek feedback regularly to ensure that we are on track.
- I also use agile methodologies such as Scrum and Kanban to manage the project and track the progress effectively.
Talking points for your interview based on…
… the job advert
Perhaps you have already applied for your dream job and now need to practice some more for the interview. You’d first want to discover specific questions based on the job description.
Here are just a few sample questions ChatGPT came up with:
- Can you describe a time when you successfully developed and executed a local market sales strategy that led to increased membership and earnings growth while maintaining a strong brand reputation in the market?
- How do you develop and maintain a strong intelligence capability through customer/broker contact and formal competitive analysis, and how do you use this intelligence to inform sales and marketing strategies?
- What methods do you use to recruit, select, and develop new sales representatives, and how do you ensure that they are aligned with the company's overall value proposition?
- How do you coach individuals in professional development, and what specific development action plans do you create with staff to ensure that they are meeting their individual development needs?
Alternatively, you could try to use this prompt to get a better understanding of the skills requirements and how to talk about those during the interview.
And here’s an example of how to showcase the particular skill:
Leadership skills: "I believe that a great leader should be able to inspire, motivate and empower their team. At my previous company, I led a team of sales professionals and was able to foster a positive and productive work culture. I provided ongoing training and development opportunities, which led to improved sales performance and a high level of employee engagement. I also believe in leading by example, and I was always willing to roll up my sleeves and work alongside my team to achieve our goals."
… the role
Now, you may not have a particular job advert in mind, but would rather practice your interviews for a couple of companies.
Here are a couple of questions/ answers ChatGPT enlightened us with
- What experience do you have in sales leadership roles?
Here, you should discuss your past leadership roles, including the number of team members you have managed, the size of the sales organizations you've led, and any notable achievements. - What is your management style?
Explain how you approach managing a team. Some common management styles include hands-off, collaborative, authoritative, and coaching. Describe your preferred style and provide examples of how you have used it in the past.
Answering interview questions using various frameworks
During your interview, recruiters may ask you behavioral questions. We'll get into the gist of these types of questions in the next section of this guide, but for now - know that these are used to assess your character.
One of the best things you can do to impress recruiters is to provide answers by following popular frameworks. Examples of these include the STAR method and the challenge-action-result models.
- STAR framework
I'll provide you with my resume and three behavioral interview questions. I want you to reference my resume experience to answer the questions using the STAR method (situation-task-action-results). Make sure to use descriptive language and include measurable results. Here’s my resume: [paste in your resume]. Here are the sample questions: [paste in the behavioral questions].
Answer: When I joined Dufour as a sales representative, I was assigned to a struggling sales team that was falling behind on their targets. To turn the team around, I implemented a new direct sales strategy that focused on identifying new business opportunities and building stronger relationships with existing clients. I also worked closely with the team to develop their sales skills and improve their confidence in selling the company's products. As a result of these efforts, the team's sales increased by 35% in the first year. I also personally responsible for 75 and 120 new accounts in 2011 and 2012 years through cold calling. By providing the team with the tools and support they needed to succeed, I was able to turn around a struggling sales team and achieve our sales targets.
Situation: A struggling sales team falling behind on their targets.
Task: Turn around the struggling sales team.
Action: Implemented a new direct sales strategy, worked closely with the team to develop their sales skills, improve their confidence in selling the company's products.
Result: Increased the team's sales by 35%, personally responsible for 75 and 120 new accounts in 2011 and 2012 years through cold calling. Turned around a struggling sales team and achieved sales targets.
2. Challenge-action-result framework
Question: How do you handle conflict within your sales team?
Challenge: Conflicts can arise in any team, and it's important to have a plan in place for how to handle them when they do.
Action: When conflicts arise within my sales team, I take a collaborative approach to resolving them. First, I make sure to listen to both sides of the issue and understand each person's perspective. Then, I work with the team members involved to identify the root cause of the conflict and explore potential solutions. I encourage open and honest communication and make sure that everyone involved feels heard and understood. If necessary, I bring in other team members or managers to help facilitate the conversation and provide additional perspectives. Throughout the process, I remain neutral and focused on finding a resolution that works for everyone involved.
Result: By taking a collaborative approach to conflict resolution, I have been able to maintain positive relationships within my sales team and ensure that everyone is working towards common goals. For example, while working at Dufour, I was able to facilitate $600,000 worth of new business annually after implementing a new direct sales strategy, despite initial conflicts within the team about the best approach to take. By working together to find a solution, we were able to achieve impressive results and grow the business.
Assigning different roles to ChatGPT
One of the best ways to practice for your interview is by having someone go through each and every question with you. But what if all of your acquaintances (and/or friends) are busy?
And you don’t have time to find a coach to help you prepare for the interview.
We’ll show you three different prompts that are interview practice gold.
Starting with, turning ChatGPT into your trusty, and very available, interview preparation coach.
You’re an interview coach, helping me apply for a [Digital Marketing] role. I'll provide you with both my resume and the job I'm applying for - help me answer these questions. Tailor each of the answers to my resume experience. Use examples from the resume to showcase my skills and reflect on the experiences and say what I learned in each previous role. Here's my resume: [paste in your full resume]. Here are the questions: [paste in the questions].
Can you explain your understanding of SEO and how it can benefit a company's website?
As a Digital Marketing and Creative professional with 10 years of experience, you have successfully revamped the SEO content publishing pipeline in your previous role as a Digital Marketing Manager at Gravito Inc. resulting in a 230% increase in organic blog traffic within five months. You have also executed successful viral social media posts that gained features in top USA publications such as Entrepreneur, Business insider, and Wired.
Based on your experience, SEO or Search Engine Optimization is the process of optimizing website content, structure, and architecture to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). The higher a website ranks, the more traffic it will receive, and the more opportunities for conversions and revenue generation. SEO can benefit a company's website by driving organic traffic to it, boosting its visibility, increasing its credibility, and ultimately generating leads and sales.
You could also take this prompt one step further. After ChatGPT provides you with structures for your answers, you could ask it to rewrite them to include more tangible results or perhaps be more tailored to the job description.
Otherwise, you could also ask your interview coach (a.k.a. ChatGPT) to curate an interview preparation schedule, dedicated to your availability and needs.
You could also practice mock interviews, where ChatGPT takes on the role of the interviewer.
This prompt could help you have a full-blown conversation with ChatGPT - as we all know, practice makes perfect.
Assessing your answers
You already have a couple of ideas on how you’d like to answer interviewers. Do you need a second pair of eyes to grade your answers?
I'm interviewing for an [inspector] role. Help me prepare for an interview by providing me with 4-5 most popular interview questions. Then, I'd provide you with my answers. Rate my responses to your questions on a scale from 1-5 with 1 being very poor, and 5 being perfect. Provide an explanation for each rating. If the rating is less than 5, include suggestions for how to improve each answer.
My answer to questions 1 is: I have six years of experience in inspecting the quality of dynamic teams of up to 50 employees with a focus on both admin work and on-the job training itself.
Rating: 2
Explanation: While your answer indicates some relevant experience in inspecting quality, it lacks specific details about the types of projects, industries, or specific tasks you have worked on. Consider providing more concrete examples or details to help the interviewer understand the scope and complexity of your experience. Additionally, your response did not address experience with quality control or industry-specific regulations, which may be important for an inspector role.
Suggestion for improvement: Provide more specific examples of your experience in quality control, such as specific projects or industries you have worked in, and your role in ensuring compliance with regulations. This can help demonstrate your ability to handle the requirements of the inspector role.
The best interview evaluation prompt experience
We’ve prepared for you one of our favorite ChatGPT experiences out there - one that allows you to turn your chat into a real-time experience.
Following up after the interview
You can also write your follow-up email to recruiters in ChatGPT.
Subject: Thank you for the Interview for the Journalist Role
Dear [Interviewer’s Name],
I wanted to take a moment to thank you for the opportunity to interview for the journalist role at [Company Name]. It was a pleasure meeting with you and discussing the responsibilities and requirements of the position.
I appreciate the time and effort you took to explain the company's culture and how my skills and experience align with the role. The opportunity to discuss my passion for journalism and the company's mission was invigorating, and I was thrilled to hear about the work the team has been doing.
Thank you once again for considering my application and allowing me to meet with you. I am still very much interested in pursuing this role and feel confident that my qualifications and experience would make me an asset to the team.
Please don't hesitate to contact me if you require further information. I appreciate your consideration, and I hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
Practicing behavioral interview questions with ChatGPT
Excellent recruiters know just how important behavioral questions are in assessing candidates' soft skills and character.
That's why you shouldn't be surprised if during the interview, something along the lines of, "Describe a situation in the past where you..." pops up.
Behavioral questions are open-ended, asking you about past professional experiences or hypothetical situations.
If you're still wondering how you should be highlighting your communication, leadership, and analytical problem-solving abilities, this next part of our guide is especially for you.
Let's start with three generic prompts on behavioral questions.
Behavioral questions: interview preparation
In this next segment, we’ll look at a couple of questions, based on different scenarios.
1. Based on the job/ industry
So you have your interview scheduled in two days' time and need help preparing asap for the behavioral part of the interview.
You could also ask ChatGPT to generate the most common behavioral questions for the particular industry or role.
2. Referencing your resume
If you have a common behavioral question for the role and your resume - ready to go - you could input this information into ChatGPT to practice.
Remember to include a specific soft skill from your experience you’d like ChatGPT to highlight within the generated response. If you’re not happy with the end result, you could always regenerate ChatGPT’s answer.
3. Based on your soft skills
The soft skills that are highlighted within the job requirements would definitely make their way through the job interview. Here’s how you could practice talking about your soft skills.
Or, perhaps you’d like to act vice versa- using your resume skills as a reference to what potential questions you could get during the interview.
4. Describing a particular scenario
Behavioral questions often ask you to think back on a situation where you’ve had to deal with a difficult circumstance.
The more background information you can provide ChatGPT with (without breaching any NDAs you’ve had with your previous employers), the more precise the chatbot's answer will be.
5. Referencing your career goals
Pinpointing your end goal and dreams during the behavioral segment of the interview can sometimes highlight to recruiters what your potential is.
6. Don’t forget about your achievements
Recruiters do care about the outcomes of your work, especially during behavioral questions. Here’s how you could include your career highlights when answering their questions.
7. Assessing your behavioral interview answers
Once again, you could use ChatGPT’s potential to test just how well you are prepared for this section of your interview.
Here’s what ChatGPT had to say about it:
Your answer is a good start to addressing the behavioral interview question. However, I would suggest elaborating on a few points to make your response more impactful:
- Provide more context: It would be helpful to know what the project was and what the desired outcome was. This information can provide more insight into the complexity of the project and the level of effort required to achieve the desired result.
- Emphasize what you learned: While it's important to acknowledge the failure, it's equally important to focus on what you learned from the experience. Emphasize how you have taken steps to avoid similar situations in the future.
- Discuss how you handled the situation: Consider elaborating on how you communicated the issue to your team or supervisor and how you tried to find alternative solutions to the problem.
8. Follow-up behavioral questions
And if you want to continue your real-time talk with ChatGPT, here’s a prompt you could use:
Technical interview questions and ChatGPT
You’ve just realized that you need help with the technical interview questions that are set to test your hard skills, knowledge, and responsibilities during the job interview.
From programming languages to tech stacks, discover the best ways to show recruiters your knowledge of specific technologies.
Checklist: How to prepare for a technical interview
- Assess the job description with a focus on technologies
- Research the company to better understand its latest technological impact on the industry or role you’re applying for
- Practice makes perfect: review your hard skills and problem-solving abilities
- Review the technologies that you’ve listed on your resume
- Have follow-up questions prepared for recruiters
- If you can rehearse with colleagues who have a good technical understanding, then you’d get the best out of the whole experience
Preparing for your technical interview could be made even simpler with ChatGPT.
9. Prompts based on the role you’re applying for
I want you to only reply as the interviewer. Do not write all the conversation at once. I want you to only do the interview with me. Ask me the questions and wait for my answers. Do not write explanations. Ask me the questions one by one like an interviewer does and wait for my answers.
Ask me random questions from one of the following topics and ask follow-up questions: Data modeling and evaluation, ML libraries & algorithms, Agile, Data migration & integration, and AI.
10. Skill-based prompt
I want you to act as an interviewer, asking me technical interview questions for a [System Administrator] job.
I want you to only reply as the interviewer. Do not write all the conversation at once. I want you to only do the interview with me. Ask me the questions and wait for my answers. Do not write explanations. Ask me the questions one by one like an interviewer does and wait for my answers.
Ask me a random [CISCO network integration] question, that is suitable for [medium]-level experts, and evaluate my solution based on correctness and complexity.
11. Tech-specific questions
Ask me 10 [CCNA security] questions at an [intermediate] [System Administrator] level.
Within the second parentheses include the level of difficulty of the question (beginners, intermediate, expert), followed by the industry or job role.
ChatGPT's limitations for your job interview preparation
Now that we’ve inspired you with a couple of practical ideas on how to use ChatGPT to prepare for your job interview, you may ask yourself, “Hey, what can’t ChatGPT do?”
AI is yet far away from actually substituting human interaction (hopefully). And while it could be integrated within your interview preparation, ChatGPT can’t:
- Provide up-to-date research on the company, market, competitors, etc.;
- Stay up-to-speed with the latest technological updates;
- Judge your tone, body language, or facial expressions;
- Assess whether you'd be a good fit for the team or company you’re applying for;
- Make its answers sound more human - yet.
In the end, if you meet all the job advert requirements, it’s your persona and character that would really make the difference for recruiters.
So, after you’ve had a few practice rounds for your job interview with ChatGPT, do a few test runs with family, friends, and colleagues
The more confident you become in presenting your resume - and talking about yourself - the better you’d do during the job interview.
Key takeaways
- Use ChatGPT to prepare for various aspects prior to your interview: from logistics and research to practicing questions and grading your responses.
- ChatGPT could be used to help you prepare answers to both behavioral and technical questions by assessing your resume and skills.
- When providing answers to interview questions, do focus on the outcomes of your action - and if you can integrate a popular framework (e.g. STAR), you’d leave a lasting impression on recruiters.
- Find what works best for you with ChatGPT - if you’re not happy with any of the answers it provides you with, you always have the opportunity to regenerate its responses.
- This chatbot is a good place to start practicing for your interview, but build your confidence even further by discussing your resume and experience with friends, acquaintances, or industry professionals. Remember that practice makes perfect.
Make one that's truly you.
