A new version of an artificial-intelligence chatbot from OpenAI, ChatGPT, has had the internet in a frenzy over the past few weeks.
Praised by users for its impressive range of knowledge and easy-to-use format, people have been using the chatbot to write code, news articles, and even college essays.
I decided to test out its usefulness for one of the more boring tasks in life — applying for jobs. Cover letters, while widely hated, are one of the most time-consuming requirements on an application.
I gave ChatGPT some real job descriptions and a few brief sentences about my made-up experience. I then sent the cover letters to hiring managers to see what they thought.
Hiring managers would have followed up
Both of the recruiters who looked at the two AI-generated cover letters, one for a social-media assistant and the other for a purchase-ledger clerk, said they seemed like they were written by genuine candidates.
"We would likely think this was written by a genuine candidate and follow up with a screening call," Chris Willsher, a recruitment expert at the UK recruiting company Reed, said.
"The structure of the letter is good," he added. "But it lacks some detail around the company they're applying for."
Stephanie Petry, the director of talent attraction at the software platform Jobber, agreed that ChatGPT's application for the ledger-clerk position was pretty good.
"I would likely send the ledger-clerk candidate through to the next round so I could get a better feel for their personality during the interview process," she said.
Petry wasn't so keen on ChatGPT's cover letter for the social-media-assistant role.
"Their writing style is not what I would expect from someone in that role," she said. "Their tone is too formal and dry, and I'd expect them to show more creativity and character."
The letters lacked personality
Both Willsher and Petry said the letters lacked personality and research about the companies.
"It lacks the personal touch where we learn about a candidate's human experiences, anecdotal evidence to back up their skills, and passion for the role," Willsher said.
Petry added that the cover letters sounded too stiff. She said they seemed like they were written by a junior candidate.
She added: "They lack character and seem almost too formal and professional that I'd want to get to know the person a bit better."
Willsher said candidates would be better off using AI to generate a template to draft a job application.
He said: "While AI can be a real bonus for candidates, we'd recommend that they use AI to generate a template which they can check and build on to paint the best picture of themselves."
