ChatGPT can help improve your storytelling and enhance your powers of persuasion, when it comes to the job interview. Every job interview provides an opportunity to share your “elevator pitch”. As you probably know, an elevator pitch (or elevator speech) is simply a short persuasive introduction to a person, a product or an idea. And the best “pitch” is always a conversation. Dialogue is always the goal, in the job interview. After all, a job interview is simply a prepared approach to the value and skills you have to offer, expressed inside a conversation. ChatGPT can help you to know what questions to expect, and how best to answer them, in that situation.
Inside the job interview, understanding how to answer questions in a way that’s concise and compelling can be a real advantage, because you don’t ramble and appear insecure when it comes to your story. Good communicators practice, but they don’t sound over-rehearsed, in the job interview. Clarity around your story inspires confidence in a hiring manager, and demonstrates your attention to detail and the match between your skills and the job at hand. In order to help you enhance your storytelling abilities in the job interview, consider these five ChatGPT prompts for career success.
- Based on your review of my experience [upload your resume into the prompt, or speak the relevant experience into the app] am I using adjectives, or numbers, to describe what I do?
- [Write or speak the details of a challenging situation into ChatGPT – where you created an unexpected solution]. Help me to refine my story about solving a complex problem at work. How can I structure this story to make it more concise and impactful?
- List your top three specific questions in a potential interview, based on my background, and offer concise elevator-pitch style answers to each.
- The one question I hope I’m not asked is [insert question here]. What storytelling strategies could help me to answer this question?
- How can I avoid using vague words, like “sort of” “probably” and “like” to sound more confident in the job interview? [See below for some bonus ideas that ChatGPT can’t provide, but that will really help your storytelling]
How AI Improves Your Storytelling, for the Job Interview
In the job interview, the key to your success is anticipation – knowing what to expect. Asking ChatGPT for specific guidance on unexpected questions can help you to see beyond the basics, and feel confident in your answers (because you’ve explored them before). Tailored questions are where ChatGPT can really help – but you have to feed it your inputs so that you get accurate feedback.
Going Beyond ChatGPT in the Job Interview
A valuable tool is the voice recorder on your phone. Look over the prompts and questions from ChatGPT, and pick your favorite interview question – the one you like the best. Then, open the voice recorder app and record your response. The interview is a conversation, so why not practice by recording your part?
Then comes the hard part (where growth occurs and progress happens): listen.
Listen to your response. Does it sound real and authentic? Or rehearsed, like you are reading what ChatGPT wrote? Notice what stands out, as you listen.
Start with what you liked about your response. Catch yourself doing something right. Make some notes – what would you change? What was unclear? Then, tackle the question again. Record your response. Listen for what you like best, and for what you might want to change.
After all the prompts and insights from ChatGPT, a conversation is still a spoken dialogue. Writing your answers will help, but remember: the map is not the territory. Written words are not a conversation – and that means that they might not sound conversational. The way we write – and the way an AI writes – is different than how we speak. Doesn’t it make sense to consider what you are going to say in the job interview by actually (wait for it) saying it? Your voice recorder is a powerful storytelling tool for sounding natural and authentic.
Preparation for the job interview is vital – but make sure you are rehearsing the right things. Skills are vital, in the job interview – and storytelling just might be the most important soft skill of all.