As is the case with many things, the hype surrounding ChatGPT has generated both enthusiasm and dismay in the workplace. While some workers are concerned that AI will take their jobs, others have found the tool helpful during their job hunt. Of the nearly one-third of 4,000 employees in a survey conducted by The Harris Poll for Luck61% say they are using AI technology in their search—mostly to practice interview questions, but also to help them write their resumes and cover letters.

I don’t blame them; The idea of ​​never writing a corny cover letter again feels like a relief, even if it’s a little unnerving to rely on a product that even its founder has admitted to being in its early stages. But will any recruiter even notice?

This is Generated by ChatGPT 

Dear Hiring Manager,

I’m excited to apply for the copywriter position at Brooklyn Academy of Music that was recently advertised on LinkedIn. With my six months of copywriting experience and an instinct for clear communication, I am confident in my ability to perform the essential duties and responsibilities of this role.

In my previous role as a copywriter for a marketing agency, I developed copy for a range of mediums including email, web content, social media and digital ads. I worked closely with clients to ensure that their vision was accurately expressed in the copy, and I received consistent positive feedback for the quality and effectiveness of my writing.

I am highly proficient in grammar, editing and proofreading, and I am committed to delivering high quality work. Additionally, I have shown an interest in the performing arts and culture, and am familiar with the Brooklyn Academy of Music brand.

As a team player, I thrive in a collaborative environment, and I find it easy to receive critique and feedback to optimize my work. I am highly organized and skilled at managing tight deadlines and prioritizing tasks, and I am self-motivated and proactive in communication and problem-solving.

I am excited about the opportunity to work for the Brooklyn Academy of Music and contribute to the development of Copy for Programmatic and Development initiatives. Thank you for considering my application.

sincerely,

Your Name 

I showed three experts — a career coach, an organizational consultant, and an AI thinker — the cover letter, but didn’t tell them a robot wrote it until they’d read it. Turns out, they mostly didn’t notice or care, though they admitted it needed some tweaking and that I’d cringe if the recruiter asked if I had AI help. Their approval indicates that the cover letter, originally handwritten back in the day, has reached its latest stage of development. If we use the tool right, ChatGPT can render cover letter writing as we know it dead.

Consensus among experts: My ChatGPT cover letter was passable, but it’s going to need some human revision if I want to stand out among my competition.

After reading the cover letter I didn’t write, Octavia Gordema, career coach and founder of Twenty Ten Agency, said to me, “Nice job, Chloe.” That said, the length and examples were good, but there were some unnecessary phrases.

It also passed the test with Beena Ammanath, who said it read “very well” and that she wouldn’t have been able to tell if I hadn’t told her that AI was generated. My third expert, Juan Pablo Gonzalez, who serves as the executive director of Deloitte’s AI Institute, found my AI cover letter “acceptable.” Gonzalez, a senior client partner and sector leader for professional services at consulting firm Korn Ferry, may have a slight bias, but his opinion carries weight in the field.

Otherwise, you may miss the opportunity to share something personal or what excites you about the role. He recommends that workers who use AI to write cover letters do two things: check for typos and ask if theirs sounds like theirs.

He says you shouldn’t represent computer-generated work as human work, but says it’s fine to enlist ChatGPT for help in the same way you would ask a friend to edit your cover letter. . Furthermore, using AI while applying for jobs is nothing new; People have been relying on templates and automated spelling and grammar tools like Grammarly for a while now.

“It’s in many ways an evolution of a human-driven technology assisted process,” says Pablo Gonzalez, who says people have used templates for cover letters for a long time. “However, the turning point is knowing when to use AI, when not to, and how to use it.”

For example, if you’re applying for a writing job, Pablo Gonzalez suggests always writing a cover letter because originality is probably more important here. Which means that, as a journalist, I’m not out of the cover letter woods yet, although software engineers may be more articulate.

Self-written cover letter is on its way

ChatGPT eliminating self-written cover letters for some workers (minus some human adjustments) may sound harsh, but if you ask Deloitte executive director Ammanath, who has nearly three decades in the workforce under his belt, It is part of a natural progression. Cover letters used to be a “huge deal,” she says: A true letter at once includes references and an introduction that references the resume.

But that evolved along with technology. When people started emailing resumes, it was often tagged like an annoying little brother. Its value and purpose diminished as applicants began submitting their information through the company’s online job boards, as it became more clear where and what they were applying for. But, like its sibling, it stuck around.

While the original form of the cover letter no longer exists, Ammanath says, it still became a “legacy”. AI could be the next logical step for cover letters in the typewriter’s hand long line of word documents. Ammanath says that using a tool as long as it is accurate “shows an appetite to learn and adapt.”

Pablo Gonzalez points out that automation has already been happening on the employer side for some time with applicant tracking systems. What hasn’t changed yet is who recruits; Cover letter screening may be robot-oriented, but the person signing the job offer is usually a human (at least, for now). And when people are involved it’s best to make the process more personal, says Pablo Gonzalez.

“You use all the technology you want, but at the end of the day, humans are hiring humans. That final decision is a person-by-person decision,” he says.

That means if an AI cover letter isn’t truthful or doesn’t sound like you, says career coach Goredema, it could catch you out during the interview process, where you’re presented with how you present yourself and how you really talk. , a difference appears between .

But for now, robots are meeting job candidates at the door, and it’s okay to greet them with your own generated AI greeting — personalized, of course.