Using AI in your career planning
AI tools can be a powerful addition to your career exploration and job search.
Before you start
As you work with AI to help with your career planning, think about your goals. This will help you provide clear information and get results that are more likely to match what you are looking for.
Ask yourself
- What activities do you enjoy doing and feel most engaged in or curious about? Consider everything, including things you do for fun, in school, at work, or while volunteering.
- What are my main skills and strengths, and which ones do I enjoy using the most? What have I had success with in the past, and what conditions contributed to my success?
- What experiences (from courses, jobs, projects, internships or volunteering) show my skills?
- What kind of job or work settings am I interested in, and why?
- What type of job am I looking for right now (internship, summer, part-time, full-time)?
When you're an prompting AI tool, consider the following tips:
- Ask for sources: When researching careers or job markets, prompt AI tools to use reliable sources, and to tell you what the sources are.
- Be specific: Ask AI to use local data from the country or province where you plan to work. Keep in mind, if your parameters are too narrow (i.e. job market for a small town), AI might manufacture information or use data from another location to fill in the gaps.
- Avoid information overload: Some platforms can give you too much information. Try asking for “the top ten suggestions” to start. If you see an option that interests you, ask for more suggestions that are similar.
- Start fresh when needed: AI tends to take information from previous questions into account. If you want it to disregard earlier prompts, you may have to tell it to start over.
AI can be a useful tool in your career exploration or job search. However, it’s your ability to reflect on your goals and validate information that helps you make informed decisions.
Information from AI may be incomplete, outdated, biased, or inaccurate. AI tends to have a confident tone, even if the source of the data is not reliable.
Always verify the information that you receive with trusted sources, like career counsellors and career advisors, reputable career databases, professional orders, or professionals working in a field that interests you.
If you find information about a specific job posting or opportunity, always look at the organization’s website to make sure the posting is real and active.
By verifying information with credible, local sources, you can also benefit from:
- More specific and personalized advice for your situation
- Networking opportunities
- Insight into jobs that may not be posted online
Always use AI as one source of information, not as the definitive answer.
Put AI into action
Start exploring career paths with the help of AI.
AI can help you
- Identify careers based on your interests or skills.
- Recognize the skills you are developing.
- Find out what skills might be useful for your career goals.
- Learn about job prospects in different industries.
- Find out if you need more education or experience to meet your goals.
Example prompts
- Suggest careers in Canada for an undergraduate student who enjoys psychology courses and is active in a university gaming club, including titles of entry-level positions.
- What skills am I developing as an undergraduate student with a biology major with a minor in sustainability studies that I could use on the Canadian job market?
- I enjoy teamwork, research, problem-solving and communication. What careers in Canada use these skills the most?
- As an undergraduate economics student with work experience at a summer camp for kids, what skills do I need to develop to be a competitive applicant as a financial advisor at a bank? How would I develop these skills?
- I do not have much work experience. What types of student or volunteer roles could help me build skills for a future job in mechanical engineering, while improving my French in Quebec?
- Which industries in Canada are expected to offer more opportunities for advancement for recent bachelor’s graduates, and what sources support this?
- Do I need to go graduate school to become a CFO in Canada if I have an undergraduate degree in finance?
Be careful: AI often reflects the biases found in online data. Ask it to “include less traditional or lesser-known careers” to explore a wider range of possibilities.
Use AI to explore ideas, but don’t rely on it to make decisions for you. Its suggestions depend on the information you provide. Meet with a career counsellor to clarify your goals and ensure the ideas truly fit who you are and what you want.
Using AI can assist your job search.
AI can help you
- Find useful job search keywords.
- Discover common entry-level job titles in your field.
- Plan or organize your job search.
- Explore professional associations and groups.
Example prompts
- What search terms should I use to find jobs in social media?
- What entry level job titles should I search for as an undergraduate psychology student?
- What is an effective way to keep track of jobs and organizations I have applied to?
- What professional associations or organizations could I investigate if I am studying biology?
Be careful: AI can suggest job titles or postings, but it does not always know if the information is accurate. Do not assume a job posting you find through AI or on a job board is legitimate. Go to the employer’s official website to confirm that the job is real and still open.
Use AI to help you improve your resumé, cover letter or LinkedIn.
- Find clear and effective ways to describe your experience to employers.
- Learn how to highlight results and achievements, not just tasks.
- Show how your coursework, part-time jobs, or volunteering connect to the skills employers want.
- Learn what information to include in a cover letter or resumé.
- Get ideas for customizing your application.
- Learn how to write a clear and professional LinkedIn profile.
Example prompts
- What action verbs can I use to describe leadership or teamwork on my resumé?
- How can I reword this sentence, so it shows what I accomplished, not only describes what I did?
- What is a good way to describe a group project, so it is relevant to an administrative assistant job?
- Can you help me organize my cover letter for a research assistant job in a psychology lab so it highlights relevant coursework and experience?
- What details from this job posting should I focus on when updating my resumé or cover letter?
- What are some ideas for a strong LinkedIn headline and summary for a computer science student?
Be careful: When applying for jobs, employers want to get a sense of who you are: your skills, authentic voice and genuine motivations. They can often tell when something sounds generic or computer-generated. When that happens, you may be overlooked in favour of candidates whose application materials read as more personal and show effort.
Use AI for ideas and examples. It should never write your resumé or cover letter for you. Review everything carefully so your writing is authentic and accurate.
You can use AI to prepare for a job interview.
AI can help you
- Get familiar with common interview questions.
- Learn how to organize your answers.
- Practice building confidence in your answers.
- Prepare thoughtful questions to ask employers.
- Write professional follow-up messages.
Example prompts
- What are ten common interview questions for entry-level sustainability roles?
- Can you ask me a few behavioural interview questions for a chemical engineering internship and help me practise answering them using the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result)?
- Help me practice answering “Tell me about yourself” for a marketing internship.
- What are good questions to ask an interviewer at the end of a research assistant interview?
- Can you show me an example of a short thank you email after an interview?
Be careful: AI can give you realistic practice questions and help you think about how to structure your answers, but it cannot tell if your tone, body language, or examples are effective. Meet with a career advisor for real-time feedback to strengthen your communication skills!
Use AI to build skills and confidence, not to memorize answers. Try noticing the strategies AI uses in its sample responses and ask it to explain why it chose them.
You can use AI to help with your networking strategy.
AI can help you
- Find ways to explain your experience and goals.
- Get ideas for starting professional conversations.
- Prepare questions to ask someone who has experience in your field.
- Prepare questions to ask at a career fair.
Example prompts
- What is one way I can describe my part-time job so it connects to my interest in communications?
- What are some examples of short, polite messages I could send to connect with a Concordia alum on LinkedIn?
- I’m meeting with a cybersecurity analyst for an informational interview. What are some thoughtful questions I can ask to learn more about their role, career path, and how I can prepare to enter the field?
Be careful: AI can show you examples of how to write a message, but it is important to make every message your own. Before sending something, change the wording so it sounds natural to you and fits the situation.
Get personalized support
AI can make parts of your career exploration and job search easier, but it can’t replace the time, effort and reflection it takes to learn about careers, apply for jobs, or prepare for interviews.
Use AI to get ideas but rely on your own judgment and follow-through.
Combine what you learn from AI with the career support that is available to you as a Concordia student, including:
- career counselling and career advising,
- the CAPS job bank, and
- employer recruitment events and career planning workshops.
These resources can help you deepen your career planning with personalized feedback and real-world connections.
