careercoaching arkistot - Various Variables

Looking for a job can feel like an overwhelming task. Some may describe it as a full-time job. You spend hours searching for job opportunities, participating in recruitment fairs, optimizing your LinkedIn profile, tailoring and fine-tuning your CV and cover letter, and then filling in all the same information into a company’s specific job application software. Sometimes you get to the interview round. Have a good feeling about how it went. Get super excited and hopeful, and then receive THE email: “Unfortunately this time you were not selected”. The job-searching process can be quite a frustrating, time-consuming, and lonely journey. But what if there was a way to make it more efficient? What if you could have yourself a tireless sparring partner, a virtual career coach to walk the job-searching journey with you and help you every step of the way? ChatGTP, an AI-powered language model has turned out to be a surprisingly handy helper for job seekers. In a relatively short time, job seekers around the world have found the advantages of using ChatGPT and other AI tools and the number is steadily growing. In Finland, according to National Recruitment Survey 2023, Job Search in Finland (1), 8 % of respondents (N =3600) used AI in their job search and 36% said they might explore it in the future. The respondents used AI mostly for writing the application documents, but AI can be helpful in many steps of the job searching journey. It can, for example, help you find job opportunities, recognize your skills and competencies, write tailored job applications, help you to practice for job interviews and give advice on how to advance your career. With the help of the following hands-on tips, you can partner with ChatGPT to make your job search journey more efficient. Basics of ChatGPT ChatGPT stands for Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer. (2) The basic idea of how ChatGPT works is that you chat with it. You ask questions and the AI gets to work. AI searches information from the material it has been trained with or material you provide for it and combines it into comprehensive unique answers in seconds. You may chat with the ChatGPT both in Finnish and in English. However, the English version works better as most of its training material has been in English. (3) It's important to keep in mind that the answers you receive from ChatGPT are AI’s predictions of the right answer, not knowledge of the right answer. Sometimes AI can also hallucinate, meaning it produces answers that are not based on facts or the right context. When using ChatGTP, the content should be treated with a healthy dose of source criticism and evaluation of whether the answers are accurate or not. (3). Be aware of privacy issues Before you get started with ChatGPT it’s good to acknowledge some privacy issues. Keep in mind that the material you provide for the ChatGPT might be used later as AI’s training material. As a general rule, don’t submit anything you would not publish on the internet. I recommend that you remove any of your personal data before providing material for the AI, for example when working on your CV and cover letter with the help of ChatGPT. Ready to get started? Follow these easy steps: 1. Create a ChatGPT account If you don’t have one yet, start by creating a ChatGPT account. The account can be created for free: https://chat.openai.com/auth/login. Once you have created a user account, you can start a conversation with the AI and ask various questions. 2. Recognise your core skills and competencies Sometimes it’s hard to define your core skills and competencies. AI can help you with this. Copy your CV or LinkedIn profile content to ChatGPT and based on the information provided, ask it to analyze the person's five most important competencies. Before doing this, remove all confidential or too personal information from the material due to privacy issues. Remember that the answers you receive are always based on the text you provide. Does the list of the five most important competencies align with your perception of yourself? If you feel that the results don’t accurately represent you, it’s time to make some adjustments to your CV and/or LinkedIn profile. Pro tip: The easiest way to copy your LinkedIn profile content to ChatGPT is to use the “More” button at the beginning of your LinkedIn profile and select “Save to PDF”. 3. Find job opportunities After you have crystallized your key skills and competencies it’s time to explore different opportunities where you could use your skillset. You may ask ChatGPT to recommend the kind of jobs where you could utilize your competencies based on the information provided. You may even ask for a list of a few companies operating in Finland that might have a use for an expert like you. Pro tip: Have you considered entrepreneurship as one of your career options? Ask ChatGPT what kind of consultancy business you could establish based on your skill set. 4. Write tailored job applications Something that ChatGPT is good at is role-playing. Ask ChatGPT to be a career coach with excellent copywriting skills. Let it know that you would like to apply for a specific job and, as background material, submit the job description and maybe some additional information about the company. Next, let ChatGPT read your current CV and draft version of a cover letter. Ask it to check for possible grammatical errors and give recommendations for improvements. Also, based on the job ad, ask ChatGPT to analyse what keywords you should use in your application and what relevant competencies you should highlight for this position. With the help of AI, you may have more clarity and impact on your application documents. Pro tip: In Finland, recruiters appreciate quite concise job applications. If your CV is several pages long, ask ChatGPT to help you edit the text shorter. 5. Practice for a job interview Job interviews can be nerve-wracking. Training for it is a smart move especially if you are nervous about it or if it has been a while since your last one. Ask ChatGPT to take the role of a hiring manager of the target company and organise an interview simulation for you. Provide background information e.g., your application documents, the job description and some additional material about the company. Based on the information provided, ask ChatGPT to interview you for the open position. If you write your answers, you can ask ChatGPT for feedback and tips on how to improve your answers further. Pro tip: You may also try switching the roles. Take the role of the hiring manager and interview ChatGPT for the job. Ask it to take the role of a job applicant and answer the interview questions based on your application documents. Maybe you’ll get new ideas on how to highlight your skills and competencies at the interview. 6. Get advice on how to advance your career For career changers and those who feel stuck in their career, AI provides personalized recommendations for upskilling and reskilling based on industry trends and your individual career goals. Ask ChatGPT to take the role of a career coach. Provide some background information about your current position, educational background, work experience and career aspirations, and let your virtual career coach recommend the next steps to achieve your goals. Own your own words and let your personality shine through the text While AI is a great help for crafting application documents, don’t outsource yourself from the process. Experienced recruiters can spot pretty easily when a candidate uses AI to write their application documents. This is ok, as long as your authentic voice and your own words can be identified from the application. After all, humans still want to hire humans. If the recruiter gets the feeling that the application is completely written by AI, it might raise concerns about your abilities to produce well-structured text of your own which often is expected from candidates applying for expert positions. ChatGPT is just a tool Leveraging ChatGPT as your virtual career coach can save you time and effort. The best way to learn how to use it is just starting to test how it could support your job searching journey. Just remember to evaluate the insights and make your own informed decisions critically. After all, ChatGPT is just a tool, not a substitute for your own judgment and ethical responsibility. Sources: 1. Duunitori (2024). Kansallinen rekrytointitutkimus 2023, Työnhaku suomessa. URL: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1x0xD9_qVzllV1kbu8gxwHOcNuBrqSBHG/view. Read: 23.04.2024. Unadkat. A. 2023. What the heck is a Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer, and why should I care? URL: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-heck-chat-generative-pre-trained-transformer-why-amit-unadkat/. Read: 23.04.2024. OpenAI (2024). What is ChatGPT? URL: https://help.openai.com/en/articles/6783457-what-is-chatgpt. Read: 24.04.2024. Author: Anu Luoma works as a Specialist at Metropolia’s International Relations office. She works in a national Talent Boost project which aims to support international talents’ integration and opportunities to build their future in Finland. She has wide experience as a Career Coach and is teaching courses: Boost Your Job Search and Discover Your Career Path in Finland.

If you have ever been job hunting, I´m sure you have been told to network. If you have tried to find a job in Finland, you have probably heard that most jobs here are “hidden” and found via networks (1). You might even have first-hand experience that knowing someone has opened the doors for you. There is no doubt that networks are hugely important when looking for work. But where to find these important networks if you are new in the country and feel like you don´t know anyone? When I talk about the importance of networks with my career coaching clients, I quite often face a belief that networking means contacting random people and asking them to help you, or even to give you a job. If this has been your method too, you have probably faced mainly silence in respond. Networks build on trust (2) and in general people are more willing to help someone they already know. If you are too direct with your requests for help, it can turn against you (3). Building personal networks that are based on trust takes time (4) and unfortunately, there are no shortcuts. However, there are ways to start, even from the scratch, and here are three steps for you to get started. Step 1: Get involved Even if your main goal for networking is finding a job, don´t be too focused on purely professional networks (or the lack of them). All personal networks matter, so get involved with people also in other areas of life. If you are new in the country, it can sometimes be easier to start with other social networks, than the professional ones. It´s good to remember that everyone you meet, new friends, neighbors, the girl from the Finnish class, the guy from the cooking class or football team, has their own personal and professional networks. You never know who they might be able to connect you with. A study done by Rolle Alho showed that international students have formed important networks to the majority population for example by volunteering, attending networking events and meeting people in their hobbies (5). So, start with finding something meaningful to do, volunteer, study, find a hobby and participate social events. Read more about different study possibilities in Metropolia and elsewhere Course selection in adult education centers in capital area - Ilmonet Sportsnetwork connects people organizing sports & activities with those searching for groups to join. Find a mentor from Luckan´s Fika programme Step 2: Find ways to help others As mentioned before, networks are built on trust and the key ingredients of social networking are trust and reciprocity (7). Instead of focusing on how others can help you, think about ways you could help others. What skills, knowledge, and expertise do you have that could be beneficial to someone else? Could you use your professional expertise to help someone? Helping others can also be a great way of getting references that you can use in your job search later. You may even find potential future customers! Volunteering for NGOs and other associations can also be a great way of networking (6). General information about volunteering in Finland by InfoFinland Finnish development NGO´s on Fingo Facebook group: Volunteer Finland Step 3: Be interested in others I think we all agree that it feels quite nice when someone is showing genuine interest towards us. When they ask questions and pay attention to what we say. When they want to hear about our career stories or the tips or advice we can give. You just simply get a nice feeling about a person who is nice to you. When building networks, be that nice person! Pay attention to others and show interest. Instead of asking for direct help, ask how they did it. Listen and learn from the experiences of others. Whenever you have a chance, say something polite and encouraging. Forbes Councils Member Paul Schaut summarises it well in his blog post: The art of networking is about following the golden rule — treating others how you want to be treated. “ Sources: Sitra (2017). Työelämätutkimus 2017: Somen kautta voi löytää töitä tai tulla löydetyksi https://www.sitra.fi/uutiset/tyoelamatutkimus-2017-yli-puolet-suomalaisista-vahtanut-ammattia-tai-alaa/ Poutanen, M. (2011). Verkostot väylänä työelämään. Master’s Thesis. Helsinki University. https://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10138/26098/Verkostot%20vaylana%20tyoelamaan.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y Schaut, P. (2021) The art of networking: It Comes Down To The Golden Rule. Forbes Technology Council. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2021/12/08/the-art-of-networking-it-comes-down-to-the-golden-rule/?sh=2c824d7b7d54 Finnwards (2020) Job hunting In Finland: the importance of networks in job hunting in Finland. Blog post. https://www.finnwards.com/working-in-finland/job-hunting-in-finland-the-importance-of-networks/ Alho, R. (2020). ‘You Need to Know Someone Who Knows Someone’: International Students’ Job Search Experiences: Array. Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies, 10(2). https://doi.org/10.18291/njwls.v10i2.120817 Alho, R. (2020). ‘You Need to Know Someone Who Knows Someone’: International Students’ Job Search Experiences: Array. Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies, 10(2). https://doi.org/10.18291/njwls.v10i2.120817 Finnwards (2020) Job hunting In Finland: the importance of networks in job hunting in Finland. Blog post. https://www.finnwards.com/working-in-finland/job-hunting-in-finland-the-importance-of-networks/ Blogger: Riia Hoppania works as a Career Coach in Metropolia SIMHE services supporting highly educated immigrants with their employment and study paths in Finland. She is working in a collaboration project with the employment services of Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa-Kerava to increase employment among international professionals in the Helsinki region. 

Various Variables

Tag: careercoaching

ChatGPT – Your Virtual Career Coach in the Job Search Journey

The Art of Networking – where to start if you don´t know anyone in Finland?