Generative AI and career development

When used appropriately, generative AI can streamline and enhance various aspects of career planning and job searching, offering valuable insights, recommendations and assistance to help you.

However, it's essential to use generative AI tools as aids rather than replacements for your own words, judgment, and expertise, ensuring your personal voice and unique qualities shine through in your job application and career development materials.

Whilst we do not discourage the use of generative AI to support career development, it’s important to sense-check its recommendations, not to use it as a substitute for your own work and to check any employer-specific guidance about its use. One way to do this is utilising the support provided by our team.

Advantages and disadvantages

Generative AI is a starting point

Generative AI can help you brainstorm ideas, provide feedback on your materials, for example, on your CV or application form answers, and suggest resources which might help you research career ideas, sectors, or potential employers, saving time in career planning, applications and interview preparation. We advise you not to use wholly AI-generated content in your applications, unless an employer states that this is OK.

Lack of personalisation

AI-generated content tends to be generic, lacking the personal touch needed to showcase unique skills, experiences and motivation—especially for CVs, cover letters, personal statements and interviews. 

Accuracy and reliability

Generative AI may provide outdated or unreliable information, so always cross-check details with reputable sources like Prospects.

Overreliance on generative AI

Generative AI cannot fully replace critical thinking, personal insight or human judgement. It is relatively easy to identify when it has been used to write applications, or in interviews, particularly when employers are receiving these at scale. Over-reliance on AI to write your applications or interview responses may result in them rejecting you.

Improving generative AI’s effectiveness

The quality of AI-generated content depends on the input; clear, specific prompts lead to more relevant and useful results. Always refine and personalise generative AI’s suggestions. See these examples below we created where we've asked ChatGPT to help with career planning to guide you.

Ethical considerations

Environmental impact

Generative AI has a significant environmental impact, having particularly high electricity and water consumption to power and cool data centres. For example, in this MIT article, Adam Zewe reports that by 2026, electricity consumption by such data centres is expected to put it fifth highest globally, between Russia and Japan.

Privacy

How, by whom and for what purpose, is data you input being used, stored and processed? This should be detailed in privacy statements. Always check these and do not input any personally identifiable or confidential information into generative AI.

Some platforms allow you to opt out of using your data for training their models, but your data is still being processed and stored somewhere.

Bias

Large language models can amplify existing biases, partly due to how they are trained on existing information. These biases can then be further replicated and amplified.

Copyright

This may happen when copyrighted material is used to train generative AI and it being difficult (or impossible) for an end-user to identify the original source of information provided by generative AI.

Further information

There are lots of courses on using Generative AI responsibly and effectively. Many of which are available to you free as a UofG student, both through LinkedIn Learning or the University's Coursera partnership.

Prospects have a useful article about using AI in job applications, specifically.

Employer perspectives

Check employer guidance on their expectations of using generative AI in their recruitment process.

Some employers provide guidance for applicants on the use of generative AI when applying for opportunities with them. This varies, with some employers explicitly advising against its usage, while others may state where applicants are permitted to use it.

For example, Monzo offers a guide on using AI in their interviews, including for reasonable adjustments.

However, many employers do not have specific guidance and may simply reject applicants whom they suspect have used AI. Employers generally want to get to know you and hear your authentic voice, experience and perspectives in their selection processes.

Other considerations

If you're overreliant on generative AI for any stage of the application process, are you ensuring you're a good fit for the role and organisation?

Consider the above points referenced throughout this guide about authenticity and alignment with the opportunity you're applying for.

During our Masterclasses, we explain the pros and cons of using generative AI for specific career topics such as CVs, selections tests and supporting statements.