How to Use ChatGPT to Prepare for Your Job Interview

By Lauren McGoodwin
March 06, 2024

Photo by Michelangelo Buonarroti

Prepping for a job interview used to take me hours. Now, I can work smarter, not harder, with a little help from ChatGPT.

Let's face it. There's nothing carefree about prepping for a job interview.

You're nervous, anxious, and probably stressed about getting your job interview preparation perfect because you're excited about the job. Or maybe you've been job searching for a while, and you're putting extra pressure on yourself to turn this job interview into a job offer.

On top of these emotions, job interview prep takes a lot of time! You're probably researching the company, looking up the backgrounds of your interviewers, studying the job description, trying to anticipate what questions you might be asked, preparing questions to common job interview questions, and figuring out what to wear.

All of this adds up. That's why it's time to consider using artificial intelligence. We'll show you how you can use ChatGPT for your job interviews!

What Is ChatGPT?

My secret tool is called ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence tool developed by OpenAI that can understand and respond to human language. It has been trained on text pulled from the internet up to September 2021.

ChatGPT uses this text to learn patterns and information from that data. It uses a special kind of technology called deep learning to understand the meaning of sentences and generate appropriate responses.

With ChatGPT, I discovered its ability to generate tailored interview questions, provide valuable feedback, and assist in creating better interview skills. I even used it for mock interview practice without asking my mom to play "recruiter."

Why Use ChatGPT To Prepare For Job Interviews

Looking for a job requires time, dedication, and specific abilities.

In this process, artificial intelligence chatbots such as ChatGPT can be super helpful. We want to put emphasis on the word "help" since you don't want to rely on ChatGPT to do anything 100% for you. Rather, use ChatGPT's capabilities as a tool to make your job search and interview process easier.

One notable advantage of chatbots is their capability to process information swiftly and provide appropriate responses to your queries, which saves you from checking multiple different websites and sources.

A chatbot can also serve as a valuable resource for interview preparation.

They can pretend to be a hiring manager for the specific job and company you're interviewing for.
It can give you a list of common interview questions to prep for and advice on how to answer them.
Finally, it allows you to practice and refine your responses in a realistic setting.

Lastly, chatbots can help you feel more confident before an interview, thanks to your thorough preparation. And we all know confidence sells in a job interview!

ace the interview career contessa course

5 Ways to Use ChatGPT To Prepare For a Job Interview

Alright, I've convinced you to try ChatGPT! Now let me give you five specific examples of how you can use ChatGPT to prepare for a job interview.

1. Use ChatGPT to Generate Interview Questions For Your Specific Job/ Company/Industry

A great place to start is by asking ChatGPT to generate potential interview questions that you might get asked by a hiring manager. One thing that's great about ChatGPT is that you can ask it to get specific and even use the job description to create a list of potential interview questions.

You can also ask ChatGPT about different types of interview questions, such as behavioral or technical interview questions. Here are some example prompts you might put into ChatGPT to get a list of interview questions:

Using this job description, create a list of 10 potential job interview questions. Copy/paste the job description.
What are some common interview questions for a [Job Title] in [Industry]?
Give me examples of behavioral job interview questions that a [Job Title) at [Company] would ask.
Generate example interview questions for the [Industry].

Here's what this looks like in ChatGPT:

generate interview questions using chatgpt

Another tip is to click "regenerate response" a few times to get even more examples from ChatGPT.

2. Use ChatGPT to Provide Feedback On Your Interview Answers

Once you've had ChatGPT give you a few ideas of interview questions you might get asked, you can practice writing out your responses.

Next, you can share those sample answers with ChatGPT and get feedback on your answers by asking "Can you give me feedback on my answers to this interview question? How could I improve?" and copy/paste the question and your answer.

use chatgpt to get feedback on your interview question answers

From there, you can edit and polish your answers a bit more. Once you're happy with your interview answers, you can practice saying them aloud and verbally giving your answers since a real interview will require you not to read from a computer!

You can also take this one step further and ask ChatGPT for help answering a job interview question. You will need to feed the exact question to ChatGPT. For example, if we ask ChatGPT to "Give us example answers to "What is your greatest weakness?" it gives us the following:

Example Answer 1: "One area I've been actively working on is my delegation skills. I tend to be a perfectionist and prefer to take on tasks myself to ensure they are done to my standards. However, I've realized that this approach can hinder team collaboration and limit efficiency. To overcome this weakness, I've been actively practicing delegating tasks to appropriate team members, providing clear instructions, and establishing open lines of communication. It's an ongoing process, but I've already seen improvements in team productivity and my own ability to focus on higher-level responsibilities."
Example Answer 2: "Public speaking has been a weakness of mine in the past. I used to feel nervous and anxious when presenting in front of large groups. However, I recognized the importance of effective communication and addressed this weakness. I enrolled in public speaking courses and joined a local Toastmasters club to improve my presentation skills. Through practice and exposure, I have become much more confident and comfortable speaking in public. While I still consider it a skill in development, I now see it as an opportunity for growth rather than a weakness."

Remember that the answers you get from ChatGPT should mostly serve as inspiration for crafting your own unique answers. Using one of the examples above, you might realize that you want to focus on public speaking but use other examples since you've never tried Toastmasters.

However, thanks to ChatGPT giving you some ideas for specific questions you might get asked for a specific job title, you can also generate answers. All of these serve as great inspiration and ideas on where to focus your job interview preparation.

3. Use ChatGPT to Research the Company and Job

In addition to generating job interview questions that might come your way, you can also use ChatGPT to help with your overall research of the company, job interviewers, competitors, company culture, and more.

ChatGPT can help you save a lot of time on these tasks, and knowing specific details about a company, their product, etc. is a great way to stand out.

Example Question: Here's the prompt I gave to ChatGPT:

I have an interview with Hulu for Recruiting Coordinator. Can you give me the following:
1. Information on the company, the industry, and its competitors
2. The culture of the company
3. How do I need to speak to the company's culture in my interview answers

It gave me a lot of information. While I could find most of this information online on the company website, ChatGPT saved time by gathering it all in one place for me.

Example Answer: To speak to Hulu's culture in your interview answers, it's important to emphasize key aspects that align with the company's values. Here are some suggestions:

a. Collaboration: Highlight your experience working in teams and your ability to communicate and collaborate with colleagues effectively. Mention any examples of successfully working together to achieve a common goal.

b. Innovation: Showcase your creative problem-solving skills and your ability to think outside the box. Share instances where you have brought new ideas or implemented innovative approaches in your previous roles.

c. Inclusivity: Emphasize your commitment to creating an inclusive and diverse work environment. Discuss any experiences or initiatives where you have promoted diversity and inclusion, such as participating in employee resource groups or supporting diversity-focused programs.

d. Adaptability: Demonstrate your flexibility and ability to thrive in a fast-paced and evolving industry. Talk about instances where you have successfully adapted to changes and embraced new technologies or processes.

e. Passion for entertainment: Express your genuine enthusiasm for the entertainment industry and your understanding of the importance of delivering high-quality content to viewers. Highlight any personal experiences or projects that showcase your passion for entertainment.

You could even ask ChatGPT to give you ideas on questions to ask your interviewer and include a link to their LinkedIn profile. All of these specific details are just more information before you step into the interview room.

I would not use any of this verbatim or use it in place of checking out the company website, reviews on Glassdoor, research on LinkedIn and more, but I do find it helpful to see what ChatGPT can give me to start with.

career contessa's job interview flashcards

4. Use ChatGPT to Prepare Questions to Ask Your Interviewer(s)

One of the most important parts of the job interview is ensuring you also ask your interviewer questions. At the end of every interview, the hiring manager or recruiter will ask, "Do you have any questions for me?" and this is your opportunity to show off all your amazing prep work!

ChatGPT can help you develop some ideas by making a list of suggestions. Here's an example:

5. Ask ChatGPT to Run a Mock Interview With You

My first mock interview experience was at my college's career center, and it was a disaster. However, I'm still very grateful for the opportunity because I learned a lot. This is why I'm a huge believer in mock interviews and still do them before important opportunities—and I love that ChatGPT makes it easy and so you don't have to ask your mom for help.

Here's a sample prompt you can give ChatGPT to set up the interview:

Once you put in your answer, ChatGPT will follow up with additional questions like this:

Lauren: I'm preparing for a job interview for a recruiting coordinator position at Hulu. Could you act as the interviewer and ask me these questions, one at a time: 1. Tell me about yourself.

ChatGPT

Sure! Here's the first question:

Tell me about yourself.

Lauren: I'm currently working for a family-run online media company where I wear many different hats. The hat that gets me the most excited is anything marketing-related. We recently launched a podcast to attract new sales leads to our SEO product. I was tasked with launching the podcast and handling content development, project management, branding, editing, and producing. To help, I enrolled in a few online courses and interviewed a few podcasters in a similar field to get their best tips. I'm happy to report that the podcast has been running for six months, and, so far, it has brought in $30,000 of additional sales. Launching and tracking the success of this project is why I was excited to learn about this marketing opportunity at Wondery Podcast Network. Additionally, I love that Wondery produces scripted series and has moved into a subscription model. With my enthusiasm for podcasts and my skills working on multiple projects, I think I'm a unique fit for your project manager opening.

ChatGPT

That's great to hear about your experience with launching and managing a successful podcast! Moving on to the next question:

Can you tell me about your experience in coordinating recruitment processes and working with hiring managers?

Bonus: Use ChatGPT To Give You Job Interview Tips

Overall I think ChatGPT is a great foundational starting point for brainstorming interview questions and developing the first version of your answers. However, you'll be most successful if you take what it gives you and then do your own research and edit for your personality.

The last way to use ChatGPT is to give you overall job interview tips. Sometimes when you're doing so much prep work, the simple stuff falls through the cracks. Simple questions like:

What makes a candidate stand out in a job interview
What are unique questions to ask at the end of the job interview
What are some of the ways people mess up their interviews?
What tips on body language and tone can you give me for an interview?

18+ ChatGPT Prompts For Job Interview Prep

I have an interview with [Company] for [Job Title], and the name of my interviewer is [Name]. Can you give me the following:
1. Information on the company, the industry, and its competitors
2. The culture of the company
3. How do I need to speak to the company's culture in my interview answers
Tell me the most recent accomplishments of [Company].
Who are the clients/products/services of [Company]?
Below is the job description for the role I am interviewing for. Can you please generate 10 interview questions that are specific to this role? Copy/paste the job description.
Can you share some behavioral questions that someone might ask me in an interview?
What are some common interview questions for a [Job Title] in [Industry]?
Give me examples of behavioral job interview questions that a [Job Title) at [Company] would ask.
Generate example interview questions for the [Industry].
Give me example answers to [Job Interview Question].
Can you give me feedback on my answers to [Job Interview Question]? How could I improve?
Using the challenge-action-result model, can you create sample interview answers for the following [Job Interview Question]? Please use the resume that I copied at the end of this prompt as your source material for the answers. Copy/paste your resume.
Give me ideas on questions to ask [Interviewer's Name] and include a link to their LinkedIn profile
I'm preparing for a job interview for a recruiting coordinator position at Hulu. Could you act as the interviewer and ask me these questions, one at a time: Copy/paste three questions.
What makes a candidate stand out in a job interview
What are unique questions to ask at the end of the job interview
What are some of the ways people mess up their interviews?
What tips on body language and tone can you give me for an interview?
Any mistakes I can potentially be making that would specifically affect my candidacy for a [Job Title] position with [Company.]
Write me a post-interview thank you email for [Job Title] at [Company].

How to Use ChatGPT In Other Areas of Your Career and Job Search

Interested in more content about using artificial intelligence and ChatGPT throughout your job search and your career? We are building a resource library to make your job search easier than ever before!

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Lauren McGoodwin

Lauren founded Career Contessa in 2013 after experiencing a gap in career development resources for women who might be job searching, soul searching, leading and managing, or trying to find new ways to advance within their careers. With women accounting for more than 50% of the workforce and the workforce being less defined than ever before, it seemed crazy (and outdated) that a resource for us didn't exist.

Fast-forward to today, Career Contessa is now the largest online career site built inclusively for women. Lauren is also author of Power Moves: How Women Can Pivot, Reboot, and Build a Career of Purpose (2020), co-host of The Career Contessa podcast, and an educator/speaker on a variety of career topics.

Formerly, Lauren was a University Recruiter for Hulu focused on hiring, employer branding, and program management. Lauren has a Bachelors in Education from the University of Oregon and a Masters in Communication Management from the University of Southern California where she wrote her thesis on millennials and career resources.

When not Contessa-ing, you can find Lauren spending time with her family in Redondo Beach, CA where she lives with her husband and daughter.