I asked the new ChatGPT to find me a job and was surprised by what it came up with

While sites such as LinkedIn draw from many of these sources, it can still feel like you risk missing the perfect role by not covering all your bases.

This is where the updated version of ChatGPT can be very helpful.

OpenAI recently rolled out a version of the bot equipped with its new flagship model, GPT-4o, which can access the internet. The company’s previous GPT-4 model could also link up with Bing but was only available to ChatGPT Plus subscribers.

Job seekers sick of wading through hiring boards may turn to recruiters to cut out the leg work. Armed with a new update, ChatGPT can now act as your free personal recruiter.

Job hunting

I decided to put ChatGPT’s recruiting skills to the test.

I told the bot what sort of role I was looking for, explained my experience, and sent it on its way.

The bot returned with six opportunities, all matching the experience listed on the CV I supplied. It also helpfully summarized each role’s main features, including location, salary, a short description of the responsibilities, and the date the ad was posted.

The results were largely accurate, although the salary on one job was slightly misstated.

It also provided a few helpful tips on applying for the roles, suggesting I tailor my CV to the role and find people from the company to connect with on networking sites like LinkedIn.

After identifying my favorite job opportunity, I asked the bot to run another search for who I should contact at the company during my application progress.

The bot came back with five managers and recruiters in the correct department and even wrote me a short LinkedIn message I could send to follow up on my application.

The bot did get confused by its own hallucinations once or twice. In an earlier test, ChatGPT sent me one job that I couldn’t track down. After some probing, the bot acknowledged that the bot role probably wasn’t real.

I found that asking the bot to send full hyperlinks to the jobs I could copy and paste helped keep it focused on providing genuine opportunities. Still, it underlined the importance of treating the results skeptically before putting any work into an application.

Applying

It’s not news that ChatGPT can help job seekers write a killer cover letter, but the new update allows for some more specific back and forth.

The bot can also crawl the web to find out who else is on the team and suggest where to direct follow-up messages.

ChatGPT even wrote me an analysis of how well my experience aligns with a job’s requirements, evaluated my likelihood of landing the role, and gave me some tips on how to increase my chances.

Armed with my CV and the job description, I asked ChatGPT to tailor my CV to the role and write a quick cover letter.

Within about half an hour, I’d found a job and had an application ready to go.

While I didn’t submit it, I know exactly what to do next time I am in the market for a new gig.

Have you used GPT-4o to find a job? Contact this reporter at bea.nolan@businessinsider.com