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As AI tools continue to evolve, so do the way we use them in the workplace and on the job search. Here’s a wrap up of our best advice from 2025 for leveraging AI to boost your career.
Using AI in Your Grad School Applications
The grad school application process can be challenging, and using AI can help improve your application materials. Researching graduate programs is the first step in the process, and to save time, AI can provide summaries and information about the different schools you’re interested in. Next, you can ask AI to take your academic experience and skillset and provide a strong structure for your personal essay. Once you’ve written your essay, AI can then be used to find any errors—even the strongest writers can benefit from another set of eyes.
Next, move on to your resume. Use AI prompts to effectively frame your experience in a compelling way, but watch out for any added embellishments that aren’t true to your experience. Once your application is accepted, ChatGPT can be a great resource for mock interviews. Ask AI to give you interview questions and prepare responses to them. You may have a great response, but asking AI to improve your answer will provide a more polished answer. Be mindful to not let AI do everything for you, and instead use it as a tool to improve your work.
Having strong skills in AI isn't just important for professionals in the tech sector. AI is slowly but surely being used in every industry, and professionals need the skills to use these tools successfully. Being able to use ChatGPT effectively is crucial, which means knowing how to structure prompts to get a sufficient output. It’s also beneficial to have a basic understanding of data. You don’t need to know the code that goes into AI systems, but knowing how to analyze data and ask the right questions about it will be helpful in your career.
As usage of AI grows, so does the conversation around AI ethics. While we might not have the answers to a lot of the ethical questions quite yet, the question you need to learn to ask yourself is: "What are the social and legal implications of implementing and using AI in the context of my role/organization?” This will help guide your AI decision making going forward.
As AI usage in the classroom increases, it’s no surprise that professors need a way to spot what is written by a human and what is written by a machine. But it’s proven to not be so simple. AI detection tools are giving false positives, which mean human-made content is being accused of originating from AI. These false positives can affect your academic record if they’re considered plagiarism, and it’s possible that future grad schools or employers will see this down the road. This is why it’s critical to have evidence of your writing process. When you contest this claim in the proper channels, this evidence will help when you plead your case.
While a false positive from a detection tool is out of your control, there are some factors you can control, such as your reputation and how you protect it. Misusing AI can affect your academic reputation, so be familiar with your school’s policies regarding AI and use it within those guidelines.
Answering AI Interview Questions
Interacting with technology at work is the new standard, while interacting with AI tools is on the rise. Hiring managers want to know that incoming talent will be able to work well with these tools. Some common questions you could run into are: “Have you used AI tools like ChatGPT in your work?” and “Tell me about a time you had to learn a new digital tool quickly.” These questions aim to find if you have a willingness to learn and an understanding of the impact of technology on your field. Learning more about common tools is a great way to prepare beforehand.
While AI is an important tool, like most things, it should be used in moderation. There are still skills only humans possess, and if AI is used too frequently, we could lose these skills ourselves. This includes critical thinking, judgment, creativity, problem solving, and more. If we let AI do everything for us, we don’t have the opportunity to practice these muscles. Using these skills is critical to staying sharp and growing your skills in your field. AI might seem like a great solution in the moment, but using it too often can have negative long-term effects. Finding a balance is key to working with AI tools, which aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
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