Is there anything more universally feared — or despised — than sending in resumes and awaiting a response? Well, there may be one thing: Deciding what you actually want to do for your career. Now that’s scary.
According to Recruitonomics, a hub for recruitment challenges and economics, one of Gen Z’s top concerns is the job market — and in a world of sky-high costs of living and highly competitive application processes, it’s more than understandable. Luckily, there are many tools to help students navigate their job search; one of which is a new experimental platform from Google called “Career Dreamer.”
Launched on Feb. 19, Career Dreamer is an early-stage AI experiment available in the United States that can help users find the career paths they’re best suited for. By answering a few questions and prompts about their experience and skillsets, job seekers can use Career Dreamer to match themselves to different jobs and tailor their application materials to make themselves better candidates for open roles. The first step is to use Career Dreamer’s AI to create a “Career Identity Statement.” That’s where you get to show what you bring to a workplace by uploading a resume or link to a professional profile and turning the information into a blurb about your professional strengths and aims. (This info can also later be incorporated into your resume and cover letter, as well as used to help you prepare for those open-ended “Why should we hire you?” interview questions.)
With that foundation in place, Career Dreamer will then populate a variety of career options that may relate to your previous experiences, education, personality traits, and interests, giving you ideas for what future career you may want to pursue. From there, you can read more about the suggested jobs to discover what feels right for the next step, which is seeking out actual job openings within those career suggestions. (This is done outside of Career Dreamer.)
Then, by collaborating with Gemini, Google’s AI assistant, you can craft a cover letter explaining why you would be the perfect fit for the job you decide to pursue (which may be something you didn’t know even existed until 15 minutes prior). Afterward, you’ll refine your resume (They always need more work, don’t they?) before sending it off. And if you don’t get any bites, no worries — you can go back to the Career Dreamer drawing board and discover other potential opportunities to consider. Because while the job search may sometimes feel bleak, there’s no shortage of options for you to explore!