Can IT contractors use ChatGPT to win more clients?

In an increasingly digitised world, contractors have a new toy to play with -- AI, and it's quite the toy indeed, writes Matt Craven, founder of The CV & Interview Advisors.

As the tech industry's prodigious child, AI boasts a host of enticing traits: speed, efficiency, precision. But just how beneficial is it for contractors trying to land more clients?

Can it take the wheel and steer your CV creation?

Speed v magic

First off, we're not disputing AI's lightning speed -- it's pretty darn impressive. I asked ChatGPT, a popular AI language model, how long it would take to craft a three-page CV, and it was a matter of seconds.

But here's the snag -- a CV is far more than just a quick spit and polish. It's an alchemy of research, branding, positioning, and strategic keywording. If you can spoon-feed this info to an AI, you'll get a decent CV, but it'll lack that personalised touch that makes you ‘you’!

In short with your CV, AI like ChatGPT won't tease out your unique strengths and professional magic that sets you apart.

All about the prompts

What I do like is that AI can customise CVs based on job postings and industry requirements, but it's a game of input equals output. You need to ace the prompts, which, believe me, is an art in itself. There’s a whole new industry called ‘Prompt Engineering’ for a start! Also, remember AI's knowledge is only as good as the data it’s fed, and the internet isn’t exactly an oasis of pristine data.

CV v résumé

ChatGPT does help in refining language and catching those pesky grammar slip-ups that are the bane of 80% of CVs.

But its reference point for structure leaves something to be desired, often defaulting to a generic US-style resume. The UK contracting market is a whole different beast, with its unique needs and nuances, which the AI darling of the moment, ChatGPT, isn't fully aware of.

Objectivity?

ChatGPT also boasts of providing ‘objective and critical feedback,’ but let's be real, folks -- AI doesn't have the ability to be objective. It can aggregate data, yes, but remember, it's a mirror of the web, and the web is often a merry-go-round of misinformation.

Authenticity?

Using AI might be seen as a mark of being 'tech-savvy,' but be cautious. A CV penned by AI might raise eyebrows regarding its authenticity. In fact, it's quite easy to trace back an AI-written CV, and being exposed for AI-written content might not be your best look.

The verdict

In conclusion, AI does offer some quick wins -- time-saving, grammatical precision, and basic tailoring. So ideal for a time-poor, bad speller of an IT contractor who wants to go forward for an opportunity with the bare essentials, perhaps because they’re in a rush.

However, to expect ChatGPT to churn out a compelling, persuasive and professional CV for the UK contracting market -- without the need for human input, is currently a tall order.

That said, it is an incredibly useful tool if you can learn how to instruct it, and it’s certainly a useful tool to HELP write a CV. You’ve just got to know how to harness it and its limitations!

To learn more about AI in professional contracting, including how ChatGPT can help contractors tailor their CV, their services and even run a contracting business efficiently, join our upcoming July 27th webinar here.