There is no ignoring the headlines surrounding mass layoffs across the tech sector.

With so much fresh tech talent being released back into the hiring pool, the competition to bag a new role is greater than ever before.

Yet there is hope—a recent survey found that 79% of those laid off from a tech company job got a new job within three months, and almost 40% found jobs in less than a month.

The even better news is that ChatGPT, the AI-powered language processing chatbot, can help give you the competitive edge when it comes to the application and interview process.

Here is how to make ChatGPT work for you.

1. Research job trends

Do you want to pivot to an emerging or growing area of tech? Or do you want to ensure the company you are applying for is stable, and has not been cutting staff in other departments?

ChatGPT can help you with all of the above, which will not only help you match your skills and experience to job listings, but also aid in identifying ‘ghost’ job listings. These is when companies are vacating the hiring space, but strategically stage their job listings or leave older ones in place to give the illusion of restructuring.

2. Complete background checks

As the ‘perksession’ hits home and pingpong tables and snacks are being rescinded by companies trying to trim budgets and overheads, benefit schemes surrounding pension contributions, leave entitlements, and health insurance are more important than ever before.

The beauty of ChatGPT is that it can not only tell you what these benefits are, but compare and contrast several companies at the same time.

3. Craft your CV

Even if you have an up-to-date master document with all your information, skills and experience on file, you will need to carefully craft a bespoke CV for every job you apply for to ensure you include the right information and vital keywords.

Keywords have become increasingly important thanks to the advent of applicant tracking systems (ATS) which screen applications before hiring managers or HR departments ever get their hands on them. By uploading the job spec to ChatGPT, it can highlight the important information for you, and tell you what you need to include.

4. Write a cover letter

While you might think hiring managers don’t pay too much attention to cover letters, Jobbio’s Hiring Intelligence Report 2022 found that 46% of hiring managers say a well-crafted cover letter immediately sets an applicant apart from the competition.

ChatGPT can provide a framework of what to include, or can offer a structured style and format that should only need a few simple tweaks before you send it off.

5. Interview prep

When you get the email or call inviting you for an interview, the real work begins. From the classic “tell me about yourself” to “describe a time you showed leadership”, interviews tend to follow the same format, but your answers need to be carefully honed and scripted based on the role.

Every answer you receive will have to be carefully edited so that it is personalised, and using ChatGPT can provide you with insights on what to include.

Ready to give ChatGPT a go and secure your next role? Below are three exciting roles in companies that are actively hiring plus there are many more on the Finextra Job Board.

Site Reliability Engineer, GoCardless, London

As a Site Reliability Engineer you will be part of a small team that sets the direction of the GoCardless core stack. In this role you will work with every other team within engineering—from product to data—to help build and scale the global platform its product sits on. Your experience should include building scalable and fault-tolerant infrastructure in the cloud. You will also need experience in Kubernetes and Postgres as GoCardless runs its Postgres clusters using Stolon. View more details here.

Information Security Risk Analyst, Starling Bank, Manchester

The Information Security Risk Analyst will support and report directly to the head of information security risk but will have exposure across the bank to the management of Starling’s information security risks. As such you will be required to provide technical oversight of information security, ensuring risks are identified, managed and escalated appropriately. You will also provide sound evaluation of issues, incidents and vulnerabilities, and experienced technology opinion to the risk department as a whole. See the full job description here.

Platform Engineer, Zilch, London

Zilch is seeking a Platform Engineer to join its team in London. In this role you will work in an agile environment on systems that are critical for Zilch customers, support and optimise critical systems for performance, fault-tolerance, security, reliability, and cost and continually improve systems, practices, and knowledge. Applicants should have experience with SQL, Kubernetes, Linux, AWS systems including CloudFront, API Gateway, NLB, and RDS and REST integrated systems. Apply here.

For thousands more jobs across the fintech sector, visit the Finextra Job Board today.