ChatGPT and other AI language models have been the headline of what seems like every news article or conversation recently. There are some obvious and easy uses of these kinds of tools – gathering information, text and code writing or editing, summarization, translation. What about uses related to your professional development? How can you use ChatGPT as an assistant to achieving your career goals?
ChatGPT is more than a glorified search engine. With the right prompts (in other words, the information you provide ChatGPT and the questions you ask ChatGPT), you can use ChatGPT as a tool in your professional development for writing performance goals, evaluating your performance, and identifying how you can get to the next level in your career.
In the most simple use case, if you ask ChatGPT directly how you can use it for professional development, you will get a very helpful response:
“As an AI language model, I can provide you with a range of resources and support for your professional development. Here are a few ways you can use me to enhance your career:
- Research: I can help you research a specific topic related to your industry or job function. Simply ask me a question, and I’ll do my best to provide you with relevant information and insights.
- Learning: I can assist you in learning new skills or concepts by answering your questions and providing explanations. You can also ask me to recommend online courses, books, or other resources that can help you develop your skills.
- Writing: I can help you improve your writing skills by providing feedback on your work, suggesting alternative wordings, and providing examples of well-written content in your industry.
- Problem-solving: I can help you solve complex problems by analyzing data, identifying patterns, and providing insights that can help you make informed decisions.
- Communication: I can help you improve your communication skills by providing suggestions on how to communicate more effectively with colleagues, clients, and stakeholders.
Remember that I’m an AI language model, and my responses are only as good as the information you provide me. So, to make the most of my capabilities, be as specific and clear as possible when asking your questions.”
My favorite examples provided by ChatGPT in this response are Learning and Communication since this post dives deeper into those specific use cases surrounding your professional development and using ChatGPT as a professional development tool.
Most organizations and companies have a formal performance review process, and so the words “Performance Goals” (the goals you create for yourself), “Self-Input” (the evaluation input you write for yourself), and “Performance Feedback” (feedback you provide to others or receive from others) are fairly prevalent. The examples in this post are directly applicable to how to use ChatGPT in a formal performance review processes. Even if your workplace does not have a formal review process, these tips can be useful in using ChatGPT to help you craft your career path – figuring out how to succeed in your current role and how to get to the next role in your career.
Here are some examples of how to use ChatGPT as a “professional development assistant” in the performance review process, including what prompts to provide and what questions to ask. (And be sure to proofread and edit anything ChatGPT provides to you!):
Use ChatGPT to draft or edit your Performance Goals
Provide ChatGPT your job description and your company’s performance factors as two informational prompts, and ask ChatGPT to write up Performance Goals. You can also provide ChatGPT with the Performance Goals you wrote and ask it to edit, review, or refine them. If your organization requires SMART goals, for example, you can also ask ChatGPT to proofread for SMART criteria and suggest edits.
“Can you create Performance Goals for my job? There should be three Performance Goals. Here is my job description for reference…”
“Proofread my Performance Goals, making sure they are SMART goals. Here is my job description…. and here are my Performance Goals…”
Use ChatGPT to edit Performance Self-input for yourself
Similarly, provide ChatGPT your Performance Goals and your Performance Self-Input and ask it to edit and proofread your drafted Self-Input. Ask it to review your Self-Input as if it were your boss while providing as much information as possible to describe your boss’s role or strategic interests.
“Can you review my Performance Self-Input as if you were my boss? My boss is the CIO of a large non-profit focused on providing access to healthcare. My boss’s priorities are strategic growth in the areas of technology access for our customers. Our customers are hospitals and clinics located within the United States. Here is my Performance Self-Input…”
Use ChatGPT to evaluate and summarize the Performance Feedback you received from your manager or others
This is one of my favorite uses for ChatGPT in general because oftentimes, we receive communication from others that seems convoluted. ChatGPT can summarize or review communications for clarity. You can provide ChatGPT with the Performance Feedback you received (the feedback given to you and about you) and ask it to summarize or evaluate the information. If the feedback doesn’t seem specific, direct, or actionable, ask ChatGPT to evaluate it for you.
“Review my Performance Feedback and summarize the top three achievements and top three actions I can take immediately to improve. Here is my Performance Feedback…”
“Review my Performance Feedback. Is this actionable and specific? Here is my Performance Feedback…”
Use ChatGPT to recommend Professional Development Training or Certifications based on your job description or career aspirations
ChatGPT is a great resource to aggregate information from many places. Provide ChatGPT with your job description or describe your role in detail. Then ask if it can recommend any Professional Development Training or Certifications.
“What is a new area of learning I should pursue? For example, is there a certification I should try to get or training I should get? Here is my job description…”
Remember that ChatGPT can recall previous information within the same chat, so you can build on the conversation by adding more information or asking for more feedback. ChatGPT responds better with the more information you provide to it.
These are just a few uses of ChatGPT or other AI language models to help assist you in your professional development.
Do you have other suggestions? LMK!
lmkleader.com 
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