AI has a growing role in the job search process, something that students moving into the job market will have to navigate.
The Shocker Career Accelerator assists students who are preparing to apply for jobs. Appointments are offered by either a certified career coach or a peer advisor. And it’s trying to help students adapt to the new AI-filled job search process.
Sara Leftwich — a program specialist for the Shocker Career Accelerator — explained the process for each type of session and how career coaches may approach working with students.
“All of our coaches at the Shocker Career Accelerator provide the same resume standards and guidance, but each coach brings their own personality and communication style to appointments,” Leftwich said.
The Career Accelerator recommends ways students can use AI to help them with their resumes.
During resume building, advisers help students with formatting, and including often overlooked details like volunteer experience and relevant coursework. This is followed by resume review sessions, where students get a finished resume reviewed to refine smaller details.
Coaches and peer advisers look to meet students where they are and help create resumes that match the job and industry the student is interested in.
“In my experience, many students seek out our services because they’ve been using one approach to apply for all opportunities and they’ve identified that something isn’t working,” career coach Aaron Evans said.
Students are often not aware of how employers go about reviewing resumes or cover letters, Leftwich said.
A big part of these sessions is ensuring resumes can make it through Applicant Tracking Systems — a software many employers use to search resumes for keywords matching job descriptions. Those in the office say online resume templates can’t be read by ATS systems, which can result in applications being thrown out.
Leftwich said a lot of effort goes into ensuring students’ resumes are a genuine reflection of who they are and the goals they want to achieve.
At the Shocker Career Accelerator, AI is often suggested to students as a tool, but not to write the entire resume. Students should use AI for tasks like brainstorming ideas, but the final result should be their own writing, Leftwich said
“We work to help students’ personalities be present in their resumes,” Leftwich said.
The Shocker Career Accelerator provides resources for students on how to use AI as a reference during the writing process. The Career Accelerator adheres to WSU’s guidelines on AI in its approach.
The guidelines go over how to best use AI for task automation and content creation, but say that users should avoid inputting sensitive information.
AI platforms take the information users put into them to train their models. Each platform goes about this differently, but it’s a better rule to avoid inputting personal information like names, addresses, contact info, etc. into these systems, Leftwich said
Shocker Career Accelerator takes the same approach toward AI when it comes to other areas they assist with, such as cover letters, job search and career exploration.
Evans spoke about their approach when recommending AI use to students.
“Some of the ways we encourage students to incorporate it in their process is to use it for resume customization and tailoring, as well as coming up with ideas for the best way to communicate your experience in a way that is connected to the jobs you’re applying to,” Evans said.
Leftwich explained that guidelines for students — including for AI — are often shaped by what they hear from employers, and industry standards. The biggest focus is to put the student first.
“There are definitely some industries looking for AI skillsets,” Leftwich said. “If it’s an area (students are) interested in but are uncomfortable with, we help students find where there might be some needs.”
As the use of AI evolves at a rapid pace, both Evans and Leftwich said the Shocker Career Accelerator and WSU are working to ensure current guidelines match best practices for the current moment.
