The job market is competitive right now, at least according to the World Economic Forum. The sobering news was released in September, revealing that the number of new job openings for entry-level professionals has fallen by almost 30% since 2024. Luckily, there is a way to get an edge, especially for job seekers who only use Indeed and similar job boards.
Chatbots like Google Gemini, ChatGPT, and Grok are arguably better at helping you find job opportunities. Since they are interactive and can search the internet in seconds, you can also use them as a career coach. However, the main benefit is that you can focus on new job categories and open your eyes to the possibility of an unexpected job. A prompt like “Show me what jobs are paying the best right now” is pure gold for those job hunting.
I pitted the three chatbots against each other and ran the same prompt to see which found more jobs and, most importantly, had some level of accuracy. Bots tend to make up facts every now and then, which is called hallucinating, and if you’re looking for a job, the last thing you need is inaccurate information when it comes to making a living. That’s why the chatbots are helpful as a rough guide to uncover entries that may or may not be legitimate.
Still, they do a great job finding jobs, although I found that some of the job postings were out of date. However, this is a given when looking for a job. The best way to find a job is to go to the company’s website and look at the job openings. If anything, the chatbots help you discover these listings and quickly search multiple websites.
Here are the best ways to use job search bots, along with the prompt I used and the bit that provided the most entries and the most help. The final winner might surprise you.
1. Search for remote jobs only in a specific state
Prompt used: “Look for a remote communications director job in California.”
You’ll notice that this prompt has some very specific criteria, including things like job title, that you want a remote job, and that you should only search for jobs in California. Setting these parameters produces the best results. In fact, vague questions never work that well with chatbots.
Based on the number of jobs listed, Grok provided the best answer to this question. The bot listed eight jobs in California along with the title, description, salary range, and key requirements. I wish the bot had also listed the career website or a direct link to apply. Google listed five jobs and offered to display more, as did ChatGPT. Overall, I liked how quickly Grok found deals.
2. Only perform deep search on specific websites
Prompt used: “List all public colleges in the Midwest along with their websites. Then use that list to search for professor openings.”
One way to get chatbots to do exactly what you want is to spell out the terms. Suppose you are looking for a position as a professor at a state university. You can start by asking the bots to list all college websites in a geographic area, such as the Midwest. The bots may complain at first and only list a few jobs, but you can keep prodding them – they will eventually obey you if you keep asking. Then you can ask them to search for open positions on these websites. This is a handy way to bypass sites like Indeed or LinkedIn job listings altogether.
Grok was the clear winner here, which is surprising – you’d think a Google product would do a better job at web search. Grok listed dozens of colleges and dozens of open positions. Although HigherEdJobs.com offers quick searches and filters, not all jobs are always listed. Gemini showed me colleges and websites, but the list of open positions only mentioned the job title without the link to the careers page. ChatGPT didn’t work at first. I’m told there are too many in the Midwest to list. Only after some back and forth did the bot list some universities and jobs.
3. Ask for advice about a career
Prompt used: “I’m trying to find a job in electrical engineering but I can’t find any good leads. What should I do?”
Chatbots excel at having conversations, although they can sometimes seem overly professional. You can use this to your advantage and ask the bots for career advice, inquire about job posting statistics, and even “realize” your job search challenges. The bots are happy to discuss options with you and even suggest alternative careers.
Once again, Grok proved to be the better job search assistant. I was impressed that the consultation included several job search forums related to electrical engineering. Both ChatGPT and Gemini have given some great advice on formatting your resume and listed top employers. In fact, ChatGPT gave more tips than Grok in a longer answer. However, Grok was quick to mention job boards And Including the links for a search was far more helpful.
4. Find every possible job for a specific role
Prompt used: “Show me every magazine editor-in-chief job in the United States.”
I mentioned that you need to set parameters for your job search and that chatbots tend to produce better results that way. All true unless you are looking for a specific type of job and are having difficulty finding a good one. Sometimes it’s okay to ask a chatbot to show you anything And everything. A good example of this? I asked all three chatbots to show me every senior editor position at magazines in the United States. What is a magazine, you ask? Good question, because they’re not as ubiquitous as they used to be.
Grok surprised me again with a detailed, helpful answer. The bot listed around 25 open positions across the country, while Gemini and ChatGPT only listed a few. ChatGPT also tends to be dismissive at times, like I’m asking the bot to invent nuclear fusion or take out the trash. “I can’t show literally every editor-in-chief opening at a US magazine (there are thousands and they change daily)…” was the response. OK!
A surprising result
In the end, I was surprised to find that Grok was the best chatbot for job hunting. The initial responses were helpful and listed far more open positions than ChatGPT or Google Gemini. For those searching, the results were robust, clear, and helpful.
I would say that all three chatbots excelled in job hunting with a more conversational approach. I liked the opportunity to ask further questions about salary expectations, location and requirements. I expect job boards will eventually learn how to make this more interactive.
If you’re looking for a job and want to refine the way you interact with AI chatbots, take a look at our tips for writing Gemini prompts and ChatGPT prompts.
