In this post, I experiment with Anthropic’s Prompt Generator to write optimized prompts for job hunting.

Here are the most frequent job hunting prompt requests I’ve received:

1. Interview prep

2. Ideal role analysis

3. Salary negotiation

4. Cover letter writing

5. Resume optimization

Here’s the Youtube version of this post:

• Prompt: Interview Prep

• Prompt: Ideal Role Analysis

• Prompt Engineer GPT Plugin

• Prompt: Salary Negotiation

• Prompt: Cover Letter Writing

• Prompt: Resume Optimization

• Closing Words

Anthropic recently released its Prompt Generator to create production-ready prompt templates, automatically incorporating prompt engineering best practices, such as:

• Role setting

• Chain of thought

• XML tags and handlebars

• Delineating separate sections

To try it out!

Go to your Anthropic Dashboard and click Generate a prompt:

Prompt: Interview Prep

Interview preparation is an awesome use case for ChatGPT.

You ask ChatGPT to brainstorm realistic interview questions and strategies how to tackle them.

Here’s the prompt generated by Anthropic, with role as an input:

I will act as an expert interview coach to help you prepare for your upcoming job interview. To generate the most relevant practice questions and guidance, please tell me the specific role you are interviewing for.

<role>{{ROLE}}</role>

<Inner Monologue>
Based on the {{ROLE}} the user provided, I will now generate a list of the 10 most difficult questions they are likely to encounter in the interview, along with the best way to answer each one.
</Inner Monologue>

Top 10 Most Challenging Interview Questions for {{ROLE}}:

1. [Question 1]
<answer>
[Optimal answer to Question 1]
</answer>
The reasoning behind this approach is [explanation].

2. [Question 2] 
<answer>
[Optimal answer to Question 2]
</answer>
This response works well because [explanation].

... (truncated for length) ....

10. [Question 10]
<answer>
[Optimal answer to Question 10]
</answer>
[Explanation for why this approach is effective].

I hope practicing these challenging questions and reviewing the suggested answers and explanations helps you feel confident and well-prepared for your {{ROLE}} interview.

I like how structured everything is: the AI’s role, inner “thinking” monologue, structured list answer format, clear inputs, and clear outputs.

I run the prompt in ChatGPT, feeding in the role Social Media Manager.

Click here to read the full response.

Here’s a snippet of ChatGPT’s answer:

To me, the questions seem realistic and the answers are pretty good, each justified by a sensible rationale.

I improve the prompt further by including follow-up interview questions.

Here’s my final prompt for job hunting interview prep:

I will act as an expert interview coach to help you prepare for your upcoming job interview. To generate the most relevant practice questions and guidance, please tell me the specific role you are interviewing for.

<role>{{role}}</role>

<Inner Monologue>
Based on the {{ROLE}} the user provided, I will now generate a list of the 10 most difficult questions they are likely to encounter in the interview, along with the best way to answer each one and a follow-up question after my answer.
</Inner Monologue>

Top 10 Most Challenging Interview Questions for {{ROLE}}:

[Question 1]
<answer>
[Optimal answer to Question 1]
</answer>
The reasoning behind this approach is [explanation].
<followup-question>
[Follow up question after my optimal answer]
</followup-question>

[Question 2]
<answer>
[Optimal answer to Question 2]
</answer>
This response works well because [explanation].
<followup-question>
[Follow up question after my optimal answer]
</followup-question>

[Question 3]
<answer>
[Optimal answer to Question 3]
</answer>
[Explanation for why this is an effective response].
<followup-question>
[Follow up question after my optimal answer]
</followup-question>

[Question 4]
<answer>
[Optimal answer to Question 4]
</answer>
[Explanation of the rationale behind this answer].
<followup-question>
[Follow up question after my optimal answer]
</followup-question>

[Question 5]
<answer>
[Optimal answer to Question 5]
</answer>
Answering in this way [explanation of why it's a strong response].
<followup-question>
[Follow up question after my optimal answer]
</followup-question>

[Question 6]
<answer> 
[Optimal answer to Question 6]
</answer>
[Explanation for the suggested approach].
<followup-question>
[Follow up question after my optimal answer]
</followup-question>

[Question 7]
<answer>
[Optimal answer to Question 7]
</answer>
The key reasons this works well are [explanation].
<followup-question>
[Follow up question after my optimal answer]
</followup-question>

[Question 8]
<answer>
[Optimal answer to Question 8]
</answer>
[Explanation of why this is a compelling answer].
<followup-question>
[Follow up question after my optimal answer]
</followup-question>

[Question 9]
<answer>
[Optimal answer to Question 9]
</answer>
[Rationale for the recommended response].
<followup-question>
[Follow up question after my optimal answer]
</followup-question>

[Question 10]
<answer>
[Optimal answer to Question 10]
</answer>
[Explanation for why this approach is effective].
<followup-question>
[Follow up question after my optimal answer]
</followup-question>

I hope practicing these challenging questions and reviewing the suggested answers and explanations helps you feel confident and well-prepared for your {{ROLE}} interview.

Prompt: Ideal Role Analysis

Next, I want Anthropic to generate a prompt to help job seekers analyze their current resume with respect to their ideal role:

• what skills and qualifications do they currently have that align with their ideal role?

• what skills and qualifications are they lacking for the ideal role?

Good news — Anthropic generated another nice prompt on the first try!

But, I tweak some items:

• remove unnecessary instructions around confidentiality

• clarify that resume will be uploaded as a file attachment to the prompt

• add another input for the candidate’s ideal role where users will paste in the job description directly into the prompt

I recommend checking out my Youtube video if you want to see an example of this “ideal role analysis” prompt in action.

Here’s a snippet of ChatGPT’s answer when I uploaded a frontend engineer’s resume and indicated the ideal role — fullstack engineer at an AI startup.

I found a real fullstack engineer job post at an AI startup in Salt Lake City.

Then, I included the relevant sections of the job post in the prompt.

ChatGPT offered several skills and qualifications the frontend engineer should consider developing.

Pretty good!

Here’s my final prompt for ideal role analysis:

You will be analyzing a candidate's resume in the context of their ideal role to provide an assessment of how well the candidate's current skills and qualifications align with the requirements for their target position.

Candidate's Resume:

<resume>
Uploaded file
</resume>

Candidate's Ideal Role:

<ideal_role>
Paste job description here
</ideal_role>

Instructions:

Resume Review:

- Review the candidate's resume carefully.
- Pay close attention to the candidate's work history, education, skills, and other qualifications.

Contextual Analysis:

- Analyze the candidate's resume in the context of the ideal role and industry provided.
- Consider the skills, experience, and qualifications typically required or beneficial for this type of position.

Scratchpad Notes:

- Identify and list relevant skills and qualifications the candidate already possesses based on their resume.
- Identify and list key skills and qualifications the candidate appears to be lacking or needs to develop further.

Generate Report:

Use your scratchpad notes to create a polished report for the candidate.

Structure the report into two sections:

Section 1: Relevant Skills and Qualifications

Describe the top skills and qualifications the candidate already has that would be assets for their ideal role.
Focus on transferable skills that could apply across companies.

Section 2: Skills and Qualifications to Develop

Explain the key skills, qualifications, and experience the candidate should look to gain or improve to become a more competitive applicant for their target role.
Provide constructive recommendations.

The goal is to provide a helpful high-level assessment, not to rehash their resume.

Output:

Please generate your report based on this resume and the target role information provided.

Prompt Engineer GPT Plugin

Real quick…

I test the Prompt Engineer GPT plugin to improve the 2 previous prompts created by Anthropic. Previously, I’ve used the Prompt Artisan GPT plugin with mixed results, but the Prompt Engineer GPT seems to have way more users and good reviews.

Fingers crossed!

But, in both cases, the “improved” prompt was nearly identical except for a few very minor tweaks. It didn’t seem like any aspect meaningfully improved.

Disappointing.

But in the future, it’d be interesting to compare Prompt Engineer’s from-scratch prompt creation vs. Anthropic’s Prompt Generator.

Prompt: Salary Negotiation

Now, I use Anthropic to generate a prompt for salary negotiation.

I emphasize I want to ask for a higher salary while also preserving the job offer, conveying my enthusiasm for the opportunity, careful not to burn bridges.

Again, the first prompt generated by Anthropic is a terrific starting point.

It takes as input: role, salary, and expected salary. Then it simulates a 5-step negotiation back-and-forth with a sample script and reasoning at each step.

My only addition to the prompt is to include in each step:

The most difficult objection to the example script

Here’s my final salary negotiation prompt:

You will be creating a salary negotiation plan for a job offer. I will provide details about the job offer, including the salary offered, in the following format:

<job_offer_details>
{{role}} and {{salary}}
</job_offer_details>

I will also provide the expected or desired salary for the position in this format:

<expected_salary>
{{expected_salary}}
</expected_salary>

Using this information, create a detailed step-by-step plan for negotiating a higher salary. For each step, provide:

- A brief description of what to do in that step
- An example script or key points to make
- The reasoning behind the step and why it's important for the negotiation
- The most difficult objection to the example script
- Before laying out the steps, first write down your overall strategy and approach in a <strategy> tag.

Then, number each step sequentially, starting with Step 1. Use the format:

<step1>
Description: 
Example script/key points:
Reasoning:
Objection:
</step1>
Repeat this for at least 5 steps in the negotiation process. Refer back to the job offer details and expected salary in your steps and reasoning.

After the numbered steps, provide a final <summary> of the key points of your negotiation plan.

Remember, the goal is to negotiate a higher salary in a compelling way, without jeopardizing the original job offer. Tailor the plan to the specific job offer details and expected salary provided.

Prompt: Cover Letter Writing

Following the same process as above, Anthropic generates a prompt that writes a cover letter, tailored to a company’s mission and culture.

I have no idea why companies still force applicants to write cover letters in 2024!

In my opinion, it feels outdated, wasteful, and burdensome.

In any case, here’s the cover letter written by ChatGPT, assuming you are applying for a Data Analyst position at Coinbase:

I’m no expert in what a cover letter “should” look like, so I don’t make any edits to Anthropic’s prompt.

Seems more than good enough.

Here’s my final prompt for cover letter writing:

Please read through the company website carefully to understand the company's mission, values, and culture. Pay particular attention to the About Us, Mission, and Careers/Jobs pages if available.

You are applying for the following role:
<role>{{role}}</role>

At this company:
<company>{{company}}</company>

Company website:
<company_website>{{company_website}}</company_website>

Write a cover letter for your application to this role at this company. Make sure to align your cover letter with the company's mission and culture based on your analysis of their website. Highlight any relevant skills or experience you have that make you a great fit for this role and company.

Write in a spartan, professional, and optimistic style.

Output your cover letter inside <cover_letter> tags.

Prompt: Resume Optimization

There are multiple ways to optimize a resume.

In this example, I focus on resume keyword optimization because recruiters use automated tools, including AI, to scan resumes for keyword matches.

Also, recruiters and hiring managers spend very little time reviewing resumes — in a sense, they scan resumes, too. In effect, resumes with the right set of keywords tend to positively stand out.

First, I ask Anthropic to generate a prompt that takes a role, industry, and resume, and then incorporates critical keywords throughout your resume.

But, I ran into numerous issues with hallucination.

ChatGPT would determine relevant important keywords, such as “AWS”, but then insert it into your resume even if you’ve never touched AWS before!

No good…

So, I revised the prompt to output the most important keywords for the role and industry, leaving it up you to decide:

• how you want to incorporate keywords you have expertise in

• whether to invest in learning keywords (skills) you don’t know

In the screenshot above, I run the prompt for a fullstack engineering role in healthcare and upload the resume of a frontend engineer.

The keyword suggestions are solid — healthcare standards like HL7, FHIR, and HIPAA compliance are all key foundational aspects in health IT systems. Experience with these standards would be attractive to include in your resume.

Also, adding keywords related to cloud (AWS), backend, and databases would definitely help make a frontend engineer (current role) a much more attractive candidate for a fullstack role (ideal role).

Here’s my final prompt for resume keyword optimization:

I will be acting as a resume optimization assistant to help you update your resume for maximum impact for a specific role and industry.

Here is the role you are targeting:
<role>
{{role}}
</role>

And here is the industry:
<industry>
{{industry}}
</industry>

Please provide your current resume here:
<resume>
Uploaded file
</resume>

I will carefully analyze your resume in the context of the provided role and industry. I will:

Identify the most important hard skills, soft skills, qualifications and experience to highlight for the {{ROLE}} role in the {{INDUSTRY}} industry based on my knowledge.

Compare those key qualifications to your {{RESUME}} to see where there are gaps or opportunities to better emphasize important skills and experience.

Research what specific keywords and phrases are most often used in job descriptions and resumes for the {{ROLE}} role in the {{INDUSTRY}} industry.

Select the most relevant and impactful keywords and phrases to incorporate into your {{RESUME}} to help it better align to the {{ROLE}} and {{INDUSTRY}} and get past automated resume screening tools.

Before providing my final suggestions, I will share my analysis and thought process in a <scratchpad>. This will include the key qualifications I identified for the role, my assessment of your resume's current strengths and gaps, and the rationale behind the specific keywords I recommend adding.

After the <scratchpad>, I will provide my final answer, which will be my suggested keywords and phrases to be incorporated. I will output this list inside <keyword_suggestion> tags.

So in summary, here are the steps I will take:
<scratchpad>

Identify key skills, qualifications and experience for the {{ROLE}} in {{INDUSTRY}}
Analyze your {{RESUME}} for strengths and gaps relative to those key qualifications
Research relevant keywords and phrases commonly used for this type of role and industry
Select specific keywords and phrases that should be incorporated in your resume
</scratchpad>

<keyword_suggestion>
Suggested keywords and phrases to incorporated, along with an explanation why
</keyword_suggestion>

Closing Words

Overall, I am highly impressed with Anthropic’s Prompt Generator and encourage you to try it.

Even if you’re well-versed in prompt engineering best practices, using an automated Prompt Generator is 10x faster than typing out prompts yourself.

Have fun building!

Sabrina Ramonov

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