Sam, Ashrita, and Brian agreed to meet at the UConn Dairy Bar to celebrate completing another grueling week of midterm exams. It was an unusually warm February afternoon, and they were looking forward to enjoying delicious ice cream and a well-deserved break.
Sam, a Materials Science and Engineering major, leaned back in her chair and sighed: “I can’t believe we survived this week. But now I have to start stressing out about finding an internship for the summer!”
Ashrita, who is majoring in Business and Health Management, nodded in agreement. “Tell me about it. I’ve been going through job postings for healthcare management internships, but I’m not confident about some of the requirements. Education and experience are fairly straightforward, but when it comes to other requirements such as strong communication skills, the ability to work effectively in a team, and excellent problem-solving skills, I’m not too sure what I should be including in my resume,” she said.
Brian chimed in: “Same here. Some psychology internships seem to want candidates who have demonstrated adaptability and cultural awareness!”
As the three friends delved deeper into their concerns, a common thread emerged – the challenge of demonstrating proficiency in competencies that employers frequently list as core requirements in their internship and job postings.
“Communication, critical thinking, teamwork,” Sam listed off. “And don’t forget professionalism and the effective use of technology. Why are these competencies so important for employers? How are we supposed to demonstrate our proficiency in them?”
“If you want answers, I suggest you visit the UConn Center for Career Readiness and Life Skills webpage. There is an entire section on the skills that employers seek,” Brian said, with a glimmer of hope radiating off him. “But here’s the short answer,” he continued: “The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) has identified eight core competencies that are highly valued by employers and considered key predictors of career success. These include the competencies you listed before, but also career and self-development, leadership, and equity and inclusion.”
Ashrita’s eyes suddenly lit up. “How about we use AI tools like Perplexity AI or ChatGPT to help with this? They might assist us in brainstorming ways to showcase these competencies.”
Brian was intrigued. “That’s not a bad idea. But how exactly would that work?”
Sam jumped in: “Well, we could use these AI tools to analyze job descriptions and identify the competencies that employers value the most. Then we could ask them to generate examples of how our experiences both in and out of the classroom might demonstrate those skills.”
“Exactly,” Ashrita nodded. “For instance, I could input details about my group class project and ask the AI to suggest ways to frame that experience in terms of teamwork and communication skills.”
“And I could use it to help me articulate how my involvement in student organizations and affinity groups relates to leadership and critical thinking!” Brian added.
As their ice cream slowly melted, the friends began to sketch out a plan.
“We could create a shared document,” Sam suggested, “where we list all our experiences – from class projects and part-time jobs to internships and extracurriculars. Then we can run each through the AI tools to get suggestions on how to frame them in terms of the NACE competencies.”
“We could also use AI to help us prepare for interview questions! We could input common interview questions and have it suggest ways to structure our answers to highlight our competencies,” Ashrita added.
Brian, always a critical thinker, raised a valid point. “I don’t mean to dampen the mood, but we need to be careful not to rely too heavily on AI-generated content. We should use it as a starting point to get our creative juices flowing but then ensure that we personalize the content, so it accurately reflects who we are.”
“Absolutely,” Sam agreed. “The goal is to use AI as a tool to help us reflect on our experiences and articulate them better, not to create fake experiences.”
As the afternoon wore on, the three friends found their anxiety about the internship search had started to dissipate. They had realized that by leveraging AI tools creatively and responsibly, they could not only improve their resumes and interview skills but also gain a deeper understanding of their level of proficiency in core competencies.
“You know,” Ashrita reflected, “this process might actually help us identify the NACE competencies that we need to further develop. If we’re struggling to find examples for certain competencies, maybe it’s a sign we should seek out opportunities to enhance them.”
Sam and Brian nodded in agreement. “I feel like this brainstorming session was really valuable,” Brian said. “Not just for our internship search but also for our long-term career and self-development.”
