Ask It Simply
Careers & AI Skills · 5 tasks + skill builder

Grow your career, with a little help from AI.

Build the AI skills employers are starting to ask for, then use free AI tools for five everyday job-search tasks, with the exact words to type. You stay in charge. AI just does the first draft.

By Dontè, Ask It SimplyUpdated

Build the AI skills employers ask for

More and more job ads now expect basic “AI literacy.” LinkedIn reports a 70% year-over-year increase in U.S. roles that require it, and a 92% jump in the share of learning time people spend on AI courses (LinkedIn data via WEF, Jan 2026). The good news: the basics are learnable in short, free steps.

  1. Learn to ask well. Practice giving an AI tool a role, the task, and the format you want, then asking it to improve its answer.
  2. Check its work. Get in the habit of verifying facts, names and numbers. Employers value people who catch AI mistakes.
  3. Use it on your real work. Pick one weekly task (a report, an email, a schedule) and try doing the first draft with AI.
  4. Protect private information. Never paste customer data, passwords or confidential company details into a public AI tool.
  5. Say it on your résumé, honestly. Describe what you actually did with AI, like “used ChatGPT to draft weekly client updates, cutting writing time.” Only claim what’s true.
Copy-and-paste prompt

I work as a [job title] and I'm new to AI. Make me a 30-day plan, 15 minutes a day, to learn how to use free AI tools in my job. Each day, give me one small practice task using my real work, and one tip for checking the AI's answer. Keep it beginner-friendly.

Tailor your résumé to one job posting

Our free pickChatGPTchatgpt.com · free plan

It's quick at comparing a job posting with your résumé and pointing out what to move to the top.

  1. Copy the job posting.
  2. Copy your résumé and delete your phone, email and home address first.
  3. Paste both with the prompt below.
  4. Keep only the suggestions that are true for you, then update your résumé yourself.
Copy-and-paste prompt

Here is a job posting: [paste]. Here is my résumé with contact details removed: [paste]. List the 5 skills this employer cares about most. Show which ones my résumé already proves, and suggest stronger bullet points using only experience I actually have. Don't invent anything.

Write a cover letter that sounds like you

Our free pickClaudeclaude.ai · free with an account

A good writing helper for this job: describe the tone you want, like “warm and simple,” and it follows along.

  1. Write three honest sentences about why you want this job.
  2. Paste them with the job posting and the prompt below.
  3. Ask for changes: “shorter,” “less formal,” or “more like how I talk.”
  4. Read it out loud. Change any line you wouldn't say yourself.
Copy-and-paste prompt

Help me write a short cover letter (under 250 words) for this job: [paste posting]. Here's why I want it, in my own words: [your 3 sentences]. Keep my voice, use plain language, and don't add skills or experience I didn't mention.

Practice the interview out loud

Our free pickChatGPT VoiceChatGPT app · free with daily limits

Talking through answers out loud is the closest thing to a real interview, and you can do it at the kitchen table.

  1. Open the ChatGPT app and tap the voice button.
  2. Say the prompt below.
  3. Answer each question like it's the real thing.
  4. Ask it to repeat any question you want to try again.
Copy-and-paste prompt

Act as a friendly interviewer for a [job title] job. Ask me one common interview question at a time and wait for my answer. After each answer, tell me one thing I did well and one thing to improve. Start with “Tell me about yourself.”

Check if a job offer is real

Our free pickBitdefender Scamioscamio.bitdefender.com · free scam checker

It's built to spot scams, and job scams are common. The FTC says honest employers will never make you pay to get a job.

  1. Don't send money, gift cards or personal documents yet.
  2. Copy the message or offer and remove your personal details.
  3. Paste it into Scamio or ChatGPT with the prompt below.
  4. Look up the company yourself and contact it through its official website.
Copy-and-paste prompt

I got this job offer: [paste, personal details removed]. Check it against common job-scam warning signs, like paying to get the job, depositing a check and sending money back, or reshipping packages. Tell me which red flags you see and what I should check before replying.

Safety note: Real employers don't charge you to apply or start, and they won't send you a check to deposit and pass on. If that happens, it's a scam. Report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Know your worth before you talk pay

Our free pickCareerOneStop Salary Findercareeronestop.org · free, from the U.S. Department of Labor

It shows typical pay for a job in your state or city, from government data. Then an AI assistant can help you practice asking.

  1. Look up your job title and location in the Salary Finder.
  2. Write down the typical pay range.
  3. Paste that number into ChatGPT with the prompt below.
  4. Practice the script out loud once or twice.
Copy-and-paste prompt

Typical pay for a [job title] in [city or state] is about [range from CareerOneStop]. I've been offered [amount]. Help me write a short, polite script to ask for [your number], plus a calm reply if they say no. Keep it friendly and under 100 words.

Before you paste anything: remove your phone number, email, home address and any ID numbers. Never let AI add skills, jobs or degrees you don't have. Employers check, and it's your name on the page.

Try the Tool Finder for jobs →

Keep going

GuideHow to use ChatGPT for the first time (no tech skills needed) →GuideIs AI safe to use? 7 simple privacy rules for beginners →From the newsletterThat email you've been dreading? Let AI write the first draft →From the newsletterYour first 5 minutes with ChatGPT (no tech skills needed) →From the newsletterToo much on your plate? Let AI turn your to-do list into a plan →

More free, official job resources

Sources

Facts about tools, plans, pay data and job scams on this page come from these official pages, checked October 17, 2026. Tool picks are our own opinion. We aren't paid by any of them.

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Dontè, Ask It Simply

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