Vanya Wryter Consulting Services

Blog

  • Getting ChatGPT to Do My Job For a Day

    Getting ChatGPT to Do My Job For a Day

    With so much talk about ChatGPT replacing jobs (which is in fact a true concern). I wondered if ChatGPT could do my job for a day. (Mostly because it was the weekend and it’s more challenging to work on the weekend.) I asked it to do a couple of tasks. Here are some results.

    Task 1: Create a test that tests job skills

    I asked ChatGPT to create some questions to test a job candidate’s job skills. It generated an answer in a matter of seconds:

    Sure! Here are some sample questions you could use to test a job candidate’s proficiency at customer service:

    • How do you handle a customer who is upset or dissatisfied with the product or service they received?
    • Can you provide an example of a time when you went above and beyond to help a customer?
    • How would you deal with a customer who is speaking loudly or rudely to you?
    • Describe a time when you had to handle multiple customer requests simultaneously.
    • How do you stay calm and composed when dealing with difficult or angry customers?
    • What do you think are the most important qualities for someone in a customer service role?
    • How do you handle a situation where you are not able to provide a customer with the solution they were hoping for?
    • Have you ever dealt with a language barrier when speaking with a customer? How did you handle it?
    • How do you keep yourself organized when handling multiple customer requests or issues?
    • Can you provide an example of a time when you successfully turned a dissatisfied customer into a loyal one?

    Task 2: Create an answer key that can be reviewed using AI

    Perhaps I didn’t ask the right question. When I asked ChatGPT to create an answer key to a job skills test using AI, it came up with this response:

    To have AI check the answers to these questions in a standardized way, you can follow these steps:

    • Develop a set of criteria for evaluating each question. This could include factors such as the clarity and completeness of the answer, the use of relevant examples, and the candidate’s ability to communicate effectively.
    • Train a natural language processing (NLP) model on a large dataset of customer service responses to the questions you have developed. This will enable the model to recognize and understand common patterns and language used in customer service responses.
    • Use the trained NLP model to automatically evaluate the candidate’s responses to the questions. The model will analyze the text of each response and score it according to the pre-defined evaluation criteria.
    • Set a threshold for acceptable scores for each question. Responses that score below this threshold can be flagged for review by a human evaluator.
    • Review the results of the automated evaluation and make any necessary adjustments to the evaluation criteria or the threshold scores.

    Conclusion:

    When I asked ChatGPT to create a job skills assessment as well as a method to evaluate the assessment using AI, it replied with well-written responses. However, none of it was material I could use because the material was far too general. The issue was also my inability to word my task to get the answer I really wanted: to get ChatGPT to do my homework. What I learned was that it may take some skill to learn how to get ChatGPT to read my mind and do my creative thinking so I can take an afternoon off.

    If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to make sure you don’t miss the next post!

  • 4 Tips for Effective Networking Connections

    4 Tips for Effective Networking Connections

    If you’ve attended a networking event, you’ve likely connected with other business owners and entrepreneurs who later said, “Let’s meet over coffee.” It’s a great idea, but how do you know if this connection with lead to a meaningful business relationship?

    Whether in person or at an online virtual meeting, you can make that follow up to the networking event a successful one by having clear objectives for connecting. Are you looking for opportunities and clients or just building relationships?

    Here are five tips to help you make meaningful connections and create effective business opportunities.

    1 Prepare a pitch so you connect with the right people

    At every in-person networking event, prepare a brief, 15 to 30 second description of yourself, including your name, company name, what you do, and your ideal client. When informally networking at an event, this is the information you want to share. When asked to give an introduction to a group of people, the description is the same, but when you finish, restate your name and the name of your company. (People don’t always catch your name the first time.)

    Take some business cards with you to share. They may also ask if you have a business card for a door prize draw. If you’re tech savvy, you can share your QR code to your LinkedIn profile or website instead of a business card. The benefit is you can easily update your LinkedIn profile or website, compared to ordering a new set of business cards whenever you update your information. 

    For virtual networking events, have your contact information typed out and checked for spelling and punctuation. You can copy and paste your information into the chat after your introduction to the group.  

    2 Attend networking events that attract the target market

    Another tip for a successful networking event is to learn what you can about the event before attending. What industries or niches do the attendees represent? Do they have a newly-minted business or have they been in business for a while?

    These questions are important because if you command a high price tag, a new business may not have the means to hire you. Similarly, if you are just starting to build your skills and your client network, a five-year old business may prefer to hire someone with an established success record.

    If you are in a marketing business specializing in marketing for tech companies with 50 or more employees, going to an event for small business owners may not be the best use of your time. To make the connections you’re looking for, do your research on the event prior to attending.

    3 Understand that networking isn’t the same as building connections

    After attending a networking meeting, you hope to have two or three people to follow up with. You might also be approached by someone who wants to meet with you and learn more about your business over coffee. Be clear about the purpose for the invitation.

    First, if you’re a new business owner, freelancer, or entrepreneur, meeting someone for coffee and getting to know each other’s business sounds like a great idea. You’ll build up your contact list and even if you don’t do business together, you’ll know who to recommend for (insert their business product or service here).

    Second, general getting-to-know-you chats build connections but rarely result in any business. You already introduced yourself and what you do at the networking event. If someone truly is interested in bringing you business, they will say something specific such as, “I’m interesting in signing up for your finance education program but I have some questions. Can we talk over coffee?”

    4 Set clear expectations

    Always be clear about your expectations prior to setting up a follow-up meeting after the networking event. If the other person says they want to “chat and get to know you and what you do,” expect that you’ll be working on building a connection. The connection might lead somewhere or it might not.

    A more specific objective, such as working on details about whether you can coach them on starting their new business is more likely to bring you a new client.

    Key Takeaways

    Networking is an important part of growing your business. A follow-up meeting after attending a networking event will be more effective if you are clear about your goals for going to the event, whether you just want to make a connection or find possible clients.

    If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to make sure you don’t miss the next post!

  • Signs You’re a Bad Writer… and How to Improve

    Signs You’re a Bad Writer… and How to Improve

    (Repost)

    What is a bad writer? I’ve looked at over a handful of articles in search of an explanation of what makes a bad writer, and everyone seems to have a different point of view. Some say it’s the attitude to writing, and others say it’s poor writing skills, such as bad grammar and punctuation.

    Writing is both a skill and a work of art, so you could say a bad writer is a mix of someone with a negative attitude to writing and weak writing skills. So how could a bad writer improve their technique? One way is to start by identifying the signs that they’re a bad writer.

    Bad Writer Sign #1: Closed Off to Feedback

    Bad writers dislike criticism and become defensive when they hear their work is not perfect. They believe there is only one way to write a paragraph or a story, and that’s their way. They don’t want to see how a sentence could be rewritten to make the meaning clearer.

    A bad writer is closed off to feedback and sees comments as an attack on them as a person. They don’t see constructive feedback as a suggestion on how to improve their writing. Instead, they see the comments as a suggestion that they are flawed as a person.

    Bad Writer Sign #2: Working on Projects That Last Forever

    Some writers blame writer’s block when they start a writing project and never finish it. This project could be a short story, an essay, a poem, or a novel. They work on rewrite after rewrite but they never finish what they start.

    Writing takes discipline, from setting goals to setting deadlines for completing those goals. A bad writer constantly fails to reach a milestone, such not finishing a chapter because of a distraction or because they want to rewrite the chapter again.

    It’s difficult to improve your writing skills if you’ve never finished your first draft of a piece of writing.

    Bad Writer Sign #3: Stale Writing Skills

    Bad writers have limited vocabulary and sentence structure. They don’t expand their vocabulary to add more variety to their writing. Neither do they try to write their sentences in different ways. Each sentence follows the same pattern so that their writing is repetitious.

    When a bad writer doesn’t learn more vocabulary or open themselves to criticism, they may also be unaware of incorrect word use, such as mixing up their, there, and they’re; or similar words such as illusion and allusion.

    How to Transition from a Bad Writer to a Good Writer

    A good writer isn’t necessarily a perfect writer or the best writer. But a good writer will start by learning what they can about writing. They will finish the first draft and be open to feedback on how they can improve. They will work on revisions so that the third draft is an improvement from the first.

    Improving one’s writing skills isn’t easy. To make a comparison, writing is like a muscle that can only be strengthened if you use it. With an open attitude to feedback and learning writing skills, a bad writer could become a good writer over time!

    If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to make sure you don’t miss the next post!

  • How AI Is Affecting the Recruiting Process

    How AI Is Affecting the Recruiting Process

    Artificial Intelligence (AI) could be deciding whether you pass the application process and you’re asked for an interview. Companies that mass hire (bulk hire) for jobs in a limited time frame appreciate reducing the time and costs involved in the hiring process. This also means the human element is removed from part of the hiring process because AI is deciding your suitability for a job.

    How does AI help recruiters to find the right applicants?

    One way that AI is helping recruiters and companies to select the right candidate is by matching candidates’ skills with the skills required for the job. Before an interview, the recruiter decides if a candidate is the right fit for the job based on his or her own description of skills as written on the application form or resume. It is unknown whether the candidate can really do the job.

    One way to streamline the hiring process is through skills assessments. Skills assessments test whether a job candidate has the soft skills needed to do the job. Soft skills are core skills that apply to all professions. For example, time management, teamwork, problem-solving, and communication skills. 

    An assessment for customer service will have a typical customer/ customer service agent scenario in which the job candidate takes on the agent’s role to answer a customer’s question. The candidate’s answer is evaluated and scored based on their ability to communicate and solve the problem.

    AI in assessments speeds up the hiring process, especially when hundreds of applicants apply for jobs in the same week.

    Does AI test candidates reliably?

    AI is fast and efficient, but like humans, it is not flawless. AI was made by humans. Its purpose is to help people with repetitive tasks, such as scanning through hundreds of job applications quickly to determine who should move on to a job interview.

    Like humans, AI can be biased. Humans wrote its programming. Questions in the assessments should not be too easy or too difficult. The only way to determine the difficulty level is by testing questions with the target audience. Test makers assume candidates may answer a question a certain way, but they may need to adjust their answers based on actual answers provided by the candidates.

    Although the test makers and the test takers both speak English, there may be regional differences that cause a misunderstanding. For example, sweaters and jumpers are the same thing, depending on which country you are from. 

    AI is changing the recruiting process and it is constantly being improved. Over time, it will automate more takes, particularly repetitive ones. It will also be able to communicate in real time. For example, it can automate sending emails to update candidates on the status of their application.

    If you’re curious about how AI is changing the recruiting process, you can read more about it here.

    Key Takeaways

    Artificial intelligence (AI) is helping recruiters and Human Resources to increase the efficiency of the hiring process. Companies that bulk hire can use assessments evaluated by AI to determine whether a group of job candidates have the soft skills required to do the job. AI also helps to automate repetitive processes and communicate in real time. In the future, AI will have a part in moving candidates quickly and effectively through the hiring process.

    If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to make sure you don’t miss the next post!

  • How to Write a Proposal for a Nonfiction Book

    How to Write a Proposal for a Nonfiction Book

    Writing a book proposal is not an easy task. You love your book idea, but you need to make the publisher fall in love with it too. How can you describe what it’s about? What do you say to make the publisher want to turn your idea into a printed book that you can hold in your hands?

    If you’re thinking of writing a proposal for a software book to a publisher, check out this post on Medium with tips on writing a proposal for a nonfiction book on a technical topic. Even if you aren’t writing about a software topic, these tips are worth considering for technical topics.

    If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to make sure you don’t miss the next post!