The future of career exploration: AI 

Published on April 21, 2026

Updated on April 20, 2026

Let’s talk about AI! (I know I know, scary...) While AI is still in its formative stages, it’s growing at a rapid pace and it’s important that we begin to educate ourselves. Some may be more reluctant than others, but the reality is, AI is the future whether we like it or not. You don’t have to champion AI, but you should be familiar with its uses and how it can affect the work that you do. As students, our nativity to the internet, social media and AI are becoming increasingly sought after by employers. So, you should be cognizant of that, especially if you are beginning your full-time job search.  

Using AI for career exploration 

If you’re unsure about how you’ll use your degree or unsure of what career path you want to pursue, AI can be a great place to start. You might consider sharing your interests and passions with AI so that you can identify where your strengths lay and where your talents would be best suited. The key here is to be specific about your goals, aspirations and what you’re not open to pursuing. From there, you can analyze your options and begin to form some action steps that will allow you to reach your career goals. Gen AI tools do a great job at asking substantive probing follow-up questions! With those answers, AI uses your input to create a personalized clear picture of what your next steps should be. It’s a great tool to use as a sounding board when you’re in need of some additional guidance.  

Example 

Logan’s Google Gemini prompt 

Hi Gemini! I’m a sophomore at the University of Missouri and I’m in the School of Journalism, but I’m unsure about how I’ll use my degree or what emphasis I should choose. I’m really interested in social media content creation, creative writing and working with lifestyle brands. I really enjoy brands with a strong cultural presence like Rhode Beauty or Spotify. Can you help me get clear on what I should do with my degree?  

Gemini’s Response 

1. Strategic Communication (Strat Comm) 

• This is likely your best fit. It focuses on how brands communicate with their audience. 
• The Focus: You’ll learn how to build brand identities, manage social media campaigns, and understand consumer behavior. 
• The Lifestyle Angle: This path is the “bread and butter” for working with companies like Rhode. You’ll learn how to create the “vibe” and voice that makes a brand culturally relevant. 

2. With a Mizzou J-School degree and these interests, you aren’t limited to just “reporting.” Consider these roles: 

• Brand Voice Lead / Copywriter: You use your creative writing skills to write everything from Spotify’s witty notifications to Rhode’s product descriptions. 
• Social Strategist: You don’t just post pictures; you decide what the brand says on TikTok to stay culturally relevant. 
• Influencer Relations Manager: You act as the bridge between the brand and the creators, managing the community and aesthetic partnerships. 

Logan’s prompt 

Okay great, so if I decided to pursue the strategic communication emphasis, what are some action steps to help build my portfolio and give me more experience? 

Gemini ‘s Response

1. Maximize the “Missouri Method” 

2. Which part of the “lifestyle brand” world excites you most—is it the visual aesthetic (the look), or the brand’s “voice” and the stories they tell (the writing)? 

Tips for utilizing AI 

A large portion of utilizing AI is about the construction of your prompts. After all, AI is about efficiency, so try to be thoughtful and specific in your prompts. If you ask a general question, you’ll most likely get a general answer. Err on the side of detail, overexplaining and vivid description in your prompts, picking apart topics layer by layer.  

AI generative tools are a secondary tool! Your human input should primarily come first. One of the biggest complaints about AI is that it cannot consistently replicate a human’s voice. Your ideas and your innate voice are important! Your work should still reflect who you are, your thought processes and your personality. To ensure accuracy and authenticity, utilize your human oversight and editing skills to meet quality standards. 

Do not use AI to falsify your resume or cover letter. You shouldn’t be including facts and experiences on your resume that you haven’t actually done. You should be able to confidently articulate everything on your resume or cover letter in an interview, at length. Inflating your accomplishments is counterproductive and deters employers from wanting to hire you. Exercise your discernment and verify that everything included in your application materials is authentic.  

Big Interview 

Big Interview is a mock interview training tool students can use when they are preparing for meetings with employers. Students have access to learning curriculum, resources and tutorial videos that outline how students can stand out during an interview. The platform uses AI practice sets to allow you to record answers replicating an interview situation. These practice sets can be filtered and vary by type of job (entry, senior, managerial, internship, etc.) and difficulty level of questions (standard, challenging and tough). 

Before answering questions, you are able to see Big Interview’s tips for answering questions. After you record a mock interview, it analyzes things like relevance, pace of speech, filler words, power words, etc. From there you can ask it to create a preparation plan for you to refine your interviewing skillset! 

Big Resume 

Big Resume uses AI to do a scan of your resume and gives you personalized feedback. It scans for readability, relevancy, credibility, alignment with job description, etc. After it scans, it will send you a personalized report of everything it flagged and how you can remedy those flags. Big Resume also has learning curriculum and tutorial videos about resumes and cover letter writing. The site allows you to scan 5 resumes a day. This is a great tool if you need to tailor your resume to a specific job description!

By Raigan Clay