🎙️ The podcast is back. And I have thoughts about AI.
It’s been almost a year since I published an episode of The Berlin Life Podcast. So rather than pretending season one is still casually continuing after a very long break, I’m starting fresh.
Welcome to season two, episode one. 👋
We’re beginning with something I’ve been experimenting with a lot lately, which is using AI in my own job search. LLMs like ChatGPT and Claude have helped me look more deeply at my career, tailor my CV for different roles, and speed up parts of the application process.
But something unexpected happened when I started talking out loud to an LLM about jobs I had years ago. I started remembering things like projects I‘d worked on, difficult situations I‘d navigated, programs I had helped launch, problems I helped teams solve, and so on.
Many of those accomplishments were technically already represented on my CV, but I realized I’d made them much smaller than they really were. I did myself a disservice by diminishing my prior work. I started thinking about why I’ve been so reluctant to say that I’m good at what I do.
That turned what started as a CV exercise into something much more deeply personal.
🐿 In a Nutshell
This episode is about using AI in your job search, but it’s also about imposter syndrome, self-advocacy, authenticity, and what happens when we let AI do too much of our thinking for us.
I talk about how I’m using AI to improve and tailor my own CV, why talking through my career became an unexpected exercise in confidence, and why I’m careful about making sure the person represented on my CV still sounds like me.
Because there’s another side to all of this. AI can make you sound impressive on paper. Yet a real human being has to show up for the interview and talk with confidence about each and every part of their application.
For me, that’s where the line is becoming clearer. I want AI to help me without replacing me.
Listen to this episode and when you’re finished, I’d genuinely love to know what you think.
Are you using AI in your job search? Has it helped you talk about your experience more confidently? Do you worry about sounding like everyone else? Or have you found a completely different way of using it that works for you?
Leave a comment. Or if you’d rather keep it private, you can always email me at hello@theberlinlife.com.
I’d really like the podcast to become more conversational this season, and I’m curious about where other people are landing on all of this.
🎧 From the Archive
If the part about describing your accomplishments resonates with you, this episode pairs really nicely with:
It’s about how to demonstrate impact even when your work doesn’t neatly translate into revenue, percentages, or money saved.
🤖 One More Thing About AI
In the episode, I mention a commencement speech from comedian Ronny Chieng that really stuck with me. He talks about AI, but more importantly, about the joy of doing things ourselves and what we might lose when we hand too much of that process over to technology.
Watch Ronny Chieng’s commencement speech..
🚀 More from The Berlin Life
You’ll also find lots of free career guides for finding work in Germany on The Berlin Life, covering CVs, interviews, salaries, job searching, and more.
And now for some shameless self-promotion: LinkUsUp is my private networking space for people living in or moving to Germany who want more meaningful professional connections.
There are no feeds, algorithms, or cold DMs. You can find people by city, profession, language, and shared interests and connect directly.
It’s anti-LinkedIn, kinda. 😏
🫶 Sharing is Caring
If you know someone who is currently wrestling with their CV, their confidence, or how much AI is too much AI, send this episode their way.
Thanks for listening, and welcome to season two. 🙏
