If you’re contemplating a career change, you might consider adding AI to your toolbox for landing your dream job. There’s no question that AI is becoming a key player in today’s world, but job hunters may be surprised to find it can be helpful in better understanding and promoting their own skills. The latest Google AI tool was just released and is set to show job hunters new career paths and ways to embrace their strengths.
Grow with Google launched Career Dreamer on Feb. 19. The free tool uses generative AI to help users identify potential careers. While building Career Dreamer, Google consulted with organizations that provide career navigation for job seekers in an effort to create a tool that was useful for anyone seeking further career clarification.
Through a series of prompts, the tool helps break down the user’s skills, past work experiences, education and interests. It then uses the information to generate potential job opportunities and career paths, with assistance from job market data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Lightcast. It also showcases skills that job hunters might diminish in themselves—a major inspiration behind the development of the tool, according to Aaron Wade, a creative technologist at Google.
Why now?
“Career paths aren’t always linear, and figuring out what’s next can be challenging,” Wade says. “We built Career Dreamer to make these things easier. It helps you recognize the value in your experiences, frame your strengths with confidence and explore new directions that might not have been on your radar—all in a way that feels intuitive and open-ended.”
According to 2024 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, on average, Americans work for an employer for 3.9 years, and this data can vary based on gender, age, ethnicity and job sector. For instance, tenure for employees between the ages of 55 and 64 is 9.6 years, while median tenure is 2.7 years for those between the ages of 25 and 34. A 2023 Pew Research Center survey found that only half of American workers are extremely or very satisfied with their jobs.
Data has also shown that the average baby boomer has held 12 different jobs during their lifetime. Those in the Gen Z category are estimated to have 18 jobs over the course of their life.
A full-service job search tool
Google shares that the highlight of the tool isn’t just limited to exploring new possibilities. Career Dreamer also allows users to collaborate with Google’s chatbot, Gemini, to create cover letters, update resumes or develop a career identity statement that can be used as a talking point in future job interviews. Additionally, Career Dreamer can direct users to training resources like Google’s Cloud Skills Boost or Career Certificates to further develop skills that are of interest to them.
While Wade says that Career Dreamer is a great way to explore, it’s not a “prescription for what to do next.” Instead, it can help users experiment and grow in curiosity about their own unique capabilities and what their future could hold.
“AI is great at pattern-finding and quickly synthesizing large amounts of information—which means it can help people do the hard work of connecting the dots between what they do, what they’re good at, what they like and where the opportunities are,” Wade says.
You get back what you put into it—including confidence
Wade also says that Career Dreamer works best if users are in a place where they are open to reflecting and exploring, adding that the more information inputted into the AI tool, the more personalized the results will be.
“I think that Career Dreamer has the potential to inspire feelings of confidence, competence and autonomy in job seekers,” Wade says. “Confidence comes from personalized insights that help them articulate their strengths; competence comes from seeing their existing skills and experiences reflected in new possibilities; autonomy comes from discovering that they have the tools to shape their career journey on their own terms.”
So, whether you’re looking to transition to a new career or seeking to enhance your current skills, Career Dreamer might be more than just a tool—it could be a launchpad for a brighter future or more satisfaction in your work.
Photo by Krakenimages.com/shutterstock.com
