After removing the grime of an MBA and a ten-year long marketing career, Saikat dabbled in web development, networking, and SAP. He was an editor of several MakeUseOf sections from 2008 to 2024, having special interests in AI, productivity methods, and iOS. He has formerly contributed to top web publications like Lifehacker, OnlineTechTips, GuidingTech, and GoSkills.
You will find his complete portfolio on Authory.
If the adoption of AI is taking away jobs, it's also giving us the tools to hunt for the next one. That's little solace. Modern hiring algorithms can also disagree with your perfectly designed resume. So, I turned to NotebookLM to act as my honest career coach and resume designer.
I've used NotebookLM for everything from summarizing research papers to building study guides. But a few months ago, while staring at a job description that felt intimidating, I turned to it to check where my career was going and exactly where I was falling short. What came back wasn't a cheerful AI pep talk. Now, instead of sending applications into the void, I'm turning to NotebookLM more often as a career coach.
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Posts By Danny Maiorca Start a fresh notebook for each role Run a skill gap analysis
Upload your resume and the job description as two separate sources in a new NotebookLM notebook. For good measure, you can also add the "About" page of the target company, which describes its place in an industry. As NotebookLM works only on your own sources, it won't pull in fluff or give you generic advice down the road. From personal experience, the skill gaps it surfaced were ones I'd rationalized away. I knew I lacked formal SEO experience, but I'd convinced myself my other strengths compensated. I also omitted to mention experience with specific CMS platforms. NotebookLM excels at cross-referencing your uploaded resume against a specific job description to find exact keyword matches. So, always upload a comprehensive master resume so the AI can scan your entire work history for overlaps and gaps. Then, try this prompt:
Compare my resume against the job description. List the skills and experience the role requires that my resume clearly demonstrates, then list any requirements that are missing or weakly represented.
Skill gaps are bound to come up. So, I also asked NotebookLM to suggest how I can reframe my existing experience to fill these gaps.
Assign it a role before asking anything Look for brutally honest feedback
NotebookLM doesn't default to coaching mode on its own. You have to tell it who to be. Open every session with a role-assignment prompt. You can also select the Configure notebook icon on the top right of the chat window. Then, set up a particular style and tone. These simple tweaks can shift the depth of every response that follows, as every other smart NotebookLM prompt is tuned to this.
It's better to let NotebookLM play the devil's advocate rather than be too polite. When I switched to framing it as a strict career coach or a skeptical hiring manager, the feedback's vibe changed subtly. It stopped green lighting what I already had and started pointing out what was actually missing.
For this conversation, act as an expert career coach with 15 years of experience in [your industry]. Review my resume against the job description and give me a score out of 10 with specific reasons.
And remember, you don't have to bash your head designing prompts. Chat with the chatbots about your requirements, and it will do the job for you.
Build a personalized upskilling plan Knowing the gap is only the start
Finding out what you're missing is useful. Once NotebookLM has mapped your skill gaps against the job description, you can ask it to turn that gap into a structured learning plan.
Based on the skill gaps you identified between my resume and this job description, build a 90-day upskilling plan. Prioritize the gaps that appear most frequently or carry the most weight in the job description. For each gap, suggest the type of learning activity that would address it -- a course, a project, a certification, or hands-on practice -- and explain why.
This part is a bit hit and miss. But as it was working from the specific language of the job description, it flagged that the role prioritized certain skills. This, in turn, helped me create a learning plan by researching micro-credentials that fill resume gaps. Of course, NotebookLM won't know about every course or certification that exists. So, use NotebookLM's hints only as starting points.
Let NotebookLM coach you through a career change Career pivots needs a deeper dive
Not every job search is a straight line. If you're changing industries, returning after a break, or trying to move into management, the gap between your resume and the job description can feel overwhelming. Upload relevant documents from your target company and use NotebookLM for coaching rather than for research and resumes.
I'm transitioning from [current role/industry] to [target role/industry]. Based on my resume, identify the experiences and skills that transfer most directly, and flag the parts of my background that might raise questions in an interview. Then suggest how I should frame my pivot narrative in a cover letter and in response to the question 'Why are you making this change?
It can be your job simulator. I've used it to stress-test a career pivot idea, identify which parts of my background transfer most credibly to a new field, and rehearse answers to the awkward questions a hiring manager will inevitably ask. Think of it as a prep tool to help you mentally rehearse and reduce your job-hunting heebie-jeebies.
Go beyond the application Use the same notebook to prep for the interview
I picked up this neat idea from a LinkedIn post. After you've submitted your application, the notebook keeps paying dividends. Upload a company's annual report or recent news articles as new sources, then prompt:
Generate 15 likely interview questions based on my resume and this specific role. For each, give me a STAR-method answer using examples from my uploaded documents.
You can even use NotebookLM's Audio Overview feature to generate a podcast-style summary of your strengths and gaps for that role. This is perfect mental rehearsal (maybe, while on your commute) before the interview.
NotebookLM OS Android, iOS, Web-based app Developer Google Pricing model Free
NotebookLM is Google's AI-powered research notebook that that reads what you upload and helps you transform it into structured summaries, explanations, and visuals.
See at NotebookLM Expand Collapse NotebookLM only reacts to the prompts you give it
AI can't replace a real career coach with all its power. It doesn't know your personal history, your financial pressure, or what a day at your current job actually feels like. Those things matter enormously in career decisions. NotebookLM also doesn't understand unwritten industry rules. It only knows what is in the text. So, even as you fall back on an AI chatbot, don't forget to keep your expectations grounded.
