How to Use AI for Prepping Psychology Job Applications
The psychology job market is notoriously competitive, especially for Assistant Psychologist positions. When I reflect on my own application journey, I realise there's one technique that could have dramatically improved my efficiency and success rate, and it involves leveraging AI as a preparation tool.
The Challenge: Time-Sensitive Applications
Psychology job postings, particularly for Assistant Psychologist roles, often come with extensive person specifications containing many essential and desirable criteria. These applications are typically time-sensitive, leaving candidates scrambling to address every requirement systematically while crafting compelling supporting statements.
The traditional approach? Manually combing through job descriptions, highlighting criteria, and creating handwritten notes to track relevant experiences. It's time-consuming and prone to oversight, especially if you're juggling multiple applications.
The AI-Powered Solution
Here's an approach that transforms how you prepare for psychology job applications: Use AI to extract and organise person specifications into structured templates.
The Process
Step 1: Upload your job description PDF to an AI model (ChatGPT, Claude, or similar)
Step 2: Use this specific prompt to extract and organize the requirements:
"Please extract the person specification section from the attached document. Before creating the Word document, confirm the total number of essential and desirable criteria found.
1) Create a Word document with the following structure: 2) Create two main sections: 'Essential Criteria' and 'Desirable Criteria' 3) List each criterion as a separate item 4) Insert a text box or response field below each criterion for my written responses 5) Format the document professionally with clear headings and adequate spacing 6) Ensure text boxes are large enough for detailed responses (approximately 3-4 lines each)
The final document should serve as a template for me to demonstrate how I meet each requirement in the person specification."
Step 3: Use the generated template to systematically document your relevant experiences and examples for each criterion.
Why This Works
This approach automates what successful candidates have always done manually, which is creating a systematic way to ensure every requirement is addressed. Instead of jumping straight into writing your supporting statement, you now have a structured framework that:
Prevents oversight of any essential or desirable criteria
Organises your thoughts before writing begins
Creates reusable templates for similar positions
Saves valuable time during application rushes
Improves application quality through systematic preparation
Important!
This is a planning tool, not a submission document. The AI-generated template should never be submitted as part of your application. It's designed to support your preparation process, helping you systematically address each criterion when writing your supporting statement or preparing for interviews.
Always cross-reference with the original specification. Consider training your AI with a few practice examples first and double-check the extraction against the actual person specification. This helps the AI understand exactly what you're looking for in terms of structure and content extraction.
This same template becomes invaluable for interview preparation. You'll have a comprehensive document outlining exactly how you meet each requirement, complete with specific examples and experiences. It's like having a personalised cheat sheet for competency-based interview questions.
The psychology field is evolving, and so should our approach to career development. By leveraging AI as a preparation tool, you're ensuring that your valuable experiences and qualifications are presented systematically and comprehensively.
Want Ready-Made Templates?
If you want to skip the AI setup process entirely, I've created two comprehensive Notion templates that do exactly this and more. My Supporting Statement Guide and Interview Prep Guide feature customisable grids that support you in systematically organising person specifications, provide structured spaces for your examples, and guide you through crafting compelling applications. These guides combine the organisational power of the AI approach with additional strategic guidance, example responses, and proven frameworks that can help psychology candidates land their ideal roles.
I also offer personalised supporting statement feedback and interview preparation coaching. Sometimes you need an expert eye to review your draft, identify gaps in your responses, or help you articulate your experiences more compellingly.
