How to Use AI as a Career Coach

A few weeks ago, I wrote about using AI for your performance review.

Let's take that idea further, shall we? What if you used AI as an ongoing career coach?

Most of us do career development in bursts. Performance review season hits, we scramble to think about goals. Maybe we have a coaching session. Then months go by without much reflection.

The folks who actually get ahead? They're thinking about this stuff consistently. Not just when HR sends the reminder email.

AI can help with that.

Getting Started

If you're paying for Claude or ChatGPT, create a new project for career stuff. I call mine "Career Coach" but you can call it whatever.

Start dumping everything in there. Performance reviews from the last couple years. Notes from one-on-ones with your manager. Any feedback you've gotten. Self-assessments. Job descriptions for roles you want.

Add context about your background too. Where you've worked, personality tests.what you're good at, what you're trying to figure out. The more the AI knows about your situation, the better it can help.

Now you have something to work with. The AI can actually see patterns across all your feedback instead of you trying to remember what your manager said six months ago.

Making It a Habit

Every few weeks, add your latest one-on-one notes. Then ask something like "Based on everything that's been happening, what should I focus on next week?"

Some other things that work well:

• What are three things I could do to get ahead based on my reviews?
• What questions should I ask my manager next time we meet?
• Where should I focus my development based on the feedback patterns?
• Help me prep for my performance review

The key is keeping it going. Each conversation builds on the last one. The AI remembers what you talked about before and can track how things are progressing.

What This Actually Looks Like

Let's say you upload two performance reviews. One says you need to be more strategic. The other mentions taking on leadership opportunities. You also add notes where your manager talked about some upcoming reorganization.

Now you can ask: "Given my feedback about being strategic and the reorg happening, what leadership opportunities should I be looking for?" The AI connects those dots and gives you actual next steps.

Or maybe you need to have a tough conversation with someone who keeps missing deadlines. You can practice: "Help me figure out how to give this feedback without it getting weird."

It's like having someone to bounce ideas off who actually knows your work situation.

Why I Think This Works

Look, I'm not saying replace your actual career coach. If you're working with someone, keep doing that. This is more like having a thinking partner available when you need it.

Most people know they should reflect on their career more. But between everything else going on, it just doesn't happen.

This makes it easy. No scheduling. No coordinating calendars. Just you and your career data whenever you want to think about what's next.

The best career moves come from small, consistent actions over time. Actually thinking about feedback instead of just filing it away. Preparing for conversations instead of winging it. Connecting the dots between what people tell you and what you should do about it.

Your career gets shaped by how often you're actually thinking about where you want to go. This just makes that thinking happen more regularly instead of waiting for performance review season to roll around again.