To Use AI or Not To Use AI At Melbourne Career Expo

Topic: To Use AI or Not To Use AI At Melbourne Career Expo
Date: Saturday 18 July 2026 11:30am – 12:30pm
Organisation: Career Development Association of Australia CDAA
Address: Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, 1 Convention Centre Place, South Wharf, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 3006 Door 16
Event details: https://www.careerexpo.com.au
Program: https://www.careerexpo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2026-CDAA-Workshop-Schedule.pdf
Slides: Below and https://sueellson.com/wp-content/uploads/20260718-Melbourne-Career-Expo-To-Use-AI-or-Not-To-Use-AI-Sue-Ellson.pdf
YouTube Video: Below and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovhfXzqo-3Q
Shared Online: Archive.org, Presentations, Videos, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn Profile, LinkedIn Page, Twitter / X

Melbourne Career Expo To Use AI or Not To Use AI By Sue Ellson Download

Brief Summary of Slides

Discussion Session

Online Ecosystem
Brand Ecosystem
Content Ecosystem
Recruitment Ecosystem
Where could AI be helpful?
Specific Concerns
Practical Uses of Generative AI
Discussion and Use Cases

Online Search Results

Google, Bing, Yahoo
Algorithm Based
Qualified Included
Weighted Database
Duration of Past Views
Other Online Qualifiers
Multiple Quality References
Author Identity (ISBN Book)
Age, Recency, Relevancy
Few Words Search Query

Social Media Results

Closed Environment
Megalomaniac
Addictive
Selective Shares
Pay to Play
Organic Reach Difficult
Not always indexed
Quality deteriorating
Click bait increasing
Variable time spent online

Generative AI Results

Gemini, Chat GPT, MS Copilot
Comprehensive Data Scrape
Enormous Dataset from Websites
Probability or Mined Data Result
Large Language Models
Natural Language Processing
Some Easily Located References
Creates Narrative Answers
Requires keyword+ content
More Words Prompt Query

Brand Ecosystem

Your Website – Only thing you own and read by AI
Essential Social Media – LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube
Optional Social Media – Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok etc
Archive – To keep a permanent record online https://web.archive.org
Directory Websites – Google Business, Bing Places
Selected Websites – Related or Specific, High Domain Authority, Media and Reviews
Reviews – Google, Facebook, On your website

Content Ecosystem

In Platform Tools

Designed for Platform Goals
Encourage Engagement
Generic Solutions
Not Optimised Your Goals
Regularly Changing
Topic (Not Relationship) Focused

Generative AI Tools

Not Australian Centric
Generic Solutions
Often Verbose
Non-Distinctive
Non-Memorable
Non-Narrative (Story Driven)

AI Developed Tools

Many still in ‘Learning’ Mode
Not Aligned Legacy Systems
Still Need Accuracy Checks
Can Exclude Non-Gamers
Pay to Play
Small Database Sizes

Recruitment Ecosystem

Swamped with AI generated ‘slop’
Recruiters and decision-makers overwhelmed by application numbers
AI generated content easily identifiable (and often excluded)
Lacking Australian personality and memorability
‘Matches’ Job Description but not always accurate
Doesn’t consider career development principles:
e.g. Do you speak any other languages? (No, but can lip read which would be useful in the role)
Reduction in advertised roles to avoid being inundated
Reliance on tools like LinkedIn to avoid assessing multiple AI generated applications – you’ll need a profile

Where Could AI Be Helpful?

First Draft Ideation – if you don’t know where to start
Research – to explore career goals, new industries or roles
Proofing – to see if there is anything that could be corrected
Testing – to check your thoughts before proceeding
Assessment – to see if there is anything that has been missed
Review – to compare, clarify, tweak according to other content
Prepare – to guide you through possible interview questions
Follow Up – to create a relevant thank you message
Support – provide next steps as needed
To Connect – you with a qualified person

Remember to ALWAYS fact check and review

Specific Concerns

Provides incorrect information (despite citations – lawyer example)
Can create doubt in your abilities (bamboozles you with too much info)
Provides same information (for either version of a question)
Potential to reduce own self efficacy (avoids ‘getting to the point’)
Defers learning process (writing can sort your thoughts and prepare you for live behavioural interview questions)
Decision-maker could use it the same way you do and not know what they are doing either! (wasting time and money when lived experience could have delivered a quicker and better result)
Not based on the specific situation (internal research that AI does not have access to and based on what has already been published online)
Many decision-makers do not have formal recruitment training but make recruitment decisions (e.g. interview more than three final candidates when their recruitment process should have sorted people in or out much earlier)

Practical Uses of Generative AI

Think Claude, Chat GPT, Gemini, MS Copilot etc as a Job Seeker

A first step option if you want an instant start on a very different topic to a topic you already know something about
A review and analysis of what you upload or direct it to (beware of privacy and ensure a comprehensive prompt query to meet all of your job seeker needs)
As a tool for converting a PDF or image to text
As an assistant to you if you are very clear withcomprehensive prompt queries aligned to careerdevelopment and recruitment principles

Ultimately, a decision-maker often makes an emotional decision (not a logical solution so AI cannot overcome this issue)

Can exclude people with diverse backgrounds (that could be a good fit for other reasons)

Professional Support

CDAA Member https://www.cdaa.org.au/CDAAWebsite/Web/About-Career-Development/Find-a-Career-Specialist-Landing.aspx
Pay by the Hour / Package
Work Skills different to Work Search Skills
Secure a more aligned and better payingrole faster and reuse work search skills in the future

Additional Resources

Skills to get a job not the same as the skills to do a job
Free careers quiz and job descriptions https://myfuture.edu.au/get-started
Finding a job guide https://www.vic.gov.au/finding-job
Career Development Association of Australia https://cdaa.org.au/CDAAWebsite/Web/About-Career-Development/Why-Seek-Career-Support.aspx
Employee Assistance Programs, Outplacement Services, Selected Recruiters, Education Providers, Local Community or Council Programs
Beware of advice from well-meaning friends, family and colleagues
https://sueellson.com/webinars-and-recordings
https://sueellson.com/melbourne-career-expo-workshops-and-presentations

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