“He kept making mistakes”: Frustrated with ChatGPT, Indian techie creates his own AI and gets hired by PayPal

An Indian-origin product manager, Amar Saurabh, landed a top role at PayPal after creating his own personalized GPT to help him in his job search.

Based in San Mateo, California, and in his 30s, Amar worked at Meta for five years and later at TikTok. Although TikTok’s fast-paced culture was exciting, he wanted to join a more stable company in the United States. He started applying for new positions in April this year.

“In the first two months of filling out applications, I only landed two or three interviews,” he told Business Insider.

To speed up the process, Amar used ChatGPT to write recruiter messages and update his resume, but he said the tool often made mistakes. “Since I was using ChatGPT for so many other things like recipes and workouts, it would confuse the details or give me generic answers,” he said.

Frustrated by this, Amar built his own custom version using ChatGPT’s “custom GPT” feature. He named him PM Job Search Advisor and uploaded his resume, LinkedIn profile and project details. He also added that he was targeting product management positions.

“It probably took me about an hour and a half to completely install it before it was ready,” he added.

The AI ​​assistant helped him write messages to recruiters, tailor his CV to each position and prepare for interviews. “Before an interview, I would type in the job description and ask what to highlight about my experience and what questions to expect,” he said.

After two months, Amar said he started receiving more responses. “The number of applications I sent out didn’t change, but I received a lot more responses and calls for interviews,” he said.

He went on to interview with companies like Reddit, Intuit, and PayPal before joining PayPal as a senior product manager. “My GPT helped me write my email to the PayPal recruiter and prepare for each interview. When I received the offer, I even used it to negotiate my salary,” he said.

Although his GPT sometimes forgets details, Amar said it feels natural for him to use it. “It was like talking to a person who sometimes makes mistakes but learns from them,” he said.

Now settled into his new role, Amar believes personalized GPTs could become a major tool for job seekers in the future. “The benefits of a personalized GPT are enormous and will only improve as more information is added,” he said. “My next goal is to make him able to apply for jobs and answer application questions on his own.”