‘It kept making mistakes’: Frustrated with ChatGPT, Indian techie creates his own AI and gets hired by PayPal

An Indian-origin product manager, Amar Saurabh, has secured a lead role at PayPal after creating his own custom GPT to assist with his job search. 

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

“During the first two months of filling out job applications, I only landed two or three interviews,” he said while talking to Business Insider

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

Frustrated with this , Amar built his own personalized version using ChatGPT’s “custom GPT” feature. He named it PM Job Search Advisor and uploaded his résumé, LinkedIn profile, and project details. He also added that he was targeting senior product management roles.

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

The AI assistant helped him write recruiter messages, tailor his résumé for each position, and prepare for interviews. “Before an interview, I would input the job description and ask what to highlight from my experience and what questions to expect,” he said.

Within two months, Amar said he began receiving more responses. “The number of applications I sent didn’t change, but I got many more replies and interview calls,” he said.

He went on to interview with companies like Reddit, Intuit, and PayPal before joining PayPal as a lead 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 forgot details, Amar said it felt natural to use. “It was like talking to a person who occasionally slips up but learns from it,” he said.

Now settled in his new role, Amar believes custom GPTs could become a major tool for job seekers in the future. “The benefits of a custom GPT are huge and will only improve as more information is added,” he said. “My next goal is to make it capable of applying to jobs and answering application questions on its own.”