Pearl’s AI-powered job search tool, CareerBuddy GPT, is proving its worth helping a senior tech exec land his dream job. Mark Quinn, now senior director of AI operations at Pearl, credits the AI assistant for transforming his five-month job hunt from frustrating guesswork to a strategic, targeted effort.
Quinn plugged his résumé and job list into CareerBuddy GPT. Instead of generic advice, the AI gave a reality check on timeline expectations, highlighted gaps, and suggested bold, personalized moves—including baking a cake for a potential employer to stand out.
The tool guided him on outreach tactics, like choosing email over LinkedIn when contacts aren’t active there. It even ran mock interviews, using profiles of his interviewers to prep him with tailored feedback. 
Quinn called CareerBuddy GPT “the world’s best expert” for job hunting, letting AI play multiple expert roles simultaneously.
“It was able to walk me back from the edge and say, essentially, ‘Look, you’re at this level, and your average job search time should be ABC, and you’re only this far in. So, first, calm down.’”
“It would also suggest how to tailor a message to a particular person. Or, for example, to use email, not LinkedIn, because they’re not active on LinkedIn — those sorts of tidbits.”
“One of the taglines I’ve developed from my experience is that one way to think about AI is not as a tool but as the world’s best expert in whatever you need help with. The more you leverage AI through that lens, the more you get out of it.”
“It called out things like applying to incremental CEO roles. It recommended doing more cold outreach… it gave me concrete steps.”
Mark Quinn, senior director of AI operations at Pearl
The breakthrough came when CareerBuddy GPT challenged Quinn’s own doubts about his fit for a Pearl role he’d initially passed over.
“It came back and said, ‘Hey, you’re missing it. Your résumé doesn’t speak to it, but here’s how your experience aligns.’ It encouraged me to apply.”
“It told me to do something different than what I thought was right. I can represent me, what I am, and what I’m not. AI can look between the lines and challenge and question.”
His AI-aided strategy landed him the job.
“When I was interviewing with our CEO, he asked me, toward the end of the interview, what my dream job was. I got about 15 to 20 seconds into stumbling around, and I said, ‘Look, I’m just going to be honest with you. I don’t know how to spin this to make it sound good, because the honest answer is this: This job is my dream job.’”
Quinn’s search took another five months after starting with AI, but the results were targeted, effective, and personal. He’s now on a mission to help others avoid being left behind in the AI job hunt era.
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