Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared on FlexJobs.com.
Did you know that 99% of Fortune 500 companies use an applicant tracking system (ATS)? Unless your resume is ultra-targeted to the position, it’s unlikely to rank well or snag a recruiter’s attention.
But artificial intelligence (AI) can help. In today’s fast-paced world, AI has become increasingly popular for crafting winning resumes that beat the bots. After all, having a well-written resume can make all the difference in landing the job.
If you haven’t yet explored the idea of using AI in your resume writing, we’ve gathered answers to some common questions.
Get a feel for AI tools on the market, brainstorm how you can utilize AI to help you create an impactful resume, and most importantly, understand AI’s limitations and why it’s not a replacement for your personal touch.
Benefits of Using AI To Write Your Resume
Looking to win out your job competition and spruce up your resume in a fraction of the time?
There are several reasons AI might top your list of tools to explore.
Save Time
Realistically, writing a resume from scratch can be intimidating and time-consuming. It’s often a style of formal writing that most of us don’t often use unless we’re looking for work.
Add to that the general stress and anxiety that a job search can bring, and the words just won’t flow at times.
With an AI-powered tool, you can input the job description and your information and let AI do the heavy lifting for you.
That time you’re saving? You can use it on networking, strategizing, and relationship-building tasks instead.
Get Objective Feedback
Do you usually have a friend or family member look over your resume? They can provide a fantastic second set of eyes and ideas.
But they might also color their feedback to avoid hurting your feelings or unintentionally misinform you if they’re not up to date on industry practices.
AI-powered tools can critique everything from your tone, grammar, and spelling to your job match. That’s certainly not to say it’s infallible, but using AI tools as prompts can help you create a more compelling resume.
Tailor Your Resume To Fit
By now you’ve realized that job searching isn’t a one-size-fits-all process. And that’s evident when you’re writing your resume.
Rather than trying to tweak a generic template, you can create a custom, highly targeted document. AI can respond well to industry, position, and even experience-level prompts.
FlexJobs Career Expert Keith Spencer points out, “It’s usually beneficial to give ChatGPT information to work with, like using information from your current resume to revise what you’ve written and make it more impactful.”
3 Ways To Use AI To Build Your Resume
Consider your needs and goals when choosing an AI tool for resume creation. Research and compare features of different tools to find the one that best aligns with your requirements.
Remember, one size doesn’t fit all!
Your resume is full of several distinct sections, and you can use AI to assist with each section individually and create a rough draft for your entire document.
1. Use AI To Help Write Your Professional Summary
Front and center at the top of your resume is your professional summary. Often the first thing that recruiters and hiring managers see, your summary should hook their attention quickly.
AI can analyze your career history and the job description. You can generate multiple versions in different tones to help you brainstorm how to weave in keywords and targeted skills.
2. Use AI for Better Bullet Points
Once a recruiter moves past your summary, they will likely scan your resume bullet points. You can leverage AI tools in a few different ways here.
For one thing, AI can suggest more concise phrasing. Or, if you’re unsure how to quantify an achievement, AI can offer some suggestions.
When you’ve included the job description, AI can suggest short, punchy statements that match the targeted qualities more closely. That alone can help you rank higher in an ATS.
3. Use AI for Consistent Tone
While you’ll still need to infuse your personality throughout your resume, you can use AI to ensure consistent tone and styling throughout your document.
General AI tools, like ChatGPT and Grammarly, can really shine with this task.
These tools will help you polish your resume by highlighting any readability issues, offering more concise phrasing, and ensuring that you’re maintaining your target messaging throughout.
Concerns About Using AI To Write Your Resume
Before you get started, take a moment to consider some potential drawbacks of using AI for resume writing.
Lack of Personal Touch
AI isn’t you. This is the most glaring concern that deserves more than a glance.
AI won’t understand anything about your history that you don’t tell it. Also, it doesn’t necessarily understand nuances, such as industry-specific jargon.
And those are factors that can make your resume grab a hiring manager’s attention and start imagining you in the role.
Possibility of Disqualification
Sure, everywhere you look today, AI use is becoming mainstream.
Having said that, it’s important that you know that using AI to generate your entire resume can be frowned upon or considered deceptive by some recruiters.
Not to mention, if AI-generated bullet points oversell your qualifications and you can’t meet expectations, you could be fired for providing misleading or false information.
Potential Errors
Beware that AI isn’t incapable of making errors. AI tools are advancing daily, but there’s still much room for error.
You might need several tools to ensure you have the right tone and grammar and are typo-free. AI outputs can contain incorrect or misleading information.
“If you directly use ChatGPT-produced text by copying and pasting into your documents or communications, you might accidentally send grammatically or factually incorrect information to someone,” Spencer cautions.
Data Privacy and Security
Ensure that you are proactive in protecting your personal information. Your resume contains sensitive data, so it’s essential to be mindful about where you input your resume and how much information you share.
Many conversations are occurring about copyright and legalities around AI-generated outputs and tools.
What you input and generate might not be yours once AI gets involved. Unless definitive laws are put in place protecting your information, it’s best to err on the side of caution.
Frequently Asked Questions About AI
Below are some common questions about sourcing AI tools and utilizing them to write your job application materials.
1. Can AI help me write a resume?
Yes, AI can definitely help you write a resume. AI can be your resume’s new best friend, from analyzing your career history and experiences to customizing your summary and bullet points.
However, AI won’t necessarily reflect your personal brand, career goals, or interests. It’s still essential that you review and edit all AI-generated content.
2. Which AI is best for resume writing?
There isn’t a straightforward answer to which AI is best for resume writing, as different AI-powered tools and platforms excel in various aspects of the resume-writing process.
To choose the best AI for your needs, consider what you’re looking to accomplish and evaluate the features offered by each tool.
There is an abundance of conversation and social support for ChatGPT, which still has a free membership option.
If you’re fully immersed in a job search, you can save a bit of time by using job-search-specific applications, like MyPerfectResume. For editing, the industry standards are Grammarly and Hemingway Editor.
3. Can I use ChatGPT to rewrite my resume?
ChatGPT can act as either a writer or an editor. Learn some basic prompting to get higher-quality outputs.
With its natural language processing (NLP), you might enjoy the back-and-forth conversational aspect of using that tool instead of more traditional interfaces.
“ChatGPT responses often need to be refined, meaning that you should give it follow-up prompts or ask it additional questions to get the type of information you need or want,” Spencer notes.
“You need to be specific in what you are asking ChatGPT to do and you can ask additional questions to get it to revise the response it previously gave you.”
4. Is there a free AI resume writer?
While there isn’t a comprehensive free AI resume writer covering all aspects of resume writing, several AI-powered tools and platforms offer free versions or trials with limited features.
ChatGPT still offers free accounts. Grammarly and Hemingway Editor also provide free versions with limited functionality.
5. What other ways can AI help me with my job search?
Outside of resume creation, AI can be a valuable assistant when writing any of your job application materials. AI can be like having a professional editor in your pocket, from your cover letter to your LinkedIn profile, follow-up emails to social media posts.
You won’t get the friendly Slack or text messages that you would from a live editor, but instant feedback and idea generation are available 24/7.
You can also use ChatGPT and similar tools to brainstorm the types of jobs you might be interested in when you input your work history, passions, or career goals.
There are nearly limitless ways to let AI help you expand your boundaries by asking questions that get your creative juices flowing.
AI Prompt Examples To Build Your Resume
Using AI to build your resume will take some practice. And, you should always hand review and update each time you utilize artificial intelligence.
As FlexJobs’ career expert Keith Spencer states “Your interactions with ChatGPT will feel like a back-and-forth conversation, where you refine your requests or share information as you go along to help it improve the quality, accuracy, and relevance of the responses it provides.”
You should think of AI as an assistant looking to fill in gaps you may be missing. AI won’t ask you questions when they don’t understand, so you must clarify to obtain the results you need.
Fortunately, getting higher-quality writing with just a few tweaks is not hard.
How To Write an AI Resume Prompt
Consider the following as a starting point to build your resume with AI:
- Purpose: Clearly state the goal or objective of the content you want the AI to generate.
- Format: Specify the desired format or structure. You can say “resume” but you could also try “resume header” or “resume experience section.”
- Tone: Indicate the desired tone of your content. Play around with suggestions, like professional, conversational, casual, etc.
- Length: Provide a guideline for the desired length of your resume. Specify either word count or section count.
- Key points: List the main points you want the AI to cover.
- Audience: Briefly describe your target audience for the content, like a human resources professional or hiring manager.
- Examples: You can provide an example if you have previous resumes you’re proud of. Let the AI know you’re providing an example that shouldn’t be included in the output.
- Include your cover letter: Provide AI with your cover letter and ask it to use the cover letter as a guide and support for the resume. For cover letter AI tips, see “Using AI to Generate Your Cover Letter: Tips & Prompt Examples.”
Use the Best Tools for Your Job Search
AI can be a great addition to your job-searching toolbox. Used responsibly, you can easily craft an impressive resume that helps you catch a hiring manager’s attention.
While you embrace new technologies, continue to grow your professional expertise and skills to ensure you stand out from the competition.
