can ai help me write a resume

I tested 5 AI resume builders to help get a job — here's what happened

Here’s how to apply for a job using AI

I long for the day when I’ll wake up in the morning and get my AI ready to go to work for me . Until that time comes, the least AI could do for me today is to help me land a job I like.

Not everyone is a fan of resume and cover letters, but they remain staples in many recruitment processes.

For years, employers have also been using forms of AI to filter through these documents in order to narrow down the pool of applications they receive for any given vacancy. 

The latest advances in generative AI mean that right now employees can leverage AI tools at their disposal to empower themselves in the job-hunting process.

I wanted to see how powerful these tools are. To find out, I created a shortlist of AI resume and cover letter builders that I wanted to try. Tom’s Guide believes in fair fights, so I used each of them as though I was applying for the same job with the same profile.

A target was required and I found a LinkedIn ad for a real job as a remote Software Engineer with generative AI responsibilities at Meta (formerly Facebook) that looked promising.

The role asked for a candidate with over two years of coding experience and over two years of building large-scale applications. More experience was required in designing and completing medium to large features without guidance. Meta was looking for a candidate with, or in the process of obtaining, a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering or equivalent practical experience. In exchange, the company was offering a salary between $116k and $168k per year.

Sign up to get the BEST of Tom’s Guide direct to your inbox.

Upgrade your life with a daily dose of the biggest tech news, lifestyle hacks and our curated analysis. Be the first to know about cutting-edge gadgets and the hottest deals.

I created a fictitious aspiring Meta software engineer, Tamsin Smith, in order to have some kind of profile I could submit to the AI. Smith holds two Stanford University degrees in computing science, completed an internship with Twitter and has been working at Google as a software engineer since 2019. 

If that’s not enough for Mark Zuckerberg to give her an offer, she also leads a local scouting group in her free time.

With an actual job ad and an alter ego in hand, I was ready to start reviewing AI tools. Read on to find out which tools I used, what they produced and my thoughts on their performance.

My first attempt was with Rezi.ai since it offers a free basic service and I wanted to check if the way I designed the review could work in principle. And it did!

Right after confirming my email, I was creating Tamsin Smith’s first resume.

I was presented with a choice between a “Job-Tailored Resume” and a “General Purpose Resume”; I went with the first choice as it was exactly what this test was about. It asked me for the role and company I’m targeting but I was blindsided when Rezi asked me to insert a job application I’d written for the role. Isn’t this something the AI should be doing for me?

I finished this side quest and then added basic details like my name and email, followed by my previous work experience. Here’s when I first encountered signs of AI life in the form of a bullet point generator to further explain my role. 

Rezi went on to ask me to add details on projects I’d worked on, my education history, certifications, coursework, involvement in other organizations, and my skills.

The next exciting step was the summary section, where I gladly let the AI take control. It was nothing I couldn’t have come up with myself if I simply wanted to summarize my resume, but it at least merits a pass mark. (I wanted to ask the AI to write a cover letter for me based on the finished resume but that feature requires a subscription.)

Overall Rezi marked the resume it produced at 87 out of 100, which I think is a bit too generous. If you have a rough idea of what you want your resume to look like, by all means, use Rezi so you don’t have to worry about the formatting. It might also provide a helpful AI-generated bullet point or two along the way.

If you were worried that not using Rezi’s AI was the one thing stopping you from getting your dream job, rest assured that (at least with its free version) this is not the case.

My score: 3/5

Resumaker.ai

“Designed templates that will get you hired at the world's leading companies,” Resumaker proudly displayed on its homepage. I also had to pay ($0.99) to download my resume and cover letter. Surely, I was on the verge of getting Tamsin hired?

By now I’d gotten the hang of inserting details like my education and work history. In this regard, little separates the resume builders tested here.

The AI kicked in to provide me with text I could insert as accomplishments in my jobs and as the headline summary. The latter left much to be desired but at least it was presentable. Resumaker didn’t offer to beef up my volunteering section so I had to write that part manually. As a whole, the resume felt a bit dry but at least it was presentable.

However, it’s a good thing this service isn’t called Coverlettermaker. Every sentence it generated started with either an “I am” or “I have”. When you’re working with such a structure, there’s only so much you can do to make the rest more exciting. Furthermore, it left the [Company Name] field for me to fill in. AI that’s supposed to help me land a job in a highly competitive market should come with higher standards. 

Resumaker.ai claims that thousands of applications it created landed people jobs. If there’s any truth to that, then on the bright side we really shouldn’t be overthinking what we’re sending to hiring managers.

The main question I asked myself before deciding whether each AI builder deserved a pass mark was: Can I send out the résumé as is? 

Teal didn’t quite make the cut here.

It asked me to connect the specific job I was applying for from LinkedIn to the resume and it started analyzing the job ad for keywords I should include. Fantastic! I was ready for a made-to-measure summary, past accomplishments, and cover letter — the areas where I wanted the AI to work its magic.

Unfortunately, this is where I felt let down. In the headline summary, Teal ended up giving me a compilation of the achievements it had previously generated but also prominently added that I had expertise in “work authorization”. The AI thought the right to work in the U.S. requirement from Meta’s job description was a hard skill. 

It scored its own resume at 79%.

As far as its cover letter goes, I appreciated that I could generate it for free without having to spend time adding more details than I already had. However, the result was something I could have just as easily written myself.

My score: 2/5

Kickresume.com

The last AI resume maker I wanted to test was Kickresume, which had the highest monthly fee out of the lot at $19 per month. You can bring that down by paying an annual lump sum that brings the pricing down to $9 a month or, as I did, utilize the free trial version. 

Right when I was losing hope in the resume generators, Kickresume lifted my spirits.

Its helpful AI writer was alongside me from start to finish, offering handy suggestions for work accomplishments, explaining my certifications, and also suggesting skills I should list specifically for a software engineering position. I ended up with a clean-looking CV and I didn’t even have to break a sweat.

Kickresume gave the resume it generated a score of 88/100.

If I’m in a pinch and need a new resume that I don’t have to scan for AI-generated sentences that would land me in the "rejected" pile, Kickresume.com is the first website I’ll be visiting.

I wanted to add a nice cherry to the cake, so I asked Kickresume to create a cover letter using the great resume it made. But this is where I was underwhelmed. 

While devoid of grammatical errors, I felt as though the AI didn’t take the résumé and job description I gave into consideration. It provided me with a few short lines that didn’t even name-drop Tamsin’s fictitious stints at Twitter and Google. You wouldn’t even know she completed two degrees at Stanford. Based on my positive experience with the résumé, I couldn’t believe this was the same AI content generator.

My score: 4/5

No subscriptions. No plugins. I wanted to see how well the free version of OpenAI ’s ChatGPT would do against the four dedicated AI resume and cover letter generators listed above.

I tweaked a prompt that I found online and, in 161 words, I asked the AI for a first draft of my new resume. I then asked the chatbot to refine its work based on the job description I gave it to make my resume less generic. In seconds, I had my second draft.

Since ChatGPT only gave me a plain text version of my resume, I then pasted what it gave me into a template from one of the previous builders.

I’m happy to announce that both myself and Tamsin were very pleased with the results. The resume easily rivals the ones generated from the other services I tested. I wouldn’t have minded some text to beef up the education section to explain what I had learned at Stanford. Also, the line pointing out that Meta was previously called Facebook is something I would never have included in a resume intended for Meta’s eyes. Other than that, ChatGPT gave me decent results in the shortest amount of time.

I was especially impressed with the cover letter I asked ChatGPT to craft for me. It was perhaps a bit too long for some tastes but it was arguably the most well-rounded out of the five.

Honorary score: 4/5

The verdict

There have already been reports of people using AI to write resumes and cover letters who ended up getting hired for the positions they’ve applied for, and I’m not surprised. But as this test has shown, a website’s claim that it uses AI to provide a service is not some kind of guarantee of the level of service you can expect. 

Shop around when looking for AI resume and cover letter writers. Perhaps combine two or more of them to leverage each one’s specific strengths. But add the finishing touches yourself.

More from Tom's Guide

• Google's new Gemini AI could beat ChatGPT — here's why
• Google’s plan to train its AI now includes the entire public internet
• 3 best AI synthetic video generators you can use today — tested and compared

Christoph Schwaiger is a journalist who mainly covers technology, science, and current affairs. His stories have appeared in Tom's Guide, New Scientist, Live Science, and other established publications. Always up for joining a good discussion, Christoph enjoys speaking at events or to other journalists and has appeared on LBC and Times Radio among other outlets. He believes in giving back to the community and has served on different consultative councils. He was also a National President for Junior Chamber International (JCI), a global organization founded in the USA. You can follow him on Twitter @cschwaigermt.

Google I/O 2024 announcements — all the big Gemini AI and Android 15 news

Google Veo — 5 amazing videos made by the new AI video generator

LG shows off VR display with 10,000 nits of brightness

Most Popular

• 2 Apple unveils eye tracking, music haptics and more for iPhone in big accessibility push
• 3 Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge with Snapdragon X Elite leaked — what we know
• 4 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' season 2 release date, trailer, cast and more
• 5 Microsoft just patched a ton of Windows security flaws including two dangerous zero-days — update your PC right now

Microsoft 365 Life Hacks > Writing > Using ChatGPT to write resumes and cover letters

Using ChatGPT to write resumes and cover letters

Job hunting can feel like a job of its own, which is why some are using ChatGPT to write resumes and cover letters. Learn how AI can make the process of creating these documents easier as well as its limitations.

ChatGPT has become a popular choice for all kinds of content creation . Here’s what you need to know about using ChatGPT for your resume or cover letter.

Get the most out of your documents with Word

Elevate your writing and collaborate with others - anywhere, anytime

Should I use AI in my job search?

The process of searching for a new job is rarely easy. Not only are you constantly checking job boards to find positions that both interest you and fit your skillset, but you’re also updating your resume and cover letter with every new application and editing these documents to suit each potential employer.

Using AI like ChatGPT for your job search can help you if you’re truly stumped for how to express your thoughts. Of course, it isn’t foolproof, either. Because this technology is so new, its output won’t be entirely accurate, and is no substitution for putting in the work yourself. The AI does the best it can with the information it’s given, which means it’s up to the job seeker to be both specific and accurate when inputting prompts, and to make any necessary adjustments to achieve a specific result.

If you plan to use ChatGPT for resume writing or crafting a cover letter, make sure you have a solid understanding of how to write both documents. After all, they’re a potential employer’s first impression of you; if you’re not well-represented because you relied on AI instead of your own skills, you’re not likely to get the job. ChatGPT can be useful for helping you come up with new ways to talk about your relevant skills and experience, but your personal touch is what will really make your resume and cover letter stand out.

Tips for writing a resume and cover letter

Whether you’re editing existing documents or starting from scratch, here are some tips to make sure that your resume and cover letter can help you make a good first impression.

• Use simple, professional formatting. Use a template to ensure that you’re delivering something that makes you look your best and is easy to read.
• Less is more. A busy resume can feel overwhelming for a recruiter. Show results where you can and leave off any unnecessary details.
• Proofread. Even if you’re using ChatGPT to help you with your job search, you’ll still need to look over the results to not only make sure that the content is accurate, but that it’s grammatically correct and sounds like you.
• Insert yourself. Make sure that your resume and cover letter are representative of you and not a chatbot. Your own personality should shine through, even if you’ve used AI to help you put things together.

At the end of the day, recruiters want to learn about you and whether you’re a good fit for a job. The best way for you share that information with them is with a well-written cover letter and a resume that’s easy to read .

What are the drawbacks of using ChatGPT to write a resume or cover letter?

Leveraging AI like ChatGPT to write your resume or cover letter does have a few pitfalls:

• This AI is very new technology and is certainly not foolproof. It’s constantly being tested and adjusted due to its newness.
• It may accidentally generate inaccurate statements due to its limited knowledge of the world after 2021.
• If you’re not proofreading carefully, you may gloss over some major errors. ChatGPT may generate content that is biased or harmful and it’s on you to catch those statements and not use them in your resume or cover letter. The AI may also repeat information between sections of a generated resume.
• The AI works with the information it’s given. The quality of the output depends entirely on the quality of the input.
• If you’re not specific enough when entering your prompts, you will get vague, generalized output. Similarly, if your prompt is poorly formatted, the AI may not understand what you’re asking for.
• ChatGPT may embellish some of your accomplishments. While it may be tempting to leave these in place, it’s never a good idea to lie about what you have and have not done.

This AI is not a replacement for doing the actual work yourself, but it can be a useful tool during the process of looking for a new job. Only you can truly know what you’ve achieved through your work and life experiences, and you’re the one who is best suited to crafting any type of resume or cover letter.

Entering resume and cover letter prompts into ChatGPT

The goal of using ChatGPT to write your resume or cover letter is to lessen the stress of creating these documents. But that doesn’t mean you’re off the hook. You still must give the AI very clear instructions about what you want it to generate.

Prompts for using AI to write a resume

You can use AI to review an existing resume and provide feedback or tailor your resume to a specific posting. Make sure you ask very clear questions about what you’re looking for, as well as providing very clear guidance to the AI about what its role is. In both scenarios you’ll need to include your resume in its entirety, but if you’re looking for tailored edits, you should also include the job posting.

Prompts for these scenarios might look like:

• I am going to provide my resume and want you to act as a reviewer and provide feedback on it. How can I make it more readable? Are there any action verbs I should use? Am I using too many buzzwords?
• I will provide you with a job description for a position I am applying for. Understand the key points and requirements for this role and summarize them. Then review my resume and provide feedback on how to tailor it for this job.

These might seem overly specific but if you’re not specific enough, you won’t get the response you’re looking for.

Prompts for using AI to write a cover letter

When using ChatGPT to work on your cover letter for a specific job, you’ll need to provide:

• Your resume
• The job description of the role you’re interested in
• Information about what kind of tone you’d prefer

You can also ask the AI to review your cover letter for readability and help you get through a bout of writer’s block.

Prompts for these sorts of asks might look like:

• Write a cover letter for a [position] role at [Company] in a professional tone. Use my resume and the job description as a reference.
• I want you to review my cover letter for readability and relevance to a job post. I will share the job post as a reference. Tailor my cover letter for the job referenced in the post and adjust wording to make it more relevant.

These prompts may feel awkward to write, almost as though you’re explaining something to a small child. But the clearer and more specific you are, the more pleased you’re likely to be with the results.

While AI like ChatGPT is making some waves on the tech scene, it doesn’t totally replace human writing and editing skills, especially when it comes to resumes and cover letters. It certainly has value but comes with a few caveats. Use ChatGPT with caution, and don’t forget to keep an eye out for grammatical errors .

Get started with Microsoft 365

It’s the Office you know, plus the tools to help you work better together, so you can get more done—anytime, anywhere.

Topics in this article

More articles like this one.

What is independent publishing?

Avoid the hassle of shopping your book around to publishing houses. Publish your book independently and understand the benefits it provides for your as an author.

What are literary tropes?

Engage your audience with literary tropes. Learn about different types of literary tropes, like metaphors and oxymorons, to elevate your writing.

What are genre tropes?

Your favorite genres are filled with unifying tropes that can define them or are meant to be subverted.

What is literary fiction?

Define literary fiction and learn what sets it apart from genre fiction.

Everything you need to achieve more in less time

Get powerful productivity and security apps with Microsoft 365

Explore Other Categories

• AI Resume Builder

Powered by ChatGPT, Enhancv is the easiest way to create a tailored resume containing all the right keywords, improve your writing & highlight your strengths.

3,908 happy customers shared their experience.

Our resumes get people hired at top companies

AI resume writer, powered by ChatGPT

Nail the keywords, beat the ats.

Use them to identify the high-impact keywords that must be on your resume for each job application.

Improve your writing

Besides the bread & butter spelling & grammar checks, the Enhancv AI assistant helps you re-write your bullets to show impact and focus on your achievements.

AI-Tailored resume summary

Win the recruiter's attention with an AI-tailored resume summary based on the job ad, and a title optimized for keywords in the job.

Highlight your strengths

Stand out from other applicants with a dedicated section to showcase your competitive advantages. Applicants often stumble in writing this section, so our fine-tuned ChatGPT Assistant generates amazing suggestions for you.

Beautiful ATS-friendly templates made with AI

A feature-packed resume builder

Create the perfect cover letter

Use the AI assistant to quickly create the perfect cover letter for each job application, based on your experience.

Start with your old resume or LinkedIn profile

Don’t have the time to start from scratch? Just upload your old resume, or add a link to your LinkedIn profile, and our resume builder will extract all the standard sections.

AI resume builder FAQs

What is an ai resume builder.

An AI resume builder is a tool that uses artificial intelligence to assist users in creating their resumes. These tools often have features like customized templates, content suggestions, optimization for Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), custom tailoring, feedback, and revision options.

What features does Enhancv’s AI resume builder offer?

Enhancv offers a range of AI features to help you create your resume with ease:

• Templates and customization: AI resume builders typically offer a variety of templates that users can choose from. These templates are designed to be both visually appealing and to meet the standards expected in different industries.
• ChatGPT-powered resume content writing and suggestions: Enhancv suggests content based on your input. For example, after entering your job history, you will receive suggestions for expanding upon your professional accomplishments or skills that align with your experience.
• Optimization for Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS): These systems are used by employers to screen resumes before they are seen by a human. Our builder suggests keywords and phrases that are likely to be favorable in these systems based on your job title.
• Feedback and revision suggestions: we’ve got a resume checker that provides feedback on the overall quality of the resume, including suggestions for improving layout, grammar, and wording.

How do I use ChatGPT on my resume?

You can use ChatGPT on your resume for a range of activities, related to resume building, including:

• Rewriting or writing from scratch difficult-to-write resume sections, such as your resume summary and job descriptions.
• Making your resume bullet points more action and performance-oriented.
• Suggesting skills and other keywords to include in your resume based on a job title.
• Suggesting extra sections that can help you stand out from the crowd.
• Using your resume as a starting point for an interview preparation mockup.
• Using your resume as a base for writing your cover letter.

Can recruiters tell if my resume was written by ChatGPT?

As long as your application is customized with your job history and accomplishments, it’s unlikely that recruiters can tell if you used ChatGPT. ChatGPT can only help improve your resume writing, but lying on a resume is unacceptable.

Are resumes scanned by AI?

Resumes in some companies are scanned by an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) which may or may not have AI features. These systems parse resumes and match them with job descriptions. Enhancv’s resume templates are tested for ATS compatibility, though a 100% parsing rate is not guaranteed due to varying ATS models because the content of the resume is more important for ATS-friendliness than the template itself.

Enhancv Executive has changed my life: One week & four interviews later, I will be making 150% more doing the job I chose.

Your resume is an extension of yourself – make one that’s truly you.

• Create Resume
• Terms of Service
• Privacy Policy
• Cookie Preferences
• Resume Examples
• Resume Templates
• Resume Summary Generator
• Resume Formats
• Resume Checker
• Resume Skills
• How to Write a Resume
• Modern Resume Templates
• Simple Resume Templates
• Cover Letter Builder
• Cover Letter Examples
• Cover Letter Templates
• Cover Letter Formats
• How to Write a Cover Letter
• Resume Guides
• Cover Letter Guides
• Job Interview Guides
• Job Interview Questions
• Career Resources
• Meet our customers
• Career resources
• English (UK)
• French (FR)
• German (DE)
• Spanish (ES)
• Swedish (SE)

© 2024 . All rights reserved.

Made with love by people who care.

Can AI Write My Resume? [The Pros and Cons of Using AI]

How do you write the perfect resume? 

Tailor the content to match the specific job description and emphasize achievements and experiences that align with the role you're applying for. Remember to keep it concise and easy to read, and feel free to add more sections or details as needed.

But should you use tools, like artificial intelligence (AI), to help you? Just a few prompts, some details here and there, and presto — you’ve got yourself a resume!

In fact, AI wrote the entire first paragraph of this article! It can certainly help you write a resume too. 

But is it a good idea to do so?

Here on the HR talent acquisition team at Anderson Trucking Service (ATS), we pore over dozens and dozens of resumes each day. We know what a good resume looks like and what a bad resume looks like. 

We already know AI can help you write a resume, but can it help you write a good one? Will it help you land the job? Or is resume writing better left to human hands?

We’re here to run through the pros and cons of using AI to write your resume and to talk about some ways you can utilize these tools. We’ll help you decide if you need to use AI to help you with your resume and if it’s worth it. 

How AI Can Help in Your Job Search

There are a ton of AI tools you can use to help with everything from planning a trip and analyzing data to writing an article and helping with your job search. 

You can use AI to help you find pertinent job opportunities, guide you through the most-asked interview questions and hone your interview skills overall. You can also use it to write job materials, including everything from a cover letter to your resume. You can pull from templates for cover letters and resumes online, too. 

Using these tools can not only help streamline the job-hunting process for you, but it can help you find a job faster. You won’t have to pore over cover letters and resumes night after night when AI can help you customize them for each job you’re applying for in very little time. 

Let’s be honest: We aren’t all professional writers. It can be hard to get an interview when your cover letter is full of typos and run-on sentences. Just because writing isn’t your strong suit doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have access to the same opportunities as other job seekers.

Let’s talk about the pros and cons of using AI when writing a resume.

Pros of Using AI to Write a Resume

AI is revolutionizing the world and people are using it for everything, so it’s understandable you want to use it to help you, too. After all, if everyone’s using it and you aren’t, some might say you’re falling behind. In fact, if you’re applying to companies that value innovation, you might want to know a thing or two about AI. 

AI offers many advantages when you’re trying to write a resume. Experts recommend you tailor your resume to each position you apply for. However, that can be extremely time-consuming. AI can simplify the process for you by pulling out keywords in the job description so you can use them in your resume. It can analyze how many keywords you’ve used in your resume. This helps save you time when you’re tailoring your resume for multiple job postings. 

AI can help you convey the proper tone in your resume. For example, if you want the resume to sound more professional, it can provide phrasing suggestions. You can use it to rewrite sentences to make them more concise or sound more creative. It can help you think of stronger word choices, too. Essentially, it can be used to beef up your resume and make it sound more professional. This is especially helpful if you find yourself struggling with words and grammar.  

AI can also help you if you have no clue where to begin when putting together a resume. It will give you prompts and ask you to feed it information. In turn, it’ll spit out a formatted resume. 

When you utilize AI in these ways, you can spend more time prepping for the interviews and researching the companies you’re applying to. 

Cons of Using AI to Write a Resume

You don’t need to provide much in the way of details for AI to generate an entire resume. Simply provide a few bullet points and it’ll come up with the rest. 

We did a simple test and provided some details for a fake job applicant. After saying our applicant is looking for a job in publishing as a former book editor who’s detail-oriented, punctual, precise and creative, it churned out the resume below:

Look at all that detail with only a little prompting! This seems great, right? Wrong. While it did leave blanks to fill in more details about our fake jobseeker, it made up bullet points about their experience. 

If you were to turn that into an employer, it would be more than a little dishonest. AI simply can’t delve into the details of your career journey. It doesn’t have your memory. It can’t iterate what you’ve gone through. Instead, it embellished skills and overstated experience.

Not only that, but the example it provided us is pretty dry and robotic. It doesn’t include any buzzwords and it’s very basic and to the point. AI leaves out the human aspect and passion that’s absolutely crucial in an effective cover letter or resume. 

As a job seeker, one of the best ways to make your resume stand out is by tailoring it to each industry/position you apply to. If you don’t input this information into the AI program you’re using, it won’t know to use these buzzwords and jargon in your resume. It also isn’t necessarily keeping up with trends, so it can get information wrong and it can spit out plagiarized copy. 

AI may use words you never say — much less know what they mean — and the copy it produces is often weighed down with far too many words. (You don’t need five adjectives to describe your life-changing experience of fetching coffee as an intern.)

One glance at your resume and professionals will be able to tell you had AI write the entire thing. That can be held against you. Your resume might be tossed aside. Corporate recruiters and hiring managers can tell if the written words lack authenticity, which can diminish trust.  

Now, let’s say your resume lands you an interview. Now what? The person on paper and the person who showed up to the interview don’t match. All sorts of red flags would be going up in this situation. 

How to Use AI for Resumes

So how can you use AI? 

While we aren’t saying you shouldn’t use AI at all, there’s a right way and a wrong way to do it. 

It’s all about collaboration. You can collaborate with AI and use it to streamline your process (writing unique cover letters for seven different positions can be time-consuming after all), but you shouldn’t use it to replace your voice entirely. 

Use it to help you format your resume. Use it to take a poorly written sentence and make it better. Use it to help you when you’re feeling stuck. But don’t have it write your resume word for word.  

And if you do decide to have AI generate an entire resume for you, you should change the verbiage to make it your own and sound natural.

Write a Great Resume

Can AI help you write a resume? Sure. But it’s you who puts in the personality that makes it creative and unforgettable. Use the AI tools available to you; just don’t take advantage of them. 

Tailoring your resume to each specific job and company can significantly boost your chances of standing out among other applicants. Researching the company's history, values and industry-specific language is crucial for crafting a resume that aligns with their culture and requirements. It demonstrates genuine interest and understanding, showcasing how your skills and experiences directly relate to what they're seeking. Plus, it helps you highlight your qualifications in a way that resonates with the company's goals. 

While AI can offer guidance and support, it's the personalized touch and genuine effort that truly make a difference in the eyes of potential employers.

Check out these eight tips to write a great resume .

Tags: Career Resources

Written by Shannon Templin

As a talent acquisition specialist — a position he's held since 2016 — Shannon works, alongside colleagues, to connect job candidates with their best-fit position within ATS. In his role, Shannon enjoys assisting each new candidate toward their career goals and does everything in his power to set each candidate up for long-term professional success.

Get the Latest Careers Content Straight to Your Inbox!

Recent Posts

Posts by topic.

• Career Resources (64)
• Sales Careers (12)
• Day in the Life (5)
• Maintenance Careers (5)
• Interview Tips (3)
• Internships (2)
• Asset-Based Carrier (1)
• Position Reviews (1)

Work With a Transportation Provider You Can Trust

You don't want your freight in just anyone's hands. Find a transportation provider that cares about your safety and your reputation. Learn how ATS can help.

Contact Details

725 Opportunity Dr., St. Cloud, MN 56301

1-800-633-8287

Other Resources

EEO/AA Employer Veteran-Friendly Employer Thank a Driver           Supplier Code of Conduct

Driver Education Driver Employment Verification Brokerage Terms & Conditions International Rules Tariffs Rules Tariff

Customer Login Driver Login Lytx Login Alternative Login  

Stay Connected

Be the first to know when a new article is published to our Learning Hub!

©ATS 2023 | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use

MIT Technology Review

• Newsletters

Looking for work? Here’s how to write a résumé that an AI will love.

Once you optimize your résumé, you may want to practice interviewing with an AI too.

• Sheridan Wall archive page
• Hilke Schellmann archive page

Through job-matching platforms and AI-powered games and interviews, companies are relying more and more on artificial intelligence to streamline the hiring process. But some job seekers feel frustrated and misunderstood by these technologies.

Malika Devaux is a student at the HOPE Program , a Brooklyn-based nonprofit that provides job training. Devaux is looking for a job, and we asked her to complete a trial of a 90-second personality test, which assesses candidates on the Big Five personality traits.

Her results indicated that she was pragmatic and carefree, but Devaux didn’t agree with the AI’s read on her personality. And she found the test confusing. “I think [this test] would have made me lose a chance to have this position or an opportunity finally where I can shine,” she says.

So how can you make the algorithms work in your favor when you apply for your next job?

In the latest episode of MIT Technology Review’s podcast “In Machines We Trust,” we asked career and job-matching experts for practical tips on how to succeed in a job market increasingly influenced by artificial intelligence.

Ditch conventional advice about résumés. Instead of choosing a unique design or color scheme and including robust job descriptions, focus on making it as simple and straightforward as possible, says Ian Siegel , cofounder and CEO of ZipRecruiter .

“Conventional wisdom will kill you in your search for a job,” Siegel says. “You want the simplest, most boring résumé template you can find. You want to write like a caveman in the shortest, crispest words you can.”

In most cases, when candidates apply for jobs their résumés will first be processed by an automated applicant tracking system (ATS), Siegel says. To increase your chances of advancing to an interview, you should submit a résumé that the AI will interpret accurately.

Use short, descriptive sentences to help an AI parse your résumé, Siegel says. Clearly list your skills. If possible, include details about where you learned them and how long you’ve used them, plus any licensing or certification numbers that verify your expertise. “You want to be declarative and quantitative, because software is trying to figure out who you are and decide whether you will be put in front of a human,” he says.

And don’t be discouraged from applying to jobs that require more experience than you have, as long as you meet some of the qualifications in the job description.

“If you have any of the skills listed, I want you to apply to it,” Siegel says. “Let the algorithms decide whether or not you’re a great match, and they will sort you to the top or bottom.”

Create multiple versions of your résumé. Once you streamline your résumé for an AI, you may worry that you’ve damaged its flow and readability. So prepare another version for human review, says Gracy Sarkissian , the interim executive director of New York University’s Career Center .

“Some students tell me, ‘I did what you guys told me to do. I made sure that my résumé was filled with keywords. And now it sounds kind of like a cheesy marketing document,’” Sarkissian says. She tells them to make another one, with a personalized design and format, to send by email or to hand to hiring managers at an interview.

You should also modify your résumé to reflect the description of each job to which you apply, Sarkissian says. Each job posting contains keywords that a prospective employer’s ATS is likely using to prioritize candidates. Choose a few that are appropriate to your experience and sprinkle them throughout your résumé.

Test your résumé with an AI. Upload your résumé and the description of the job you’re applying for to an automated résumé checker like Jobscan . Jobscan will score how well it matches the job description, to help you optimize it for each prospective employer’s ATS. Creating an account on Jobscan is free, and the basic tier of membership offers two match-rate calculations per month.

VMock also provides software to universities and other institutions that issues feedback on users’ résumés by highlighting inconsistent dates and simplifying descriptions of previous roles that aren’t as relevant to the one for which they’re applying.

VMock’s algorithm helps users identify transferable skills as well. The program will say, “Here is something else you did, but that translates into the soft skills that recruiters are looking for,” says Kiran Pande, cofounder and head of products at VMock. “You have communication skills; it’s not necessarily marketing oriented, but you do have good communication skills. You did other things that developed your communication skills. Write about those too.”

Practice makes perfect. Why not use AI to help you prepare for your interview with an AI? Several companies, including VMock, offer tools to help job seekers prepare for virtual interviews.

Interview Stream will ask you questions via webcam and allow you to record and review your responses. The platform offers a 30-day free trial to individual users and is also available through some institutions. Big Interview uses AI to coach users on their interview responses. It offers three packages for individuals, priced at $79 for one month, $149 for three months, and $249 for six months.

The HOPE Program uses a platform called Talk Hiring , which includes 10-minute mock interviews consisting of five questions each. Talk Hiring scores interviewees on their responses, taking into account factors such whether their answers contained a problem, action, and result, as well as the pace and volume of their voice. The platform offers free trial accounts for individual users and partners with organizations for $18 per user per year.

Several AI interview services, like HireVue , Retorio , and Yobs , also let you test out their platforms before your scheduled interview. Some will even allow you to view the personality profile they create based on your performance.

“When we’re interviewing with AI, it feels like a stranger, right? It feels like a stranger without a face. It’s a blank screen,” Sarkissian says. But rehearsing on these platforms allows you to become more familiar with the process: “You can practice, and the more you practice, the better you get at these things.”

And the more information you can find about prospective employers’ hiring processes and the assessment tools they rely on, the better. Job seekers can also find user-generated videos on YouTube and elsewhere about how to beat AI-powered games and interviews, though the quality and accuracy of this advice may vary.

Artificial intelligence

Sam altman says helpful agents are poised to become ai’s killer function.

Open AI’s CEO says we won’t need new hardware or lots more training data to get there.

• James O'Donnell archive page

What’s next for generative video

OpenAI's Sora has raised the bar for AI moviemaking. Here are four things to bear in mind as we wrap our heads around what's coming.

• Will Douglas Heaven archive page

Is robotics about to have its own ChatGPT moment?

Researchers are using generative AI and other techniques to teach robots new skills—including tasks they could perform in homes.

• Melissa Heikkilä archive page

An AI startup made a hyperrealistic deepfake of me that’s so good it’s scary

Synthesia's new technology is impressive but raises big questions about a world where we increasingly can’t tell what’s real.

Stay connected

Get the latest updates from mit technology review.

Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.

Thank you for submitting your email!

It looks like something went wrong.

We’re having trouble saving your preferences. Try refreshing this page and updating them one more time. If you continue to get this message, reach out to us at [email protected] with a list of newsletters you’d like to receive.

• SUGGESTED TOPICS
• The Magazine
• Newsletters
• Managing Yourself
• Managing Teams
• Work-life Balance
• The Big Idea
• Data & Visuals
• Reading Lists
• Case Selections
• HBR Learning
• Topic Feeds
• Account Settings
• Email Preferences

Should You Use ChatGPT to Write a Resume?

• Robb Wilson

It depends on the role you’re applying to.

With its ability to write everything from essays to poetry to code, ChatGPT is changing how we think about tasks related to writing, research, and automation. Should ChatGPT write your resume?

• The answer depends on what roles you’re looking for, and how ChatGPT can aid you. For instance, if you’re a good writer or are applying to roles that require you to be good at writing — like a reporter or a content director — it’s best to avoid using generative AI. Outside roles that are specific to content writing, ChatGPT can be a useful ally as you craft your resume.
• The idea is not to rely on AI to create a final draft of your new resume or cover letter. Rather, use it as a tool to put together a strong first draft of your strengths and ideas.
• If you do decide to use ChatGPT, understand that it’s not perfect. It’s likely to make mistakes as well as have biases of its own about your job, field, or industry.
• Finally, know that AI is deeply dependent on humans. It takes significant human interaction to refine and polish the raw materials ChatGPT provides.

Generative AI tools are becoming more accessible to people around the world, and the potential use cases feel endless. With its ability to write everything from essays to poetry to code, ChatGPT, in particular, is changing how we think about tasks related to writing, research, and automation. In my work as a researcher in this space, I frequently get asked about applications of this technology from both an efficiency and an ethical standpoint. One recent example is: Should I use ChatGPT to write my resume?

• RW Robb Wilson , CEO and founder of OneReach and author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller Age of Invisible Machines , has spent more than two decades applying his deep understanding of user-centric design to unlocking hyper-automation. Robb built UX Magazine into the world’s largest experience design publication while simultaneously creating Effective UI, a full-service UX firm that competed with IDEO and Frog Design. Robb has also played a part in creating a wide variety of products, apps, and movies for clients like, DHL, Unilever, Expedia, Bosch, and more.

Partner Center

Privacy preference center

We care about your privacy

When you visit our website, we will use cookies to make sure you enjoy your stay. We respect your privacy and we’ll never share your resumes and cover letters with recruiters or job sites. On the other hand, we’re using several third party tools to help us run our website with all its functionality.

But what exactly are cookies? Cookies are small bits of information which get stored on your computer. This information usually isn’t enough to directly identify you, but it allows us to deliver a page tailored to your particular needs and preferences.

Because we really care about your right to privacy, we give you a lot of control over which cookies we use in your sessions. Click on the different category headings on the left to find out more, and change our default settings.

However, remember that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience of our website. Finally, note that we’ll need to use a cookie to remember your cookie preferences.

Without these cookies our website wouldn’t function and they cannot be switched off. We need them to provide services that you’ve asked for.

Want an example? We use these cookies when you sign in to Kickresume. We also use them to remember things you’ve already done, like text you’ve entered into a registration form so it’ll be there when you go back to the page in the same session.

Thanks to these cookies, we can count visits and traffic sources to our pages. This allows us to measure and improve the performance of our website and provide you with content you’ll find interesting.

Performance cookies let us see which pages are the most and least popular, and how you and other visitors move around the site.

All information these cookies collect is aggregated (it’s a statistic) and therefore completely anonymous. If you don’t let us use these cookies, you’ll leave us in the dark a bit, as we won’t be able to give you the content you may like.

We use these cookies to uniquely identify your browser and internet device. Thanks to them, we and our partners can build a profile of your interests, and target you with discounts to our service and specialized content.

On the other hand, these cookies allow some companies target you with advertising on other sites. This is to provide you with advertising that you might find interesting, rather than with a series of irrelevant ads you don’t care about.

5 Best AI Resume Builders: AI Made 5 Resumes For Me & Here's How It Went

Everybody is now using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to make their lives easier — from ordering groceries and finding your lost keys to writing the perfect resume. AI resume builders are amazing tools, but choosing the right one can be a challenge.

The market for AI resume writing tools is rapidly expanding and becoming more and more accessible to job seekers. These tools can help applicants build their resume from scratch, enhance their current one with AI-generated content, and even optimize it for specific job postings. 

Trying to sift through all of the options can, however, be pretty time-consuming. 

That's why we've taken the hard work off your hands and rounded up the top 5 AI resume builder tools available. 

Our aim? To make sure you have all the knowledge at your fingertips to make an informed decision about which AI resume writer is right for you. 

In this review, we're looking at different features, ease of use, their pros and cons, and, of course, pricing . No sugar coating here.

This way, you can confidently choose the AI resume builder that fits your needs without any guesswork.

Find out your resume score!

First, what is an AI resume builder?

AI resume builders (or writers) are tools powered by artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms designed to automatically generate resumes and other job-related documents (like cover letters). 

Based on user input, these algorithms analyze relevant job postings, candidates’ experience and qualifications, and look for relevant keywords and skills to help users build a tailored resume . 

And what are the benefits of using one? 

• It saves you time.
• It writes personalized content for you.
• It formats the resume.

Without further ado, let’s find the best one for you!

1. Kickresume's AI Resume Writer

Let's address the elephant in the room — I work for Kickresume. However, I tested our tool the same way as the others, step-by-step, and objectively. 

Kickresume’s AI Resume Builder is powered by OpenAI's GPT-3 NLP model. This model is the world’s most powerful natural language processing model, which is very well-suited for creating structured documents like resumes. 

All you need to do is enter a job title — and it generates a unique and personalized work experience section. To create a full resume using AI, you simply fill in a 2-minute questionnaire.

How does it work?

After logging in to your account, on the dashboard in Your documents, click on New resume with AI . This takes you straight into a short questionnaire which takes 2 minutes to complete (you can check the preview in the GIF above). It includes questions about your personal information, your most recent work experience, your education, skills, and hobbies. 

Your resume will then be generated. You can customize the final resume if you want to — for example, I added some personal details and changed the template. But you can also re-order the sections, change the icons, or add any additional sections (10+ optional sections available).

Alternatively, you can also use AI to write only bullet points for your work experience section. You can either import your existing resume, build it from a resume sample from our database, import your LinkedIn profile, or create one from scratch manually. Then, AI generates bullet points for your work experience section based simply on your job title. It took about 5 seconds. 

You can edit these if you want them to have a more personalized feel, add new ones, or regenerate them if you don't like them. Then you can customize the final resume (the design, template, font, re-order sections, etc.).

Pros & cons of Kickresume's AI Resume Builder

• Increased web traffic by 25% through innovative SEO techniques
• Wrote and edited compelling copy for the website, blog, and social media
• Edited and proofread documents for grammar, style, and content
• Resume design. Kickresume also specializes in resume design, so all of its 35+ resume templates are designed by a team of professional typographers and recruiters. You can customize and adjust every design aspect, like fonts, spacing, colors, and more. What I really like is that you can change the icons for sections and personal information. It made my creative soul very happy.
• Easy to use. One of the most straightforward AI resume-writing tools out there. All of the steps are very intuitive and are complemented by helpful tips and links to comprehensive guides throughout the process. The developers are clearly no strangers to UX design.
• You can re-order sections. Depending on which section you want to highlight and place at the top, you can re-order the sections simply by dragging. This comes very handy since by choosing a suitable resume format , you can easily steer attention to certain sections and away from others.
• Free option. You can create a full resume using AI for free.

The not so good:

• May require personalization. Given that the text has been written by AI rather than you and had limited information as input, you might still need to make some adjustments and tweak the details to make it more personal in the end. For instance, since this tool only uses your latest job title as input, it has no knowledge of your previous work experience or quantifiable achievements.

Kickresume’s pricing

• Free: With a free account you can create 1 complete resume using AI. Alternatively, you can generate bullet points for multiple work experience sections.
• Premium users can create 30+ career documents (including resumes & cover letters) monthly. Premium subscription starts at $5/month .
• Bonus: Option to get 6 months of free premium for students and teachers
• Bonus # 2: If you choose the yearly subscription, up to 5 of your friends get a month of Kickresume Premium for free!

By the way, Kickresume also has an AI Resume Checker tool that offers feedback to help you improve it and an AI Cover Letter Writer that produces a rock-solid cover letter in seconds.

2. Resumaker.ai

Resumaker.ai is a simple resume-building tool that helps you craft a resume in minutes thanks to pre-written phrases. 

This resume builder is easy to use and requires minimal effort. You start by picking a resume template design you like. Then you fill in your personal information, your job title, and keywords. 

In the last stage, the AI technology helps auto-fill certain resume sections (resume summary, work experience, and skills) with pre-written phrases . You can add more phrases or edit them. These phrases are very complex and high-quality.

In the work experience section, you can add multiple jobs and job titles, each with its unique pre-written description in bullet points. Then you need to manually fill in details like company names or dates, and other sections, including education. 

Pros & cons of Resumaker.ai

• To give you an example, this is a suggested sentence for a Data Scientist resume summary: “ Data Scientist with a deep understanding of analysis and programming, proficient in Python and R. Experienced in building machine learning models and data visualization.”
• Interactive assistant. The built-in assistant interactively guides you through the application in a few steps. 
• No free option. There's no option to create a resume for free.
• Limited number of phrases. For the resume summary, the tool suggests 5 phrases to choose from, and for the work experience section, you can choose from 10. 
• Limited customization. You can choose one of the 10 templates. However, you then have very limited options for customization. Line spacing and color are the only things you can change. 

Resumaker’s pricing

• No option to create a resume for free.
• Subscription starts at $0.99 for a 7-day access . You must cancel this trial before it ends, otherwise, it automatically renews and you'll be charged $29.70 every 4 weeks. 
• Alternatively, a 3-month premium subscription costs $23.75 and a 6-month subscription costs $45.75

3. Resume Genius

Resume Genius is a resume-building tool featuring a very effective resume generator software that can help you quickly create customized career documents.

You start by answering a few questions about your past work experience and the highest attained education level. In the next step, you're presented with 6 recommended templates, though you can choose to “ view all templates.”

In the next step, you'll complete and fill in all these sections in this order: contact information, experience, education, certifications, skills, career objective, references, and optional additional sections. 

In the work experience section, you get 25+ recommended bullet points for your chosen job title (see this stage in the picture above). You can also choose from 60+ recommended skills. Finally, you can choose from 15+ recommended career objectives. 

Pros & cons of Resume Genius

• For example, this is a suggested work experience bullet point for the job of Data Scientist: “ Monitored products from statistical programs for accuracy, consistency and statistical validity. ”
• Provides tips. This tool is very user-friendly, guiding you through every step as well as providing tips for writing and improvement.
• A lot of phrases to choose from. The exact number of suggested phrases depends on the specific job title. However, for all of the occupations we tested, there was a pretty lengthy selection (usually 25+, but for some even 99+). 
• Nice templates. The templates are all very sleek and look professional.
• Step-by-step editor. As mentioned before, when filling in your information, you have to fill them in a pre-defined order and can't jump from section to section or skip them. 
• Very limited customization. Both in terms of customizing the templates (as you can only change the font size and color of the template) and ordering the resume sections. For instance, if you're a fresh graduate and would rather use a functional resume format highlighting your skills at the top of the resume, you wouldn't be able to. Unfortunately, the sections can't be re-ordered.
• No free option. No option to create a resume for free; you can only start a 14-day trial period for $2.95.

Resume Genius pricing

• 14-day trial plan: $2.90 (you have to cancel, otherwise it will auto-renew and you’ll be billed $23.90 every 30 days )
• 1-month plan for $6.40 (you'll be billed annually at $76.80) 

With this AI resume builder tool, you can automatically generate descriptions for certain resume sections. All descriptions are tailored for specific jobs in your field and optimized for applicant tracking systems (ATS) by targeting keywords. 

At first, you're asked whether you want to create a resume from scratch, import an existing one from LinkedIn, or create one from a sample resume. Next, you select whether you want a job-tailored resume or a general-purpose one. 

Then you need to select the job title you're interested in, a company (if applicable), and you can paste the specific job description, too. You also fill in the name of the field and your experience level. 

At the final stage, you have to fill in details for different resume sections manually (check out the picture above). Rezi's AI writer tool can generate relevant and convincing descriptions for selected sections of your resume (experience, projects, involvement, skills, and summary). Finally, you can tweak and edit your AI-generated resume as much as you need to get the ideal final result.

Pros & cons of Rezi.ai

• AI keyword targeting. Rezi is content-focused — it suggests the right keywords and details that best fit the role you're targeting. The AI picks keywords from the job ad (which you can paste in the first stage) and suggests bullet points that contain these. 
• Gives improvement tips & points out mistakes. This tool also assigns your resume a score based on its current design and content and gives you personalized suggestions for improving both the content and formatting. It also points out any obvious mistakes.
• Can complete 1 resume for free. With a free account, you'll receive enough credits to create one standard-formatted resume using AI. 
• Auto-adjust to fit one page. Depending on how much content you provide, the auto-adjust feature will re-adjust the content to fit one page and ensure there's either enough or not too much white space.
• It's a bit time-consuming. Compared to other tools mentioned in this review, this tool takes a bit more time to complete a full resume. There are a lot of sections that require manual completion and the first stage of the process also requires more input. 
• Poor selection of templates. There was only 1 free template which was very basic. The other 5 templates were only for Pro subscription users and were also mediocre at best.
• No option to re-order sections. Similar to Resume Genius, with this AI resume writer you don't have the option to choose your own order of resume sections.

Rezi's pricing

• Free: With a free account you get limited credits for the AI tool (enough for 1-2 full resumes using AI tools). Each use of the AI builder subtracts credits. 
• Additional AI credits are available as a one-time purchase for $10 .
• For $3 per month you get 1 resume limit, a limited access to keyword targeting and content analysis, and can access only standard resume templates.
• For $29 per month you get full access to all features and 100,000 AI credits which renew every month.

5. Skillroads

Skillroads is a fairly advanced AI resume builder that can not only generate a resume for you but also assess and review your current one. It relies on the completion of a pretty lengthy, though intuitive questionnaire. 

First, you must provide your personal information like name, email, and phone number. What comes next is a 6-step questionnaire containing questions regarding your desired job, your objectives, highlights, experience, skills, and education. 

While in some of these steps, you'll only need to click on provided options, some require a bit more time to complete. 

Once you get to the last step, your resume will be generated. You can then edit it (to some extent) and preview the final result. 

Pros & cons of Skillroads

• Creates a full resume based on the questionnaire. Though you should personalize some of the details, the AI takes care of everything else. 
• 1 resume generated for free by AI. You can create and download 1 PDF resume for free.
• Online 24/7 help available. Even though other resume builders also had online chat support (like Kickresume), Skillroads' employee replied in under 2 minutes and was very helpful. Cheers Valery!
• AI-written resume summary was satisfactory. In the words of Comrade Dyatlov, not great, not terrible. It used the “highlights section” as input, so pay extra attention if you want your summary to be relevant.

The not so good: 

• Can't leave the phone number blank. It required entering a phone number even though I wanted to leave that field blank. 
• The website is lagging. Moving on to the next steps in the questionnaire took way more than it should have — both when trying different browsers and using different devices & wifi networks. 
• No possibility of adding your own content. You can only fill in certain sections with the pre-defined content available. For example, in the skills section, I could only click on the provided skill and not add any of my own. The same happens in the highlights section. 
• Only one available template and no customization. There's no selection of templates to choose from. The pre-defined one is very bland and basic. Plus, there are no customization options at all. The text size is also very small and you can't change it. 
• Can't re-order sections. After the resume is generated, you can't edit the order of the sections, which is not ideal for job seekers who don't want a chronological resume format.

Skillroads' pricing

• Free : You can create 1 resume using AI for free and download it in PDF or .doc format.
• For a one-time payment of $9.99 , you can have an unlimited number of resumes (though it doesn't mention whether you can also use the AI tool without limits).

Final thoughts

Choosing the right AI resume builder for your needs comes down to what you hope to get out of it. 

Some can generate a full resume using AI, and some focus on generating relevant phrases for specific questions. And some can do both. 

At Kickresume, our AI Resume Writer leverages a world-class machine-learning model to ensure you receive optimal and relevant results when generating a resume. 

Plus, you can even access a limited number of free resume generations when you create a free account.

Klára Červeňanská

Klara recently graduated from the University of St Andrews in Scotland. After having written resumes for many of her fellow students, she got an opportunity to write full-time for Kickresume. Klara is our go-to person for all things related to student or 'no experience resumes'. At the same time, she has written some of the most popular resume advice articles on this blog. When she's not writing, you'll probably find her chasing dogs or people-watching while sipping on a cup of coffee.

Hungry for more?

How to write a professional resume summary [+examples], how to put your education on a resume [+examples], how to describe your work experience on a resume [+examples], let your resume do the work..

Join 5,000,000 job seekers worldwide and get hired faster with your best resume yet.

Tweak your resume with action words using Microsoft Copilot's AI

april 11, 2024

by Kazu Fujimoto

If you’re on the hunt for a new job, crafting a standout resume is a crucial step in securing more job interviews and offers. And thanks to AI, you don’t have to do it alone. Let’s explore how you can use Microsoft Copilot , an AI-powered tool, to create a resume that sets you apart.

Why optimize your resume?

To get your resume past ATS filters and make an impact with hiring managers, a resume must feature certain elements. These optimizations include:

• The right keywords: Incorporating industry-specific keywords is vital for getting noticed, especially in systems using automated resume screening. Keywords that are relevant to the job listing itself are also vital.
• Quantitative results: Showcasing your achievements with numbers and facts can make your accomplishments more tangible and impressive.
• Business impact: Highlighting how your work has positively impacted businesses gives recruiters a clearer picture of your potential contributions.

How Microsoft Copilot can help

Microsoft Copilot utilizes AI and GPT technology to provide guidelines for crafting effective resumes. To use this tool, ensure you have Microsoft Edge browser and visit Copilot.Microsoft.com.

Let’s say you're looking for an engineering job. Here's what Copilot suggests for engineering resumes:

• Use strong action verbs: Start bullet points with dynamic verbs to convey your actions effectively.
• Quantify achievements: Include measurable results to provide a clear sense of your accomplishments.
• Be specific about technical skills: Clearly list your technical skills to match the job requirements.
• Tailor bullet points to the job description: Customize your resume to align with the specific job you're applying for.
• Provide contextual details: Give additional background to help recruiters understand the significance of your achievements.

Now that you have some guidelines, revisit your resume and apply each tip one at a time. If you get stuck, paste your resume into Copilot and ask for help! The tool is great at coming up with stronger verbs and rephrasing bullet points to emphasize accomplishments and value.

Transform a generic resume with AI

After applying Copilot’s recommendations, you’ll end up with a revised resume that features strong action verbs, quantifiable achievements, specific technical skills, tailored bullet points, and necessary contextual details. In short, it’s the perfect resume for demonstrating your value and landing the interview.

Using Microsoft Copilot can significantly improve your resume writing efficiency, making it more likely to land you job interviews and offers. Check out Microsoft Copilot to take your resume to the next level and enhance your job search!

Related topics

Skip to main content

• Skip to main menu
• Skip to user menu

Using AI to Help Write Your Resume

Published: Jul 16, 2023 By Kate Johanns

You may be one of the estimated 100 million people relying on ChatGPT as your newest life hack. Ask the artificial intelligence tool how to make chocolate mousse, and you’ll receive a simple eight-step recipe with both U.S. and metric measurements. But have you thought about using AI to help write your resume or cover letter?

Whether you use ChatGPT or one of the many free and paid AI resume tools available, AI can help you write a solid first draft of your resume and other job applications materials—if you understand its limitations.

What is ChatGPT?

The free, publicly available AI tool ChatGPT was released by OpenAI in November 2022 and quickly took the world by storm, alarming writers everywhere. The tool is not without its limitations—notably, its knowledge base ends at September 2021, so don’t look to it for current events—but its results can be impressive. A pilot subscription model launched in February, offering users even faster chat results and priority access for $20 per month.

Immediately upon launch, job seekers began using ChatGPT to write resumes, and the initial results are promising. In February, the company ResumeBuilder.com released results from a poll of more than 1,000 job hunters who had used ChatGPT in their job search:

• Nearly half (46 percent ) reported using ChatGPT to write their resumes or cover letters.
• Seven in 10 said they had experienced a better response rate from companies when using AI-generated materials.
• Forty percent say they believe their interviewers were not aware they had used ChatGPT to write their application materials.
• Only 11 percent say they were turned down for a job because they had used ChatGPT.

Overall, 88 percent said they were somewhat or highly likely to keep using ChatGPT because it saves time. It would seem AI is firmly entrenched in the hiring world.

What to consider before using AI to write your resume

Before you send off a ChatGPT-generated resume, it’s a good idea to have a solid grasp on the tool’s plusses and minuses. On the plus side, it’s always easier to revise a first draft than to stare at a blank sheet of paper. If you have serious writer’s block, typing “write an <insert position here> resume” into ChatGPT is an excellent first step. The results will give you a decent starting place, complete with some of the keywords your target company’s applicant tracking system (another form of AI!) will scan for.

But what you don’t want to do is submit a ChatGPT resume as is, simply filling in the blanks with specific company names. First of all, ChatGPT will return similar results for everyone who asks it for a specific type of resume. You want your resume to stand out from the crowd.

ChatGPT may also include outdated elements, such as a resume objective, in its results. That type of flowery language takes up space. The hiring manager knows you’re seeking increasing responsibility in a specific field. After all, that’s why you applied for the job.

One resume point ChatGPT gets right is the inclusion of specific data points to illustrate workplace accomplishments. Unfortunately, a high percentage of the stats returned in ChatGPT results are drawn out of thin air. Leaving them in would either be extremely careless or outright lying. What you want to do is look for real-life examples from your own professional experience to replace them with. The ChatGPT-generated “stats” can serve as inspiration.

One way to make ChatGPT useful in the process is to “reverse engineer” it. Instead of asking ChatGPT to write a resume, ask it to write a job description for a specific position. Then compare the ChatGPT results to the job posting. The keywords the two documents share are ones you’ll definitely want to include in your resume and/or cover letter.

Whether you decide to try ChatGPT or stick with the old-fashioned human touch, don’t forget the golden rule of resume writing: Have a friend, not a robot, proofread your work. Spell-check is a form of AI, and it still mixes up “from” and “form.”

Search for your next job now:

Back to listing

The Washington Post Jobs Newsletter

Subscribe to the latest news about DC's jobs market

Washington Post Jobs Recommends:

A Job Where Professional Advancement Matters Most. Now What?

4 Tips for Transitioning from Office Worker to Telecommuter

5 Better Questions to Ask at Your Next Networking Meeting

Is it Ok to Ask for Feedback from a Job You Didn't Get?

Read this before you have AI write your resume

W riting a resume can be a chore, and it’s a chore that sometimes doesn’t yield results when it comes to finding a job or even getting considered for one. With more job seekers out there what can be done to get your resume noticed?

In the entire history of job seeking, it’s safe to say that right now, it’s never been easier to type up a resume, especially because you don’t technically have to do it yourself. Many people are opting to have artificial intelligence write their resume. In some ways, AI does it better than the job applicant could, but there are drawbacks to AI resumes that become apparent pretty quick.

Some things hold true for resumes across the application process. Having a simple, straightforward resume is still probably the best way to get noticed, according to recruiters and job experts that spoke to KIRO 7 News.

It also remains evident that job seekers need to tweak the experience they list on a resume so a target recruiter will see that they have the skills necessary for the positions they’re looking to fill.

Optimizing the resume with correct language that will be noticed by employers has always been necessary, but now AI is in some cases helping people do that and also helping build an entire resume; but AI platforms have limits.

Nikita Gupta is with Careerflow.AI , which is based in the Seattle area and is actively trying to help people find positions. She says the drawbacks of a fully automated resume written by AI are easy to spot.

“There’s repeated content that keeps coming out because ChatGPT gives you similar kinds of answers and similar kinds of outcomes, so people are just copy-pasting it, they’re not adding the human element on top of it as a job seeker, and they are just using the same prompt: can you help me write a resume,” said Gupta.

Megan Slabinski with jobs firm Robert Half says a resume written by AI can feel impersonal, and it should be authentic, specific, and short and sweet.

“AI can really help you write or frame your resume in a certain light and give you some clarity if you use simple words. You want to steer clear of business jargon or cliches, or it looks like it’s too overprocessed,” she said.

A bulleted-style resume is still the easiest for a hiring manager to digest and process, according to both job experts. But the resume should have some personal flair or it could end up looking like everyone else’s, especially if they, too, used AI to help write it.

AI-assisted writing is quietly booming in academic journals. Here’s why that’s OK

Lecturer in Bioethics, Monash University & Honorary fellow, Melbourne Law School, Monash University

Disclosure statement

Julian Koplin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Monash University provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation AU.

View all partners

If you search Google Scholar for the phrase “ as an AI language model ”, you’ll find plenty of AI research literature and also some rather suspicious results. For example, one paper on agricultural technology says:

As an AI language model, I don’t have direct access to current research articles or studies. However, I can provide you with an overview of some recent trends and advancements …

Obvious gaffes like this aren’t the only signs that researchers are increasingly turning to generative AI tools when writing up their research. A recent study examined the frequency of certain words in academic writing (such as “commendable”, “meticulously” and “intricate”), and found they became far more common after the launch of ChatGPT – so much so that 1% of all journal articles published in 2023 may have contained AI-generated text.

(Why do AI models overuse these words? There is speculation it’s because they are more common in English as spoken in Nigeria, where key elements of model training often occur.)

The aforementioned study also looks at preliminary data from 2024, which indicates that AI writing assistance is only becoming more common. Is this a crisis for modern scholarship, or a boon for academic productivity?

Who should take credit for AI writing?

Many people are worried by the use of AI in academic papers. Indeed, the practice has been described as “ contaminating ” scholarly literature.

Some argue that using AI output amounts to plagiarism. If your ideas are copy-pasted from ChatGPT, it is questionable whether you really deserve credit for them.

But there are important differences between “plagiarising” text authored by humans and text authored by AI. Those who plagiarise humans’ work receive credit for ideas that ought to have gone to the original author.

By contrast, it is debatable whether AI systems like ChatGPT can have ideas, let alone deserve credit for them. An AI tool is more like your phone’s autocomplete function than a human researcher.

The question of bias

Another worry is that AI outputs might be biased in ways that could seep into the scholarly record. Infamously, older language models tended to portray people who are female, black and/or gay in distinctly unflattering ways, compared with people who are male, white and/or straight.

This kind of bias is less pronounced in the current version of ChatGPT.

However, other studies have found a different kind of bias in ChatGPT and other large language models : a tendency to reflect a left-liberal political ideology.

Any such bias could subtly distort scholarly writing produced using these tools.

The hallucination problem

The most serious worry relates to a well-known limitation of generative AI systems: that they often make serious mistakes.

For example, when I asked ChatGPT-4 to generate an ASCII image of a mushroom, it provided me with the following output.

It then confidently told me I could use this image of a “mushroom” for my own purposes.

These kinds of overconfident mistakes have been referred to as “ AI hallucinations ” and “ AI bullshit ”. While it is easy to spot that the above ASCII image looks nothing like a mushroom (and quite a bit like a snail), it may be much harder to identify any mistakes ChatGPT makes when surveying scientific literature or describing the state of a philosophical debate.

Unlike (most) humans, AI systems are fundamentally unconcerned with the truth of what they say. If used carelessly, their hallucinations could corrupt the scholarly record.

Should AI-produced text be banned?

One response to the rise of text generators has been to ban them outright. For example, Science – one of the world’s most influential academic journals – disallows any use of AI-generated text .

I see two problems with this approach.

The first problem is a practical one: current tools for detecting AI-generated text are highly unreliable. This includes the detector created by ChatGPT’s own developers, which was taken offline after it was found to have only a 26% accuracy rate (and a 9% false positive rate ). Humans also make mistakes when assessing whether something was written by AI.

It is also possible to circumvent AI text detectors. Online communities are actively exploring how to prompt ChatGPT in ways that allow the user to evade detection. Human users can also superficially rewrite AI outputs, effectively scrubbing away the traces of AI (like its overuse of the words “commendable”, “meticulously” and “intricate”).

The second problem is that banning generative AI outright prevents us from realising these technologies’ benefits. Used well, generative AI can boost academic productivity by streamlining the writing process. In this way, it could help further human knowledge. Ideally, we should try to reap these benefits while avoiding the problems.

The problem is poor quality control, not AI

The most serious problem with AI is the risk of introducing unnoticed errors, leading to sloppy scholarship. Instead of banning AI, we should try to ensure that mistaken, implausible or biased claims cannot make it onto the academic record.

After all, humans can also produce writing with serious errors, and mechanisms such as peer review often fail to prevent its publication.

We need to get better at ensuring academic papers are free from serious mistakes, regardless of whether these mistakes are caused by careless use of AI or sloppy human scholarship. Not only is this more achievable than policing AI usage, it will improve the standards of academic research as a whole.

This would be (as ChatGPT might say) a commendable and meticulously intricate solution.

• Artificial intelligence (AI)
• Academic journals
• Academic publishing
• Hallucinations
• Scholarly publishing
• Academic writing
• Large language models
• Generative AI

Lecturer / Senior Lecturer - Marketing

Compliance Lead

Assistant Editor - 1 year cadetship

Executive Dean, Faculty of Health

Lecturer/Senior Lecturer, Earth System Science (School of Science)

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Welcome to the Purdue Online Writing Lab

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

The Online Writing Lab at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and we provide these as a free service of the Writing Lab at Purdue. Students, members of the community, and users worldwide will find information to assist with many writing projects. Teachers and trainers may use this material for in-class and out-of-class instruction.

The Purdue On-Campus Writing Lab and Purdue Online Writing Lab assist clients in their development as writers—no matter what their skill level—with on-campus consultations, online participation, and community engagement. The Purdue Writing Lab serves the Purdue, West Lafayette, campus and coordinates with local literacy initiatives. The Purdue OWL offers global support through online reference materials and services.

A Message From the Assistant Director of Content Development 

The Purdue OWL® is committed to supporting  students, instructors, and writers by offering a wide range of resources that are developed and revised with them in mind. To do this, the OWL team is always exploring possibilties for a better design, allowing accessibility and user experience to guide our process. As the OWL undergoes some changes, we welcome your feedback and suggestions by email at any time.

Please don't hesitate to contact us via our contact page  if you have any questions or comments.

All the best,

Social Media

Facebook twitter.