Give yourself every possible advantage, in your job search.
According to Jobscan, over 97% of Fortune 500 companies are using ATS (applicant tracking system) software, an automated system that screens candidates for keywords. For savvy job applicants, using ChatGPT, Bard and other AI tools can help tailor your CV to what the software seeks. In a tough market, the job search has turned into a battle of the ‘bots. Today, software and machine learning is being used by candidates and companies alike. Here’s how you can use ChatGPT to write your résumé, with three step-by-step prompts designed to give you an advantage in the world of ATS and AI.
Benefits of Writing Your Resume with ChatGPT
ChatGPT can be useful in generating text, but the text on your resume needs to fit within a format. That format, and guidance, can be found on several websites that can help – including Resume Genius, Resume Nerd, Grammarly and Career.io. These sites, and others, offer AI-powered platforms to help give your CV (curriculum vitae, another word for résumé) a boost. But, as with any written assignment, remember the first rule of writing: it will never be your best work until someone else (with a pulse) has read it. Placing your career in the hands of AI might be a good move, but just make sure it’s not the only move you make. Do you have a trusted advisor, coach or executive recruiter who will weigh in on what you (or your bot) have written?
Save Time with ChatGPT – writing a résumé from scratch can be time consuming. Creating takes more time than editing, so the time savings with AI can’t be denied, according to new guidance from FlexJobs.
Automatically Critique Your Grammar and Spelling – going beyond spellcheck, AI can help you to see if your story makes sense. “Sometimes you need some help but you’re not sure who to ask,” says Forbes Senior Contributor, Jodie Cook. A leading expert on all things AI, she says, “More often than not, we don’t need to be taught, we need to be guided.”
Quickly Tune your Résumé to the Opportunity – you can easily and quickly adjust to the specifics of a new role, with a few modifications. The key is: understanding how to work with AI. “It’s what you learn after you know it all that really counts,” according to basketball legend, John Wooden. Here’s how you can learn to bring your talents to life, with guidance from ChatGPT (and other AI platforms).
Using ChatGPT to Write Your Résumé: Step 1, A Great Summary
You can turn your résumé summary in to a powerful representation of your skills and talents. A sample prompt, before you feed the bot your CV: “Based on this original summary, and the following resume, create an improved and high-impact summary for me. Include these desirable words and phrases, using data to support soft skills wherever possible, and optimize for both SEO and ATS keywords.” Remember, ChatGPT is like a blender. You have to put in the ingredients you want, to get the output you need. FlexJobs says, “AI won’t understand anything about your history that you don’t tell it.”
Using ChatGPT to Write Your Résumé: Step 2, Bullet Points
ChatGPT or other AI platforms can easily turn your bullet points into supportive and clear ideas, according to FlexJobs. Feed the bot some details on the size and scope of your role, and provide a prompt like this: “Using the data and numbers provided, create three to five concise bullet points for my roles at [employer 1, employer 2, employer 3]. Make sure that the numbers are tied to impact and be sure to always support any adverbs.” Why ask ChatGPT support adverbs? Because it’s good writing, and it’s going to help you stand out with an employer! Consider that “hired a new team quickly” is not as powerful as saying you hired seven people in less than three months. See how the adverb is supported, quickly, by its disappearance? Size and scope matters, in a résumé – adverbs, no so much.
Using ChatGPT to Write Your Résumé: Step 3, Bullet Points
Have you ever seen a résumé that looks like it was written by three different people? Consistency counts. FlexJobs says that you can use AI tools to create a polished and uniform tone for your résumé. And using AI is a great way to ramp up your productivity.
Time savings, consistency, and clarity: just three of the many advantages that can be found when using ChatGPT, or other similar AI based tools, to write your résumé. And let’s face it, in this job market – where almost all employers are using some form of ATS analysis to screen candidates – having AI input on your CV might be exactly what you need, in a tough job market.