Avoid placing all your trust in having a robot write about your career story – your future deserves more.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is gaining traction in the job search world. Companies use AI-powered applicant tracking systems to weed through candidates, and job seekers are turning to AI to write their resumes. But can a bot really capture your career story in a way that effectively relays your value to a prospective employer? 

The way you tell your career story is unique. When you use an AI-generated resume, you end up with a document that falls short of delivering the personalized message hiring managers value. So, let's talk about why AI isn't enough and how tools like ChatGPT can't replace that human touch. 

What can AI do for your resume?

Just like you'd use a thesaurus to find the synonym of a word (or a Google search, at least), you can use ChatGPT and other AI tools to help create your resume. The beauty of AI is that it can handle time-consuming and repetitive tasks, like analyzing job descriptions to suss out keywords. 

Related reading: 100 + Keywords, Verbs and Action Words for Your Resume

You can also use AI to generate a rough draft of your resume based on the story – or prompt – you give it about your career history and it can help you brainstorm phrases for skills and achievements. It's basically a really good virtual assistant that can automate the resume-writing process. It's not a good storyteller, though. 

Things AI resume-building tools can do to help you write your resume include:

  • Analyze your resume against a particular job description to let you know if you've left out any relevant keywords

  • Help you organize your thoughts in a way that allows you to create a clear framework to build on

  • It can make sure you're presenting your resume in a consistent way, with proper headings

Just like a human assistant, AI needs direction. The results depend entirely on what you tell it. It doesn't matter how advanced the system is; without proper human interaction, the AI's flaws become apparent. 

What can't AI do for your resume?

While it's true that AI can instantly provide you with hundreds of words of text based on the prompt you provide, it will be severely lacking in things like creativity and emotional intelligence. Back in the day, you could give a hiring manager a list of qualifications and successfully land a job. That approach just won't cut it in today's job market.

Your resume has to succinctly and intelligently relay all of your best achievements in a way that proves you're the best candidate for an open position. No computer-based algorithm can fully capture your personal story and understand the nuance behind events from your career. 

For example, something like a career gap that allowed you to further your skills could be treated as a liability by an AI resume-writing tool, whereas a human writer would frame it as an asset.

Things AI resume-building tools struggle with include:

  • Highlighting your unique accomplishments in a way that helps you stand out from the crowd. To an AI resume-builder, an accomplishment is just a bullet point on a list. As a human, you could dive in further by expounding on things like leadership. 

  • AI resume builders don't understand the tones and distinct approaches that different industries demand. An AI-generated resume for a Graphic Designer will have the same language as an AI-generated resume for a Software Engineer. A one-size-fits-all approach will never land you an interview!

  • Hiring managers are looking for more than keywords in your resume; they want to see how you build connections with others. Since your resume is the first opportunity you get to prove you can do that, using a bot to churn out a bunch of text isn't the way to go.

You have to ask yourself whether you want to present a rote, generic document that blends in with all the rest or do you want to write a narrative that sets you apart? Considering the hundreds of applications employers receive for open positions, setting yourself apart is a must!

Related reading: Tailoring Different Versions of Your Resume: One Size Does Not Fit All

Tips for using AI as a resume-building tool

None of this is to say that you shouldn't use AI to help generate a compelling resume; it is a valuable resource that you should definitely be taking advantage of. When used correctly, you will end up with a resume that retains the personal, human touch hiring managers demand. 

Brainstorming

Sitting at your computer and watching your cursor blink on a blank MS Word document can feel unnerving. Where do you begin? How do you know what to write? This is a great opportunity to take advantage of AI – let it help you brainstorm ideas to get the ball rolling. 

  • It can help you build a basic structure with sections like experience, skills, and education. 

  • AI can also give you some ideas on how to word certain responsibilities in a way that they appear action-based.

  • You could also use AI to help you reword something you've written so that it's more concise.

Refine and personalize

After you get your first draft laid out, you have to go back through it to make it your own – remember, an AI-generated resume isn't the goal. If you've had ChatGPT or some other AI bot help you word something, make sure the output fits within the overall text of your career story.

Pay attention to things like tone. Make sure the sentence ChatGPT helped you formulate is written in a way that sounds like something you'd say. Also, watch out for industry-specific language. Does the bullet that AI helped you create align with the way leaders in your field would speak?

One of the big things to keep an eye out for is nuance and subtlety. Sometimes, things you've done during your career have made subtle yet impactful differences to other aspects of your company or your team. AI doesn't have a clue how your decision to change up the processes at ABC Company affected the overall profitability of the company. You have to give those details.

As you scan through the text AI may have generated, you'll notice things like repetition and vague details. For example, ChatGPT may write a bullet about you improving customer satisfaction scores by 25% through streamlined processes. What in the world does “streamlined processes” mean? 

As a human writer, you'd want to talk about “streamlined processes” and could say something more impactful like, “Redesigned customer feedback processes that reduced response times and increased customer satisfaction scores by 25%.” Specificity and authenticity are critically important when imparting your career accomplishments to new employers.

Don't simply fill in the space of your resume; talk about what you did, what you achieved, and what the measurable impacts of your actions were.

Related reading: How to Get More Results With a C.A.R. Resume

How to spot AI-generated resumes

Hiring managers are learning what AI-generated resumes look like. So, you should take a minute to learn what to look for so that you're not submitting a resume that will automatically be flagged. 

  • Repetitive phrases: ChatGPT might be able to spit out hundreds of words in mere seconds, but if you look closely, you'll see phrases repeated. 
  • Broad strokes: The example about “streamlining processes” is par for the course when using AI to generate content for your resume. You have to double-check that all bullets talk about what you did, how you did it, and what the results were. Anything less doesn't paint a complete picture.
  • Buzzwords: AI-generated resumes are filled to the brim with overused buzzwords. Things like “dynamic leader” or “results-oriented professional.” These phrases give prospective employers very little indication about your actual qualifications for a role. 

You might think running your resume through an online AI checker is a good way to ensure it doesn't get flagged. Unfortunately, those tools are about as useful as putting a bandaid on a broken arm. Just like many online ATS checkers – often created by companies trying to sell resume-writing services, AI checkers are unreliable at best. Instead, learn to spot the signs of AI-generated resumes with your own human eyes. It's the best way to ensure your resume is clear, authentic, and tailored to the role.

Related reading: Words and Phrases to Remove From Your Resume Right Away

Good enough isn't good enough

It can be easy to fall into a way of thinking that an AI-generated resume is good enough. The fact is, it isn't. Your career journey is filled with achievements, challenges, and growth, and that story deserves to be told in a way that connects with people and opens doors. Use AI tools to get started and build the bare-bones structure of your resume, but then bring the human element to the table to perfect it. 

The human element can be a professional resume writer. TopResume has helped countless clients elevate their career stories from good to exceptional. It all starts with a free review of the resume you have now.

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