Should You Use ChatGPT for Resume Writing?

Will using ChatGPT for resume improvements boost your chances of landing your dream job? 

As with any other AI tool, your results, and the quality of the text output, will completely depend on how you use the tool. There are best practices and things you should probably avoid for high-quality results.

ChatGPT for resumes is best used in collaboration with human input. This is the only way to ensure accuracy, relevance and quality. At this moment in time, AI can not accurately create a perfect resume without any assistance.

Let’s explore how ChatGPT can be useful and what you will need to be aware of if you’re planning to use AI for your job search.

chatgpt for resume - featured image
March 14, 2024

What Is ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is an advanced AI language model developed by the company OpenAI. It is designed to generate human-like text based on prompts or information provided by users. 

It utilizes state-of-the-art machine learning to understand context, tone, and language nuances, allowing it to produce coherent and relevant responses.

Although the writing can be generic and repetitive, ChatGPT can generate some useful text that many will find useful when planning and writing their resume or cover letter.

How Can ChatGPT Help Jobseekers?

For job seekers, ChatGPT offers many exciting potential benefits. 

Writing (or rewriting) a resume can be a time-consuming and tedious task. Personalizing the content, ensuring keywords are included and formatting is correct can take some time. ChatGPT can assist with some of these repetitive tasks.

Firstly, ChatGPT can help to tailor content to align with specific job descriptions. It can analyze large chunks of text, pick out key information and provide you with a summary to work from. From this point it can recommend relevant skills and experiences to optimize the resume for the specific job description.

Secondly, ChatGPT can help with proofreading and spell checking written content. It can suggest better words and even rewrite text to better appeal to recruiters. It can break down text into more readable formats and even convert ideas to things like bullet points with minimal user effort required. 

It’s important to remember that ChatGPT will often use US English and equivalent spellings. If you are applying to roles outside of the US, you may need to manually check and adjust text to suit.

ai is designed to enhance writing not replace it: chat gpt for resume

Will Recruiters Do AI Checks On A Resume?

The recruitment industry relies heavily on digital tools for efficient and effective hiring. This can include applicant tracking systems (ATS) as well as things like AI detection software.

Recruiters won’t necessarily discard an application that uses AI but it may impact their first impression of an applicant and influence the direct follow-up questions they choose to focus on. 

In most technologically advanced industries, AI is a familiar and frequently used tool. For some industries, using AI may be seen as a lack of enthusiasm for an application so it’s important to put your own spin on the text created to add some personality.

Recruiters must conduct due diligence when hiring new talent. With AI programs like ChatGPT sometimes making up details, or using unreliable sources, it’s important that they properly check over any details.

Applicants are responsible for providing an accurate and honest picture of their qualifications and experience. Even if ChatGPT provides an outline, it is their responsibility to review and correct all information before submitting it to recruiters.

Is ChatGPT A Good Idea For Applicants?

As with any technological tool, there are both pros and cons to using ChatGPT for resume writing.

The Pros Of ChatGPT for Resume Writing

It streamlines the writing process. 

ChatGPT can be an excellent efficiency tool. It accelerates the creation of a resume by providing relevant content suggestions. The tool can essentially act as a mind-mapping option to help speed up the process, organize ideas and prioritize important details.

It offers grammar correction and language refinement.

ChatGPT can help to ensure that resumes are error-free and professionally written. It can suggest industry-appropriate wording alternatives and help the writer find language that feels more professional.

It assists with tailoring content for each role.

If an applicant provides ChatGPT with relevant details, it can help to tailor content to ensure it’s suitable for each job role. Each role will have slightly different requirements so it’s important that applicants can adapt to stand out in these unique and competitive fields.

Cover letter writing.

A cover letter, in particular, can be time-consuming to personalize. With a good template, applicants can save time on adapting text with the help of ChatGPT. The AI is designed to mirror genuine human text so is capable of rewriting information fairly well. Results are not perfect and should still be edited by a human even if the text seems to mostly make sense.

The Cons Of ChatGPT for Resume Writing

It may lack human qualities.

Perhaps the most obvious drawback of content produced by ChatGPT is that it lacks humanity and personality. It’s fairly reliable for recalling information and mimicking patterns in text but that means that it struggles to stand out. 

Its accuracy may vary.

The text created by ChatGPT relies on accurate data to begin with. The input, prompt and dataset provided can make for unreliable results. Similarly, ChatGPT relies on information already in the public domain, which isn’t always created by reliable sources.

It’s not suitable for some roles.

Some roles need a more personal touch than ChatGPT can provide. This may mean showing industry-relevant insights and important ideas that often differentiate applicants and make the best candidates stand out. 

It can be repetitive.

Content created by ChatGPT can be repetitive and generic. Whilst it’s a good starting point, it’s not always suitable, especially where employers are looking for applicants with unique ideas or those who think outside the box.

It finds context challenging.

ChatGPT will not necessarily understand industry-specific terminology or more up-to-date language. It may also misunderstand phrases or ideas that can have numerous meanings.

Prompts: ChatGPT For Resume Writing

The information provided to ChatGPT will greatly impact the results. Prompts should be specific, descriptive and clear.

Here are a few ChatGPT prompts to try when creating a resume:

  • “Generate a summary of my engineering qualifications and experiences. Ask me any necessary questions.”
  • “Craft a compelling cover letter tailored to a senior software developer position in 300 words or less.”
  • “Draft a persuasive statement highlighting my skills as a product engineer.”
  • “Provide suggestions to enhance the clarity and professionalism of my resume.”
  • “Suggest relevant keywords and skills for a project management role.”
  • “Generate an accomplishment statement highlighting my achievements in mechanical engineering.”
  • “Create an overview of this job description […] Highlight any keywords or skills necessary for applicants.”

Alternatives To ChatGPT for Resume Writing

chatgpt for resume help

For those who don’t want to rely on technology, there are alternatives for perfecting your resume and landing your dream role.

We help ambitious applicants to stand out with resume reviews and rewrites that use proven formats from some of the world’s most influential businesses.

Not only can we help with resumes, we can also assist with LinkedIn optimization, mock interviews and general career advice.

Ready to land your new role? Get started now.


About the author

Mollie Buttery
Writer | SEO | Articles & Blog Posts | Social Media

Mollie supports ULTMECHE through website growth, social media, SEO, and other digital marketing tricks. Mollie has 10+ years experience of in house and freelance marketing experience in industries such as Finance, Law, SAAS, Automotive, Building Services, Commerce, and more. Some of her favorite writing topics consist of sports and finance. Mollie has been key to the growth of ULTMECHE’s SEO and digital marketing efforts.


1 thought on “Should You Use ChatGPT for Resume Writing?”

Leave a Comment