ChatGPT has come on the scene and created a world of opportunity for copywriters, content creators, marketers and the like, however, it has also opened the door for job seekers and career minded folk looking to upgrade their resume.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with ChatGPT, it's basically a chatbot that can answer your questions, conduct research and write sentences, or as they put it... “An AI language tool developed by OpenAI (and partnered with Microsoft) which is able to understand natural language and respond to questions or prompts in a human like, conversational way”.
As awesome as ChatGPT is, it's not going to do everything for you. You've got to know what you're doing before you dive in, this means you’ll need to understand your profession, know what positions you're looking to apply for, and you will need to have a clear sense of your skills and experience. If you're too vague or unclear you're not going to get the results you want. So… be specific… be clear… and be patient.
ChatGPT isn't perfect. Sometimes it can be a little clunky and repetitive, but, with a little bit of persistence you can get it to generate some seriously impressive results, and that's what this article is all about - helping you make the most of this awesome tool.
1. ASK CHATGPT FOR SECTOR SPECIFIC RESUME WRITING ADVICE
When writing a resume there are some common rules that apply to all candidates regardless of skills, industries or specialisms, however for some industries a more in-depth knowledge will give you the edge.
Ask ChatGPT to provide sector specific resume writing advice for "your industry" to gain extra insight into what you need to do to stand out.
As a guideline, here are some general resume writing tips
Tailor your resume to the job you're applying for.
Use keywords and action verbs to make your resume stand out.
Keep it concise and focused. 2 pages is enough.
Use bullet points to break up your text and make it easy to read.
Include quantifiable achievements to demonstrate your impact in previous roles.
Proofread your resume carefully to ensure there are no typos or grammatical errors.
As the first bullet point says, the best resumes are tailored to the needs and wants of an employer, this brings us onto our next two points…
2. ASK CHATGPT TO EXPLAIN JOB DESCRIPTIONS IN SIMPLE TERMS
If you have already begun your job search then you may have found yourself scrolling through pages and pages of job adverts, some of which are really not well written, straightforward or clear.
To effectively target your resume it’s imperative to understand what the employer is asking for. Complicated and unnecessarily long job adverts can create confusion, so copy your job advert into ChatGPT and ask it to “explain this job in simple terms”.
You’ll gain clarity over the advert text and the position which can be super helpful for revising your own resume and drawing out the areas which will add the most value to employers.
3. ASK CHATGPT TO PICK OUT KEY SKILLS WITHIN JOB ADVERTS
Employers often have a habit of listing every skill under the sun, turning a job advert into one long list of skills and requirements. For candidates this method can make it incredibly difficult to understand which skills are the most important.
Ask ChatGPT to review a job advert for you, copy the job advert into ChatGPT and ask it to “list the top 5 skills required to do this role”.
You’ll receive an answer that will be a nice summary of the core skills required to do this role, this will help you understand your suitability and will also help you target your resume.
Understanding the jobs you want to apply for is the first step to ensuring a positive job search and being able to tailor your resume effectively. Once you know the types of jobs you want you then need to work on the resume itself…
4. ASK CHATGPT TO WRITE YOU A PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY
48% of recruiters say they would be more likely to contact a candidate if they included a professional summary on their CV. So if this is the case, make that prime space at the top of your resume count!
Copy the key parts of your existing resume (i.e. your last position, education and key skills) and paste into ChatGPT with the words “these are my skills write me a professional summary”.
We tried it with some sample data and it returned a 150 word statement that was an accurate and highly decent summary, we wouldn’t advise using the text exactly word for word but as a starting point it offers some good inspiration.
5. ASK CHATGPT TO CONDENSE AND STREAMLINE RESUME TEXT
The recommended length for a resume is between 1 and 2 pages. We often speak to professionals who find that condensing what is often a lengthy and elaborate career into just a short amount of space as problematic. ChatGPT can help here…
Copy passages from your resume that you want to condense and ask ChatGPT to “shorten this paragraph” or “make my employment history more concise”.
6. ASK CHATGPT TO TURN YOUR JOB DESCRIPTION INTO YOUR EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
Cast yourself back to when you first joined your current / last employer, it’s highly likely that at the time you joined them you would have been given a job description, outlining all your responsibilities and requirements to do the role.
If you can find this copy it into ChatGPT and ask “this is my current job, can you condense it so I can include it on my resume under the employment history section”.
We dropped 850 words of a sample job description and it streamlined it into a 150 word passage which covered the whole crux of the job. Perfect for time poor recruiters who want you to cut to the chase.
7. ASK CHATGPT TO UNCOVER YOUR SOFT SKILLS
According to CareerBuilder, 70% of employers say that they have rejected a candidate because they lack the relevant soft skills. Many candidates overlook this information when creating a resume, silly mistake.
As a follow on question from the one above Ask ChatGPT “what are my soft skills” and it will return a selection of relevant ones. From our sample data it highlighted 7 soft skills and provided detailed explanations on each one.
8. USE CHATGPT FOR CV MIRRORING
CV Mirroring is a simple little trick where you take an employers job advert or job description and reflect the core skills and responsibilities into your own resume.
If you paste your resume and job advert into ChatGPT and ask it to “optimise my resume for this job” it will do the work for you.
9. ASK CHATGPT TO SUGGEST THE BEST ACTION VERBS TO USE
The beauty of ChatGPT is that it remembers what you have already asked it, so by now you shouldn’t need to paste in any additional information, you’ve added past jobs, your existing resume, and maybe a variety of job adverts, it has enough.
You can now ask open questions such as “suggest the best action verbs to use in my resume” and it will reply with relevant information.
10. ASK CHATGPT TO PRODUCE A RESUME HEADLINE IN LESS THAN 5 WORDS
Your resume headline sits proudly underneath your name at the top of your resume. This short summary provides employers and recruiters a snapshot of who you are at a glance.
It may be something as simple as the above “Customer Service Manager” or it could be something more dynamic like “Collaborative Customer Success Expert”, the beauty of asking ChatGPT to create a title for you is that it can also react to your feedback.
If you are unhappy with the result or just feel you can do better, provide feedback and ask for another one. Just keep going until it creates one that feels right.
11. ASK CHATGPT TO WRITE A MATCHING LINKEDIN PROFILE
A good resume is complimented by a strong social media profile. According to Guru Careers 93% of recruiters will use social media to find high-quality candidates, what this basically means is that your LinkedIn profile is a serious extension to your resume.
Recruiters will search for you on LinkedIn and then approach you and ask for a resume.
Ask ChatGPT to write you a LinkedIn introduction, headline title, experience and more. The beauty of LinkedIn is the more keywords and information you include the more visable your profile will be, which means more requests for your resume.
12. ASK CHATGPT TO REVIEW YOUR FINISHED RESUME
Who said resume writing was hard, by now you should have a pretty hot looking resume, you should have implemented all the changes and it should be coming together nicely.
Now, copy your new resume text back into ChatGPT and ask it to provide a review. You’ll get some new feedback and changes which you can use to enhance and improve your document further.
The limitation with ChatGPT is can’t provide you with an eye-catching design. Here are some easy to edit professional word resume templates and creative word resume templates to assist in that department.
13. ASK CHATGPT TO WRITE YOU A COVER LETTER
Despite popular belief all employers like to receive a cover letter that supports a job application, it shows initiative, a deeper level of thought and care for the role. You’ve gone out of your way and taken the time and effort to craft something specific to support your job application. This makes employers feel special and puts you on a pedastal.
If you provide ChatGPT with the job posting and a little information on yourself and ask it to “write you a cover letter” it will do so. Use it to create a tailored cover letter for every role you apply for.
So there we have it, 13 ways you can use ChatGPT for resume writing. But remember ChatGPT is an AI bot which is still in it’s infancy, we thoroughly recommend reading the results and tweaking / amending the text so it appears in your own Tone of Voice (ToV) and possess your character.