Should You Use AI On Your Resume & Job Application? A Recruiter Explains What You Need To Know

Is having your resume written by AI a red flag to job recruiters?

"From the bottom of my heart, I don't care," Durham said about AI-written resumes.

"You know what? You got your resume to me, that's great news," she continued.

According to the recruiter, there is a line that you need to be aware of if you're using AI to write your resume, craft a cover letter or fill out a job application.

You have to make sure that you're "operating with integrity" when you get AI software to do that work for you.

"If you need to apply to 50 jobs and you need 50 cover letters, absolutely get AI to do that," Durham said.

Jerry Lee, a career consultant who posts job tips on TikTok, shared a hack for applying to hundreds of jobs in just a few days that involves AI.

Since job applications ask you to add basic information about yourself — your name, your address, your phone number — Lee uses a Google Chrome extension to automatically input all of that.

Then, with job-specific questions like what work experience makes you right for the role, he uses ChatGPT to write the answers.

Can recruiters tell if your resume was written by AI?

You might be wondering if hiring managers and job recruiters can tell when your resume was written by AI instead of yourself.

"There's this huge misconception that recruiters can look at your resume and say, 'ChatGPT wrote this,'" Durham said.

"We absolutely cannot," she continued. "There's no way to tell."

But that doesn't mean you can just throw your work experience and skills into ChatGPT, ask it to write a resume based on the information and then submit whatever it gives you when applying for jobs.

"The best thing you can do is use AI, use it to your advantage but proofread, make sure it's in your tone of written voice and adjust it so that it reflects you," Durham suggested.

"Part of how you shine is your values and who you are," she said. "That is a risk with AI, that you're kind of losing your personal flair."

Why is having a good resume important?

Whether your resume is written by AI or you spent the time to write it yourself, having a good CV is always important when you're applying for jobs.

"Ultimately, everyone's resume is going into the same talent pool regardless of where you're applying," Durham said.

There's a big myth that applying with a certain format — like a PDF — or using certain words is going to bump your resume to the top of the pile, according to the recruiter.

"That's for the most part not true and it's not how the systems work," she said.

Durham also shared that if there are 1,000 applications for a job, a good recruiter will read every single one but sometimes that's not possible.

So, the recruiter revealed that you need to have an amazing resume — which is critical — but you also need to have an added asset: personability.

"Nothing can outweigh the power of networking and the power of personal connection to help get your resume opened and read because that's ultimately the biggest challenge," Durham said.