Recently, Emily Durham and Bonnie Dilber — who have both worked as recruiters — shared with Narcity what you need to know about getting hired, including using AI on your resume, cover letter and job application.
Should you use AI on your resume and job application? Well, Durham and Dilber said that you can use an AI tool like ChatGPT to help you write your resume and figure out the best answers to put on a job application.
"AI can provide a great foundation," Dilber said.
Durham mentioned that as a recruiter, it's not a red flag if you use ChatGPT to write your CV.
So, after chatting with the recruiters about this I decided to try it for myself and see what kind of resume the bot could come up with for me.
To get started, I put this ChatGPT resume prompt into the free AI tool: "Write a resume for an online journalist based on these work experiences."
Then, in the same message, I wrote a few sentences explaining each of the jobs I've had in the journalism industry and what I've accomplished in those roles.
It took the AI tool less than a minute to generate a resume that looks like a professional CV to submit in a job application.
While it seemed like a perfect resume at first glance, when I read it more closely, I noticed some mistakes I would need to fix before sending it in to get hired.
The bot even noted that some changes needed to be made!
"Make sure to tailor the resume to your specific experiences, skills, and accomplishments. The above resume is a template that you can customize to showcase your unique qualifications as an online journalist based on the provided work experiences," ChatGPT said.
If you're trying this to help with your own job hunt, you might be able to get a more accurate resume by including a lot of specific details about your previous jobs, your work experience and your education.
Here's what my ChatGPT resume got wrong, what it got right and what recruiters said you can do to level up your CV with AI.
What did ChatGPT get wrong on my resume?
There weren't a lot of mistakes that were made by ChatGPT on the resume that I asked it to generate but those few errors definitely needed fixing.
Because I had asked it to create a CV for an online journalist and noted in my job description that I sometimes take on the role of an editor for co-workers, the AI wrote my Narcity job title as "Online Journalist | Editor."
I had to change that to "Senior Creator | Writer" so that it would more accurately reflect my job title.
In the section about an internship at Elle Canada, the AI wrote that I "assisted senior editors and staff writers in transcribing and fact-checking articles for both print and online platforms."
While that's true, "print and online platforms" isn't the best wording to describe the magazine's print issues so I tweaked that to be "print editions and its online platform."
ChatGPT wrote that I "collaborated with fellow writers to brainstorm ideas and ensure a dynamic and engaging magazine format" during my time with a student magazine when I was in university.
That is almost the exact wording it generated for my experience with Narcity: "Collaborate with editorial team to brainstorm and develop story ideas, contributing to the ongoing growth and success of the publication."
So, I had to reword that sentence to be more unique.
Even though I didn't include anything about my university degree in the resume prompt I gave to ChatGPT, it wrote that I have a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University.
The AI took what I had put in about my job at the student magazine and that I asked for a resume for a journalist and assumed that I have a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.
I actually have a Bachelor of Journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University so that needed to be fixed. Also, I had to add the year of graduation.
In the skills section that ChatGPT generated, it mistakingly used "genres" to describe the topics that I've covered as a journalist.
Since that's not typical terminology for the industry, I had to change it.
What did ChatGPT get right on my resume?
Despite the mistakes that I noticed in the ChatGPT-generated resume, there were a few things that the AI tool managed to get right on my CV.
The resume format that it came up with was actually sleek, professional, and straight to the point.
It was easy to read with the bold subheadings for my contact information, work experience and education, and bullet point lists of what I accomplished at each of my jobs.
ChatGPT also generated a summary of my skills that really gave me an ego boost!
It said I am a "dedicated and versatile online journalist" who has "a passion for delivering accurate and compelling stories" and then explained the different editorial roles I've worked in and the topics that I write about.
Even without giving a lot of details about what my duties were in the jobs I've had, it managed to craft a list of skills that accurately reflected my years of experience as a journalist.
Also, for the three jobs that I put into the prompt, ChatGPT hit the nail on the head for what I did in each position and even put it in words that are pretty evocative.
Then, at the end of the CV, ChatGPT generated a spot to link an online portfolio since that's something a lot of journalists use to showcase their work across publications.
How can you use ChatGPT to level up your resume?
Now that you've seen firsthand what an AI-generated resume is like, let's get into how you can use ChatGPT to level up your resume and job application.
Dilber suggested that you use an AI tool like ChatGPT for your job hunt in two ways.
You can have it give you inspiration for your resume or job application and then rewrite what it generates for you.
That can help ensure it comes across as personal and real to recruiters and hiring managers who read it.
Dilber also noted that it's "pretty obvious" if you submitted an AI-generated CV when it's not accurate, too repetitive and has a robotic tone.
So, her ChatGPT resume hack about rewording can help you out there!
The other way to use it is to have it clarify or strengthen your ideas and writing, according to the recruiter.
"For example, insert bullet points and ask ChatGPT how you can make things more concise," Dilber said.
Durham also shared how you can use AI to help you with your CV and application, especially if you're applying to a lot of jobs.
"The best thing you can do is use AI, use it to your advantage," she said. "But proofread, make sure it's in your tone of written voice."
That means you should make tweaks so that it truly reflects who you are, how you write and how you speak instead of ChatGPT.
"Part of how you shine is your values and who you are," Durham noted. "That is a risk with AI, that you're kind of losing your personal flair."
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.
