Quick question: Did you love writing your last resume? Or was it more of a "good enough, let's go" document?
If you're in the second group — welcome to the club. Hardly anyone enjoys writing resumes. And this is where AI can actually help. Not by magically doing everything. But by giving you a usable starting point and turning your half-finished document into something presentable.
Important upfront: AI doesn't replace thinking. It makes your resume sound better — but you still have to supply the facts. And check them.
What AI is good at — and what it isn't
Good:
- Making your phrasing more professional
- Turning your bullet-point notes into polished resume entries
- Tailoring a cover letter to a specific job posting
- Pointing out weaknesses ("this sounds too generic")
- Creating different versions for different jobs
Not good:
- Inventing facts (unfortunately this happens)
- Knowing what actually lands in your specific industry
- Replacing personality
Step 1: Gather your material
Before you type anything into ChatGPT or Claude, write down — rough bullet points are totally fine:
- Your previous jobs with approximate dates
- What you actually did (not just job titles)
- Numbers, if you have them ("grew client base from 200 to 350")
- Education, certifications, courses
- Notable achievements
The more you put in, the better the result. Garbage in, garbage out — that applies here just as much as anywhere.
Step 2: A good prompt
Bad prompt: "Write me a resume."
Good prompt:
"I'm applying for a project manager position in marketing. Here are my previous roles and responsibilities: [your bullet points]. Turn these into professional resume bullet points. Use active verbs. No clichés like 'I'm a team player'. Maximum 3 points per role."
The principle: give context, specify format, describe style.
Step 3: Tailor the cover letter
Cover letters are often even more painful than resumes. This is where AI helps the most. Paste in the job posting and add your background.
Good prompt:
"Here's the job posting: [paste posting]. Here's my relevant background: [short summary]. Write a cover letter that shows why I'm a good fit for this role. Tone: professional but not stiff. No clichés. Maximum one page."
You'll still want to edit the result — but you'll have a draft instead of staring at a blank document.
Step 4: Review and check
This is where it gets serious: read everything. Really.
AI sometimes invents qualifications. Not maliciously — it completes patterns and "thinks" something sounds plausible. Suddenly it says you have "extensive experience in Salesforce" — even though you've only ever seen Salesforce from across the room.
So: check every fact against your actual records. Every qualification listed has to be one you actually have. You'll be asked about it in the interview.
Also: read the text out loud. Does it sound like you? Or like a corporate brochure from 2008? AI tends toward slightly stiff language. Just smooth it out where needed.
One final tip
Instead of generating a complete document, you can also use AI as a critical reader:
"Here's my resume: [paste text]. What sounds generic or weak? What could be phrased more concretely?"
This is sometimes more useful than starting from scratch — because then you know exactly where you actually need to improve things.
AI-assisted resume: completely fine and increasingly common. Don't be embarrassed about it. Just be embarrassed if you stop checking the results.
Personal experience, no paid endorsement. ChatGPT and Claude are both well suited for this — just try both and see which one you prefer.