Using ChatGPT AI as a résumé collaborator

As I’ve been experimenting with ChatGPT to tailor my résumé to job descriptions, I’ve been iterating my process. I can’t speak to the results yet, since my submission-to-interview ratio is still zero (unless I’ve had a friend submit as a reference). But I’m definitely learning a lot about how to use ChatGPT along the way.

TL; dr I now use a collaborative approach, wherein I ask ChatGPT for suggestions for tailoring my résumé and make those changes myself. Then I have ChatGPT provide my skills summary and professional summary tailored to the position.

Approach 1: single prompt + iterations

I started by using a single prompt in which I gave ChatGPT its persona and attached my general résumé and job description and asked it to tailor my résumé to the job.

Prompt: Act as a human resources insider and résumé specialist. Please tailor my attached résumé to emphasize my qualifications for this new job description while retaining all existing sections and job experiences in the attached résumé. Job description: [paste]

This led to an unacceptable oversimplification of my résumé and an hour-long back-and-forth with ChatGPT to better tailor it. I would then give it the three following prompts, iterating my résumé based on the suggestions each time:

• Please do an analysis of the fit of this résumé to the original job description, being extremely thorough in your comparison. Provide 5-10 suggestions for better tailoring my résumé to this job description.
• Can your check and see if there are any bullet points in the job description that aren’t addressed in my résumé and make recommendations on what/where to include any additional content?
• Thank you! Anything else missing from the job description that I should add?

This entire process usually took about an hour. Often, my application would be rejected within 24 hours. I suspect this is because of my location, Hawaii, which is never one of the specified cities employers cite as preferred for remote work.

Lesson learned: asking ChatGPT to produce output without first asking it to analyze the input results in low quality output.?

Approach 2: specific instructions (9-prompt series)

Since the tailoring process felt more labor-intensive than doing it on my own, I decided to see what others were doing. I found a blog post where one applicant shared his series of nine different prompts. These were, in short:

Preparation:

1. Setting the overall task and persona with a request to remember them (no output)
2. Providing the job description and asking it to remember (no output)
3. Providing company information and asking it to remember (no output)

Creation:

1. Provide instruction for tailoring the résumé with a request to remember (no output)
2. Instruction to rewrite a single job experience (output)
3. Repeat step 5 for every job experience and copy and paste into a new résumé
4. Ask ChatGPT to review the job description and list the most important skills for the job (output). Choose three to five of my best skills from this list and add it to my Skills section.
5. Ask ChatGPT what the most common areas of expertise are for the given job title. (output). From that list, choose my most relevant areas of expertise and add them to my résumé.
6. Attach my newly minted résumé and ask ChatGPT to create a summary for the top. (output) Add that to the résumé and finalize.

Since ChatGPT is very slow for me, this total process took well over an hour, often more like 90 minutes. While this did produce nicely tailored résumés, I didn’t feel this time-consuming process was worth the effort, especially considering I also needed to construct cover letters as well as LinkedIn messages to hiring managers.

Lessons learned:

1. Asking ChatGPt to analyze input BEFORE asking it to produce output results in higher quality output.
2. Asking ChatGPT to produce output in bite-sized chunks results in higher quality output.

Approach 3: collaborating with ChatGPT for summarizing (5 prompts)

Since using nine or more prompts for each job application was taking way too long but I was dissatisfied with using a single prompt, I took the lessons learned from the previous two approaches and created a more streamlined, collaborative approach.

In this approach, I ask ChatGPT to analyze the job description and make recommendations for improvement, but I don’t have it generate the specific text for those improvements. Where I do ask it to generate text is the skills section and summary at the top of my résumé, since those are the first thing the hiring manager or her hiring robot will see. I use ChatGPT to make sure my résumé ticks all the boxes in those first two sections.

Here’s the revamped, collaborative ?process:

1. Ask ChatGPT to review and remember the job description: You are a professional résumé writer expert at designing résumés that drive hiring managers to interview me for the position. I’m including a job description below. Can you read it carefully so that when I ask you questions about it later, you will reference the job description and provide me with accurate answers??
2. Ask ChatGPT to summarize what it just read: Now, based on the [Social Media and Community Manager at Delinea] job description I just provided, what are the most important skills required for the job? Which experiences and skills would give me an advantage in this role?
3. Ask ChatGPT to compare my résumé to the list it just generated: I am attaching my résumé. Can you compare it to the job description and provide five ways to improve my résumé to be seen as the best candidate for the job?
4. Revise the résumé content myself and ask ChatGPT to generate a skills summary: Thank you! While I work on that, can you use that information to generate a summary of my skills and experience that align with the [Social Media and Community Manager at Delinea] job description using bullet points?
5. Revise my résumé to include the skills bullet points and ask ChatGPT to generate a professional summary: Thank you! Using my attached résumé, write a brief professional summary for my résumé that highlights my strengths and experience relevant to the[ Sr Content Marketing Manager at Samsara] job description I sent you earlier, without including specific metrics or numbers. Keep it to three sentences maximum, and use sentence fragments that are missing the “I am,” for example “[I am an] Experienced content strategist with 18 years experience strategizing, executing, analyzing, and iterating successful content campaigns.”

This process usually takes less than an hour, and it’s more of a collaboration between ChatGPT and me. I use its suggestions to tailor the meat of my résumé, but I use it for what it does best: summarizing and reinforcing my strengths in the Skills section bullet points.

How are you using ChatGPT?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?