What more can I do to improve my AI-generated resume?

Undoubtedly AI has been a game-changer in the job search, especially with resume writing.

There are a lot of awesome tools out there to help job seekers make the changes that often took hours to do on their own before now within minutes.

Besides saving time, AI also helps professionals gain a leg up in the job search in a lot of ways, including:

• Suggesting the words or sentences to get you started when describing all the things you do in your 9-to-5
• Summarizing your experience in a succinct manner, streamlining a 5+ page resume documenting decades of work into an impressive document that doesn’t read like a novel?
• Giving resume template with a layout and format that’s not dated and that lands well in today’s landscape of applicant tracking systems
• Analyzing your experience to help suggest ways to improve, giving a quick ‘health check’ on how well your resume matches a job posting by way of sharing a score and tangible suggestions on what additional words to include

With AI’s advantages, it might be tempting to stick with the resume it gave you on the first pass.??

But, it’s been said that you should personalize it a bit more, sharing the details and highlights that make it sound more like you.

As AI tools do a great job streamlining your resume, it might run the risk of making your experiences and accomplishments sound very generic.

Many clients I work with relate to this, mentioning the struggle. What else can you do to wordsmith your resume so that it’s even better?

While you can always incorporate the ‘go to’?advice of including details that quantify and highlight the impact of your work, improving your resume doesn’t always have to be about numbers and accomplishments.?

Here are three things to consider:

1. Don’t just focus on the outcomes?- share other details that add depth. Describe information about the places you’ve worked that bring life to the work you’ve done. Many AI tools are great at simplifying complex sentences into the major ideas but check to see that it’s not missing out on important points to call out. Examples include things that bring your workplace into focus such as the different stakeholders you support or interact with, the volume and complexity of your work, the scope or profile of an initiative, plus any other helpful information that gives insight into your day-to-day. These set context, painting a more complete picture of not just what you do, but also the factors at play in the workplace and what you're dealing with regularly. ?
2. Be sure to speak of what a project looked like before you were involved. It’s important to talk about the Befores vs. Afters of things you were involved with. That way, you’re able to convey just how significant the transformation was for the company, customers, or workforce.

Yes, talk about outcomes but ask yourself - does the reader know just how impactful your contributions were to get to that point?

You’ll want to include language that conveys just how challenging the project was in the beginning, for example, so they understand the stuff you achieved was actually a big deal.?

3. Speak in language common to the industry and role you want to work. I remember working with a client who had several years of project management experience in a variety of fields and who wanted to apply that depth to something new - the tech industry (specifically software development). Though she had translatable skills, she highlighted projects that followed waterfall methodology and not the agile process commonly used by all her target companies despite having some practical experience with it. The AI tools she had used when revising her resume neglected to include this important detail, choosing to focus on broad, general language around her line of work instead.?

You want to show that you belong in the role and industry you’re targeting not just by telling them you can do it, but by giving tangible examples that people already working in that field encounter and solve every day. Furthermore, those interviewing you and reviewing your resume will be able to see that you get it, as you share examples that are relatable to others already working in that field or role.

Taking the time to add your personal touch to your AI-generated resume is essential.? It can tell your story to a future employer in a way that they understand the depth of your expertise while giving you the power to tell the narrative about why you’d be an incredible hire.

? Do you use AI tools as part of your resume editing process? Care to share a tip on things you do to your documents so that they bring your experiences to life? -- I’d love to know. Please comment below. ??

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