If you’ve been using AI tools, you’ve probably realized they can carry out almost any writing task. One common use is writing cover letters, but if you take AIs one step further, they can easily create a curriculum vitae (CV), better known as a resume. We’ll walk you through the process, and don’t worry, you won’t need a subscription; you can do this with the free version of ChatGPT.
How to have ChatGPT write your resume
Step 1: Plan things out
Begin by planning out the details you’d like to include in your resume. ChatGPT can’t add information you don’t provide, so use bullet points to map out what you’d like to see in the resume. For this example, I used GPT-4, but you can use GPT-3.5, which is free and will create the same result. The following image shows the basic guidelines I provided ChatGPT for my own career and education.
Breaking down your experience into sections and bullet points helps you organize your thoughts and include all the relevant details. This method also makes it easier for ChatGPT to summarize those points for you. While you can have ChatGPT construct paragraphs from your provided information, you can also ask the AI to simply spice up the bullet points and keep them as is. Just remember to be as specific as possible.
Step 2: Request a first draft
After you give ChatGPT all the necessary information and instructions, it will do its thing and write a resume for you. However, while ChatGPT is a powerful and robust program, don’t assume you will have a polished resume after the AI has fulfilled your request. If anything, you will only have a first draft that provides a skeleton for a resume, not an actual CV that would be accepted by most HR departments.
The above gallery shows what ChatGPT gave me as its first draft based on the info I pasted into the chatbox, preceded by the prompt “Write a CV with this information.”. As you can see, it’s missing a lot of information. When this occurs, you should note what needs to be added and then fill in the gaps yourself. Also, take care to modify the draft whenever necessary, as ChatGPT might have misrepresented your work experience and accomplishments. We recommend checking out our How to use ChatGPT guide, as it can help you write an effective prompt for this task. Moreover, depending on the position you are applying for, you might need to ask ChatGPT to first identify the most important skills listed in the job posting, then use that info to tailor your resume to the results. As with writing a resume by yourself, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for an AI-built resume.
Step 3: Add more details
Once you are done proofreading your first draft, it’s time to implement your changes and create a second draft with the help of ChatGPT. Then repeat the process to create a third draft, a fourth draft, and so on and so forth. Just ask ChatGPT for adjustments or potentially add more jobs if you find the resume draft lacking.
Since no two people have the same skillsets, you have to use your own judgment for all potential additions and fixes. For instance, if you want to include that you speak English, intermediate German, and basic Irish (as I did), request ChatGPT to include these details. Make whatever changes you deem necessary so long as they are factually accurate.
Step 4: Turn the result into a document
After a few drafts, ChatGPT should provide a resume that is ready to hand in. However, company HR departments don’t accept AI chatbot outputs for job applications. If you want to use your ChatGPT-written resume, you have to transcribe it first.
While you can ask ChatGPT to turn your resume into a PDF, the document will be fairly bare-bones and won’t include any special formatting. Therefore, we suggest taking the content that ChatGPT generates and manually inputting it into a document yourself. Afterward, go over the result with a fine-tooth comb — all the information has to be accurate, and the resume should be flawless with neither a spelling mistake nor grammatical error in sight. Furthermore, you can find hundreds of CV templates for Google Docs and Overleaf. If you copy and paste what ChatGPT created into individual sections, you can easily make and customize a CV on the go. Once you’re done, save the result as a Word file or a PDF, as those are the most widely accepted resume document formats. If everything went according to plan, you should have a resume ready to wow HR managers.
While AI won’t create your CV entirely on its own, it will do most of the legwork for you. You still need a concise, appealing layout, but at the very least, ChatGPT should provide the framework for a powerful resume that makes you look professional.