Recruiters use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to find and evaluate job candidates. AI can be a powerful ally in your work search too.
Finding and applying for jobs can be difficult and time-consuming—and who doesn’t get nervous before an interview? New generative AI tools can work almost like career advisors to help with some of the tedious and stressful parts of your job search and assist with common problems. They can also help you practise your interview skills, just like a human.
Jump to:
- AI job matching
- Creating a resumé and cover letter
- Tailoring a resumé or cover letter
- Preparing for an interview
- Negotiating your salary
- Crafting follow-up and thank-you emails
- Improving your LinkedIn profile
- Using AI for work search with care
AI job matching
Applicant tracking software favoured by recruiters uses AI to sift through resumés and match candidates. Job boards also use AI algorithms to match candidates to jobs and recommend jobs. AI makes these systems better at understanding natural language and matching terms and phrases more loosely rather than word for word.
You can take advantage of AI job matching on job boards by uploading your resumé and building an in-depth profile. These AI systems can then work for you to match you to jobs and recruiters for greater exposure.
Creating a resumé and cover letter
Resumés and cover letters are never easy to write, no matter how often you’ve been through the process or how comfortable you are with writing. AI tools like ChatGPT, Bard, or Copilot can be used as writing assistants
They can review and suggest content for resumé sections, provide alternative versions, and produce bullet points. They can also write cover letters or simply suggest how to approach and lay out a cover letter so you can fill in the gaps. AI can also help with grammar and spelling. Grammarly, for example, integrates AI to proofread content and improve your text as you write.
There are also AI-based resumé platforms that can create a resumé from scratch. These platforms know how to place keywords for applicant tracking and job search systems. Some provide feedback or allow you to rate your resumé against a job posting.
AI resumé and cover letter writing tools include Kickresume, Rezi, Skillroads, and CoverDoc.ai.
Tailoring a resumé or cover letter
AI can be very helpful for drawing out the important parts of a job description. It can then assist with tailoring a resumé or cover letter to match. Tailoring is essential to make your resumé stand out. A CareerBuilder survey suggests that 61% of employers are more likely to consider applicants who customize their resumé.
You can paste a job description into ChatGPT or a similar tool and ask it to summarize the important parts.
Or you can prompt ChatGPT to tailor a resumé to a specific job description:
“Please tailor my resumé for the position of [TITLE] at [COMPANY]. Here is the job description (or job ad): [PASTE IN THE JOB DESCRIPTION OR AD]. And here is my resumé: [PASTE IN YOUR RESUMÉ].”
Using a similar approach, you can also ask ChatGPT to tailor bullet points, profile sections, or a cover letter.
It’s important to remember that AI tools don’t know all about you. You’ll need to provide the information. And they make mistakes, so you must review any content or changes produced by AI. Recruiters also really want to see your work, not that of AI. Although it’s helpful to use AI to make improvements, you don’t want a resumé or cover letter that looks like a machine wrote it.
Tools like Jobscan and SkillSyncer are more specialized. These can scan your resumé, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile for the keywords in a job description. They will then tell you how closely you match and how to optimize your text for a job so you can progress through recruiter applicant tracking systems.
Preparing for an interview
Chatbots are perfect for interview preparation. You can ask ChatGPT to suggest interview questions you may be asked. You can ask questions based on the job description, on your resumé, or, more broadly, on the industry and job type. Chatbots can also give you sample responses to questions or role-play an interview with you so you can practise answering questions confidently.
Try prompting ChatGPT with:
“Pretend you’re a hiring manager interviewing me for the role of [POSITION TITLE]. Ask me common questions and provide feedback on my answers.”
In addition to using a company website and search engines to research the companies you’re applying to, you can use ChatGPT, Bard, or Copilot.
Google offers a free interview warmup tool for practising interview questions and getting feedback for jobs related to technology, marketing, and e-commerce.
Negotiating your salary
Popular AI tools can quickly find information about a job's potential salary, benefits, or perks. This information will better equip you for and make you more confident in salary negotiations.
The AI tool Payscale analyzes salary data from job listings and surveys. It can estimate what you should be earning based on your education, experience, and location.
Crafting follow-up and thank-you emails
ChatGPT, Bard, or Copilot can help you write follow-up and thank-you emails. These can be quite bland, so you need to tell the AI tool about you, the job, why you want it, and any other relevant information.
You can also use AI results as a template. Make sure to always add a personal touch, tailor the email, and check its accuracy to overcome the potential downsides of using AI.
Improving your LinkedIn profile
If you have been using AI to improve parts of your resumé and cover letter, you can update your LinkedIn profile with the same new text or follow the same process to create better descriptions and bullet points.
LinkedIn has also added its own AI writing tools. For the “About” section, you’ll find a “Get AI-Powered Suggestions” button at the bottom of the About text field.
Using AI for work search with care
Though recruiters and job seekers use AI to make hiring and getting hired easier, keep in mind that you’re a human and will ultimately be hired by a human. AI can be helpful, but it is a machine. AI writes like a machine, and it can make mistakes.
AI tools like ChatGPT are conversational. You can chat with them to explain more about yourself, your experience, and your goals. The AI can then use this information to help draft or review your resumé or letter.
You can try different approaches with ChatGPT. For example, you can ask for a formal version of a cover letter and an informal one, or say “Show my enthusiasm for [xxxx].” You can ask for several versions and choose your favourite elements from each for your final copy.
Remember, AI doesn’t know all of your skills and attributes, so it won’t automatically include the right things. If you use AI to help with your work search, review everything it writes carefully, and make sure you show a human touch, some personality, and enthusiasm for the job.