How to Harness AI to Enhance Your CV

In a competitive job market, it can be tough to stand out on paper. That’s where artificial intelligence (AI) comes in.  

Using an AI tool to create your CV allows you to focus more on finding the right job, while spending less time worrying about the right words to use. AI tools can help you overcome writer's block, generate useful CV templates and provide key industry-specific terms or skills to include.  

AI tools can also allow you to tailor your CV to meet the criteria that Recruiters and Hiring Managers are looking for. 

I’ve outlined 5 key factors to consider when using AI tools to enhance your CV writing: 

• Advantages of using AI to write your CV 

• Selecting the right AI tool for your CV 

• Choosing prompts that will give you the best results 

• Tailoring your CV to fit the job 

• AI is a tool, not a substitute 

Advantages of using AI to write your CV 

The primary reason that job seekers are reaching for AI tools when writing their CV is for the undeniable time-saving benefits. Business Insider describes AI as a “mechanic to free up time” to focus on other tasks like contacting Recruiters and searching for your next role. Using AI tools to streamline the most time-consuming elements of CV writing is a great way to focus your efforts on the aspects of job searching that need the most work. 

Writing your CV from scratch or adapting an old resume can be time consuming, and maximising the time that you’ve put aside to work on your CV is essential in today’s job market. AI resume writers like Kickresume, Teal, and Resume Worded can condense your lengthy job descriptions into relevant bullet points and write your education and skills sections for you. 

Choose from a wide variety of AI-generated resume and CV templates that are tailored to recruitment software (often called Applicant Tracking Software or ATS’s). Recruitment agencies and larger businesses will use this software to store and search for your CV amongst thousands of other candidate CVs. With AI template generators like CV Genius or Jobscan, you can customise a template that aligns your CV with a specific job specification and is formatted correctly to pass recruitment software scans that might otherwise hold you back from a crucial interview.

Choosing prompts that will give you the best results

Outline your goals clearly and concisely to produce better results. Specify the sections that you want to include in the AI prompt, such as education, experience, skills and any relevant information. Clearly outline the format, style, and tone you prefer whether it’s bullet points, a specific number of words per section, or a Harvard style CV.

When writing AI prompts, providing more detailed instructions for the content that you want to generate will create more accurate results from the AI tool. Be specific and include any relevant detail about your experience and the job description. 

Example 1 of AI prompt for Software Engineer CV: 

• Prompt example: “For a Software Engineer CV, rewrite this job description into developer specific language, 50 words, including KPIs and tech stacks: "writing and testing software code at different phases of completion, and contributing to various development projects.” 

• Prompt results: “Developed and tested software code throughout the SDLC, ensuring high-quality deliverables and meeting project milestones. Collaborated on multiple development projects, utilising tech stacks such as Java, Python, and React. Achieved a 95% code coverage in unit tests and improved deployment efficiency by 30% through automation and continuous integration practices.” 

Example 2 of AI prompt for Business Analyst:

• Prompt example: “For a Business Analyst CV, create a job description using industry specific language, relevant software, KPI's and numbers. Use a formal tone and short, concise bullet points.” 

• Prompt results:  

• Conducted detailed analysis of business processes, driving a 25% increase in operational efficiency. 

• Facilitated stakeholder workshops to gather requirements, resulting in a 30% reduction in project timelines. 

• Developed comprehensive documentation, including BRDs and process maps, enhancing project clarity and alignment. 

• Utilised SQL and Tableau for data analysis, improving reporting accuracy by 40%. 

• Monitored KPIs to assess project success, achieving a 95% satisfaction rate among stakeholders. 

• Implemented Agile methodologies, increasing team productivity by 20% through improved collaboration.

Tailoring your CV to fit the job

By including an overview of the company in your CV writing prompt, AI tools will make you stand out from the masses by customising your CV to align with a company’s values, mission, and culture. AI tools like Chat GPT can generate multiple versions of prompt responses, so tailor the responses to accurately reflect your experience and align with the company you’re applying to.

According to Teal, job seekers should always tailor their experience and achievements to match the specific job descriptions of the role that they’re applying for. Optimising your CV writing can ensure that Recruiters can find you when they use in-house software to search for industry-specific keyword criteria that match the job that they’re hiring for. According to Forbes, over 97% of Fortune 500 companies are using recruitment software, that screens candidates for keywords. 

CV writing tools like Chat GPT, Jobscan, Teal, CV Genius, and SkillSyncer can make sure that your resume isn’t filtered out by software algorithms and can land your CV straight into a recruiter’s inbox. It’s no surprise that Resume Builder found that 7 in 10 job seekers who used ChatGPT when writing their CV reported a higher company response rate from Recruiters and Hiring Managers.

Remember that AI is a tool, not a substitute

AI is improving as it learns the more it is used, but it cannot reflect your unique experiences as a human. AI tools cannot grasp the nuances of specific industries or experiences and without tailoring the content that AI produces, your CV can be too generic and leave out job-specific keywords that are vital for Recruiters and recruitment software.

Artificial intelligence isn’t perfect. Although AI can be a helpful and effective tool to write and improve your CV, it can still generate content that includes errors, from misinterpreting certain details and incorrect spelling to inaccurate data. It is essential that you always manually review and refine whatever is produced by your AI tool of choice to make sure your writing is professional, relevant, and most importantly, accurate.