I must have read hundreds of CVs in the past month alone.
During that time, I’ve noticed some common mistakes that could have easily been avoided if the applicant had spent a few more minutes customizing the resume for the job at hand.
Landing a job is hard, and takes a long time too! I know, because a year ago I was on the other side, looking for work as a content marketer.
- We spend hours (1-8 hours on average) creating a stellar resume.
- Recruiters spend anywhere between 8 seconds and 15 minutes to review it.
- Plus, out of all applicants, only 2.5% actually make it to an interview.
Luckily, we can now use AI to quickly optimize our resume, and even write it from scratch.
AI resume template
How to Write a Resume with AI - Step by Step Instructions
1. Summarize the job listing with AI
Wordtune can quickly summarize the job listing by taking the text of the job listing as input and providing a shorter version as output. This summary can be used as a quick overview of the job listing. It will also serve as the prompt to help you generate some resume achievement ideas later on.
All you have to do is write a prompt that requests a summarization of a specific job listing URL.
Example prompt: Summarize what kind of senior enterprise account manager they want in one sentence: https://careers.airbnb.com/positions/5567488/
Generated text:
The senior enterprise account manager position at Airbnb requires a candidate who is experienced in building and maintaining strong relationships with enterprise clients, driving business growth, and providing strategic guidance and support.
2. Ask AI to list needed achievements
Based on the summarized job requirements, the AI tool recommends specific accomplishments you can highlight in your application, resulting in a more tailored and impressive resume.
Prompt: Brainstorm 3 achievements I should list to land this job: The senior enterprise account manager position at Airbnb requires a candidate who is experienced in building and maintaining strong relationships with enterprise clients, driving business growth, and providing strategic guidance and support.
3. List achievements from previous jobs (this you do without AI help)
Go over your past jobs and find examples of projects and responsibilities that showcase the needed achievements we listed earlier. Whenever possible, use numbers or percentages to demonstrate the impact you made in previous roles. This can help paint a clear picture of your abilities and showcase your effectiveness in the role.
Recruiters are looking for evidence of how you would be a great fit, so tell them what you have achieved at previous jobs in addition to the tasks or responsibilities in your professional experience. Highlight any notable results that demonstrate the impact of your work, such as sales increases, positive customer feedback, cost savings that you achieved, or awards you won.
4. Choose an appealing resume format
Recruiters appreciate an easy-to-read resume, especially when they are scouring hundreds of applications. A concise and clear resume helps recruiters quickly find the most important information. Choose a professional resume format that best matches the job you’re applying for, and use it consistently throughout your resume.
A clean and well-designed layout gives recruiters an effortless review experience — and they’ll be grateful for a fresh-looking resume from the several they have to review.
If you have professional experience, choose a reverse chronological resume format of your work history. Start with your most recent work experience, and then list all the previous jobs in reverse chronological order — newest to oldest. The chronological resume is the go-to choice for many employers as it highlights your career progression and demonstrates when you have worked in certain positions. This way, hiring managers can quickly spot relevant information about your work experience.
If you’re a recent graduate applying for an entry-level job, you can still write a good resume with a step-by-step format, starting with an education section with your GPA and relevant coursework, a skills section to highlight technical skills and soft skills, and an extracurricular section that highlights why you’d be a great fit for your first job.
Use a resume builder site like Zety or LiveCareer, or a graphic design tool like Canva to give your resume a professional look.
Example of a Canva template:
Bullet points and clear headings give your resume an organized look, making it easier to read for hiring managers. However, using too many bullet points can make a resume look cluttered so it’s best to use them for listing items that are of equal importance. For example, use headings such as "Education," "Skills," and "Work Experience" to make the document easier to read. Then, under each header, use a bullet point to elaborate.
5. Use AI to add industry-specific language
Using industry-specific language helps recruiters quickly understand your experience and qualifications. It also shows that you are familiar with the sector, which can be a huge plus when they’re looking at applicants.
Learn the terminology of the industry in which you’re applying for jobs and use relevant keywords in your resume. This makes it easier for recruiters to understand your level of experience.
Many employers now use keyword searches to find resumes so make sure yours is optimized with relevant terms related to the specific job you are applying for. Use relevant keywords and borrow terms from the job description. This will help ensure that your resume is picked up by employer search algorithms. The general rule is to include 25-30 keywords in a resume.
For instance, if you’re applying for a job in accounting, include terms like “financial analysis,” “auditing,” and “tax preparation” in your resume.
You can feed this information to Wordtune and ask it to rephrase your achievements using proper industry specific and job specific language.
Prompt: For a CV, rewrite this sentence into marketing specific language, 50 words, including marketing KPIs and numbers: "I published a weekly podcast that got a lot of listeners.
Generated text: Developed a weekly podcast that garnered a significant amount of listenership, resulting in a measurable impact on key performance indicators as a result.
Pro tip: Use the same technique to write your cover letter with AI
6. Proofreading your CV using AI
Mistakes in spelling or grammar can easily detract from an otherwise exceptional application. So, after you’ve written your resume, it’s best to get a second opinion. Using Wordtune can be helpful in ensuring that your resume is error-free.
Next level resume writing
The tips we listed are just the tip of the iceberg. You can use AI to create multiple resumes, each listing your past experience a little differently, according to the job you want to land. Good luck on your job hunting!
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