Should you use AI to write your resume?

Hey there 👋

The most useless debate around AI and resumes is this -

“Should you use AI to write your resume?”

You will find polar opposite opinions online

• AI is the magic wand that can fix all problems of your resume.

OR

• Using AI in your resume will lead to automatic rejection from the ATS software.

Both these opinions lack the nuance of how the recruitment industry works.

• Yes, ATS software does automatically reject profiles but never because you have used AI to write it.

• And yes, AI can help you improve your resume, but you need to know WHEN to use it and when not to.

This edition is about the second part.

The real question is “When to use AI to improve your resume?”

Your resume is YOUR perspective on YOUR past work.

The most important step is to build that perspective.

AI can be used as an editor to polish and write it in a manner that communicates YOUR perspective clearly.

Let’s look at different cases of when you should and when you should NOT use AI to improve your resume

Case 1 - I don't know if my work had a business impact or how to quantify it

If this is you, you may find yourself saying something along these lines

"I was responsible for shipping this feature, but it was part of a larger suite of features in the release.
Hence, I cannot put a number to how it improved any particular KPI"

or

"I conducted scrum meetings and led a project but have no data to show if it had any business impact."

or

"I have coordinated with people across different teams - legal, finance, product, tech, design, and marketing to get one client onboard. This client has since then increased their payments multiplefold. But I cannot claim that all of this was due to my ability to onboard them."

In such scenarios- Use AI to elaborate your work.

How to use AI

Business KPIs are important to show your impact.
But in many cases, it is not possible to directly attribute changes in KPI to the work done.

In such cases, surrogate measures need to be used to show the impact of your work.

For example, impact statements like

"...leading to a higher renewal from an existing client",

OR

"shipped a project in record time"

OR

"....set stage for features that later contributed to higher user engagement" 

are good ways to showcase impact without directly attributing all improvement to your work alone.

Ask AI to make assumptions so that it can elaborate on your details.

These hypothetical statements can help you with alternate ways to show impact in your specific case when direct attribution is not possible.

Once you have a better understanding of how to showcase, correct these hypothetical details and make them true to your work.

AI Prompt to use

You are an expert resume writer. Give me a sample resume for the role <enter your target role here> for a candidate whose past experience is this <enter your experience here>. Rewrite to use relevant action verbs, impact and relevant skills. Make assumptions wherever required.

Case 2 -I have done a lot of work and have data to show my work. But it is a lot of information. I am not sure how to compress all of it within one page

If this is you, you may find yourself writing something along these lines

"Increased acquisition and retention for ABC tool by catalyzing sales and marketing through building ML model that increased MOB which is a 2X expansion of the active user base. Drove product strategy & execution for optimizing the acquisition funnel which led to an increase in conversion rate of 30%. Improved conversion from ~5% to ~30% by improving signup journey Reduced churn by 27% by implementing reactivation initiatives."

…basically list of metrics that improved with your actions.

In such scenarios - Use AI to compress your work and make it easy to understand for recruiters and hiring managers.

How to use AI

In most of these cases, the candidates write work as if it will be reviewed by their current bosses - adding details that are very specific with acronyms that can only be understood by their team.

They forget that their reader has no idea and no interest in the finer details of the project.

The hiring manager only wants to know this:

• What impact did you have?

• How did you bring that impact i.e. what skills did you use?

• Can you repeat it in your next role?

Use AI to eliminate jargon and make it generalized enough so that a hiring manager or a recruiter, can understand your work and appreciate it.

AI can help you rewrite your work so that it is

• Easy to understand

• Highlights your process and skills

• Eliminate details that are too specific

AI Prompt to use

You are an expert resume writer. Give me a sample resume for the role <enter your target role here> for a candidate whose past experience is this <enter your experience here>. Rewrite to use relevant action verbs, impact and relevant skills. Make assumptions wherever required.

Case 3 - I have done some exceptional work that is uncommon with my peers. How do I highlight the uniqueness of my work?

If this is you, you may have done work that makes you a unique fit for your target roles.

Each of your accomplishments is a story in itself. Here are some stories of unconventional work :

"Month-long stay in users' locality to know more about their problems and craft relevant solutions"

or

"Pulled off a critical deal in record time while working with international agencies"

or

"Made unconventional changes in the pricing that increased revenue overnight while also increasing the NPS scores"

If this is you, use AI with caution.

AI can reduce your exceptional stories to that of an average candidate.

Write your story in detail and ask AI to make it succinct.

Keep refining until it truly reflects the brilliance of your work.

In such cases, a human expert can help you better.

They can help you understand what aspects of your work should you highlight to show the depth and breadth of your skillset to the hiring manager.

This is precisely the approach I use when I review the resumes of my clients. I help them identify cases where they should and should not use AI.

I help them with prompts and improve their storytelling

AI can pull up a 2/10 resume to a 7/10.

AI can also pull down a 9/10 resume to a 7/10.

It is important to know how is your resume perceived by its readers - hiring managers and recruiters.

You may have the most glorious work, but if the readers are not able to appreciate it, you will miss the opportunity even when you are the right fit.

🤗How can I help?

I have helped 200+ people land their dream roles through resume review and interview preparation.

If you are not getting interview calls for relevant roles, your resume may be the missing link.

To know what specific changes you should make to increase interview calls, you may book my resume roast service using the link below.👇

You can also book a 1:1 call, where we discuss relevant job strategies, mock interviews, and actionable tips to transition into your dream job. 👇

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If you have any questions, reply to this email and I will be happy to help you.

I will see you next week.

All the Best

Aditi