As a recruiter, I get asked a lot of questions about resumes. Lately, the big question is about AI: Should you use AI tools to help write your resume? There is no one right answer here; it’s really what’s right for you. You can create a resume with or without it. If you choose to use AI, approach AI as a partner in writing your resume, not as the creator. After all, your resume is the story of your career, and no one knows your story better than you do. Using AI strategically can help you create a tailored resume that showcases your strengths as they relate to the role you are applying for.
A tailored resume helps our recruiters and hiring managers better understand what you have accomplished in the past, which provides us with insight into the impact you might have at Procore in the future.
Generative AI tools and resume builders are useful to help you gain a deeper understanding of a role, build the framework of your resume, and polish off with final edits. Below, you can find some of my suggested best practices for using AI for resume building, as well as insights from a few of my fellow recruiters.
AI Prompts to Help You Learn More About a Job
My teammate, Maddy, a recruiter who supports our Data, Technology & Security team, shares some insights on the value of understanding the role and how your experiences align with it before you start writing your resume.
"AI can be a powerful tool for refining your resume, but it is crucial that your resume–and how you talk about yourself in an interview–reflect your real-world experiences. Instead of having AI write a resume from scratch, leverage it to identify connections between your specific accomplishments and the job description’s requirements."
Customized AI prompts can help you quickly learn about a role and company with more relevancy than spending time sifting through multiple webpages trying to uncover the details you are looking for.
Prompts to understand job responsibilities:
- Provide a rundown of a typical workday for a <insert job title>.
- What are the primary tasks and responsibilities of a <insert job title>?
- What makes someone successful at being a <insert job title>?
- Searching this webpage <insert link to posting> provide the key skills, tasks and experiences required for the role of <insert job title>?
- What are the main challenges that the <industry the company serves> face and how does <company name/product> address those challenges?
You can dig deeper into each of these prompt responses to help you learn more. The more specific you can be–adding in a clear and obvious job title, including links to job postings, company websites, and other relevant sites–the more informed responses you will generate.
GenAI For Resume Development
Generative AI tools and resume builders can easily build the foundation of your resume. It is the careful editing and customization that will make it stand out.
Matt, a recruiter for our engineering teams, shares that resumes that stand out to him are well formatted, easy to read with bullet points, and each bullet is meaningful.
"Stating general responsibilities in your resume will not properly tell the story about your background. Your bullet points should be quantified using terms around revenue, numbers, cost reduction, user engagement, etc. Ideally, the experience should speak directly to the requirements in the job description. I recruit engineers, so it is ideal for candidates to list the technologies used at each company they worked for. A general list of skills is not helpful, but a list of skills used at each company is very beneficial. When you are using generative AI to build your resume, you have to make sure you go back to each bullet and add the relevant details."
Prompts for resume building:
- Provide Context: Input your general background, skills and experiences into the generative AI tool. Referencing the information you have gathered about the role, company and industry, add relevant and specific details about your roles, responsibilities and accomplishments.
- Add the Job: Either paste the job description text or the link to the role to guide the AI with the output it delivers.
- Generate Initial Draft: Let the AI create a draft resume based on the provided information. Specify with your prompt to generate action-oriented statements structured in a resume format that includes a professional summary, key skills, experience and education using the information provided.
Customizing Your Resume
Michelle, a senior recruiter who supports our customer success teams, says that your resume should sound like you, rather than someone talking about you. "Review what the gen AI provides, swap out words and phrases that just fill space for content that truly reflects you. Generative AI language can often be generic, full of buzzwords, and have an overly enthusiastic tone. This kind of language is a tip-off that might make recruiters question the accuracy of the rest of your resume."
With the structure of your resume built, you can focus on making further refinements and ensuring it is aligned with the role you are applying for.
Refining your resume:
- Add relevant data, metrics and projects. This helps us see the results of your hard work.
- Ensure that your core skills aligned with the needs of the role are included.
- Massage the tone of your resume. Adjust the generic tone that was likely provided by the gen AI.
- Adjust statements to make them as concise and specific as possible.
- Review for accuracy, spelling and grammar. Make sure that every bullet on your resume is correct.
Focus On What Makes You Different As A Candidate
One of the best pieces of advice I have received is to keep an ongoing working resume, adding in details when I finish a big project or milestone. Following that same advice, I would add that now you can utilize AI in real-time to update your working resume. This makes it even easier to pull your resume together when you see a role you want to apply for.
Remember, your resume is the document that gets you the interview. When recruiters review applications, having a resume that connects to the role and immediately shares value is crucial to advancing to the next review stage. I am always looking for skills in action on a resume; I want to see the outcomes of your skills and experiences. I want to see what you did, as an individual, on your team.
AI can be an asset in helping you create a strong resume, but the bigger asset is you. Make sure you spend the extra time personalizing your resume to ensure your unique skills, strengths and experiences stand out.
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