Before you paste anything
An assistant can only reword what you give it. When facts are missing, it tends to fill the gap with something that sounds plausible. Have your current resume or rough notes ready, the full text of the job posting, and any numbers you can back up.
Take out your phone number, home address and anything confidential about your employer: the assistant does not need them. If you would rather your chats were not used for training, look for that option in the assistant’s data settings.
Prompts for a first draft
- Interview: "Interview me for a resume for [target role]. Ask one question at a time about my work, tools and results. When you have enough, write the resume."
- Draft: "Here are my notes: [notes]. Write a one-page resume for [target role] in a single column, with these headings: Summary, Experience, Skills, Education."
- Summary: "Using only this resume, write a summary of two or three sentences for [target role]. Avoid clichés such as results-driven or passionate. Resume: [resume]"
Prompts to improve what you have
- Bullets: "Rewrite these bullets so that each starts with a past-tense verb and says what I did and what changed because of it. Where the result is missing, ask me for it. Bullets: [bullets]"
- Numbers: "Find every bullet in this resume that would be stronger with a number, and ask me one question for each to help me find it. Resume: [resume]"
- Length: "Cut this resume to one page for [target role]. Tell me what you removed and why. Resume: [resume]"
- Career change: "I am moving from [old field] to [new field]. Show which of my experience carries over, and rewrite the bullets that prove it. Resume: [resume]"
Prompts for a specific job
- Tailoring: "Reorder and reword this resume for this job posting, using only experience already in the resume. List every change you made. Resume: [resume] Job posting: [posting]"
- Keywords: "List the skills, tools and qualifications in this job posting, most important first. For each one, tell me whether my resume shows it. Job posting: [posting] Resume: [resume]"
- Recruiter review: "Act as a recruiter hiring for this job. Give my resume thirty seconds, then tell me what stands out, what is missing and the three changes that matter most. Job posting: [posting] Resume: [resume]"
Check everything before you send it
The assistant does not know what you really did, and you will be the one answering questions about it in the interview. Treat its answer as a draft.
- Compare every employer, title, date and number with the facts, and fix or delete whatever is not true.
- Read each bullet and ask yourself whether you could explain it in an interview. If not, rewrite it.
- Read the page aloud and replace phrases you would never say, such as "spearheaded" or "results-driven".
- Check that every skill the posting asks for and you really have appears, spelled the way the posting spells it.
What a chat assistant leaves to you
A chat gives you text, not a finished document. You still have to fit it on one page in a layout applicant tracking systems can read, keep the dates consistent, and save it as a PDF. Those steps deserve the same care as the words.
