How to write a good CV with the help of AI? Avoid these six mistakes like the plague

In the United States alone, more than 7 million people are unemployed, and about a quarter have been actively looking for work for at least 27 weeks. “It's time to kind of change the strategy a little bit,” says Pat Whelan, head of career products at LinkedIn. “This is where AI can be a huge help,” he adds.

However, he emphasizes that AI tools should only be a starting point in the job search process. Below are six examples of AI mistakes and overuse that you should avoid to avoid sabotaging your chances.

Don't give technology full control and don't lose your human touch

It is a human, not an AI, who ultimately must sign the job offer and take on the responsibilities in the new role.

Priya Rathod, workplace trends editor at Indeed, believes AI can help job seekers improve their applications. However, he warns against shifting the entire responsibility for creating materials to AI; the candidate should still personalize materials to tell their story.

“Use AI as a collaborator,” says Rathod. “You could potentially write your CV and then use AI to refine it, strengthen it and make existing points clearer,” he adds.

Meg Martin, CV writer and career coach, suggests that you avoid telling an AI tool, “Here's the job description. Write me a CV for this job I want to apply for,” without also telling who you are and what experience you have that matches what the employer is looking for.

Without that personal input, she said, it's just a generic resume that won't go far. If you want to use AI to create your CV, Martin recommends providing it with written excerpts so it can match your style.

See also: “I'm not interested in the fact that anyone analyzed the reports.” Polish experts advise how to get through the recruitment process

Don't forget to fact-check

Before you submit your CV in a job application, review it to make sure that the skills, experience and any other sections enhanced by AI actually apply to you.

This is important if you get to the interview stage. — If you can't confidently speak to every single point on this resume, it will hurt your interview process – warns career coach Lee Ann Chan.

Priya Rathod emphasizes that employers look for consistency throughout the process, so a cover letter or CV created with the help of AI should be consistent with what you are able to develop during the interview.

— AI sometimes exaggerates qualifications, “hallucinates” job responsibilities and does not have correct time frames Rathod points out. “That's why you need to make sure you carefully check everything the AI ​​creates for you,” he adds.

Don't use the style or sentence structure he gives you

“The general rule I tell people is that there is no such thing as an AI or non-AI CV,” says Sam Wright, head of career strategy at AI CV builder Huntr.co, who also provides one-on-one job search support. — There is a good CV or a bad CV – he points out.

Wright explains that recruiters spend on average less than 10 seconds on one CV. If there are clear signs it was written by AI, “then it's likely to be a bad resume because we end up adapting to the preferences and biases” of the person making the hiring decisions. Wright pointed out that signs of AI use may include en-pauses or contrasting linguistic constructions such as “It's not X, it's Y.”

He says that The main mistake people make when using AI is thinking that these tools mean they can devote less attention and effort. Job seekers should check what should be included in their CV. “If you're not an expert or you don't know what a good CV is to begin with, then using these AI tools won't really help you create a better CV because you're already relying on what you already know and making referrals based on that,” the expert emphasizes.

Wright also adds that some AI users make the mistake of copying and pasting parts of a tool conversation into their application materials, so don't forget to double-check.

Don't be too general in your commands for AI tools

Meg Martin points out that “Garbage in, garbage out”so job seekers should use detailed and thoughtful commands to get valuable results.

“If you give a one-sentence recommendation, you're going to get something very general and different than if you give all the details about your experience, what you're looking for, and how you see yourself fitting into the target job,” he explains.

Career experts usually they advise that the details on your CV should be measurable. Lee Ann Chan suggests giving AI tools numbers and specific information about your work experience, rather than simply uploading your CV and asking for it to match the job description.

— Specify precisely: “when I worked on this team project, I used these resources, I collaborated with these people, I was able to achieve 20% growth.” — a career specialist gives as an example.

Then clearly define what you want the AI ​​to do with that data, such as creating a specific section on your resume that uses the information. Additionally, let us know how long this point should be.

Avoid excessive use of generic buzzwords

One typical part of a CV is the professional summary at the top, which briefly explains who the candidate is and what measurable achievements they have. Meg Martin notes that AI tools tend to overload this section with buzzwords or frequently used verbs.

— After a while, they all start to sound the same and you have to find ways to stand out, says the expert, adding that editing is the key.

When it comes to cover letters, he suggests that people should target tools in terms of writing style and word choice to avoid receiving something more generic.

– They usually start with “I am enthusiastically applying for the position…”, and this is an obvious signal – he points out. However, he adds that the text should still sound natural, so you can treat the AI ​​responses as a guide rather than the final result.

Lee Ann Chan says candidates should crunch the numbers and show impact in their cover letters. She pointed out that frequently overused phrases include “transforming data into actionable insights”, “proven track record”, “result-oriented professionals”.

— It's not that you can't use these words, but you have to back them up with results Chan explains.

Don't create cold, overused contact messages

AI tools can also help with networking. Pat Whelan says AI can save time when composing messages, but job seekers still need to proofread and personalize them.

— Make sure you communicate why you are a unique fit for this specific role to stand out to recruiters – says.

Lee Ann Chan explains that recruiters constantly receive messages from people who write that they see that they work in a given company and want to ask a few questions. Instead of telling the AI ​​that you're about to apply or have already applied and now want to write a quick message to a manager, give the tool specific information about the person – for example, that they recently spoke at an event or something that will help make the message less generic.

The above text is a translation from American edition of Business Insider