👾 Can AI create a better resume than the average young adult? We try it out

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👩🏻‍💻 A conversation with AI

The best way to determine the quality of support and guidance that AI offers for resumes is with a hands-on test.

As such, I uploaded my resume to ChatGPT, along with the following prompt:

Here are some points ChatGPT responded with: 

• Reorganise your “Experience” by emphasising quantified achievements. Specify measurable outcomes like audience growth, revenue contribution, or the number of articles published.
• Use bullet points consistently. Ensure each starts with a strong action verb and avoids redundancy.
• Combine related sections for concision, such as integrating “Linguistic, Data, Digital and Visual Literacy” into a “Skills” section with subcategories. 

What felt the most useful, however, were the specific examples provided in the context of my resume. 

This included tips for merging tools under a single header, such as Google Suite and Microsoft Office (which I indeed failed to do) and bringing more attention to a standout project that I had worked on at my previous workplace. The other suggestions, however, were generic. 

Then, this came through: 

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It’s laudable that ChatGPT was proactive at this juncture, and its subsequent annotations on different parts of my resume were decent. 

For example, in the section below, the system made my sentences more concise, while retaining the same level of detail and accuracy represented in the original version. 

While the suggestions in bold above offer examples of quantified results, they aren’t reflective of what I achieved.

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They are simply what ChatGPT suggests.

As for DeepSeek – the latest and much-hyped chatbot in the AI space – the system was unable to process my uploaded document.

The Chinese AI startup announced on Jan 27 that it had temporarily halted user registrations in light of “large-scale malicious attacks” on its systems.

🦶 Achilles heel

Aside from ChatGPT and DeepSeek, users can receive various types of curriculum vitae (CV) help from AI resume builders such as Enhancv, Kickresume and ResumeNerd.

But from a recruiter’s perspective, these AI-backed tools still struggle with providing the right “industry-specific jargon” to its users on a whole, according to Agnes Yee, executive director of Kerry Consulting.

“Many times, ChatGPT will name-drop big and fancy terms for people to use in their resumes,” she tells thrive. “These suggestions may not always be offered in the right context, however, and could end up making a candidate’s application look more embarrassing.”

As such, using chatbots such as ChatGPT to create a whole new resume from scratch has its risks. When I instructed ChatGPT to do up an entire resume based on the information from my LinkedIn profile, it simply created a duplicate of what existed online with little value-add.

This is because ChatGPT fundamentally distils its responses from vast amounts of text data that is publicly available. It would, however, be unable to track your exact day-to-day progress at work which happens offline.

DeepSeek didn’t fare too well with the same prompt either. The chatbot simply generated a resume template with blanks I had to fill in myself. It also created “professional summary” and “key skills” sections that were more sweeping than what I had in my original resume.

Resumes that are entirely copied and pasted from AI chatbots into a job application are also usually very identifiable to a recruiter’s eye, shares Yee.

For example, certain catchphrases such as “tailored” and “proven track record” are commonly used by ChatGPT as well, Yee notes.

As such, those who rely wholly on these chatbots for resume support – or even to generate an entire CV – could end up with a document containing superfluous language that doesn’t impress recruiters.

But even if your AI-boosted resume grants you an interview, bigger issues could emerge at a later stage of the hiring process.

“If you cannot back up the way your resume looks during an interview, that’s when problems will emerge (in your job application process),” says Yee.

🤔 Ditch the bot? Maybe not

That said, boycotting AI chatbots may not be the wisest move in this day and age either. With these tools so readily available for use, you’d lose out if you don’t learn to use them the right way. 

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to put together a competitive resume, while utilising ChatGPT appropriately:

• Fill out the basic structure of your resume yourself. Be sure to include your educational background, work experience and other relevant courses that employers may look favourably upon. Only you can fully understand what matters in your personal context and the type of work you are looking for. 
• Consider the industry-specific jargon used in your line of work that would make your resume relevant, and display your target-focused achievements. 
• Try to fulfil the requests you have for your resume on your own before turning to chatbots, such as improving how key performance indicators (KPIs) are reflected in your own way that will stand out to recruiters. 
• Finally, use the AI tool to fine-tune certain details of your resume, such as grammar, phrasing or other possibilities on how to quantify certain results better. Review the responses from the system carefully before selecting the suggestions that value-add to your resume the most. 

A final word of advice for jobseekers? Don’t use AI tools to reflect anything qualitative, or about your personality in your resume, says Yee.

“You will lose the essence of yourself, especially when you appear for the interview,” she adds.

At the end of the day, while AI chatbots such as DeepSeek and ChatGPT can be useful, search engine-based tools, they aren’t you. Only you can do the essential groundwork of your job applications for yourself if you want to come across as a sincere, earnest applicant.

TL;DR

• It isn’t ideal to use AI chatbots to generate an entire resume, as it could lack a personalised touch
• Chatbots such as DeepSeek and ChatGPT are best used to correct stray mistakes missed by an individual or suggest general improvements that a user may or may not see fit to adopt
• An overreliance on AI tools for resume help can only go so far, as jobseekers may fail to keep up with the inflated appearance created for them at the interview stage
• Individuals should first focus on crafting a clear, KPI-led resume that reflects their unique skillsets – as, ultimately, only they know what they’ve truly achieved best