AI has exploded onto the scene recently, and it can help with more than just writing your emails. Which is why we’ve looked into all the different ways AI can support you in your job search.
A study from Resume Builder helped to highlight just how effective AI can be in supporting you in your job search. Resume Builder found that 70% of applicants who used ChatGPT reported a higher response rate from companies. 78% of those who use ChatGPT in their applications got an interview, and 59% were hired. So the benefits of using AI are clear.
But it’s not all positives. 11% of applicants were denied a job when the interviewer found out that they used ChatGPT in their application process.
So let’s look at a few examples of the positive ways you can use AI in your job search!
While AI can be an incredible tool to assist you, we warn against being heavily reliant on it. Any content created by AI, should be used as a draft or inspiration that you take and use to create your own.
But while written content is helpful, it’s not the only use of AI. Let’s have a look at the many ways it can be used to help you:
As we mentioned above, AI can be used to help streamline the process of writing your CV or resume. On the first page of google we can find plenty of free CV and resume writing AI such as Rezi and Kickresume. We used Kickresume to create a template CV below, to test it out for you.
All we had to do was put in a job title and Kickresume (which uses ChatGPT-4 ) did the rest. It creates bullet points for you to use, and gives plenty of different sections to include and edit such as: Achievements, Awards, Education, Skills, Hobbies, Work Experience etc.
The advantage of Kickresume is it also creates the CV for you, not just writing it. Which allows you to change the design and layout in a way that suits you and your personal brand best. Although some of the nicer designs have been locked behind a paywall, or premium subscription, so beware.
The below example shows what a completed resume can look like:
While it gives you the template of what to write, we strongly recommend going through and editing. Because an AI won’t be able to give that personal touch that makes your CV stand out.
Your CV should be the snapshot of you that shows why you’re unique and why you’re the perfect person for the job.
Have a look at our complete guide for writing CV’s here, for more information on what your CV needs to include. And when thinking about what you shouldn’t include, have a look at the most common cv writing mistakes here!
Similar to CVs, there are specialist AI services out there to help write your cover letter for you. Which is great news! Because writing an individual and personalised cover letter for every job you apply for is essential to stand out from the competition. But it’s also incredibly time consuming.
Which is where cover letter generators like Kickresume and CoverDoc.ai come in, saving you massive amounts of time.
From our research we would go with CoverDoc, due to how much more a comprehensive and individually tailored cover letter it provides. To create a custom letter, CoverDoc asks you for a few details about the job and for the job description.
It even draws from your own LinkedIn profile and allows you to customise the tone of the cover letter. It may take some time before it emails you the finished product, but it gives a much more substantial cover letter than others that we trialled. The results, unedited, are below:
CoverDoc itself gives a disclaimer with the cover letter, that this should be used as a template. While it seems to know the right things to say, it is less concerned whether these statements are true. For example, creating previous work experience for the applicant that matches with what the job description, whether true or not.
So we would advise using it as a basis for writing your own cover letter, while perhaps keeping and editing any bits that are applicable to you.
For more information on what to include in your cover letter, have a read of our guide here.
While AI can help you write your CV, resume and cover letter, it’s not all it can do. It can also be used to improve the “quality” of what you write and increase the chances of getting an interview.
Many companies use what’s known as applicant tracking systems (ATS) to scan and filter applicants CVs and cover letters for certain “keywords”. Which essentially means that if you fail to include these keywords in your CV, you could be rejected from the job before any human ever sees it.
Which is where resume optimisation tools like Jobscan and Lightcast can help.
Here we uploaded an example resume up to Jobscan, and asked it how well it would do against one of our Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Manager roles.
This gives a general overview of the resumes match rate to the jobs description, as well as breaking the analysis into sections such as Searchability, Hard Skills, Soft Skills and Recruiter Tips. Let’s look at a couple of those sections below.
Here we can see that the CV could use a bit of work. It’s missing a lot of the hard skills that are in the job description: Meaning that while the applicant could be a great match, they might not make it past the ATS.
Of course like all AI tools, this can be taken with a grain of salt. While matching the job description is great, these may not be the exact or all the keywords that an ATS scans for, and not every company uses one. But they can still help to improve your overall CV or resume.
Using AI to improve your application and secure an interview is just the first step. It can even be used to improve your interview skills!
There are AI interview coaches such as Prepper from adzuna, or Interview Warmup from Google. These can help prepare custom questions for the specific role you’re interviewing for.
These tools help to simulate the interviewing experience, and provide you with personalised feedback, such as: body language, tone, or specific questions you struggled with and could do with spending time improving.
Practising with these tools can be much handier and provide better feedback than practising with family or friends. And the act of practising and knowing what to expect can help calm your interview nerves, which can make all the difference!
We would advise having a look at the interview questions you can expect, to properly prepare yourself for your interview.
AI tools can even be used to evaluate the market for our specific job offer in your location that is personalised to your experience and skills. This can ensure that you’re being offered a fair salary or can negotiate if you’re not.
We used the Payscale self salary report to see how much an Search Engine Optimisation Manager could be earning; taking into account current job title, experience, education, and location to name a few factors. It analyses job listings and salaries to provide you with not only an estimate of salary, but also about the typical perks and benefits enjoyed by this role.
Tools like this give you a good, and more accurate idea, of what you should or could be paid. But “because an AI tool told me I was worth this much” probably won’t get you the salary you’re after. For actual tips on negotiating yourself the pay you deserve, have a look at our guide here.
These are just a few of the best ways that AI can support you in your job search. But with how rapidly AI is evolving, we expect to see plenty more innovations and AI tools soon. So it’s always worth keeping an eye out!
But of course, nothing replaces having a recruitment expert on your side. We can coach you through the process and support you in your individual situation: All free of charge to you. Have a look here for more information on how we can support you in your job search.
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