Finding a new job in a competitive market can feel like a full-time gig on its own, with hours spent researching companies, writing cover letters and tailoring resumes — often with no guarantee anyone will even get back to you. It’s not uncommon for a single posting to attract hundreds of applicants within a matter of days, each of them touting why their unique credentials make them the perfect candidate for the job.
To strengthen their applications and work more efficiently, many job seekers are turning to ChatGPT. The generative AI tool can customize resumes and cover letters for specific roles, or it can help you research prospective employers and prepare for an interview. It can even outline strategies for breaking into a new field.
How ChatGPT Can Help With Finding a Job
- Refining your resume
- Writing a cover letter
- Researching companies
- Preparing for an interview
- Polishing your LinkedIn profile
- Exploring career options
- Creating a professional development plan
Recruiters, meanwhile, are being inundated with AI-generated applications, and they’ve become all too familiar with the cliché phrases ChatGPT tends to spit out. While more than half of hiring managers see the value in using ChatGPT to proofread or write a rough draft, they expect the final product to actually sound human and accurately reflect the applicant’s skills, experiences and perspectives. According to one survey, 62 percent of hiring managers reject AI-generated resumes that haven’t been personalized.
There are ways to use ChatGPT without coming across as a hack, though. In this article, we’ll show you how to leverage AI to improve your application without losing your unique voice.
How to Use ChatGPT in a Job Search
1. Refining Your Resume
Brainstorm Skills and Accomplishments
ChatGPT can’t quite write your resume for you, but it can help you brainstorm ideas. It can generate examples of skills and accomplishments someone in your role or field might have, which could remind you of experiences from your own career that you may have forgotten or taken for granted. This will help you get the ball rolling if you’re feeling stuck.
Example prompt: I have worked as a [position title] doing [job responsibilities] in [industry]. What are some examples of skills and accomplishments that I might list on my resume?
Make Your Resume More Results-Oriented
ChatGPT’s true value lies in its ability to refine what you’ve already written. Ask it to make your resume more results-oriented by incorporating strong action verbs or, when possible, quantifying your achievements. But be sure to read over what it generates, as it may not always be accurate or true to your own work history.
Example prompt: Here are several bullet points from my resume: [paste bullets]. Rewrite them so each one begins with a strong action verb, clearly states what I did, and quantifies results or outcomes wherever possible. If metrics are missing, suggest realistic ways they could be added.
Tailor Your Resume to the Job Description
ChatGPT can also tailor your resume for a specific job description. Copy and paste the job description and your resume (without your personal information), and ask it to add keywords from the job description to your resume — or to flag skills gaps that could cause a recruiter to lose interest. The more your resume is aligned with the job description, the higher it will appear in the recruiter’s applicant tracking system.
Example prompt: Here is my resume [paste resume]. Here’s the job description of a job I’m applying for [paste job description]. Highlight the most important skills and qualifications for this job. Without making up information, revise my resume to match these requirements. Include action verbs for each accomplishment on the resume, and highlight which accomplishments could be quantified.
2. Writing a Cover Letter
While it may not always be required, a well-written cover letter can certainly set you apart from the crowd. But writing one for every single application can be tedious and time-consuming. Thankfully, ChatGPT can speed up the process by drafting tailored cover letters that target the specific needs of a prospective employer. Just copy and paste the job description and your resume (without your personal information) into ChatGPT and ask it to write a cover letter that demonstrates why your skills and work experience make you a perfect fit for the role. Keep in mind that ChatGPT’s first draft may not be perfect, and you may have to delete or change sections that sound out of place.
Example prompt: I’m applying for the [job title] position at [company name]. Here’s the job description: [paste job description]. Here’s my resume: [paste or summarize your relevant experience, skills, and key achievements]. Please write a 3–4 paragraph cover letter that:
- Uses a professional but approachable tone
- Highlights my most relevant skills and accomplishments using specific examples from my background
- Explains how I can add value to this company in this role
- References the company’s mission, products or recent initiatives in a meaningful way
- Avoids generic phrases like ‘I am excited to apply’ unless reworded creatively
3. Researching Companies
There’s no better way to impress a hiring manager than to show your knowledge of the company you’re applying to. ChatGPT can help you do this by clearly laying out the company’s mission, culture and notable clients. It can also help you dig deeper into the company’s products and services, how it stacks up against its competitors and certain industry trends that may be top of mind for them. You can use this information to tailor your resume, write a more detailed cover letter or ask more informed questions during the job interview.
Example prompt: What are the current trends impacting companies in the [industry]? How would [company name] be affected by these trends, and what might it do to adjust to/capitalize on these trends?
4. Preparing for an Interview
Generate Role-Specific Interview Questions
Beyond just researching the company, ChatGPT can help you prepare for both common and role-specific questions the company’s hiring manager may ask in an interview.
Example prompt: I am applying for a [title of position]. If you were the hiring manager for this position, what are the 10 most common interview questions you would ask applicants? [Paste job description]
Tailor Your Responses to the Interview Questions
Once you have your potential interview questions, you can ask ChatGPT to explain why the recruiter might be asking those questions, and offer tips for how to answer them successfully. Then, you can have it prepare sample responses using information from your resume. For behavioral questions, ask ChatGPT to frame the answer using the STAR method: outlining the situation, describing your task, explaining the actions you took and sharing the results of your actions.
Example prompt: Here is my resume and a summary of my work experience: [paste details]. For each of these interview questions: [paste list], write a concise, clear, and conversational answer using my experience. For any behavioral questions, use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to structure the response based on my work history and achievements.
5. Polishing Your LinkedIn Profile
A well-written LinkedIn profile can help you catch the attention of recruiters hiring for open roles. They are looking out for keywords in the job description, and you want to make sure your profile not only appears in their search results but convinces them to reach out to you. ChatGPT can help you write a headline that will lure in recruiters, a professional history that highlights your quantifiable contributions and an “About” section that summarizes your skills and experience with the right keywords.
Example prompt: “Based on my resume [paste resume], write an “About” section for my LinkedIn profile. The “About” section should summarize my professional history, skills and accomplishments. Write in the first-person in a tone that feels friendly but professional.”
Example prompt: Use my resume [paste resume] to write a LinkedIn headline that will catch the attention of recruiters hiring for [role title] in [industry]. The headline should be no longer than 220 characters.
6. Exploring Career Options
Whether you’re just beginning your career or pivoting to a new one, ChatGPT can act as a sounding board to help you find your way. If you share the skills, interests and personal values that you want to shape your next chapter, ChatGPT can suggest roles and industries that align. This exercise can help early-career professionals discover opportunities, as well as guide experienced workers toward more fulfilling fields that suit their existing skillset with minimal upskilling or education.
Example prompt: I have experience in [describe relevant work, volunteer or academic experience], enjoy [describe key interests or activities], and am passionate about [state a cause or topic you care about]. Suggest some careers that align with my background and interests, along with any additional training or education that would help me enter those fields.
7. Creating a Professional Development Plan
Once you have an idea of what you want to do, it’s important to solidify your career goals in a professional development plan that outlines how you will reach those goals. To that end, ChatGPT can help you identify the skills, experiences and educational credentials you’ll need, and it can suggest some resources you can tap to attain those qualifications. Perhaps most importantly, it can help you compile all of those things into a clearly written gameplan, with specific deadlines for each action item.This will provide the clarity you need to stay on track instead of getting lost in the unknown.
Example prompt: I’m a [current role] but want to become a [dream role]. Create a detailed career development plan outlining:
- Skills I should develop
- Relevant experiences I need to gain
- Educational or certification needs
- Recommended resources or programs
- A realistic timeline with milestones for the next 1-3 years.
Benefits and Drawbacks of Using ChatGPT for a Job Search
ChatGPT is a great tool that can help you overcome writer’s block, identify areas for growth and improve your visibility within a recruiter’s applicant tracking system. But while it may be a good editor or brainstorming partner, it can’t do everything for you. It has no way of knowing what you’ve accomplished, what you are looking for in your next role and why you are uniquely qualified for a specific job. Those are questions only you can answer.
ChatGPT may try to fill in these blanks with inaccurate information, or it may misunderstand what’s written in a job description or your resume. That’s why it’s important to always fact-check what it generates before incorporating it into your resume, cover letter or LinkedIn profile.
Job seekers should also rewrite ChatGPT’s verbose prose in their own words. Recruiters look at hundreds of applications for each role, and they can tell when candidates are letting ChatGPT speak for them. Instead of outsourcing your job search to generative AI, use it as a tool to perfect your pitch on your own terms. After all, the hiring manager is hiring you for your perspective — not ChatGPT’s.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is ChatGPT good for job search?
ChatGPT can be a useful tool for several aspects of the job search, like researching companies, generating role-specific interview questions and personalizing a resume or cover letter to more closely align with a specific job description.
Can job recruiters tell if you use ChatGPT?
Recruiters review hundreds of job applications per day, and they have learned to spot language often used in AI-generated resumes and cover letters. While they are likely to pick up robotic phrases and tones, they probably won’t detect (or mind) if you’re using ChatGPT to analyze job descriptions, research companies or add action verbs to your resume.
Do employers care if you use ChatGPT for a resume?
Recruiters have mixed opinions on the use of ChatGPT, but almost all of them are turned off by generic resumes and cover letters that are copy and pasted from ChatGPT. A 2025 TopResume survey found more than half of employers are OK with candidates using AI to proofread or create a first draft, but they still expected to see a personalized final draft. Another survey from Resume Now found 62 percent of hiring managers reject AI-generated resumes that haven’t been personalized.
