Will you get what you need with an AI-generated leadership resume?
Now that ChatGPT and other AI tools have taken the world by storm, you might be wondering about its application in your job search – namely, to write your resume or other materials.
It takes work and introspection to write about yourself, even with the help of AI.
A compelling, branded resume MUST SET YOU APART with unique content… ensuring others can’t claim your achievements or own your professional perspective.
No matter if you turn the job of resume writing over to ChatGPT, Google Bard, or other tools, both you AND the bot will need to dig deeper to discover your competitive edge.
Here are 5 considerations for using AI to help produce your resume:
1 – Use AI if you’re okay with a generic branding experience.
Recruiters and employers have been unimpressed by bland resumes for YEARS.
These resumes fail to provide the context crucial to describe your specific contributions.
If you already know someone at the company, you might be in luck. But if you’re planning on targeting an executive role where you’ll face stiff competition and a grueling interview process, think again before cranking out an AI-assisted resume and calling it done.
The text will look professionally done, but will it convey the heart and effort behind YOUR career success? Therefore, when you use AI to write your resume, be ready to supply your own career data – leveraging the app as a resume-writing framework.
As noted by Madison Hoff in “Using AI to to Help With Resumes, Cover Letters Could be a Dealbreaker“, some recruiters find AI-produced content to be a turnoff.
Your career marketing materials must be compelling and distinctive.
2 – Consider AI assistance if you have a traditional career path.
If your career aligns with the typical trajectory in your field, using AI might help you get started.
If your career has taken a few left turns, however, it’s important to build a writing strategy that describes your penchant for your field, echoes your leadership philosophy, and helps employers realize why you’re a good fit despite some bumps in the road.
ChatGPT and other LLMs won’t automatically produce strategies for a work history with gaps, career detours, or other setbacks, where you might need:
- Your last several jobs to appear on the first page (where they can take center stage). If this is the case, each entry must be short and crisp. AI does NOT produce tight content (see point #5).
- A strategy for explaining how your career path adds up to a new, high-level role that could be a slight detour from your previous experience.
- Formatting that features some experience over others, especially if you’re aiming for a position reflecting only a segment of your skills.
- Deeper explanations of your expertise in new industry trends.
If you’ve encountered these issues, you already know you need a plan to address them.
So keep in mind you may need a compelling way to craft your STORY, not just assemble the components piece by piece.
3 – You’re okay with using a bot to crank out your achievements, one by one.
If you’re pursuing an early career position, some of your accomplishments and career path might look similar to other professionals.
For example, an IT security analyst should be able to describe how they’ve engineered threat detection solutions, and an RN should have a good grasp of patient safety.
However, when you’ve amassed decades of leadership experience, your resume (and LinkedIn) should also capture your leadership style, pattern of success, career trajectory, and personal brand reputation.
You’ll find that bots can prompt you for individual achievements, but function best as a foundational tool for a resume. Recruiters often point out that the human element is a strong factor in your job search.
4 – You’re pursuing a role commonly found in job descriptions (familiar to AI).
Targeting an operations manager, chef, or medical technician position? AI tools can dig up and leverage MILLIONS of related job descriptions before you can even blink.
However, there’s only one CEO, COO, or CFO (and a select number of SVPs, EVPs, or Directors) in a healthcare system, manufacturing corporation, fintech company, or other business entity.
The more esoteric your career pursuits, the more difficult it will be for AI to provide the distinctive content needed for your career.
In Should You Write Your Own Executive Resume?, you’ll see that the task of setting yourself apart requires some introspective thought about your personal brand and career contributions.
You must answer the tough questions likely to be posed in an interview – and get that compelling story on paper!
This is true whether you rely on a professional writer, bot, or resume template, and even MORE important when you’re approaching or targeting the C-suite.
5 – You don’t mind taking the time to edit AI-generated text.
In 2025, your resume must hit the mark quickly – while DIFFERENTIATING you.
Prompting AI models for resume content will produce lengthy, often generic sentences. If you’re unsure how to make each sentence your own, or how to roll up each bullet without losing its meaning, you may need more help than a bot can supply.
The verdict?
Use AI tools to help stimulate thought for your resume only if you’re already familiar with your career successes, have a typical career trajectory, or you’re ready to fine-tune the results.
It’s important to ensure your resume is powerful enough to support your ascent to the top.
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