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By now, most job seekers have at least considered using AI to help with their resume or cover letter. Some may be using it to generate bullet points, while others are asking it to rewrite entire documents. AI tools are improving all the time, and in a competitive job market it can be tempting to rely on AI to make writing a resume or cover letter easier. The problem here is that when everyone uses AI the same way, everything starts to sound the same. Here’s how to use AI effectively and ethically to help you put together solid application materials.
Start With Your Own Draft
The fastest and easiest way to lose your voice is to skip straight to AI-generated content. If you ask ChatGPT or tools like it to “write me a resume” or “draft a cover letter for this job,” you’ll usually get something that looks fine on the surface but reads like it could belong to anyone—because it probably could, considering how widespread AI use has become.
A better approach is to start with your own draft, even if it’s messy or incomplete. Write out your experiences in plain language, and don’t worry about perfect phrasing or formatting at this stage. Remember, it’s called a draft for a reason, so don’t chase perfection right off the bat.
AI as an Editor
We always emphasize that AI should be used as a tool, and here, think of it as a second set of eyes. Once you’ve got a draft together, you can use AI to tighten bullet points, improve clarity, or remove anything repetitive. For example, instead of using a prompt that says “Write a resume bullet point for my resume,” try:
- “Here’s a resume bullet point I wrote. Can you make it more concise and results-oriented while keeping the meaning the same?”
Small changes to prompts can make a big difference. Remember, you’re guiding a tool, not handing over control.
Be Specific
Building off of our last point about constructing effective prompts, it’s also important to be as specific as possible. Generic prompts will produce generic results, and if you want your materials to sound like you, your instructions need to reflect that. When providing your draft, you might say:
- “Make this more concise without making it sound overly formal.”
- “Keep the tone professional but not overly corporate.”
- “Avoid buzzwords and keep the language straightforward.”
These kinds of directions help prevent your resume or cover letter from turning into a collection of cliches. They also force you to think about how you want to present yourself, which is pretty much the entire point of your resume and cover letter.
Don’t Let AI Make Things Up
This one should be obvious, but if you’re in a big rush it might be easy to send an AI-generated resume or cover letter without closely proofreading it (don’t do that).
AI can and will fill in gaps if you let it. If you provide vague input, it may generate accomplishments, metrics, or responsibilities that sound impressive but aren’t accurate to your actual experience. Make no mistake, “embellishing” upon your experience (whether accidentally or not) puts your credibility at risk.
If an interviewer asks you to elaborate on something in your resume and you can’t explain it clearly, the conversation can unravel quickly. A good rule of thumb is if you didn’t do it, don’t include it. Use AI to improve how you describe your experience, not to change what that experience actually was.
Maintaining Tone
One of the biggest giveaways of overusing AI is tone. If your resume or cover letter suddenly sounds overly polished, filled with jargon, or disconnected from how you naturally communicate, it can raise questions.
Now, that doesn’t mean your writing should be casual or unstructured; it just means it should feel consistent. For example, your email exchanges with the hiring manager should “feel” similar to how your cover letter is written.
A good tactic is to read everything out loud after using AI. If something feels unnatural or overly complicated, simplify it. If you wouldn’t say it in a conversation, it probably doesn’t belong in your application.
Use AI to Tailor
One area where AI can be genuinely helpful, especially in a pinch, is with customization. You should always tailor your resume and cover letter to each individual job application, but instead of rewriting your entire resume every time, you can use AI to align your bullet points with a job description, highlight relevant skills, or adjust your cover letter for a specific role.
For example, you might use a prompt like this:
- “Here’s my resume and the job description. Which experiences should I emphasize, and how can I adjust my bullet points to better match this role?”
The goal is to keep your core content intact while simultaneously enhancing your resume or cover letter’s relevance to a specific job. This is perhaps one of the most effective (and ethical) uses of AI tools when it comes to putting together a resume or cover letter.
Being Responsible
Remember, your resume and cover letter are meant to represent you, and every word on the page is something you may be asked to explain. Before you submit anything, make sure you understand every bullet point, can explain your contributions clearly, and feel comfortable discussing your experience in detail.
If you feel like you need help with speaking confidently about your experience, you can always run some practice interviews with a friend or family member. It’s important to remember that if you used AI to help you put together your resume or cover letter, that’s okay, but the final version still needs to be “yours,” so look over your materials very carefully before sending them out.
By now, most employers assume that at least some applicants are using AI tools in some capacity, but that doesn’t mean you should make it obvious. If you do decide to use AI to help you, don’t rely on it too heavily. You’ll risk sounding generic, or worse yet, misrepresenting yourself and your experience. Start with your own voice, and if it helps you, use AI to refine it—just make sure the final result still sounds like you.
Rob Porter is an editor at Vault.
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