There’s an important distinction between using AI to improve your CV and asking AI to write your CV for you.
Using AI to improve your CV can make your career story clearer and more compelling.
Asking AI to write your CV can create a document where you sound like everyone else, negatively impacting your chances of landing an interview.
In this blog we’ll show you how to use AI to strengthen your CV without losing what makes it uniquely yours.
Start With Your Story
Your CV should be based on your career, your experience and your achievements.
That sounds obvious, but it’s easy to lose sight of that when you’re staring at a blank document and asking ChatGPT (other AI Assistants are available!) to "write me a professional CV".
AI can only work with the information you give it. If you give it a vague description of your career, it will write with generic language, even making up information to fill in the blanks.
Instead, write your first draft in your own words.
Don't worry about whether it sounds polished, this is for your eyes only. Take time to think carefully about each question before noting down the relevant information under each one:
- What have you done, what tasks have you completed?
- What have you been responsible for?
- What problems have you solved?
- What projects have you contributed to?
- What have you improved?
- What have you achieved?
- What have you learned?
- What are you particularly good at, when do people seek out your help?
- What would a previous manager or colleague say you bring to a team?
Top tip: This is the raw material you need whether you’re writing your CV alone or with the help of an AI tool.
Your Experience Comes First. AI Comes Second.
Once you have your information down, AI can become incredibly useful as an editor and sounding board.
Rather than asking it to "write my CV", ask it to help you make sense of the CV you’ve drafted from the information you gathered in the previous step.
For example: "Review the personal statement of my CV. Don't rewrite it yet. Identify the strongest evidence of skills, achievements and impact, and tell me what information is missing."
Instead of replacing your thinking, AI prompts you to think more deeply about your own experience.
You might discover that something you considered an ordinary part of your job is worth highlighting, or it may suggest something you’ve touched on that requires clarification to better illustrate your capabilities.
Ask AI To Find The Achievements Hiding In Your Responsibilities
One of the biggest problems with CVs is that they can become lists of duties.
But recruiters need to understand the difference you made.
Take your list of responsibilities and ask AI: "Review these responsibilities and ask me questions that will help uncover measurable achievements, improvements, challenges I've solved or examples of impact. Don't invent anything."
This is particularly useful if you find it difficult to “sell” yourself. It might ask:
- How many people did you support?
- What was the size or value of the project?
- Did you improve a process?
- Did you reduce costs or save time?
- Did you introduce a new system?
- What happened as a result?
- Were you trusted with additional responsibility?
- Did you solve a particularly difficult problem?
Your answers to these questions provide further substantive information that will enhance your CV.
Ask AI To Challenge Your CV
Don't just ask AI to make your CV "better". Ask it to critique it.
For example: "Act as a recruiter reviewing this CV for a [job title]. What would make you want to interview this person? What would make you hesitate? Identify anything that is vague, repetitive, unsupported or too generic. Do not rewrite it yet."
This is much more useful than simply asking for a polished version. It will highlight gaps, suggest alternative language and suggest ways you could reorder to CV so that high-impact content is prioritised.
For example: Your CV says you have "excellent communication skills". Most people cite this on their CV, but what does it mean without any evidence?
You've described yourself as "results-driven", "motivated" and "dynamic", stuffing your CV with buzzwords that are so over-used, they are literally meaningless.
Your most relevant experience is buried halfway down the page, or your CV tells someone what you did, but not why it mattered.
AI can help you spot these issues, but don't automatically accept every suggestion. You know your career better than the AI ever will and it’s important that you select the suggestions that have been constructive and relevant.
Use AI To Tailor Your CV To A Particular Role
Once your CV accurately represents you, it will be in pretty good shape. But it’s not quite ready just yet.
The next step is tailoring your CV for the specific role you are applying for. AI can help you with that too.
Give it your CV and the job description and prompt: "Compare my CV with this job description. Identify the requirements I can evidence from my experience, the relevant skills or achievements I should highlight, and any requirements I don't currently demonstrate. Don't invent experience or qualifications."
Top tip: Don't ask AI to make you fit the job. Ask it to help you understand how your existing experience fits the job.
This step can help to identify the terminology and requirements that matter, and where you might need to strengthen your CV.
For example, if a job repeatedly asks for stakeholder management and your CV doesn’t mention it, you don’t necessarily need to add the phrase "stakeholder management" ten times.
Instead, think about where you've demonstrated it, perhaps through managed relationships with clients, suppliers, senior leaders or internal teams. That’s the evidence you want to include in your CV.
Beware Of The "AI CV"
Using AI in your CV preparation isn’t a problem, how you use it could be.
If you ask an AI tool to write your CV from scratch, you can end up with:
- Generic buzzwords
- Repetitive language
- Overly formal phrasing
- Claims that aren't supported by evidence
- A CV that doesn't sound like you
- A career history that reads more like a job description than a story
The same applies to cover letters.
Top tip: The quality of the output depends on the quality of your thinking and the personal information you provide.
Don't Let AI Erase Your Personality
Your CV doesn't need to be full of personality in the way social media posts can be, but it should still sound like a real person.
For example: You wouldn't normally say, "leveraged cross-functional synergies to drive transformational outcomes", would you? Don't suddenly start saying it because ChatGPT suggested it.
Read your CV out loud, does it sound like you?
Would you be comfortable talking about everything on the page in an interview?
Could you explain every achievement and statement with a real example?
If not, continue editing until it sounds convincing and credible. This is important because everything in your CV is a target for questions during an interview. Exaggerating your accomplishments may get you selected for interview, but you’ll quickly look disingenuous when the interviewer starts to delve a little deeper.
A Simple Way To Use AI When Writing Your CV
Think of the process as five steps:
1. Write
Get your career history, responsibilities, projects and achievements down in your own words.
2. Question
Use AI to identify gaps and ask questions that uncover stronger evidence.
3. Challenge
Ask AI to critique your CV and identify vague, generic or unsupported claims.
4. Refine
Use it to improve clarity, structure and wording without changing the facts.
5. Personalise
Read everything back, add your own voice and make sure every statement accurately represents you.
Top tip: The final step is the one people are most likely to skip; this is your chance to stand out.
AI Should Be Your CV Collaborator Not Your CV Writer
There is nothing wrong with using AI in your job search. Used well, it can be an incredibly useful tool.
It can help you identify achievements you might have overlooked, challenge your assumptions, improve your writing and tailor your CV to a particular opportunity.
But it shouldn't replace you. Let AI help you tell your story better. Don't let it tell it for you.
Talking to a specialist recruiter can add something AI can't: a human perspective on your experience, the market and the opportunities that could be right for you.
At TMM Recruitment, our recruiters meet with candidates, understand their experience and career aspirations, optimise their CV and provide impartial advice on the current market.
Discover how we can help at tmmrecruitment.com and if you prefer to watch out top tips, visit: https://www.youtube.com/@tmmrecruitment/shorts