Revision Resume has heard of job seekers using ChatGPT to write their career documentation, such as their resume and cover letter. Revision Resume DOES NOT use ChatGPT when working on career documentation for our clients.
Why not?
In a job search, you are trying to stand out from everyone else. ChatGPT simply regurgitates information that is already available on the internet. Since it doesn't know you or your skills and qualifications, it provides you with generic resume and cover letter content that won't help you get noticed. If you are thinking about using ChatGPT yourself, let's look at a few additional details you should consider before proceeding.
Confidentiality
ChatGPT is not confidential. Every conversation is logged. So, we advise you to not include any personal information when interacting with ChatGPT. This includes:
Address
Phone Number
Email Address
LinkedIn URL
Names and Dates of Companies You Have Worked For
Following Resume and Cover Letter Guidelines
Revision Resume did some testing prior to writing this blog to see what kind of career documentation ChatGPT would create. We provided ChatGPT with a few similar job postings and asked it to create a cover letter for us.
The output was not up to current standards and would be unacceptable.
For example, the cover letter ChatGPT produced was 2 pages long, instead of just 1 page. It included 8 large paragraphs (no bullets or bolding), making it difficult to read or skim. A hiring manager that received the ChatGPT cover letter would likely cast it aside without even taking a glance at it.
Human resources is looking for a document that is concise, to the point, and provides personal details showing why the job seeker is specifically suited for the new role. What ChatGPT produced was verbose and generic.
AI Detectors
Often, a cover letter is used to show a bit of your personality to the hiring team, so they can see who you really are and how you would fit in the role they are trying to fill. A computer is currently not able to highlight your personality when they write your cover letter.
A recent study reported that nearly 40% of hiring managers indicated that receiving a cover letter written by AI would eliminate the candidate from the hiring process. Some companies are starting to use AI detectors to determine if the documents submitted have been written by AI instead of a human. In addition, we have heard reports where ChatGPT creates very similar cover letters for two different people in two different locations. Seeing nearly identical content could be an easy red flag for a hiring manager to spot.
In the example we tried using ChatGPT, it used exact phrases from the job posting, making plagiarism apparent. Hiring managers are not seeking a copy/paste of the job description when they read a cover letter. They are looking for specifics about your experience and how you show that you are ready to tackle the new role.
Your Unique Skills
Candidates submitting a cover letter with their job application do so to show how they are uniquely qualified for a role. A cover letter should highlight the skills and experiences you have that make you an ideal candidate, but cover letters produced by ChatGPT are generic and do not provide those details. Instead, they offer general information and can even include information that isn't true.
For example, it is quite common to apply for a job, even if you don't match 100% of the job description. When writing a resume yourself, you would choose to include the aspects of the role you DO qualify for. However, if you rely on ChatGPT to write your resume, it may populate it with aspects of the job description that don't actually reflect your experience.
Final Thoughts
When we had ChatGPT "build" us a resume, it included exact phrases from the job description, along with generic, boring statements. Nothing in the letter would catch the eye of a hiring manager to make the candidate stand out compared to other job seekers.
At Revision Resume, we feel a human touch is necessary to help elevate you, compared to the 200+ other candidates applying for the same role. Using ChatGPT to create your career documentation may result in your application being cast aside.
Don't take that risk! When you work with Carrie and Laura at Revision Resume, you can feel confident you will receive a truly unique document that will help you stand out. Contact us today for a critique or creation!
