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I often get asked, "Is it cheating to use ChatGPT (or any other AI product) to help with writing a resume?"
I've struggled to answer this question concisely—but Amy Miller simplified it perfectly in a post where she stated, "It's merely a TOOL that is only as good or bad as the person wielding it."
And she's right. Both job seekers and hiring authorities use AI to accomplish their goals, and it's not going away anytime soon. Have we rejected other tools that have made our work more efficient and productive?
Think of it this way: If you were building a house, would you use a handsaw to cut 2x4s, or would you use a circular saw? Before the 1930s and early 1940s, carpenters didn’t have circular saws, which made their work much harder. We aren't going back to those days.
In the same vein, people stopped using quills for writing by the late 1800s (reason for the image above). We're not going back to that method of writing.
So, what’s the harm in using ChatGPT to help write your resume? There's nothing wrong with taking a helping hand, as long as you do some of the heavy lifting. This means putting in the effort to write a resume that stands on its own. Start with a solid foundation before relying on AI for refinements.
Once you've written your resume template, you can make it stronger by tailoring it to specific job ads quicker and more efficiently than you could on your own. The process is easy and usually accurate, "usually" being the operative word here.
Buyer Be Aware: an LLM like ChatGPT will take liberties and produce accomplishment statements that are impressive but not necessarily true. Or it devises an accomplishment statement that doesn't sound like you. Therefore, what ChatGPT produces is not the be-all and end-all.
Use ChatGPT to polish accomplishment statements
You might have accomplishment statements that need a little work. In this case, using ChatGPT is perfectly fine as long as it sounds like you.
A Director of Operations writes: "Relocated operations—including machinery and office furniture—cross-state from 300,500 square ft. building to 450,700 square ft. building. Completed 3 weeks before the projected deadline."
They ask ChatGPT to revise it. ChatGPT writes: "Successfully orchestrated the early cross-state relocation of operations, including machinery and office furnishings, transitioning from a 300,500 square-foot facility to a 450,700 square-foot building, achieving this complex move three weeks ahead of schedule."
ChatGPT completes it in seconds. But our Director of Operations isn't satisfied; namely because of the adverb "Successfully" (I've noticed that Chat likes to start sentences with adverbs) and the length; it's almost a complete 3 lines. But they like the verb "Orchestrated."
Using ChatGPT's version, they revise it to read: "Shattered a 3-week deadline by orchestrating a complex cross-state relocation of operations—machinery and office furniture—from a 300,500 sq. ft. facility to a 450,700 sq. ft. building."
The finished accomplishment statement is similar but doesn't sound like one that ChatGPT would produce.
Use ChatGPT to write relevant accomplishment statements
A simple example is writing your accomplishment statements to better reflect what the employer needs. For example, the employer needs someone who can save costs. Without any guidance, a Corporate Trainer asks ChatGPT to write an accomplishment statement.
Chat provides: "Boosted individual production by 33% across multiple projects by providing targeted training to 20 employees, resulting in significant cost savings."
They revise ChatGPT's first attempt to read: "Trained 20 employees on database software—via group and individual sessions—precluding the need to hire an outside vendor, saving the company $16,000 in the year 2023."
Again, you must proofread and edit what Chat produces before submitting it with your application.
Be able to defend your resume
Perhaps the most important reason to involve yourself in the process is to know what you're submitting to the employer. Recently I sat with a professor who was trying to provide metrics for his accomplishments.
He had written on his resume: "Improved undergraduate course completion rates by 22% over three semesters through curriculum redesign, incorporating active learning strategies that increased student engagement and boosted average final grades from 78% to 86%."
When I asked him how he knew the metrics in the accomplishment statement, he told me he didn't know, ChatGPT had produced the accomplishment statement. In other words, he couldn't defend this claim.
I asked him what was more accurate, to which he said his ratings for that period were greater than 96%, and he was often told by the dean of the biology department that his students were engaged, more so than in other biology classes.
Together we wrote an accomplishment statement that he could defend in interviews: "Achieved >96% in Biology III course by providing stimulating lectures and labs, often engaging students in challenging discussion; received multiple favorable comments from the Dean of Students."
Do you have the goods?
I believe that most recruiters couldn't give a hoot if you have help in writing your resume from an LLM like ChatGPT as long as you're qualified for the job. Yes, you must tailor your resume to the job description but not at the expense of lying about your qualifications.
Have you bought a product like a watch, for example, that claimed to do all the things you were looking for but only met half your needs? The online description was written by some crafty marketers and the photos were stunning, but it didn't measure up.
This is what recruiters worry about when they read a stunning resume: is the candidate being truthful? ChatGPT doesn't care if you can do what it promises; it only wants to provide great accomplishment statements based on what it gleans from the Internet.
As Chat truthfully says in a caveat, there will be some inaccuracies with what it produces.
Related: 15 Video Interview Mistakes That Could Cost You the Job