How to Make a Resume with ChatGPT [Full Guide for 2024]

What Should Your Resume Include?

Before you get started with ChatGPT, let’s go through what a stellar resume should include.

• Include a resume headline. This brief paragraph, which can be a resume summary or an objective, is among the first things the hiring manager will read. So make sure it’s attention-grabbing and impactful.
• Add your contact information. Always include your name, job title, professional email address, and phone number.
• Mention your relevant skills. The skills on your resume should only reflect what the employer is looking for, not all your skills. 
• List your work experience. This section is the bulk of your resume, so you’ve got to give it extra attention. ChatGPT can help you expand on your responsibilities and achievements, and make them shine.
• Describe your education. In most cases, you don’t need to go into detail about your education - just keep it short and sweet.
• Leverage optional sections. Add some optional sections if you’re done with all essential sections and your resume still looks empty. Things like volunteer experience, personal projects, and hobbies and interests can all help your job application pop.

8 Steps to Writing a Resume with ChatGPT

You know what a great resume looks like; now it’s time to start writing your own!

Just follow these steps and you’ll be done in no time:

#1. Consider the Resume Format

For ChatGPT to help you make the best resume possible, you must start somewhere.

Usually, that’s figuring out what resume format you want to follow.

There are three main resume formats to choose from:

• Reverse-chronological. Also called simply “chronological,” this format follows the linear progression of your career.
• Functional. Also named skill-based, this format focuses more on your skills.
• Combination. A mix of the previous two.

So, how do you choose?

In 99% of cases, we recommend you stick to the reverse-chronological resume format. It’s the most popular of the three, so it’s what hiring managers expect to see.

Because of this, in this article, we’ll focus on how to use ChatGPT to write a reverse-chronological resume.

#2. Add Contact Details Manually

It’s finally time to start filling in your resume using ChatGPT!

Since your contact information is one of the first things the hiring manager should see at the top of the page, start with this section.

But if you aren’t sure what contact information you should add, don’t worry – ChatGPT can always remind you.

That being said, you can’t rely on ChatGPT to help you here. Ultimately, you have to write down your information and ensure it’s factually correct so the hiring manager can contact you.

Speaking of ways to contact you, ensure you always use a professional email address. 

If the hiring manager sees something quirky like johntheflamingknight@novoresume.com, they will likely assume you’re not a serious candidate and just throw your resume onto the “no” pile.

But if you don’t have a professional email address yet, ChatGPT can help you think of one.

We recommend combining your first and last name, but you can also include your middle name for more options.

Here’s an example:

#3. Describe Your Work Experience

Your work experience is at the heart of your resume, and this is one place where ChatGPT can help you make your resume shine.

First, you can ask ChatGPT to suggest what responsibilities and achievements you should list for your previous job.

Just give it your job title and some information for context, like so:

Then check out the suggestions and choose what’s relevant to your experience.

This is a great start, but you’re not done yet! You need to change this information so it’s accurate and applies to you.

Some things you can do include:

• Tailor your work experience. ChatGPT can help you tailor your work experience to the ad. It can suggest which previous jobs are relevant to the one you're applying for and how to highlight your strengths.
• Focus on achievements. Instead of listing responsibilities, ask ChatGPT to frame your experience according to your achievements. If hiring managers see your positive impact in your previous role, they’ll likely want you to do the same for them.
• Quantify data. Numbers are convincing, and you should add them wherever possible. These can be budgets, percentages, or timeframes. Leverage ChatGPT here by asking how to quantify different achievements or by asking it to calculate metrics for you.
• Use powerful action verbs. ChatGPT can help you replace phrases like "was responsible for" or “helped with.” Request more dynamic synonyms to make your work experience more engaging to hiring managers.

Now, here’s what your work experience could look like on your resume:

#4. Discuss Your Education (Briefly!)

It’s always better to keep your education section short and sweet. The hiring manager is more interested in your work experience and skills, so, unless you have no work experience, there’s no need to go into detail here.

You probably already have all the information required on your resume. This includes:

• Degree name and type. Always start with your degree type and what you majored in. (E.g.: BA in Anthropology)
• University name. (E.g.: Sorbonne University)
• Location (optional). If the name doesn’t mention where the university is, specify it yourself. (E.g.: Paris, France)
• Period attended. The years are usually enough information. (E.g.: 2020 - 2024)

Not too complicated, right?

But if you’re a recent graduate with little or no work experience to vouch for your skills, you might want to add some extra information.

Your GPA, honors or distinctions, academic achievements, and relevant coursework can all make you look like a more capable candidate. And ChatGPT can help you figure out what to write.

While you don’t have to add everything ChatGPT suggests, you can pick out the courses that apply to you and format them nicely on your resume. For example:

#5. Cover Relevant Skills

Your skills section is another place where ChatGPT can do some heavy lifting.

After the work experience section, hiring managers look at your skills to determine what you can do and how much training you might need if they hire you. So, skills are really important in your resume.

And ChatGPT can help you get this section right.

First, remember that you don’t need to list every skill you have. That’s likely to make your resume look generic, which is the opposite of what you want.

Like the rest of your resume, your skill section should be tailored to the job ad.

Copy and paste the text from the job ad into ChatGPT and ask it to identify the skills the employer is looking for. For example, a prompt you can use is:

ChatGPT should reply with a list that includes all the skills it can find.

It’s important to note that ChatGPT isn’t perfect. In this case, it included the degree as a hard skill but that information should always go into its designated section on your resume.

And here are the soft skills from the same job ad:

You can also customize the prompts you give ChatGPT as much as necessary. Here are some examples you can try out:

This way, ChatGPT can help you understand what the employer is looking for. For example:

#6. Write a Resume Headline (Summary or Objective)

Hiring managers go through hundreds of resumes every day per job opening. They physically don’t have the time to read every application in detail.

So, they skim through them and spend an average of six seconds on each resume.

That gives you a short window to make an impression, and that’s where your resume headline comes in.

Your resume headline is a brief paragraph placed at the top of your resume. Its job is to provide a captivating snapshot of your career and what you can do for the company.

It’s more likely the hiring manager will read your resume in depth if this bit is relevant.

Usually, this would be one of the first things you’d work on when writing a resume. But with ChatGPT, things are a little different.

If you’re using the same chat to create your resume with ChatGPT, the chatbot will remember the information you give it. So, if you ask it to create a resume headline based on the information so far, it will leverage it effectively to write a captivating headline.

This is why you should write your resume headline after you write all other key sections. ChatGPT works best with context, and once you’ve told it everything it needs to know about you, it’s that much closer to writing the perfect resume headline.

Now, let’s look at how you can write a resume headline and how ChatGPT can help.

Resume Summary

The most popular version of a resume headline is the resume summary.

This is a two- to three-sentence summary of your career so far. It should include:

• Your job title and years of experience.
• Some of your best professional achievements or relevant responsibilities.
• Skills that are tailored to the job you’re applying for.

Simple, right?

Here’s an example:

The best part is that it’s extremely easy to write a resume summary with ChatGPT.

All you need to do is provide ChatGPT with relevant information about you and then follow this formula:

And here’s what the formula looks like in practice:

Resume Objective

The resume objective is two to four sentences long, and it’s meant to reflect your professional goals and aspirations, your background, and any skills relevant to the job.

Usually, it shows your motivation for getting into a new field, so it works best for recent graduates and people going through a career change.

Here’s an example:

And just like with a resume summary, ChatGPT can help here.

Just paste this formula into the chatbox and ask it to generate several versions based on your information:

And here’s what the ChatGPT output might be:

#7. Consider Optional Resume Sections

If you still have some space left on your resume, then you should take advantage of some optional sections to help you stand out from competitors.

Such sections aren’t crucial to your resume but can help tip the scales in your favor. If the hiring manager is on the fence between you and another equally qualified candidate, this extra information could impress them.

Some optional sections include:

• Certifications. Things like courses, trainings, or seminars can all work here. You can ask ChatGPT to help you format any of these by explaining the experience and when it took place, as well as its formal name.
• Projects. This is a great way to show off your passion for your field. Mention anything you worked on in university, something you developed for fun, or even projects you volunteered to help with. Just describe them in detail to ChatGPT and ask for help formatting them in a way that ties into the job you’re applying for.
• Hobbies and interests. Some companies encourage candidates to share this information about themselves, so showing a bit of your personality can work wonders. Ask ChatGPT which hobbies and interests are most appropriate for the job you’re applying to, and include a few of the ones that apply to you on your resume. (E.g.: Role Playing Games is a great interest for a writer!) 

Keep in mind that there’s a reason we didn’t mention these sections sooner.

ChatGPT remembers the information you give it. So, if you discuss your projects or hobbies and interests while helping you write your resume, it will likely consider these sections just as important as your work experience or skills.

Later on, this could sabotage your efforts to write a resume summary or cover letter in the same chat. To make sure ChatGPT doesn’t focus too much on these optional sections, make sure you leave them out until everything else is done.

#8. Adjust Your Resume’s Layout

Now that you know what resume format you’re going for, it’s time to figure out your resume’s layout.

We recommend you do this before you start writing because this way, you can determine how much space you have and make sure everything looks neat.

Unfortunately, this is one step ChatGPT can’t help with. It’s a great tool with a lot of perks, but it can’t create a visually striking resume for you.

Some things you need to do include:

• Choose the correct font. The font style and size need to guarantee that your resume is easy to read. We recommend something like Ubuntu, Roboto, or Lora, with a size 11-12 pt for normal text and 14-16 pt for headings.
• Add clear section headings. Your resume needs to be easy to navigate, so you need clear section headings for “Work Experience,” “Skills,” and other parts of your resume.
• Stick to one page. Hiring managers don’t want to read a novel, so make sure you only list your most relevant experiences and fit everything onto a single page. Any more than that is only acceptable at an executive level.
• Adjust the line spacing. Ideally, use 1.0 between text and 1.15 after subheadings so your resume doesn’t look cluttered.
• Set the page margins. Make sure your resume has one inch of space on all sides of the page. Anything more than squish the contents of your resume too close, but anything else will stretch it out.
• Save to a PDF file. Finally, save your resume to a PDF file unless the job ad specifically requests something else. Opting for a PDF guarantees that your resume’s formatting will stay the same across any device or program the hiring manager uses to open it.

Want to Save Time? Use a (Free) Resume Template

Formatting your resume from scratch isn’t fun.

Even before you can fill it in with the contents, you have to tweak the margins, choose the right font sizes, and try to make sure everything fits into one page without looking cluttered.

So what if you could just skip all that and instantly fill in a perfect resume?

That’s where our free resume templates come in. All of them are formatted and ready to go, so you can paste the text in and submit your application in minutes.

Each of our templates is created in close collaboration with hiring managers from all over the globe to make sure that your resume is visually appealing and ATS-friendly!

Just look at how one of our templates compares to a resume created in a standard text editor:

5 Tips to Write Your Resume with ChatGPT

You know the basics about writing a resume with ChatGPT, but you might need to make a few adjustments while working on your job application.

Apply these resume tips to get the most out of ChatGPT:

1. Reference the job ad. Copy and paste the job ad into ChatGPT to give it the necessary context for your job application. This way, it can generate output that matches the job requirements more closely.
2. Identify transferable skills. You can ask ChatGPT to analyze your work history and match your skills and experiences to the job description, so you can quickly tailor your resume to the role you’re aiming for.
3. Customize prompts. The more specific and detailed your prompts are, the better ChatGPT’s output will be.
4. Try multiple versions. Remember that ChatGPT might not deliver what you want immediately, so you shouldn’t assume the first draft will be the best. Ask ChatGPT for different versions and give it feedback on how to improve until each section of your resume is perfect.
5. Proofread and edit. At the end of the day, you make the final call about what makes it to your resume. Always review and refine ChatGPT's suggestions to make sure the information is accurate and authentically represents you as a candidate.

FREE ChatGPT Resume Checklist

Want to make sure your resume covers all the bases? We’ll make it easy for you!

Go through our free resume checklist to see how your resume holds up:

If you think something’s missing from your resume, just go back and ask ChatGPT for a little help.

Once you’ve checked all the boxes, you’re done! Your resume is all set and you can apply for that job you’ve got your eye on.

FAQs on How to Make a Resume with ChatGPT

Are you still wondering something about how to make a resume with ChatGPT? Check out the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions below.

Key Takeaways

And that's the end of our guide on how to make a resume with ChatGPT!

By now, you should be ready to leverage this AI tool to craft a job-winning resume. Hurray!

But before you go, let's quickly recap the main points we've covered:

• ChatGPT can be a great tool for writing your resume. It can help you save time and improve the quality of your content.
• Give the chatbot as much context as possible and write the sections one by one. Remember that some sections, like your resume headline and any optional sections, should be written last.
• To get the most out of ChatGPT, combine the output with a professional resume template to ensure your application looks as good as it reads.
• Use our free ChatGPT resume checklist to see if your resume covers all the necessary bases before you submit it.
• Remember that ChatGPT is supposed to be an assistant, not a replacement for your input. Your resume’s final draft should reflect you accurately, not just parrot ChatGPT’s suggestions.