Artificial Intelligence seems to be in the news every day. There is constant chatter and speculation about how AI will change the world, both positive and negative. On the upside, AI has the potential to make transformative advances in several business areas. Software development, customer operations, sales and marketing, and research and development have huge potential for AI benefits. But the AI buzz is also causing fear and anxiety where AI could eliminate jobs and take control over elements of our lives. Many career coaches are downplaying the use of AI as it presents a threat to their business. The reality is that there are several AI tools for job seekers available today that can help in the following areas: 1) resume and cover letter writing; 2) resume and LinkedIn profile review; 3) job matching, and; 4) interview preparation. I’ve tried out several AI tools in each of these areas and have identified my top picks. If job seekers lean into trying these AI tools, you’ll find that AI can become a powerful ally in streamlining your job search and give you an edge in landing your dream job.
Writing Resumes and Cover Letters
The area that AI is being used the most by job seekers is resume and cover letter writing. There are several AI-powered tools where you can input your job title, work history, pick a template, and the AI tool will create a resume for you. AI resume writers like Rezi, Kickresume, and Skillroads can help you build a summary, identify skills, and create bullet points for work history. Rezi is one of the most popular as it offers a free basic service. You can copy and paste the job description you’re applying for, and it will use AI technology to identify key words and skills. It was useful in coming up with bullet points for my work history. Kickresume was the best AI resume writing tool I came across. Its AI wizard was helpful in offering suggestions for work accomplishments and suggesting skills I should include to match the job. I ended up with a professional looking resume I was happy with, and it took me less than half an hour. On the downside, it does require a small subscription fee ($5/month as of this publishing date).
AI resume writing tools can help you get past writer’s block and come up with a first draft. I found it helpful in giving me ideas for action verbs and different verbiage to use in bullet points. One of the pitfalls to avoid is that you should not use AI generated resumes for your final resume. You’ll need to edit and customize your resume to make sure it’s accurate and has the tone that you want. If you generate the same content as everyone else, you won’t stand out in the application process. I recently reviewed a client’s resume that was written by one of the AI tools. The resume read well and had an eye-pleasing format but included work history that wasn’t the client’s.
Most of the AI resume tools like Rezi and Kickstarter also include the capability to write a cover letter. Again, these tools can help you get through writer’s block and provide a decent first draft. However, like the resume, you’ll want to customize your cover letter. You should use your own words and voice to showcase your unique value proposition and fit for the role. AI-powered tools can help provide good examples of verbiage, structure, and templates for a first draft. Creating a draft cover letter using the free ChatGPT in Microsoft Bing can be as effective as using one of the job seeker AI websites. It provides strong verbiage and a solid structure that shortened my time to write a customized cover letter by about 40%.
Resume and LinkedIn Profile Review
One of the best AI applications for job seekers is a resume reviewer. I use an AI resume reviewer when I’m creating a client’s resume from scratch. Kickresume will analyze your resume in three key areas that HR recruiters find valuable: 1) Does the resume contain everything it should? 2) Are you using the space effectively? 3) Are there any overused expressions in your CV’s content? Some AI-powered tools help you incorporate key words to match job descriptions. This increases your chance of making it through the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) screening process that most companies use. Skillroads has a simple AI resume checker that scores your resume on ATS compatibility, accomplishments, relevance, and resume sections. The best resume reviewer I found was Jobscan. You paste in the job advertisement that you’re applying for, and Jobscan will assess how well your resume matches it. Jobscan also gives you feedback on improving the content, format, structure, and keywords.
Several of the AI job seeker tools include features that review and help you optimize your LinkedIn profile. Over 80% of recruiters use LinkedIn to find candidates for a job and more than 90% of recruiters use LinkedIn to vet job candidates. Jobscan has a strong LinkedIn profile optimizer tool. If you use AI-powered tools to optimize your LinkedIn profile, you may have the fortune of having your next job find you instead of having to look for it.
Job Matching
AI-powered tools can help match you with job listings that are relevant to your skills, experience, and preferences. AI job matching tools use machine learning algorithms to analyze your profile and the job market and then recommend the best opportunities for your career goals. Hired is an AI platform that helps match your skills and experience with the needs of tech companies. It has one of the better user interfaces as the intake process is simple and straight forward. Rezi has a job matching function that is in the beta phase, and I found it to be limited. Another platform, Fortay, tries to match your preferred work environment to companies’ business environment. It offers a quiz to help you narrow in on companies with the right culture fit for you. Talentprise was the best AI-powered tool I found for job matching. It provides tools to identify your preferences and includes a skill assessment to match employer needs. It ranks your job match based on five pillars, including education, expertise, experience, capabilities, and skills.
AI job matching tools show promise, but most seem to be optimized for the employer and need improvement for job seekers. As companies move away from their Applicant Tracking Systems in favor of AI-based platforms, I expect AI job matching tools to improve for the job seeker. I would continue to check out these tools to see how they can help you find your dream job.
Interview Preparation
Another area that AI can help job seekers is with interview preparation. Some of my job seeker clients don’t feel they need practice interviewing or may feel uncomfortable practicing with another person. AI-powered tools can provide a safe space to practice interviews and give you exposure to numerous example questions. InterviewGPT.ai utilizes ChatGPT capability and has a simple user interface. You input the position and company you are interviewing for. It then asks you mock questions and you type in your answers. The concept is good, but it gave me an error message when I tried it several times.
Huru has a handy mobile app so that you can practice interviewing anywhere or anytime. The app allows you to select from several job categories and then will guide you through a mock interview. It gives you feedback on your answer for each question and provides tips on how to improve your answer. Huru allows you to go through a customized mock interview for a position on one of the major job boards like Indeed, LinkedIn, Monster, ZipRecruiter, and Glassdoor. After you download the Chrome extension, you select the position on the job board, and Huru will provide a customized mock interview.
InterviewIgniter is the best AI interview prep tool that I found due to its detailed feedback. It has some excellent features to prepare you for your interview. This includes an extensive question bank with categories like conflict management, teamwork, and problem solving. InterviewIgniter gives you a customized AI-guided mock interview based on the job description that you’re interviewing for. You then get detailed feedback immediately from the AI coach as it analyzes your answer in several dimensions. It provides feedback and ideas for improvement in areas like clarity, specificity, tone, confidence, and following the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Results) framework that most companies use in a structured interview. InterviewIgniter then gives you an overall rating and suggests specific ideas for improvement. It gives potential follow-up questions that the employer may use based on your initial answer. You can also record your interview using video or audio to get even more personalized feedback.
Summary
There are several good AI tools for job seekers that can help you land your dream job. They can assist you in resume and cover letter writing; reviewing and optimizing your resume and LinkedIn profile; job matching; and interview preparation. Unfortunately, I didn’t find an AI tool that excelled in all these areas. Each platform had its specific strengths, and the best I found for each area of the job search are:
Resume writing: Kickresume
Cover letter writing: ChatGPT on Microsoft Bing
Resume and LinkedIn Profile Review: JobScan
Job Matching: Talentprise
Interview Preparation: InterviewIgniter
AI can be a powerful ally for job seekers who want to streamline their job search and increase their chances of landing their dream job. AI-powered tools can help you overcome writer’s block and create a solid first draft for a resume and cover letter, but you should still customize these yourself. AI-powered tools are excellent for resume reviews and interview preparation, and I encourage you to use these. AI job matching platforms are still needing improvement, but I expect these to improve as more companies utilize them. You should try out these AI tools for job seekers, as they can give you the edge in landing your dream job.