How ChatGPT can help or hinder your job application

Career expert Angela Champ joins CTV Your Morning to discuss how people's use of AI is affecting the current job market and their chances of securing a job.

As more Canadians turn to ChatGPT to help craft resumes and cover letters, one expert is warning that being too reliant on the AI tool can work against them.

While AI can help whip up a resume in a matter of seconds, career expert Angela Champ says there are several things to consider before trusting it to help with a job search.

She told CTV Your Morning on Monday that since ChatGPT takes out so much of the grunt work when crafting a cover letter, more people are using it. In turn, it floods the number of applicants for most jobs.

“Because it’s so easy to generate one and send an application in, companies are getting thousands of resumes,” she said. “What’s happening is that qualified resumes are getting buried, because hardly any recruiters are looking at thousands of resumes.”

She warns that relying on ChatGPT to recreate a resume or cover letter puts an application at risk of being too generic, which will send it towards the bottom of the pile.

Many recruiters screen job applications and cover letters with an AI checker, such as zerogpt,com, which tells them how much of the document is AI generated.

Additionally, since AI tends to regurgitate what’s in the job posting, it doesn’t help applications stand out.

“Some applications that they’re using, it has a ChatGPT voice, and that is flagging to the recruiter that maybe this one is not an authentic application,” said Champ.

There are ways to make a job application stand out, she added.

First off, she stressed not using a generic application. Even if relying on AI tools to create an outline, Champ said every bullet point on a resume should answer the question, “So what?”

For example: Instead of saying you “worked in sales,” add any statistics, metrics or notable achievements that came with that responsibility, in order to personalize the application.

“Make sure you’re using metrics,” she said. “If you’re in (human resources), did you reduce turnover? By how much? If you’re in sales, did you increase sales? By how much?”

Champ also suggested looking up the hiring manager or recruiter who you can send an application to directly, rather than through a website.

Finally, research anyone in your network who has connections to the company you’re applying to, and ask for a referral.

“Often referrals get brought to the top of the pile,” she said. “If you’re competing with thousands of people, at least you’ll have a better chance than the rest of the people will.”

Champ also recommends recreating a detailed master resume that lists every job you’ve ever had, which can be modified to fit each specific job application.

“You’re more likely to get a quality product versus just quantity, just sending it, and competing with thousands of others,” she said.