How to Use AI in Your Job Search

Job hunting involves a lot of writing that has to be tailored, polite and free of mistakes: CVs, cover letters, application answers, follow-ups and thank-you notes. AI chat can take much of the drudgery out of it and give you a patient partner for interview practice. One rule matters more than any tip below: AI can help you present your real experience better, but it must never invent experience for you.

Step 1: Analyse the job ad

Before you touch your CV, work out what the employer actually wants. Paste the job description and ask:

Here is a job ad. List:
1. The 5 most important requirements, in order of priority.
2. Skills and keywords that appear more than once.
3. What the day-to-day work probably looks like.
4. Questions I could ask in an interview about this role.
"""
[paste job ad]
"""

This tells you what to put front and centre. Many employers use applicant tracking systems that search applications for relevant skills, so using the same wording as the ad, where it honestly applies to you, helps both the software and the human reader.

Step 2: Tailor your CV

Paste your current CV, with your phone number and home address removed because the AI does not need them, together with the job ad:

Weak:
Make my CV better.

Strong:
Compare my CV with this job ad. Tell me:
- Which of my experiences match the top requirements and should move up.
- Which bullet points are vague and how to make them achievement-based.
- Keywords from the ad that I genuinely have but did not mention.
Do not invent skills, numbers or experience. If a bullet would be
stronger with a number, ask me for it instead of making one up.

Strong bullet points describe what you did and what changed because of it. Here is the kind of rewrite to aim for:

The bracketed parts are where your real numbers go. If you do not know an exact figure, use an honest estimate you could explain in an interview, or leave the number out.

Step 3: Write a cover letter that sounds like a person

Generic cover letters are easy to spot. Give the AI the job ad, your CV and, most importantly, one or two real reasons you want this particular job and one specific story that proves you can do it.

Write a cover letter (max 250 words) for the job below. Use my CV and
these points:
- Why this company: [something specific, such as a product, a project
  or their approach that you genuinely like]
- My best proof: [a short story of a real result]
Tone: confident, warm, not flowery. Do not open with "I am writing to
apply for". Open with the story.

The cover letter writer builds a structured draft from your details. Edit it until every sentence is something you would be comfortable saying out loud.

Step 4: Practise interviews

Rehearsing answers is one of the most effective ways to prepare, and AI makes a patient interviewer. The built-in interviewer assistant runs mock interviews, or you can use a prompt like this:

Act as an interviewer for a [job title] role at a [type of company].
Ask me one question at a time, mixing behavioural and role-specific
questions. After each answer, give short feedback: what worked, what was
missing, and how to use the STAR structure (situation, task, action,
result) better. Ask 8 questions in total, then summarise my strengths
and weak spots.

Type your answers the way you would say them. Then practise the best versions aloud, ideally with a friend; a text chat cannot hear your delivery, pace or nerves. You can start a mock interview now.

Step 5: Emails along the way

AI handles the small but stressful messages well. Ask it for:

• A short follow-up when you have not heard back by the date they gave you.
• A thank-you note after an interview that mentions one thing you discussed.
• A polite request to move an interview to a different time.
• A gracious reply to a rejection that keeps the door open.
• A message asking a former colleague to act as a reference.

The email writer is built for these. Always add the real names and details before sending, and run a final check with the grammar checker.

Salary and offers

AI can help you prepare for a pay conversation: list the questions to ask about an offer, practise your wording ("Based on the scope of the role, I was expecting something closer to..."), and think through benefits beyond salary. Do not rely on it for current salary figures. Its information may be outdated or simply wrong for your city and industry. Use recent salary surveys, job ads that state pay, and people who work in the field.

Mistakes to avoid

• Sending AI text without editing it. Recruiters read many applications and recognise the generic phrases.
• Exaggerating. Everything on your CV can come up in an interview.
• Using one version for every job. Tailoring is the whole point, and with AI it takes minutes.
• Trusting AI facts about a company. Check the company's own website and recent news. AI knowledge can be months or years out of date.
• Oversharing. Leave out your address, ID numbers and your referees' contact details when you paste documents.

Find more in the career prompts, try the built-in career assistant, and see ChatG for job seekers. For tips on giving the AI the right details, read how to write prompts.

FAQ

Is it OK to use AI to write a cover letter?

Generally yes, as long as everything in it is true and you edit it into your own voice. A few employers ask applicants not to use AI; if they do, follow their instructions.

Can AI tell me whether my CV will get through an applicant tracking system?

It can point out missing keywords, unclear headings and formatting that software may struggle to read, such as text inside images or complex tables. It cannot test your CV in a specific employer's system, so keep the layout simple and readable.

How do I prepare for a job in a field that is new to me?

Ask the AI to explain the common terms, tools and interview questions for that role, then ask it to find overlaps between your past experience and the new field. Confirm what you learn with people who work in that field.

Should I tell an employer that I used AI?

If the application asks, answer honestly. Otherwise, using AI to polish wording is usually treated like using a spell checker or asking a friend for feedback. What matters is that every claim is true and that you can talk about everything in your application in your own words.

Is my CV safe to paste into ChatG?

Your chat history is stored only in your browser, and your messages are sent to an AI processing service to generate the answers. Remove personal contact details first anyway; it is a good habit with any online tool. Our privacy policy has the details.