You might get the sense that more and more job seekers are using AI — and they are. But using AI the wrong way can actually destroy your chances of getting a job.
As a former hiring manager at Khan Academy, I’ve experienced it firsthand. Because we were early partners with OpenAI on the launch of GPT-4, I’d seen AI-generated text that felt miraculous at first glance.
But when I started noticing the same patterns popping up in cover letters and resumes over and over (and over!) again after the launch of ChatGPT, it was a turnoff. All the candidates started blurring together.
Here’s how you can avoid sounding like every other job applicant — and what to do instead.
Don’t get lost in a pile of forgettable applications
There’s really only one thing that hiring managers and recruiters care about: How do I take this huge pile of candidates and reduce it to one perfect hire?
Generative AI tools are trained using existing texts to spit out the most likely combinations of words.
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So what do you think happens when applicants type in a prompt like: “Write a cover letter for [X job] at [Y company]?” They get essentially the same thing:
Now imagine how this feels for a recruiter or hiring manager who’s reading hundreds or thousands of cover letters back to back.
Even at a purely subconscious level, they might be thinking: “If they used AI in such a cliché way, chances are they’re lazy and behind the curve. Next!!”
AI — which seemed so promising at first glance — has just cost you any chance of standing out and landing this job.
Your No. 1 goal is to stand out
The key is to use AI as a coach and differentiator, not a copywriter and replicator. As you sit down to write your next cover letter:
1. Start with end goal — standing out — in mind
To avoid the copy-and-paste trap, use a prompt like: “Review the following job description and identify the three things the hiring manager really wants in a differentiated candidate: [paste job description here].”
2. Pinpoint the key elements that can help you make your case
Use a prompt like: “Identify the most powerful experiences from my resume to connect to those three points of differentiation. Here’s my resume: [paste your resume here].”
3. Once you draft a unique and differentiated cover letter, come back for a final pass
Use a prompt like: “Review my cover letter for that role and suggest three ways to increase my differentiation in the eyes of the hiring manager: [paste your cover letter draft here].”
