IT career coach endorses AI for CV writing style, despite ‘non-careful’ prompts causing concern

An AI sceptic’s guarded endorsement will relieve IT job board users struggling with ‘implied first-person’ even if the algorithm appears not to be letting the truth get in the way of a ‘good’ Curriculum Vitae. 

An IT career coach who likened using AI for a CV to “cheating” has conceded to Free-Work that ChatGPT is excellent at a very specific bit of resume writing.

Matt Craven, of the CV & Interview Advisors, had warned IT job-seekers that even small AI usage on a CV can annoy hirers and so may scupper their chances. 

What three CV tasks can AI help with?

In an article for Free-Work, Craven even said IT recruiters were now using their own Applicant Tracking Systems (ATSs) to weed out resumes detected as AI-built.

But yesterday, when quizzed about his stance, Craven said that, as well as being ideal for “productivity and assistance,” AI was strong at implied first-person.   

What is implied first-person on a CV?

Implied first-person is the correct style for writing a CV.

It is especially useful in the CV’s Profile section, as it lets the job candidate ‘speak’ to the hiring decision-maker without using potentially clumsy-sounding personal pronouns like “I” or “My.”

For example, “A PRINCE2-trained Project Manager in the Retail sector” sounds better on a CV than “I am Ryan, a PRINCE2 Project Manager and my background is in Retail.”

What tools can create implied first-person CVs?

Craven says that, with the right prompts and potentially even without prompts today’s generative AI tools churn out CVs in implied first-person, usually automatically.

“Not that I would endorse using Artificial Intelligence like ChatGPT to write your CV, for many reasons, but it does have a solid handle on the correct style.

“And that correct writing style for a CV is implied first-person,” Craven conceded to Free-Work. 

“Helpfully, LLMs [Large Language Models] tend to use implied first-person by default nowadays.” 

What sort of AI prompts have been advised for a CV?

In “Should I use AI to write my CV or resume?” Craven took issue with IT job-seekers being advised last month to use “careful” AI prompts to create their CVs, so that they can appear unique and stand out.

Shown the advice, Craven, a former top recruiter for FTSE-listed Hays, and investment bank UBS, cautioned that “you can prompt all day long,” but “you’ll likely get nowhere” without feeding AI some alternatives.

What are some key findings about AI and CVs?

CV-Library said it issued the advice in light of a poll of 500 recruitment agents showing:

• More than eight in 10 agents say AI has made CVs standardised and less distinctive

• One in five agents says overall candidate quality has declined where AI is used

• More than seven in 10 agents say AI-created CVs have surged over the last year

• More than one in three agents says strong candidates have been missed due to AI usage

• More than eight in 10 agents say individuality/personality on CVs is being lost.

What is CV-Library’s key message about AI on CVs?

“Job-seekers need to be careful,” said CV-Library CEO Lee Biggins, releasing the findings. 

“AI can be a fantastic support, and when used properly with careful prompts, can elevate your CV. 

“But recruiters are looking for individuality and personality, and that needs a little more time and thought in the prompts you use.” 

“That’s why we’ve published a series of prompts and suggestions that can ensure AI tools are used as a CV-writing partner.”

The series of prompts — five are offered in total, including “Act as a CV editor, not writer” — contains numerous negative prompts, such as “Do not invent achievements.”

What’s a negative AI prompt for creating a unique CV?

And another negative prompt recommended in the series for CV creation is, “Avoid common phrases that could appear on thousands of other CVs.”

Negative prompts are an aspect of AI usage that Free-Work readers have been cautioned can be “pointless.”

However, a veteran technology staff recruiter says that, as a whole, the CV-Library advice about prioritising careful AI prompts is sound.

Matt Collingwood, who has been placing technology workers through his own tech jobs agency VIQU IT since 2014, said that, “exactly as CV-Library states, AI is not the enemy of candidates”.

What can AI help a job candidate achieve?

Yesterday, Collingwood, VIQU IT’s managing director told Free-Work: “Used properly, Artificial Intelligence can help a job candidate present themselves clearly and most importantly, accurately. 

“However, we’re seeing job applications continue to rise, and where quality drops, AI is the core reason why it’s happening.

“Unfortunately, if the candidate hasn't input all the information that the AI tool needs, the technology may pull random information from similar job applications and CVs it has processed from elsewhere. 

“This means that the information may be incorrect, making it hard for the company to accurately evaluate the candidate. This is a significant problem for employers as they may not be able to distinguish what is real or not, creating distrust between candidates and hiring managers.” 

According to CV-Library, as well as ensuring their ‘personality’ is on the document, job-hopefuls should also ensure that an AI-written CV does ‘not lose’ their “individual achievements.” 

What is a major must-do when writing a technology job CV, with or without AI assistance?

VIQU IT’s Matt Collingwood says visibly listing outcomes on a CV is a massive must-do for technology job candidates, in particular 

“Sharing evidence of previous successes or responsibilities through statistics, metrics, or real-world context can make a technology job-seeker’s CV stand out for the right reasons,” Collingwood said.

“In fact, when interviewing someone, if there’s a statement or claim about the individual’s abilities or experience without any evidence or context, I will actively seek to understand more about that capability. 

“I will ask them directly something along the lines of, ‘In your CV, you mention your ability to X, can you tell me about a time when this benefited your performance within your current role?’  

“Unfortunately, more often than I’d like, picking out particular skills or abilities really trips the candidate up — and they cannot back up the claim they made on their CV. This is deeply disappointing and highlights an ongoing issue that recruiters and hiring managers are seeing in the market.”

Which organisation has written an ‘AI in Hiring’ guide?

Keith Rosser, chair of the Better Hiring Institute, which has written the UK’s first best-practice guide on AI usage in hiring, is also alert to falsehoods on CVs — including where an algorithm is to blame.

He says: “AI is a great social leveller for many, helping work-seekers to tailor their CV to a role, reduce time to apply, and improve the overall message. In fact, a growing number of job applicants are using AI in the job application process for exactly this reason.

“However, as much as AI is being used, it can be abused in just as great a frequency.”

Can AI change embellishments on a CV to outright lies?

Rosser, who is also a director at Reed Screening, continued in a statement to Free-Work: 

“Left unchecked, AI can radically rewrite a CV to a point where slight exaggeration has become outright falsehoods. 

“Therein lies the problem; if a CV becomes too detached from reality, it creates an unrealistic image of the applicantwhile potentially falling foul of the law. Lying on a CV is an offence, done manually or via AI.”