Should I use AI to write my CV or resume?

In an age where the tech darling of the moment makes even IT recruiters feel like you’re cheating, the last place to do that is on your CV no matter how ‘careful’ your prompts.

Creating a storm of opinion right now is AI on CVs, just as 2026’s halfway point emerges. 

To AI or Not To AI on a CV?

Employers are currently up in arms that every CV reads the same (so-called ‘identikit CVs’). 

Job-seekers in IT and elsewhere are miffed that AI-written CVs are getting a bad rap, because it makes your life easier when having to bash out dozens of applications. 

So, there’s some real ‘popcorn moments’ in this debate of ‘Should I use AI to write my CV?’ or resume (as the US prefers), writes the CV & Interview Advisors’ founder, Matt Craven, who has 19 years’ experience in professional CV rewrites and reviews.

But seriously, job-seeking is a serious business not just in IT, as there are real lives involved, and the ‘To AI or Not To AI on a CV?’ query deserves a meaningful answer.

Key Takeaways

• Relying on AI to create a CV should be avoided, because, despite ChatGPT’s grammatical precision, reliance risks creating an identikit CV that doesn’t stand out

• American English dominating AI platforms may render CVs inappropriate for UK job-seekers, yet it’s the ‘cheating feeling’ that AI creates which irks hirers the most

• A job board is now endorsing “careful” AI prompts with CVs, despite many ‘create something different’ prompts still likely screaming your CV was robot-written

• Some Technology/IT recruiters are formalising their dislike of AI-generated CVs by updating their ATS so that the tech now includes AI-detection software

• CVs with a high % probability of being AI-written get red-flagged/rejected, making a professional (human!) CV reviewer a safer, and much more strategic choice.

Should I rely on AI to write my CV?

LLMs (Large Language Models) such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, and Claude are powerful tools that excel at writing grammatically flawless text.

But I would NOT rely too heavily on AI-written content for anything, not just CVs.

The main issue with using AI for your CV, as a Free-Work user or any other tech job candidate looking to stand out, is that lots of people are already doing it.

And as much as you think your AI-created CV looks good and reads great, it simply looks and reads the same as hundreds of other people’s CVs, who applied for the same role, who also used AI.  

That’s the ‘identikit CV’ problem I mentioned at this article’s introduction.

Do jobs care if your CV is AI?

For IT recruiters and employers, who are the gatekeepers of tech jobs, it currently feels like half of all applicants use the very same CV writer. 

Therefore, using AI on your CV becomes the quickest way to NOT stand out. 

What about AI-Powered CV Makers?

The free AI CV builders (and even AI resume writing programs that charge) write in a rather US-centric resume format. 

They also typically have American English built in.

Therefore, if you’re a UK job candidate, or even if you’re not but you're still applying to a UK employer, you may end up with a CV misaligned with your geography or out of sync with the expected conventions in your employer’s region. 

Is using AI for CV cheating?

Well, using AI for your CV isn’t technically cheating (unless the job advert expressly forbids it, of course), but let me explain why I’m asking this ‘cheating’ question.

It should be acknowledged as we approach H2 2026 that many folks, even in IT/Technology, are pushing back against AI.

That includes AI-created content beyond CVs, extending to articles, videos, music, marketing campaigns, and emails. Unlike at AI’s first doors, almost all of us today can spot AI-written content, and something about it just doesn’t feel right. 

It’s almost like the writer ‘cheated’ somewhat.

And if that written matter where the ‘cheating’ is happening is on your CV, that’s hardly the feeling you want to leave the hiring decision-maker with! 

What other dangers of using AI to create a CV?

AI also leaves CV readers questioning how much of what you’re asking them to believe is a ‘hallucination,’ or your own personal embellishment, rather than an accurate portrayal of your skills, experience, and abilities.

This week, a generalist job board offered some advice on ChatGPT usage for resumes.

The job board endorsed inputting “careful” prompts as part of us mere mortals using AI to “polish” rather than ‘write’ a CV as the key to success in 2026. 

There’s some sound logic here. 

Using AI as an enhancement or way to finesse your CV is sensible. 

But the problem is — no matter how well you ‘prompt’ it, the program still retains those AI writing conventions that just scream, ROBOT-WRITTEN!!

A real-world example: my own failed AI project

I was writing a Facebook ad this week. 

It’s not a particularly strong skill of mine, so I asked ChatGPT for help. 

Its first attempt was horrible. It was so obviously AI, and I couldn’t reconcile using it. So I asked it to “Write Like Me.” 

For context, I’ve been using ChatGPT for two years, so you’d think it might know my tone and style by now, but nope  — still read like AI. 

So, I specifically asked it to omit typical AI vocabulary, avoid lists presented as new sentences, and remove the annoying hallmarks of AI writing, such as the irksome, ‘It’s not about X, it’s about Y.’

But you guessed it, the copy that AI returned still read like a ChatGPT masterpiece!

What about negative AI prompts on a CV?

And here lies the issue. You can prompt all day long, but unless you give your AI platform of choice an alternative, you’ll likely get nowhere. 

In fact, as an IT career coach, CV expert, and job interview adviser, I’m increasingly finding that negative AI prompts are kind of pointless. To get anywhere, you have to tell AI what you want it to do, not what you don’t want it to do.

But getting back to the humble CV.

At the time of writing, all that AI invariably knows is a US resume (or ‘résumé’). 

Therefore, you’ll unfortunately encounter the same problem as my failed Facebook ad project, because when it comes to AI usage to generate a CV, if you want something different, you’ll need to tell it what that ‘something different’ is.

What about a different, more effective AI prompt for a CV?

Be under no illusion, however. 

Even a ‘something different’ prompt is not going to return you a CV anything like the work-winning document that our expert CV advisory team could equip you with. Why? 

Well, my team has got numerous, invaluable years of human, professional experience speaking with top hiring decision-makers, and we fuse that with our proprietary methodologies embedded into the Curriculum Vitae to make your technology career appear authentically unique. 

It’s this combination that we’re increasingly seeing is the key to helping job-seekers in IT and beyond stand out from the bland sea of AI-created CVs.

By contrast, using AI for productivity and assistance with a CV is not a bad idea. 

As cautioned earlier, though, even small, cosmetic usage of AI can trigger negativity from the CV’s recipient(s), due to that ‘cheating’ feeling that the tech still leaves lingering in the air. 

Do recruiters care if you use AI for CV?

A bit like AI itself, quite how today’s mostly negative reactions from recruiters and employers to AI-written CVs will evolve, nobody knows. 

However, it’s clear from what we’re seeing (which is backed up by a fair few polls) that recruiters and hiring managers aren’t generally positive about AI-generated CVs. For now, at least.

Are recruiters using AI-detection software in ATS?

And there’s also an emerging trend where recruitment technology is starting to embed AI-detection software.

And so if your CV is over a certain AI-generated threshold — usually measured in percentage terms — you may find yourself being rejected for that reason alone. 

Of course, it’ll depend on just how up-to-date your recruitment agency’s Applicant Tracking Software (ATS) really is.

Want to get a (human) feel for how your CV measures up? 

My team of experts offers 1-2-1 and confidential CV reviews. You can find out more here: https://cvandinterviewadvisors.co.uk/partners/free-work

And don’t worry, without as much as a prompt, we’ll show you what works on CVs in 2026 — and how to use the proprietary methodologies we’ve developed to truly stand out from both the crowd and the bland sea of AI-generated CVs.