Why I stopped asking AI to write cover letters and doing my resume and started using it as a recruiter, for mock interviews, company researcher, and sounding board.
Don’t use AI to do your job search for you. Use it to make you better at doing your job search.
There are now several excellent AI tools, like, approximately 47 billion websites, apps, services, workshops and other assorted gizmos promising to use AI to write your resume, rewrite your cover letter, optimize your LinkedIn profile and make you sound like the most employable human being who has ever walked the face of the earth.
Some of them may be useful. But, if like me, you're not particularly interested in having a computer manufacture a professional version of me.
I’m interested in having a computer help me become a better version of me.
That’s a very different proposition.
HERE'S WHAT I MEAN
"I’ve got an interview coming up in two hours. Here’s the job. Here’s my background. Break this thing down for me.”
When job seeking, I used Google AI for this particular exercise. What came back was much more useful than a piece of polished prose.
1. It identified the three strongest areas of my background that I should emphasize.
2. It explained why those particular experiences mattered to this employer.
3. It anticipated questions I was likely to get.
4. It suggested ways I could frame my experience in terms the company would understand.
5. It gave me questions I could ask the interviewer.
6. And it helped me think about the role from the employer’s perspective.
That’s interview preparation. That’s different from having AI write something and then hoping I can remember what the hell it said when a real human being asks me a question.
When I use AI this way, I’m essentially asking it to help me answer three questions:
THREE ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS I AM NOW ASKING AI
1. What does this employer actually want? Job descriptions are often terrible at telling you this directly. They’ll give you a list of qualifications, responsibilities and corporate vocabulary that could have been assembled by putting a dozen buzzwords into a blender.
AI can help translate that into something more useful: “Here’s what they’re probably worried about. Here’s what they’re looking for. Here’s what you should prepare to do.” That’s valuable.
2. Which parts of my experience actually matter in this role? This is where AI can be especially useful. I have a long work history, and I don’t need to tell an interviewer everything I’ve done since the invention of the fax machine. What I do need is clarity on which parts of my experience are most relevant to this specific role.
AI is not the source of truth about my career-I am. That’s one of the rules: never let AI invent your accomplishments. Use it to help you articulate the achievements you genuinely have.
THE MOCK INTERVIEW IS WHAT I THINK IS BEING MISSED
Imagine you’re preparing for an interview. You could spend an hour asking AI to rewrite your resume. Or you could spend that hour getting grilled.
Prompt whichever AI you prefer to simulate an interviewer who is constructing a sense of whether you are a good fit. Make them slightly skeptical, asking it to be a hiring manager who has interviewed 20 people for the same position. Some suggestions might be: “Tell me about.” You answer. “Why do you want this?” You answer. “Tell me about a difficult customer. "You answer. "You said you improved the process. How exactly did you do?” Uh-OH.
Now you’ve found the hole in your answer before the interviewer finds it. That’s useful.
Ask it to challenge vague answers. Ask it to tell you when you’re talking too much. Ask it to identify your strongest stories. Ask it to tell you which questions you should be prepared to answer with specific examples. That’s not cheating. That’s preparation.
People have been doing mock interviews with friends, mentors, career counselors and recruiters forever. AI just gives you access to a remarkably patient practice partner. And unlike your friend, it doesn’t eventually say: “Dude, we’ve been doing this for two hours. I have to go eat.”
THEN COMES THE FOLLOW-UP
This is another area where I think AI can be extremely useful. You’ve had an interview. You haven’t heard anything. Now what? Should you wait two days? Three? A week? Should you email? What should you say? Is your proposed message too aggressive? Too passive? Too desperate? You can give AI the actual situation through a prompt like this asking:
"I interviewed Tuesday. The hiring team said they will make a decision this week. It is Thursday, I want to continue to show interest without being pushy. How do I accomplish both. What do you recommend."
Now you’re using AI as a communications coach. Again, you still make the final decision. But you’ve got another perspective.
HERE'S SOMETHING ELSE I HAVE LEARNED
I’ve actually been on both sides of the hiring desk. I’ve been the applicant, a successful corporate recruiter for three years, and the person doing the hiring. And there’s a huge difference between persistence and pestering. Everyone should send a well-written, three-paragraph thank-you note immediately after an interview.
The basic structure can be similar, but the content should reflect what you learned during the interview, your experience, and your personality.
Paragraph One: Thank them for considering you and for taking the time to meet with you. Briefly mention one or two things you discussed, particularly where your skills or experience were identified as a strong fit. Don’t close the note here; use this paragraph to establish the personal connection.
Paragraph Two: Demonstrate that you understand the company and the position through the preparation you did before the interview and the additional information they provided during it. Then briefly explain exactly where your strengths can directly benefit the company.
Paragraph Three: Thank them again, and then use what is sometimes called a presumptive close in sales. This is where you subtly communicate as though you expect to move forward—but tactfully. Say that you’re excited about the next step and look forward to the opportunity to work with them and contribute to the company’s continued success in a meaningful role.
This may seem obvious, but based on what hiring managers have told me—and what I saw firsthand as a recruiter—it simply isn’t done often enough.In an extremely competitive job market, every edge matters. You want to give the hiring team one more reason to remember you after the interviews are over.
AND DON'T FORGET THE INTERVIEW ITSELF
AI can help you prepare, but once you're actually sitting across from the interviewer, the job is yours to win. During the interview, understand what makes you the preferred candidate.
This is where preparation turns into performance. Pay attention to areas the interviewer emphasizes—and to what seems to define their preferred candidate. If they don’t give you much detail, be direct. When the opportunity comes to ask questions, try something like:
"What are three things people in this exact role—both those who have succeeded in the past and those who excel now—consistently do that make them stand out?"
When appropriate, connect your own experience directly to those needs. And please, don’t simply say, “I know Microsoft Office.” Everyone they’re talking to probably does. Instead, make an impression using an actual example you have prepared. DO NOT make it up. It should be a quick example of how you’ve used those skills to solve a problem, improve a process, or produce a measurable benefit for an employer. You are showing them what you can do, rather than simply telling them you can do it.
This next suggestion is crucial, and yet I’ve heard of people who don’t do something remarkably simple—something AI can help you with in seconds.
Learn something specific about the company before you walk through the door. If you can naturally work that knowledge into the conversation, you demonstrate something far more valuable than the fact that (like many) you spent ten minutes reading their website. You show that you’re interested in them, their business, and the role—not simply interested in getting a paycheck. And that distinction can make you memorable.
I’m not saying AI is some magic employment machine. It isn’t. It doesn’t know you better than you know yourself. It doesn’t know whether the story you’re telling is true. It doesn’t know whether a number it generated actually appears anywhere in your employment history. And it certainly can’t walk into the interview room for you.
That’s the part people seem to forget. Eventually, the human being shows up. The interviewer meets you. They hear your voice. They watch how you react when you don’t know an answer. They decide whether they like talking to you. They decide whether they trust you. They decide whether they can imagine you working with their customers and their team.
No AI-generated cover letter can do that part.
SO, MY TAKE AWAY ADVICE
If you’re looking for work, don’t prompt AI with:
Ask it to:
Again. Do your own research as well and use some excellent tools and look at independent reviews, customer feedback, and employee perspectives. For technology companies, sites such as G2 can provide useful product and customer insights, while platforms such as Comparably can offer employee reviews and workplace ratings.
Most open AI has a disclaiomer telling you that their results are not always accurate. So help your preparation by analyzing and cross-checking what you find but always verify important information against the original sources.
Because that’s the part AI can’t do. It can’t be you. And both recruiters and hiring managers are becoming adept at identifying AI immediately. Most times, you will be disqualified. And they should. Obviously, to repeat, they are hiring you.
I have several other tips. Message me if anyone needs help. But most of all... GOOD LUCK!