There’s never been one universal, specific experience when it comes to job searches, and because of that, there’s a wealth of resources out there so that each job seeker can find the right tools for their situation. Some cater to specific industries, while others focus on particular aspects of the job hunt.
For example, are you looking for mock interviews to help you land tech roles such as coding or machine learning? You might look into interviewing.io for both AI-powered and anonymous one-one-one interviews with engineers from Amazon, Google, and more. Or maybe you’d like some assistance building a resume that’s tailored to a sales position. JobHero has tools to build and check resumes for a variety of careers and levels of work experience.
Below, we’ll take a look at how to use AI tools in your job search, including different use cases and how to make sure you’re getting the most out of them while avoiding potential risks. We’ll also go into some common tools you might consider using to help you find career development resources, so you can stand out from the other candidates and land your next role.
Why Use AI in Your Job Search?
Reduces Time and Effort
The average number of applications needed to ultimately land a job can vary widely, with some sources saying 32, and others more than 400.1,2 Depending on the demand within your current job market, as well as your level of experience and credentials, you could expect to spend a large amount of time writing and customizing your resume, writing cover letters, and then submitting applications. Then, you also need to commit time to prepping for phone screenings and interviews.
All of this can add up to months of work, to the point of feeling like a full-time job—which can be even more stressful when you’re applying to jobs while currently employed. Leveraging AI-powered tools to help you hone your resume, find and apply to open roles, and prepare for the interview process can not only save you time, but also lessen the amount of effort required to create a quality application that showcases your skills and attributes.
Helps Generate New Ideas
Besides the time it takes, going through a job search can be both physically and mentally draining, and it’s not uncommon for people to experience blocks when writing their cover letters and resumes. There’s only so many times you can tailor your cover letter to particular companies before you start to run out of ideas. And if you’re not getting past the application or interview stage, it can be trial and error to figure out how to improve going forward.
AI tools can help you get through any mental blocks in order to come up with creative new ideas such as how to better phrase a specific sentence or any skills you may have forgotten to add. And they can also help you identify and work out any issues in your application submissions or interview answers that could be keeping you from progressing along in the process.
Considerations About Using AI in Your Job Search
Be Detailed in Your Instructions
The work of any AI bot can only be as good as their instructions, so it’s important to provide context and to be very specific when writing your prompt. Don’t just say that you want a cover letter written—include information about the job you’re applying to, your work history, the kind of voice you want it written in, and anything else you want taken into account. You may even need to go through multiple rounds of instructions in order to hone the output and get it to just where you want it.
Double-Check All Information
Just because an AI tool makes a claim in their output, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s accurate. After all, tools like ChatGPT pull from sites across the internet, which means they might give you information that’s outdated (or even hallucinated). If you’re using generative AI to create copy, be sure to use your critical thinking to carefully double-check and verify all information through trusted and up-to-date sources. And otherwise, look for platforms that are transparent and precise about where they pull their information from.
Be Careful About Entering Your Personal Information
Many AI tools will store all the information you enter into the prompt, so be cautious about what you send, especially when it comes to personal information like name and phone number. Find tools that you trust to be responsible with your data—platforms that have transparent privacy policies and robust security measures—and if you end up opting to use an open AI model, be very careful about what you enter.
Ensure the Copy Is in Your Own Voice
The final key step to using AI in your job search is to go back through the output and make sure it’s in your own voice. Simply submitting a generic, AI-generated resume and cover letter, or reciting some non-specific talking point in an interview, isn’t going to get you very far. Julia Arpag, CEO and founder of Aligned Recruitment, recently said to Forbes that, while an increasing number of candidates are using AI to enhance their applications, “success really comes down to how they’re using it. AI can help with structure and phrasing, but hiring managers still want authenticity—so blindly relying on it can backfire.”3 People still look for the human touch, so be sure your own experiences and voice are present throughout the application process.
Where Can You Use AI During the Hiring Process?
Finding and Applying to Jobs
There are countless job boards out there full of numerous job openings. So how do you figure out where to go and which postings are the best fit for your experience, skills, and goals? Luckily, AI can help you narrow the field.
From platforms that can find and apply to jobs for you based on your profile, to mapping out career paths so that you can plan your next steps, it’s easier than ever to wade through the seas of job postings and apply to the jobs that are right for you. Where it once took hours and hours to manually submit applications, you can now save time through filters, AI job matching tools, and even automatic application submissions that can monitor progress.
One way to get started is by using common tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, and more to discover job openings across the web based on what you’re looking for in a company. Jobtrees has a great guide for how to narrow down your search based on job title, desired company culture (like DEI, work-life balance, and sustainability), career growth goals, ideal company size and location, benefits, etc. You can get tips on how to write a prompt here.
Additional AI Job Search Tools
How It Works: Jobtrees not only offers tools to help you map out your career path and a job board with recommendations tailored to your profile. You’ll also have access to Ollie, an AI career guide who, using all of the expertise and data available through Jobtrees, can provide insights and help you navigate the job search process through their chat box. And they’ve made all their resources accessible for free—no payment required.
Cost: Free for all features
How It Works: Whether you’re looking for your first job, to advance in your career, or to make a career change, this platform aims to provide a holistic resource center to help at every step of the way—from creating resumes and cover letters, to automatic job applications, to getting AI-powered feedback on practice interviews.
Cost: Basic Tier with job search tools for free; Premium Tier with advanced tools and support at $25.95/month
How It Works: With Sonara, you can upload your resume, answer a short questionnaire about what you’re looking for, such as salary and location, and Sonara does all the work of applying for you. They’ll find relevant openings that match your skills and preferences, and they automatically apply to those jobs for you. You’ll then receive a list of new roles matched every morning.
Cost: Seven-Day Trial Access at $2.95; Annual Access at $5.95/month
Optimizing Resumes and Cover Letters
As Jobtrees points out, the first person to see your resume likely won’t be the hiring manager (in fact, it may not even be a person at all), and you have mere seconds in which to make a positive first impression.4 On top of that, companies are looking for customized application materials that showcase your fit in the specific role. With conscientious use of AI optimization tools, you can both save the time and effort of repeatedly reworking resumes to match different job openings, as well as benefitting from insights to help you choose the right keywords and formatting.
You might be considering investing in a resume-specific platform, or maybe you’d rather use a common generative AI tool like Claude or ChatGPT. One way to use generative AI tools is to create detailed prompts using your resume and the descriptions of jobs you’re applying for, in order to identify your most relevant skills and keywords the match each description, those that are missing from the resume, and suggestions for rewording the resume to better align with the job posting (while still remaining accurate, of course).
Then, you can continuously hone the resume by submitting follow-up prompts—such as adding more action verbs, highlighting transferable skills, testing for applicant tracking system (ATS) optimization, and more. You can check out a sample prompt, as well as some possible follow-up prompts, from Jobtrees here!
Additional AI Resume Builders
"Career Karma entered my life when I needed it most and quickly helped me match with a bootcamp. Two months after graduating, I found my dream job that aligned with my values and goals in life!"
Venus, Software Engineer at Rockbot
How It Works: From building customized resumes and cover letters to interview preparation and salary analysis, Resume.io works to help candidates not only build and optimize their resumes but also to use them as a launching pad for acing their interview and salary negotiations. According to their website, candidates who use these tools could get paid 7% more.5
Cost: One TXT resume and cover letter for free; Seven-Day Trial Access with unlimited PDF resumes and cover letters as well as interview prep and job tracker at $2.95; then $49.95/quarter
How It Works: In-depth resume and cover letter building resources are the backbone of Zety’s platform. You can create your own from scratch in under five minutes, and then go further as you enhance your materials by choosing the right format, checking for ATS compatibility, guided assistance, and more. With paid plans, you’ll even be able to get matched to job opportunities through your resume.
Cost: Basic Package with resume and cover letter builders and limited downloads for free; Pro Package with unlimited downloads, resume check, and job matches at $25.95 every four weeks; Annual Package at $71.40 (79% savings)
Preparing for Interviews
When it comes to job interviews, practice and feedback is key. But it can be difficult to know what to expect and to judge your performance on your own. This is where AI tools can help.
There are some platforms that enable you to participate in mock interviews and receive real-time personal insights into your presentation. But you can also get creative with how you employ generative AI tools. For instance, you could write prompts to help you identify likely interview questions based on job descriptions and come up with answers based on your own experience.
And beyond simply having tools like DeepSeek or Gemini help you craft responses, you can further refine your responses by asking follow-ups in order to shorten or lengthen answers, modify tone, and more. Jobtrees has some example prompts to get you started here.
Additional Resume Tools
How It Works: With Yoodli, users can hone their speaking skills in a variety of settings, from one-on-one and group interviews to elevator pitches to public presentations and more. During their simulations, you’ll be able to react to real-world scenarios as you practice your interview skills and receive instant feedback on your performance in order to know where you can make improvements.
Cost: Up to five roleplays and feedback for free; Pro Tier with 10 roleplays and feedback per week at $8/month; Advanced Tier with unlimited roleplays at $20/month
How It Works: With over 10,200 specific questions and nearly 4,000 hours of interview help, Interview Sidekick aims to be just that: your ultimate sidekick before, during, and after your job interviews. They use AI to tailor each interview to specific companies, along with instant feedback to help you improve your performance.
Cost: Basic Sidekick with a 2-minute test of interview assistant and limited access to interview prep resources for free; Ultimate Sidekick with unlimited AI mock interviews and assistance, plus access to 10,000+ prep resources, at $40/month
Final Thoughts
AI use is only increasing, with hiring teams and with job hunters alike. However, it’s important to remember that these tools are no substitute for strategic thinking. AI can be helpful, but the key will be how you utilize each resource to the best advantage. By careful review of materials, detailed and well-written prompts, and insights into your own goals, you’ll not just whip up some generic resumes and recite vague talking points, but rather enable your best self to shine through, increasing visibility of your skills and personal brand to potential employers. Interested in learning more about key areas of career development? Check out Jobtrees.com today to get helpful tips and guidance on finding your next job!
Sources
1https://employers.io/blog/job-applications-to-get-hired
4https://www.jobtrees.com/articles/ai-resume-job-description-match
About us: Career Karma is a platform designed to help job seekers find, research, and connect with job training programs to advance their careers. Learn about the CK publication.
