The short answer
The best prompts for resumes give the AI your full CV and the job advert, ask it to turn duties into achievements and tell it to mark missing numbers rather than invent them. Use them to rewrite bullets, tailor each application, check keywords and get a recruiter-style review. Claude is our pick for careful rewriting, ChatGPT is a close second and Grammarly suits the final proofread. Remove your contact details and switch off training before pasting a CV into a free plan.
How to use these resume prompts
A CV (or resume, in American English) has one job: get you an interview with a recruiter who reads quickly. These 12 prompts help with the three things AI does well on a CV: turning vague duties into specific achievements, tailoring the same CV to different adverts and catching errors you no longer see. They also guard against the thing it does badly, which is inventing numbers and skills. Several prompts tell the AI to write a placeholder such as [NUMBER?] and ask you for the real figure. Keep that instruction in any CV prompt you write yourself.
Replace everything in [square brackets]. Paste the full advert and the full CV, not a summary, because tailoring depends on detail. For a complete walkthrough, read how to write a CV with AI and our pick of the best AI for job applications.
Prompts to rewrite your experience
Start with Interview me to find my best evidence if your CV is thin, then use Turn duties into achievements and Write a summary that is not generic. The interview prompt works because most people undersell themselves when they write, and talk more freely when asked questions. The summary prompt bans five of the most overused CV clichés. Add your own banned list if your industry has favourite clichés.
A strong bullet answers three questions: what did you do, how, and what changed? "Managed social media" answers none. "Grew LinkedIn followers from 2,000 to 9,000 in a year by moving to two expert posts a week" answers all three. If you do not have a number, describe the scale (team size, budget, number of customers) or the outcome in words.
Prompts to tailor your CV to each job
Tailor my CV to one job advert, Check the keywords against the advert and Explain a career change or gap make one master CV fit many applications. Recruiters and the software many companies use to sort applications both look for the advert's own language, so the keyword table is worth running for every role. The rule in both prompts is the same: use the advert's terms only where they honestly describe your work. Adding a tool you have never used gets you an interview you then fail.
Prompts to review and polish
Use Review my CV like a recruiter, Cut my CV to two pages and Fix tense, tone and consistency once the content is right. Asking the AI to list every change, and to show what it cut, keeps you in control: AI editors sometimes remove the one line that mattered most. Tell it whether you want British or American English, since CV conventions differ between the UK, Europe and the US.
Prompts for the rest of your application
Write a LinkedIn About section from my CV, Write a cover letter that is not a CV repeat and Prepare to defend every line finish the job. The last one is the bridge to the interview: every bullet on your CV is a question waiting to be asked. Take the flagged bullets straight into our prompts for job interviews.
How to adapt these prompts
- Say the market. A UK CV, a German Lebenslauf and a US resume differ in length, photos and personal details. Tell the AI which one you need.
- Give the seniority. A graduate CV leads with education and projects, a senior one with results and scope. Say which you are.
- Feed it one example you like. Paste a bullet or summary you admire and ask the AI to match its style.
- Work in versions. Keep a master CV with everything, then tailor a copy for each role. Never let the AI edit the master.
- Read it aloud. If a line sounds like a press release, rewrite it in your own words.
Which AI tool works best for CVs
Claude is our pick for rewriting and tailoring, because it is careful with wording, keeps your meaning and explains its edits when asked. The free plan, with Claude Sonnet and Haiku, handles every prompt here, and a Project keeps your master CV and adverts together. ChatGPT is a close second and is good at the interview-style prompts; free users get GPT-6 Luna. For the final polish inside Word or Google Docs, Grammarly catches spelling and grammar as you type, and its free plan includes 100 AI prompts a month.
Your CV is full of personal data. Before pasting it into any consumer plan, remove your address, phone number, email and date of birth, and switch off training: in ChatGPT under Settings, Data controls, Improve the model for everyone; in Claude under Settings, Privacy, Help Improve our AI models. Grammarly trains on your writing by default on Free, Premium and single-user Pro accounts, and you switch off Product Improvement and Training at account.grammarly.com/security/privacy on Free or Premium, or at account.grammarly.com/admin/data_settings on Pro. See how to keep your data private in AI tools.
Prompts to copy
Turn duties into achievements
Here are bullet points from my CV for my role as [job title] at [company]: [paste]. Rewrite each one as an achievement: what I did, how, and the result. Where a result needs a number I have not given, do not invent one. Instead write [NUMBER?] and ask me what the real figure is. Start each bullet with a strong past-tense verb and keep each under 25 words.
You get: Achievement bullets with clear gaps where you need to add real numbers
Interview me to find my best evidence
I want to rewrite the experience section of my CV for [target role]. Interview me about my last [two] jobs, one question at a time. Focus on problems I solved, things I changed, money or time saved, people I led and feedback I received. After about ten questions, turn my answers into six strong bullet points and tell me which job each belongs to.
You get: Evidence you forgot you had, pulled out by questions
Write a summary that is not generic
Write three versions of a CV summary for me, each under 50 words, aimed at [target role] in [industry]. Use only these facts: [years of experience, specialism, two biggest achievements, one skill that sets me apart]. Ban these words: passionate, dynamic, results-driven, team player, hard-working. Tell me which version you would pick and why.
You get: Three specific summaries without the clichés recruiters skip
Tailor my CV to one job advert
Here is my CV: [paste]. Here is the job advert: [paste]. Tell me which bullets to move up, which to cut and which to reword so the CV matches the advert, using the advert's own terms where they honestly describe my work. Do not add skills or tools I have not listed. Give me the changes as a list, then the rewritten experience section.
You get: A tailored CV that stays truthful
Check the keywords against the advert
Compare my CV: [paste] with this job advert: [paste]. List the skills, tools and qualifications the advert asks for in a table with three columns: requirement, where it appears in my CV (quote it) or "missing", and whether I can honestly add it. For anything missing that I do have, suggest where to put it.
You get: A clear keyword gap table you can act on in minutes
Explain a career change or gap
I am moving from [current field] to [new field]. My relevant experience is: [paste]. My gap or change is: [paste the honest reason]. Write a short line for my CV summary and a two-sentence explanation I can use in a cover letter. Make the transferable skills concrete, with an example for each. Keep it honest and unapologetic.
You get: A confident, honest way to show why you fit despite the change
Review my CV like a recruiter
Act as a recruiter hiring for [target role] who spends about 30 seconds on each CV. Read mine: [paste]. Tell me what you noticed first, what you would remember, what made you doubt me and whether you would call me. Then give the five changes that would most improve my chances, ranked. Be direct.
You get: An honest first-impression review with ranked fixes
Cut my CV to two pages
My CV is too long: [paste]. Cut it to about [900 words for two pages / 450 words for one page] for a [target role] application. Keep the last [ten] years in detail, compress older roles to one line each, and remove anything that does not support this application. Show me what you removed in a separate list so I can put back anything important.
You get: A shorter CV and a list of cuts you can reverse
Fix tense, tone and consistency
Proofread my CV: [paste]. Fix spelling, grammar and punctuation in [British / American] English. Make tenses consistent (past for old roles, present for my current one), make date formats match and flag any bullet that repeats another. List every change you made so I can check it.
You get: A clean, consistent CV and a change list
Write a LinkedIn About section from my CV
Using my CV: [paste], write a LinkedIn About section of about 200 words in the first person. Open with what I do and for whom, include two achievements with numbers from the CV, and end with what kind of work or role I am looking for. Make it sound like a person talking, not a list.
You get: A profile that matches your CV without copying it
Write a cover letter that is not a CV repeat
Write a cover letter for [role] at [company], under 300 words. Use this job advert: [paste] and these three points from my CV: [paste]. Open with why this company and role, not with "I am writing to apply". Spend the middle on one story that proves I can do the hardest part of the job. Close with a clear, polite next step. Use only facts from the advert and the points I gave you, and do not invent anything about the company.
You get: A short cover letter built around one strong story
Prepare to defend every line
Here is my final CV: [paste]. For each bullet point, write the follow-up question an interviewer is most likely to ask about it. Flag any bullet that sounds bigger than the evidence behind it, so I can either soften it or prepare a strong answer.
You get: A check that your CV will hold up in the interview