When helping clients optimize their resumes or LinkedIn profiles, I often use AI prompts to refine the content. Here are seven prompts to create stand-out content so you get more interviews, plus one that you shouldn’t use. Note: some of the prompts are long, as you get better results with specificity. Also, my go-to AI chatbot is usually ChatGPT (free unless you use it excessively), but feel free to experiment with others.
For writing your resume (can also be applied to your LinkedIn profile)
To identify the words and phrases that will resonate with your target audience: “Give me a frequency count of the most common job-related keywords and phrases in the following three job postings, excluding keywords that aren’t job-related, such as conjunctions like ‘and’. Here’s posting #1: … Here’s posting #2: … Here’s posting #3: …” Note: for this one prompt, the Claude and Perplexity chatbots give better results than ChatGPT.
For when you don’t have job posting examples: “Give me a frequency count of the most common job-related keywords and phrases for roles with the following (or similar) job title: …”
For a resume that appeals to more than one job target: “Compare the most common job-related keywords and phrases for the following two roles: ‘SVP of Finance, reporting to the Global CFO, in a Fortune 500 media company’ and ‘CFO at a late-stage media startup’. Highlight areas of overlap and differences.” (Change the targets to fit your situation.) This prompt will help create a resume and LinkedIn profile that appeals to both targets, and/or resumes tailored separately for each of the two targets.
If you want to make a career/sector change or go for a different type of role: “I have X years of experience as a CRO in the Y industry. I want to apply for a role as a GM or Head of a Business Division with full P&L responsibility. What transferable skills can I highlight? What gaps, if any, do I need to address?” Optional add-on: “Here is the role I want to apply for:…”
For editing your resume (the first two can also be applied to your LinkedIn profile)
To ensure well-targeted content: “Provide a gap analysis for my resume relative to the following job posting, highlighting gaps and areas of alignment. Here is my resume… Here is the job posting…” You can substitute “job title/sector” for “job posting”.
To ensure a concise, engaging presentation: “Edit my resume to make the language as concise, impactful, and engaging as possible. Here is my resume…” The changes will often, but not always, improve your resume, so be selective in applying the results.
To address formatting: “Create a nicely formatted resume tailored to senior executive or C-suite roles using the following resume content. The format should utilize a common resume font that conveys a conservative appearance. The resulting resume should be ready to send, and suitable for export to Microsoft Word or a PDF format. Here is the resume content…” You can add guidelines for bolding, spacing, a specific font, etc. The result will get you about halfway there in terms of formatting–you’ll need to do the rest yourself.
What doesn’t work well
“Re-write my old resume for the following job posting. Here is my resume… Here is the job posting…” The AI often won’t emphasize the right things, or be able to add additional responsibilities/accomplishments/skills that would differentiate you (only you know these). The AI also follows rules based on what resume experts have written on the web, which can be a problem as the quality of these “experts” varies dramatically. Note: a significant part of my work involves helping clients craft a powerful pitch and career story within their resume (this is the part that AI does poorly).s.
Use AI the “Right” Way to Boost Resume & LinkedIn Results
November 10, 2025 by Robert Hellmann • Resume, LinkedIn, self-promo
When helping clients optimize their resumes or LinkedIn profiles, I often use AI prompts to refine the content. Here are seven prompts to create stand-out content so you get more interviews, plus one that you shouldn’t use. Note: some of the prompts are long, as you get better results with specificity. Also, my go-to AI chatbot is usually ChatGPT (free unless you use it excessively), but feel free to experiment with others.
For writing your resume (can also be applied to your LinkedIn profile)
For editing your resume (the first two can also be applied to your LinkedIn profile)
What doesn’t work well
“Re-write my old resume for the following job posting. Here is my resume… Here is the job posting…” The AI often won’t emphasize the right things, or be able to add additional responsibilities/accomplishments/skills that would differentiate you (only you know these). The AI also follows rules based on what resume experts have written on the web, which can be a problem as the quality of these “experts” varies dramatically. Note: a significant part of my work involves helping clients craft a powerful pitch and career story within their resume (this is the part that AI does poorly).s.