How to Use ChatGPT to Write Your Resume: 18 Prompts and Where It Falls Short

Before You Paste Anything: Your Data

A CV is a page of personal data, so start with the settings. For services for individuals, including ChatGPT, OpenAI says it may use your content to train its models. Business products such as ChatGPT Business and Enterprise are not trained on by default; the ordinary consumer account is.

To opt out, go to Settings, then Data Controls, and turn off "Improve the model for everyone". According to the Data Controls FAQ, your chats still appear in your history but are not used to train ChatGPT, and the setting applies across web and mobile. One exception to know about: even with training off, if you give a thumbs up or thumbs down on a response, OpenAI says the entire conversation linked to that feedback may be used for training.

Temporary Chat goes further. You start one with the "Temporary" button at the top right of a new chat. It does not appear in your history, does not create memories, and is not used for training while it stays temporary; OpenAI says it may keep a copy for up to 30 days for safety purposes. If you save a temporary chat, it becomes a normal chat under your account settings.

I would do CV work in a Temporary Chat with training also switched off for the account. A temporary chat leaves you no history to return to, so keep your working CV in your own document and paste sections in as you need them. Do not do your job search on an employer-provided work account.

What to leave out of the prompt

Settings control what happens to the text. They do not change what you have handed over. The simpler habit is to never paste anything a CV does not need, and to use placeholders such as [NAME] and [PHONE] for the rest.

• Age, date of birth, marital status and nationality. The National Careers Service says a CV should not include them, so the model does not need them either.
• Your full address. The same page lists contact details as your name, phone number, email address and a link to a profile such as LinkedIn. A street address is not on that list.
• Referees. The National Careers Service says not to put someone else's contact details on your CV. Leave their names out of the chat too.
• National Insurance number, bank details, passport or right-to-work documents. None of these belongs on a CV. An employer asks for them later, through its own process.
• Health, disability, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, trade union membership. UK data protection law treats these as special category data. If you are working out how to describe a gap caused by illness, describe the gap, not the diagnosis.
• Your current employer's confidential figures, client names and colleagues' names. Civil Service Careers lists giving an AI tool sensitive information about your organisation, such as figures or personal details, as an unacceptable use. Describe clients by type ("a regional housing association") and check that any figure you use is one you could say in public.

Where It Falls Short, and How I Would Work Around It

It invents. Ask for a whole CV in one prompt and you get structure, which it does well, mixed with facts, which it cannot know, in one smooth block where you cannot see which sentences it made up. So I would never ask for the whole document. Write a master document yourself first: every role, the dates, what you did, and only the numbers you could explain to an interviewer. Messy is fine. Then work one section at a time, and run prompt 15 on every version before it leaves your computer.

It cannot see the employer's screening. ChatGPT can pull the exact wording out of an advert and show you where your CV does not use it, which helps if the employer searches applications in an applicant tracking system. It cannot tell you how that employer has set the system up, or whether your file will be read correctly. That part is a formatting job: see the ATS-friendly format guide.

Its default voice is not yours. Left alone it reaches for "spearheaded" and "results-driven". You will be interviewed on this document, out loud, so read the final version aloud and change anything you would not say across a table.

One Bullet, Worked Through

Here is the whole loop on a single bullet. The candidate is fictional, and the model output below is an illustration of the kind of answer these tools give, written for this page; it is not a saved ChatGPT transcript.

The weak bullet

The candidate's master document for this role says: accounts payable assistant at a building-supplies wholesaler, 2022 to 2025; about 1,200 invoices a month; set up a shared inbox with query categories; typical supplier query went from about a week to two or three days (their own estimate); took over month-end accruals in 2024 when a colleague left.

The prompt

Prompt 5 below, with the bullet and those notes pasted in.

A plausible output

What a careful person corrects

• "1,500+": the notes say about 1,200. The model rounded up past the truth.
• "60% reduction": the candidate never gave a percentage, and a week to two or three days is an estimate. Give the before and after instead, which an interviewer can follow.
• "Automated ticketing solution": it was a shared inbox with categories. An interviewer who uses real ticketing software will ask which one.
• "100% on-time payments": not in the notes at all. Delete it.
• "Spearheaded", "partnered cross-functionally": nobody says these out loud. Use the verb you would use when describing the job to a friend.
• "Contributing to a faster close": unmeasured. Say what actually happened instead.

The corrected bullets

In this example, the model added three things the candidate never said: a bigger invoice count, a percentage and a payment record. Each is the kind of detail that gets repeated at interview and then questioned. The corrected version is shorter, less impressive on first read, and every word of it survives a follow-up question.

The 18 Prompts

Copy a prompt, replace everything in square brackets, and read the check underneath before you use what comes back. They assume you have the master document described above.

Getting the facts out

I want help writing a UK CV for [target job title] roles. Before you write anything, ask me up to 10 questions, one at a time, about my work history, results and skills. Wait for my answer each time. Do not draft any CV text until I type DONE. Here is what I have so far: [paste your master notes, with your name, contact details and employer-confidential information removed]

I worked as [job title] at [type of organisation] from [month year] to [month year]. My day-to-day duties were: [list]. Ask me questions that would help me find measurable results in this job: volumes I handled, time or money saved, problems I fixed, things I was trusted with. One question at a time. Do not suggest any numbers yourself.

Professional summary

Using only the facts below, write a professional summary for a UK CV aimed at [target job title] roles. 50 to 80 words. No first person ("I", "my"). Do not use "passionate", "dynamic", "results-driven" or "team player". Open with my level and specialism, then two achievements taken from the facts. Do not add any fact that is not below. British spelling. Facts: [paste from your master document]

I am moving from [current field or role] to [target role]. Here is my current summary: [paste]. Here are the parts of my experience most relevant to the new role: [list]. Rewrite the summary for [target role] in 50 to 80 words. Lead with the transferable experience. Do not claim experience in [target field] that I do not have, and do not describe me as "aspiring".

Work experience

Rewrite these CV bullet points so each one shows a result, not a duty. Rules: - Keep every number exactly as I wrote it. - Do not add any number, percentage, tool or outcome I have not given you. - Where a bullet would be stronger with a figure I have not supplied, write [FIGURE?] instead of inventing one. - Start each bullet with a plain past-tense verb. One line each. British spelling. Bullets: [paste] Background facts for this role: [paste from your master document]

This role is from [year] and is less relevant to [target job title]. Cut it to 2 bullets that keep the most transferable results. Do not merge two separate achievements into one new claim. Original: [paste]

Reading the advert

Here is a job advert. Make a table with three columns: 1. Requirement, in the advert's exact words. 2. Essential or desirable, as the advert states it. Write "not stated" if it does not say. 3. The kind of evidence a CV would need to show it. Do not add requirements that are not in the text. Advert: [paste]

Compare my CV with the requirements table below. Put each requirement into one of three groups: A. Clearly shown on my CV. B. Hinted at but not shown. Quote the CV line that hints at it. C. Not on my CV. Do not suggest any wording yet. Requirements: [paste the table from prompt 7] CV: [paste]

For each item in group B below, suggest one change to my CV that shows it using the advert's wording. For each change, show: the original line, the new line, and the fact from my CV that supports it. If no fact supports it, say so and suggest nothing. Group B: [paste] CV: [paste]

Tailoring

Here is my master CV and a job advert. List the five changes that would do most to make this CV fit this advert, most important first. Consider the summary, the order of bullets, how much space each role gets, the skills section and the wording. Explain each change in one sentence. Do not rewrite the CV. CV: [paste] Advert: [paste]

I want to move from [current industry] into [target industry]. From the CV below, list the achievements that would matter most to an employer in [target industry]. For each one, give the terms that employer would normally use for it. Then flag any jargon in my CV that someone outside [current industry] would not understand. CV: [paste]

Build a skills section for my CV with no more than 12 items under 2 or 3 plain headings. Include only skills shown somewhere in my experience section below, and for each skill quote the line that shows it. Where a skill named in this advert is true for me, list it first. Advert: [paste] CV: [paste]

Gaps and application forms

I have a gap on my CV from [month year] to [month year]. The reason, at the level I am comfortable sharing with an employer: [brief reason, no medical details]. Write one factual line for the CV explaining the gap, no more than 20 words. Mention anything I did in that time that is relevant to [target role]: [list, or "nothing"].

This application form asks: [paste the question] with a limit of [number] words. Using only the example below from my CV and notes, draft an answer in the STAR structure (situation, task, action, result) within the limit. Use "I" for my own actions. Mark anything you had to assume with [CHECK]. Example: [paste the bullet and your notes about it]

Checking the result

Below are two documents: MASTER (my notes, all true) and DRAFT (a CV). List every claim in DRAFT that does not appear in MASTER or goes further than MASTER: numbers, dates, job titles, tools, responsibilities and results. For each, quote the DRAFT line and the closest MASTER line. Do not fix anything. MASTER: [paste] DRAFT: [paste]

Proofread this CV for a UK employer. - Correct spelling to British English. - Flag American terms (for example "resume", "GPA", "zip code", "vacation") and suggest UK equivalents. - Flag any date of birth, age, marital status or nationality so I can remove it. List each change with the original and the correction. Do not rewrite sentences that are already correct. CV: [paste]

This CV is [number] pages and needs to be [number]. Cut it without removing any result that relates to the advert below. Remove older detail first, then repeated skills, then long sentences. Do not add or reword any claim. After the new version, list everything you removed. Advert: [paste] CV: [paste]

Act as the hiring manager for the advert below, reading my CV for 60 seconds. Do not rewrite anything. Tell me: 1. What you would remember about me. 2. The first three questions you would ask at interview. 3. Any claim that would make you doubt me, and why. Advert: [paste] CV: [paste]