June 10, 2025

What a Career Coach Taught Me About Resumes in the Age of AI

Why career coaches say ChatGPT is just the first draft and how to turn your resume into something that actually gets read.

Tyler Bugeaud

Duey, Co-founder

Include a personal profile or introduction statement at the top of your resume

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Add an infographic element that displays your best traits and accomplishments

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Add Infographic - Jobboardly X Webflow Template — Erat scelerisque eu dui diam varius in proin sit elementum amet vitae et.

Use headings and subheadings throughout your resume to highlight key sections and make the information easier to read

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Utilize space by using bullet points to outline skills and job qualifications

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Incorporate visuals and images such as graphs and charts

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What a Career Coach Taught Me About Resumes in the Age of ChatGPT

AI can write your resume. But the real work starts after that.

When the Resume Looks Great but Still Misses the Mark

A friend once told me their resume had never looked better and yet, it had never performed worse. They had used a well-known AI tool to rewrite everything. The formatting was pristine. The bullet points hit all the right verbs. But something felt off.

When I shared this story with a career coach I had been interviewing, she nodded immediately.

“That’s what I’m seeing with a lot of clients. Their resume looks right, but it doesn’t feel right. And that disconnect shows.”

This conversation stuck with me. Because what she was really saying was this: in a world where anyone can generate a decent-looking resume with a few clicks, the differentiator is no longer formatting or keywords. It’s the substance beneath the surface.

The Illusion of a Finished Product

AI resume tools are appealing because they give people a fast sense of progress. You go from a blank page to a polished draft in minutes. And in a job search that already feels like a black box, that’s powerful.

But multiple coaches warned me that this speed creates a false sense of confidence.

“Job seekers think the hard part is over once they’ve got something that looks clean,” one coach said. “But that’s just the starting point.”

In truth, the AI-generated resume is a rough draft. It needs editing, context, voice. But many job seekers skip this step, thinking that the tool has done the work for them.

That can be a costly mistake.

The Real Value of a Career Coach

Every coach I interviewed stressed that their job is not just to edit resumes. It’s to help people understand what their experience actually says. They ask hard questions, draw out forgotten achievements, and translate vague language into sharp, focused statements.

“I’m not just looking at what they’ve done. I’m looking for the story underneath, why it matters, how it connects to where they’re going.”

And that’s exactly what AI cannot do. It cannot detect the difference between something that sounds good and something that’s strategically aligned to the job you’re applying for.

Coaches fill that gap. And the smart ones use AI as a collaborator and not a replacement.

A Better Way to Use ChatGPT for Resumes

If you’re going to use AI tools (and most people should), it helps to approach them the way career coaches do: as a springboard, not a shortcut.

Start with your own words:
Even if it’s messy, write out your accomplishments first. Let AI polish what you’ve written, not replace it altogether.

Keep a master resume:
Many coaches recommend keeping one long, unfiltered doc with everything you’ve done. Then, use AI to extract or rephrase based on the job description.

Customize the top third yourself:
That includes your headline, summary, and first few bullets. One coach told me:
“If you don’t hook them in the first half of your resume, they won’t read the rest. That part has to sound like you.”

Use AI to ask questions:
Let ChatGPT help you phrase things or extract keywords, but don’t let it replace your own judgment.

Section 4: The Emotional Side of Resumes

What surprised me most in these interviews was how emotional the resume process is. Coaches aren’t just helping with grammar or formatting. They’re helping people rebuild confidence.

“Some clients come in feeling like they’ve done nothing valuable. But once we unpack their experience, they realize they’ve accomplished so much.”

That’s not something any AI tool can replicate. It takes empathy, listening, and honest reflection. And for many job seekers, that’s what makes the biggest difference.

Closing: The Resume is a Mirror, Not a Megaphone

A resume shouldn’t just broadcast your skills. It should reflect your values, your journey, and your goals.

AI can help you say more with less but only if you stay in control of the message.

Career coaches know this. They know a resume isn’t about showing off. It’s about showing up, about translating who you are into something clear, relevant, and compelling.

“The tool is powerful. But the power still belongs to the person using it.”

And that person is you.