Most of today’s job seekers probably don’t realize that there was a time when writing your resume involved carefully crafting your bio on a typewriter and then heading to the nearest Kinko’s to make copies on expensive, bonded paper.
Resume writing in 2026 means artificial intelligence (AI) with 75% of job seekers using AI tools to enhance their applications, according to a Software Finder study. That same study also found that 77 percent of those job seekers felt more confident when applying and secured higher-paying jobs compared to those who did not use AI.
From formatting to industry keywords and missing skills to proofreading, AI can help candidates create polished resumes faster than ever before.
AI, however, is not a magic solution for resume writing as job seekers need to collaborate with the technology and add their personal touch. Failure to do so could penalize you, as 1 in 4 hiring managers said they would disqualify candidates for using AI-generated resumes.
So, how can you use AI without ending up with something generic that sounds like a “robot” wrote it? The answer is knowing where AI adds real value and where your own judgment still matters most. Here’s a practical breakdown.
Formatting That Works for Both Humans and Machines
Maybe the best argument for utilizing AI to write your resume is that 75 percent of recruiters use some sort of application tracking system (ATS), increasingly AI-powered.
The odds are that before a human ever reads your resume, there’s a good chance it will pass through ATS software that scans, parses, and ranks candidates automatically. A beautifully designed resume with columns, tables, graphics, or unusual fonts can confuse these systems and get filtered out before anyone sees it.
AI tools can help you evaluate your current format for ATS compatibility. Simply paste your resume into a conversational AI tool like ChatGPT or Claude and ask it to identify any formatting elements that could cause parsing issues.
You can also ask AI to suggest a clean, ATS-friendly structure, typically a single-column layout with standard section headers like "Work Experience," "Education," and "Skills."
“AI can suggest whether a chronological or functional resume format is better suited to your work history and career goals. It can also guide applicants to the best resume style for their industry,” notes American University’s Kogod School of Business. “For example, a resume for a designer would look different than a financial analyst’s CV, and a recent graduate would likely choose a different resume format than a mid-career worker.”
The goal is a resume that's easy for a machine to read and easy for a hiring manager to skim in the six to ten seconds they typically spend on initial review.
Language and Content: Saying the Right Things the Right Way
Language and content are where AI earns its keep. Most job seekers either undersell their experience or describe it in vague, forgettable terms. AI can help you punch up both the substance and the style.
Start by pasting a job description and your current resume into an AI tool, then ask it to identify gaps between what the employer is asking for and what you've communicated. From there, ask it to help rewrite specific bullet points using stronger action verbs and quantifiable results where possible.
Instead of vague descriptions like: "Worked on a construction project."
AI can help you edit: "Assisted in commercial construction projects including site preparation, framing, and equipment operation while maintaining safety compliance."
AI-generated language can trend toward the generic if you let it run unchecked, so use it to improve your phrasing, not replace your story. Read everything out loud and if it doesn't sound like you, revise it until it does.
And keep in mind that every major AI tool acknowledges it can make mistakes, which leaves you, the job seeker, ultimately responsible for every word on your resume.
Industry Keywords and Skills You Might Be Missing
Hiring managers and ATS systems both scan for specific terminology. If you're applying for a project management role and your resume never mentions "stakeholder communication," "risk mitigation," or "agile methodology," even if you've done all those things, you may not make the cut.
AI is particularly good at this kind of keyword analysis. Paste three to five job listings for roles you're targeting and ask an AI tool to identify the most used terms and skills. Then compare that list against your resume. You'll often find skills you genuinely have but simply never thought to name explicitly.
This is also useful for spotting credential or skills gaps. If every relevant job listing mentions a certification you don't have, that's valuable intelligence for your professional development planning.
Remember, simply listing buzzwords without context can raise red flags with hiring managers and ATS systems alike.
Proofreading: Your Last Line of Defense
Typos and grammatical errors remain one of the fastest ways to get eliminated from consideration. AI-powered proofreading tools, with Grammarly being the most widely used, catch errors that spell-check misses, including misused words, inconsistent verb tenses, and awkward sentence construction. Conversational AI chatbots work just as well for this purpose.
Run your final draft through at least one AI proofreading pass before sending anything out, looking for:
- Typos
- Grammar issues
- Repeated words or phrases
- Awkward sentence structure
- Consistent formatting of dates and numbers
- Job titles capitalized correctly
Small details signal that you're someone who pays attention.
A Note on AI Resume Builders
If you'd rather not work through all of this manually, several platforms now offer AI-enhanced resume builders. Tools like Resume.io, Kickresume, and Teal guide you through the process and apply many of these improvements automatically. These can be a good starting point, especially if you're building a resume from scratch.
That said, the job seekers who tend to get the best results are the ones who stay in the driver's seat. AI works best as a skilled editor, not a ghostwriter.
AI is a Tool, Not a Crutch
AI can meaningfully improve your resume's formatting, language, keyword relevance, and accuracy, but it can't replace your experience, your story, or your judgment about what matters most.
Use it as a tool, not a crutch, and you'll stand out not just from candidates who ignored AI entirely, but also from the ones who lost their voice by over relying on technology.
PRT Staffing can help you find opportunities that match where you want to go. Connect with our team today to find a job that makes the most of your skills.
