THE IDEA
Here’s what you need to know.
Before a person reads your application, software might. So I made ChatGPT play the screener for a real grad job ad. My resume scored 62 and got rejected for not showing the things I do every day. Hiding the job ad in white text at the bottom moved it to 63, so that trick did nothing. What worked was proving every line: same jobs, no made-up skills, just the evidence written down. That took it to 82 and a pass. Here is the exact prompt and the workflow.
See the visual breakdown
- 1
Screen your resume
- 2
Read what's missing
- 3
Prove every line
- 4
Screen it again
Before
- Make short videos
- Grew the page
After
- Plan a monthly content calendar, 3 to 5 videos a week
- Grew the page, with the numbers I check every month
READY WHEN YOU ARE
Your starting prompt.
Copy it as it is, or personalise it for your task first.
You are the automated resume screening system (ATS) for the job ad below. You've never met the candidate. Screen the way an ATS does before any human sees the application: strictly, from the text alone. 1. List the must-have and nice-to-have requirements in the job ad. 2. Check the resume against each one. Only count a requirement as met if the resume clearly shows it. 3. Score out of 100: must-haves 50, relevant experience 30, keywords and skills 20. 4. PASS if the score is 70 or more. Otherwise REJECT. Reply in exactly this format and nothing else: SCORE: __/100 VERDICT: PASS or REJECT TOP REASON: one sentence MISSING: up to 5 bullet points JOB AD: [paste the job ad] RESUME: [paste the resume]
PUT IT INTO PRACTICE
Follow the steps.
Tick off each step as you go. Your progress is saved on this browser.
- STEP 01
Copy the full job ad and your resume as text. Take your phone number, address and email off the resume first; the screener doesn't need them. Open a Temporary Chat so your saved memories don't colour the result.
- STEP 02
Paste the prompt above with the job ad and your resume in the brackets. You get a score, a verdict, the main reason and up to five things it couldn't find.
- STEP 03
Each point is something the job asks for that your resume doesn't clearly show. If you do it but haven't written it down, that's the fix. If you genuinely don't do it, leave it out.
- STEP 04
Rewrite each bullet so it shows the work, how often and the result. Only use things that are true. This prompt asks you questions instead of inventing answers.
Using the job ad and the MISSING list above, help me rewrite my resume so every line proves what I do. Keep the same jobs and dates. Don't add any skill, tool, number or result I haven't told you. For each bullet, ask me what I did, how often, with which tools and what changed because of it. Then rewrite it with that evidence. Where you need a number I haven't given you, write [add real number].
- STEP 05
Start a new Temporary Chat and run the same prompt with the rewritten resume. Repeat for each job you apply for, because every ad asks for different things.
A FEW THINGS THAT HELP
Get more out of it.
- Scores move a few points between runs. Look at the verdict and the MISSING list, not the exact number.
- Pasting the job ad in white text didn't help. The screener looks for proof, not repeated keywords, and a person who opens the file can still find it.
- Never add jobs, skills or numbers you can't back up in an interview.
- This is ChatGPT acting as a screener. Real employers use different systems, so a pass here is a good sign, not a guarantee of an interview.
- Pair it with the job application system on this site to find roles and tailor each one.