A ready-made setup: a job-specific resume + cover letter + portfolio page in one evening. The AI pulls your achievements out of you, packages them for a specific opening (and for ATS filters), writes the cover letter, and helps you build a portfolio page. After that — you start applying.
What you end up with
- A resume tailored to a specific opening: achievements with numbers, keywords from the job description, a clean structure.
- An ATS-friendly version (the HR robot filter won't drop you at step zero).
- A personal cover letter for each opening (not a template).
- An online portfolio or one-page personal site with a link you can send to a recruiter.
- Interview prep: common questions and your answers in the STAR format.
What you'll need
Tools from the library (by name): ChatGPT/Claude (resume, cover letter, breaking down the job posting), the prompt "Draft a business document (letter/application)" (adapted for the cover letter), the prompt "Positioning and USP" (personal brand), Gamma (online portfolio or personal site from text) or Canva (PDF portfolio), Perplexity (dig up facts about the company before the interview). Accounts/money/hardware:
- Free route: ChatGPT/Claude (free), Gamma (free plan with limits) or Canva (free), any PC.
- Fast route: a paid model (smoother wording), Gamma Pro/Canva Pro (no watermarks, exports) — optional.
Step by step
- Gather the raw material. Tool: ChatGPT/Claude. What to do: let the AI "interview" you and pull out achievements with numbers. Ready-made prompt:
Help me put together a strong resume. Ask me one question at a time about my experience,
projects and results, so we surface achievements with numbers (what I did →
what measurable result it led to). Once we have 5–7 achievements,
consolidate them into a bulleted list in the format "action → result in numbers".
How you know it worked: you have 5–7 achievements shaped like "did X → result Y" with specifics, not "performed my duties". 2. Resume for the opening. Tool: ChatGPT/Claude. What to do: give the AI the job description and your raw material and have it tailor the resume. Ready-made prompt:
Here's the job posting: <paste the description>. Here's my experience and achievements: <from step 1>.
Build a resume for this opening: 1) a short summary (3–4 lines aimed at the role);
2) key skills (include relevant words from the posting — for the ATS);
3) experience: achievements with numbers, strong verbs; 4) education/courses.
Clean, to the point, 1 page. Don't invent experience I don't have.
How you know it worked: the resume mirrors the posting's requirements using your own (truthful) facts, fits on one page, and contains keywords from the description. 3. ATS check. What to do: ask the AI to grade your resume the way a filter robot would. Ready-made prompt:
Review this resume the way an ATS would for the <role> opening: which keywords
from the posting are missing, what might the robot fail to parse (graphics/tables/columns),
and how should I rewrite it to get through the filter. Give concrete edits.
How you know it worked: you get a list of missing keywords and edits; the format is simple (no complex tables or columns that break parsers). 4. Cover letter. Tool: the prompt "Draft a business document" in ChatGPT/Claude. What to do: a separate letter for each opening. Ready-made prompt:
Write a cover letter for the <role> opening at <company>.
3 short paragraphs: 1) why this particular role/company caught my eye;
2) 1–2 of my relevant achievements with numbers; 3) a call to meet.
Lively, human, none of the "great communicator, works well under pressure" clichés.
How you know it worked: the letter sounds personal and aimed at this specific company, not like a mass mailing. 5. Online portfolio. Tool: Gamma (a site or deck from text) or Canva (PDF). What to do: ask the AI for a portfolio structure, then build a page with case studies (problem → what you did → result) and contact details. How you know it worked: you have a link you're not embarrassed to send a recruiter, and the cases show results rather than a list of tasks. 6. Interview prep. Tool: ChatGPT/Claude + Perplexity (facts about the company). What to do: run through common questions and assemble STAR-format answers. Ready-made prompt:
You're an interviewer for the <role> position. Ask me 7 common questions (including
"tell me about yourself" and behavioural ones). After each of my answers, give short
feedback and how to strengthen it using STAR (situation-task-action-result).
How you know it worked: you can answer "tell me about yourself" coherently, plus 2–3 behavioural questions with examples and numbers.
Free route vs fast (paid)
| Step | Free route | Fast (paid) |
|---|---|---|
| Resume/letter | ChatGPT/Claude free | top-tier paid model (smoother tone) |
| Portfolio | Gamma free / Canva free | Gamma Pro / Canva Pro (no watermark, own domain) |
| Company facts | manual searching | Perplexity (faster, with sources) |
You can genuinely assemble the whole package for free. Paying buys cosmetics (a clean portfolio export, slightly better phrasing), not a different outcome. What decides it is your real achievements and how well they're tailored to the opening.
Common problems and fixes
- The resume sounds generic. Insist on specifics with numbers (step 1); proofread it and add one or two real human details yourself — the AI supplies the frame, the voice is yours.
- The ATS chews up your resume. Drop complex tables, columns and graphics, add keywords from the posting (step 3), and save in a simple format (often a .docx works better than a designer PDF).
- One resume for every opening. For each opening you actually want, tailor the summary and skills to its keywords; that matters far more than "a pretty template".
- The AI invents experience you don't have. Explicitly forbid making things up in the prompt; lying on a resume falls apart at the interview.
- A cover letter like everyone else's. Tie the first paragraph to the specific company or product (find a fact via Perplexity) — that alone lifts you out of the pile.
Time and money
- Time: the base package (resume + ATS + portfolio) — 2–4 hours in one evening; after that, 15–30 minutes per opening (tweak the summary + write the letter).
- Money: free (ChatGPT/Claude free + Gamma/Canva free) or a little for a paid model/Gamma Pro for a clean export.
- Honestly: AI speeds up packaging and tailoring, but it can't draw experience you don't have. What decides it is real achievements, a good match to the opening, and interview prep.