With programmes like ChatGPT getting more intelligent every day, and with the job market demanding candidates to move at lightning pace, many job-seekers are asking: “Should I use AI to write my CV?” The quick answer is no, especially at the senior level.
From our experience (having written, read and analysed thousands of applications in our lifetime), there is never a good enough reason to use AI-written CVs. Not if you want to get past the Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), and not if you want to get past the human.
Recruiters have shark-like instincts when it comes to sniffing out AI language, and employers frequently reject applications that lack a personal touch (which bot-written CVs always do). As convenient as it is, using AI is a sure-fire way to lose out on the opportunity you want. Stay with us while we explain why, and what you should do instead.
Is it a good idea to use AI to write my CV?
AI will give you a CV in seconds, but at the cost of individuality. You end up with something that could have been written for anyone, and while you can use it to weave in keywords from the job description, that’s about as far as its tailoring abilities go.
When you use AI to write your CV, the result is a profound lack of substance. AI can’t understand the nuance of “you”: your unique value, your leadership style, the decisions that shaped your career.
The problems often show up in three ways:
- AI-generated CVs are never written in the voice of the job seeker. Instead, they tend to be padded with overblown language that tries to sound impressive by using 20 words where three would do. It also recycles the same stock phrases recruiters see hundreds of times a week: “results-driven professional,” “thrives in fast-paced environments,” “proven track record of success.” Even ATS pick up on these cliches, and reject applications because of them.
- AI sometimes fills gaps or reframes achievements in ways that distort the truth. They’ve even been known to fabricate plausible metrics to plug gaps in a track record and prove impact. These inaccuracies might sound harmless on a CV, but they become glaring under interview scrutiny.
- Flat narrative. Even when every fact is correct, AI-generated text often lacks the connective tissue that turns bullet points into a coherent career story. Without that, your CV doesn’t give the reader a reason to remember you.
Recruiters and hiring managers can feel when something’s been written at arm’s length. It reads cold, distant, like you weren’t involved in telling your own story. You have to ask yourself what kind of first impression that leaves. We can tell you honestly that in our conversations with employers, they consistently describe AI CVs as signals of inexperience and a lack of credibility.
For senior professionals, the reputational damage is even worse. If you used AI to write your CV, what does that say about your commitment to the process and the role? How can organisations trust you to approach high-stakes work with the care and rigour it demands?
AI CV vs Professional CV writer: What’s the difference?
If you’re struggling to write your CV, it’s probably not because you don’t know how to write or format one. Most people who come to City CV are struggling because they lack clarity.
Sometimes, they can’t tell which parts of their career are impressive or irrelevant because they’ve been out of the job market for a while. But even those still active can struggle; many of our clients have built such illustrious, high-achieving careers that distilling them into a targeted narrative is a challenge in itself. Or they might be weighing up several possible directions, unsure how to position themselves for new opportunities. In every case, they’re simply too close to their own story to see it clearly.
That’s why at City CV, we like to say we’re not in the business of producing CVs, we’re here to give you genuine career clarity. A professional CV writer’s real work happens in the questions that make you reconsider how you’re presenting yourself. It’s in spotting the themes and achievements you didn’t realise connected, and cutting the ones that weaken your case.
A good CV writer isn’t there to make you sound like someone else. They’re there to get to the bottom of who you are now, and who you want to be next. That means:
- Interpreting your experience through the lens of your target market
- Deciding what to emphasise, what to reframe and what to leave behind
- Translating the mess of a real career into a clean, credible narrative that feels authentic
It’s not a process you can automate because it relies on judgement, market knowledge and sometimes, uncomfortable honesty. An AI tool will never stop mid-conversation and ask, “Why are you still trying to be that person?” A human will, and that’s the important difference.
Why AI should never write your CV
The next time you ask yourself, “Should I use AI to write my CV?” remember all the pitfalls: your story will be uninspired, your language will sound generic, recruiters and employers will be able to tell (if your application even gets past the ATS), and you will undermine your own credibility.
Working one-to-one with a CV writer gives you the clarity to take ownership of your story, so what you present – in CVs, interviews, board rooms and beyond – feels authentic, intentional and genuinely yours.
If you need help writing your CV, we’re here to help with the expertise, insight and perspective that positions you for the opportunities you really want. Contact us today to learn more.