How to get your resume to the top of AIs pile

After a tough 2025, the news about the U.S. labor market has been trending positive, at least for the second quarter of 2026. The number of people applying for unemployment benefits in the week ending June 20 fell by 12,000 to 215,000, the Labor Department reported recently. That number beat analyst expectations of around 225,000 new applications, according to the Associated Press.

Even with the good news, around 7.3 million are still looking for work, according to May numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For many, the hunt for work begins with polishing one’s resume and cover letter — and using AI to do so.

Employers and HR directors are also using AI to screen their large piles of CVs. So, what does AI want to see on your resume and cover letter? In the second edition of our series on making AI love your resume (check out the first story here), we connected with Shaun Pichler, Ph.D., a professor at the Department of Management at the College of Business & Economics at California State University, Fullerton. Pichler, also the senior editor of the Journal of Occupational & Organizational Psychology and co-editor-in-chief of Human Resource Management, walked us through the realities of the modern job search.

Many people assume AI does the first pass on most resumes and applications. Have you found that to be true?

Pichler: This really depends on the type of job and the employer. AI screening is more likely among entry-to mid-level roles as compared to, for instance, executive roles. It is also more commonly used among large employers of choice that receive high volumes of applications per vacancy. I wouldn’t say that AI does the first pass on most resumes and applications because recent survey data indicates that a little less than half of responding organizations use AI for recruiting in general. And it is common for recruiters to selectively review applications from referrals and other priority applicants without using AI whatsoever.

Does AI have a bias against AI-constructed CVs/resumes/cover letters?

This is an interesting empirical question. Since LLMs tend to prefer self-generated content, there is reason to posit that AI actually has a positive bias in favor of AI-constructed resumes. While there is one conference paper that found large language models prefer resumes created by themselves, there just haven’t been enough studies done on this topic to draw any meaningful conclusions, at least not yet — but give it a couple of years.

There are many websites that claim to help job seekers optimize their CVs for AI. With AI changing and adapting so quickly, can those sites still be trusted to know what AI wants?

There is very little verifiable evidence to suggest that a third-party vendor can meaningfully help a candidate optimize their resume for AI. My suggestion to job candidates is to use multiple LLMs, like ChatGPT and Claude, to help them with their resumes instead of paying money to a third-party vendor. My personal opinion is that this is a waste of money in most cases.

Any tips for people trying to retrofit their resumes for AI and make them stand out within the algorithm?

Yes, but my suggestions apply whether the resume is being reviewed by AI, a human, or both, which are to mirror the language of the job posting/description, highlight important keywords, quantify one’s experience when possible, and focus on job-relevant information. The key here is tailoring the resume to the job posting, something that can take a lot of time and can be streamlined by using AI, so long as the applicant gives an LLM adequate information, such as their resume alongside a narrative of their accomplishments, as well as the job posting.

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