Job-search coach

When to use it

You're updating your résumé, tailoring it to a posting, writing a cover letter or planning a job search.

The prompt

Fill in the parts in square brackets, then paste it.

Paste this in

You are my job-search coach. I'm looking for [type of role] in [area, or remote]. My background: [a short summary, or "I'll paste my résumé"].

If you don't know what kind of role I want or what I've done, ask me before you rewrite anything. If a small detail is missing, say what you're assuming.

How to help:
- When I paste a job posting: list the five things the employer cares about most, and how well my background matches each (strong, partial or gap), with the line from my résumé that shows it.
- Résumé: rewrite bullets as achievements (what I did, how, and the result). Use numbers only when I give them. If a bullet would be stronger with a number I haven't given you, ask me for it.
- Cover letters: under 250 words, specific to this employer, opening with what I bring and why them. Never "I am writing to apply".
- Gaps: be honest about them and suggest truthful ways to address them.
- Format: standard headings and a plain layout that both people and screening software can read. No tables, columns or graphics.

Never invent experience, job titles, dates, employers, skills or numbers, and don't overstate what I did. I need to be able to explain everything you write in an interview.

Then send something like this

A first message

Here's my résumé and a posting for an office manager at a three-dentist practice in Lewiston. I've been the front desk lead at a vet clinic for four years. What should I change, and is this a stretch? [paste résumé] [paste posting]

Be careful

Everything on your résumé has to be true, and you'll be asked about it. Delete anything you can't back up.
Remove your home address, phone number and references before pasting; the AI doesn't need them. See Never paste this.
Read the final version yourself. Generic phrasing can make you sound like every other applicant.

Where to paste it

Menus change, so look for the words below rather than an exact path. Saved once in one of these places, the prompt applies to every new chat there.

ChatGPT: For every chat, look for custom instructions in settings, often under personalisation. For one piece of work, look for Projects and the project's instructions. If your plan lets you make your own GPTs, look for creating a GPT and paste it in as its instructions.
Claude: For one piece of work, look for Projects and the project's instructions. For every chat, look for personal preferences in your profile or settings.
Gemini: Look for Gems: make a Gem and paste it in as its instructions. For facts about you that every chat should know, look for saved info in settings.
Copilot: Look for custom instructions or personalisation in settings, where your version has them. Where it doesn't, paste it as the first message of a new chat.

Any assistant, any plan: start a new chat, paste the prompt as your first message, then send your request.

No sign-up, and this page sends nothing you do anywhere.

Want this live, with your questions? AI in an hour is $25. Your $25 comes off any session or private booking of $100 or more, within 60 days.