A résumé and cover letter that sound like you
How-To 3 · 2 minutes 36 seconds · Free to learn · Words printed on screen · Watch above, then try the exercise below.
What you'll learn
- Start with the real facts: gather the jobs, the dates, and the numbers you can prove before you ask AI for anything
- Paste in the job ad and ask what the employer is really looking for, so the résumé answers the right questions
- Ask for a draft that uses only your facts — plain words, one page, nothing added
- Write a cover letter in three short paragraphs: why this job, why you, and one true story
Key points
Everything starts from the real facts: the jobs, the dates, the work that was actually done, and numbers that can be proved — gathered before the AI hears a word. Paste in the job ad and ask what the employer is really looking for. Then ask for a draft that uses only those facts — plain words, one page, nothing added. Then comes the heart of the lesson: the check. AI drafts can quietly add things that never happened; in the video, the draft claims Marco trained twelve new staff, and he never did. A line that sounds good is not the same as a line that is true, so read every line like a detective: is this true? Can I prove it? Anything that fails comes out — no softening, no keeping it because it sounds impressive. The cover letter is three short paragraphs — why this job, why you, one true story — tailored for each application with the same facts in a different order, and read aloud so it sounds like a person, not a brochure. Camp rule: AI can polish your story — it must never invent it.
Try it
- Find one real job ad — for you, or for someone you love — and gather the real facts first: the jobs, the dates, the work that was actually done, any numbers that can be proved.
- Let AI draft the résumé and a short cover letter from those facts alone.
- Check every single line — if it is not true and provable, it comes out — then read it aloud before anything is sent.
The words in this video
Prefer to read, or want to follow along while you watch? Here is everything the narrator says in this lesson, word for word.
Welcome back to AI Camp. Today's how-to: a résumé and cover letter that sound like you. My nephew Marco is applying for a supervisor job at a garden center, and we are going to help him — honestly. A blank résumé page scares everyone. It feels like a test you cannot pass. It does not have to: Marco does not need a perfect past. He needs his real one, clearly told. Step one: gather the real facts first. His jobs and their dates. What he actually did each day. And the numbers he can prove — plants watered, customers helped, the till he ran on Saturdays.
Step two: paste in the job ad itself, and ask the AI what this employer is really looking for. Out comes a short list: plant knowledge, calm with customers, someone steady to open and close. Now the résumé ask. Notice what it says — and what it forbids. Only the facts we gathered. Nothing added, nothing stretched. The draft comes back strong. Clear, plain, one page. And right there in the middle: trained twelve new staff. Marco never trained anyone. The AI guessed — and a guess on a résumé is a lie.
So now the most important step in this whole lesson: the check. Read every line like a detective. Every date, every duty, every number. Ask of each one: is this true? Can he prove it? If a line is not true, it comes out. No softening, no leaving it because it sounds good. What stays is smaller — and every word of it is Marco's real story. Then the cover letter: three short paragraphs in his own voice. Why this job. Why him. And one true story — the Saturday a delivery went wrong, and Marco kept forty customers calm and watered.
Applying somewhere else too? Tailor it. Same facts, different order: the garden center job leads with plants; a hardware store would lead with the till and tools. Nothing new — just what matters most, first. Last check: read it out loud. A résumé should sound like a person, not a brochure. Any sentence Marco would never say gets rewritten in his words — or cut. Today's camp rule: AI can polish your story — it must never invent it. Polish is welcome. Invention is where we stop.
Try it: find one real job ad — for you, or for someone you love — gather the real facts first, let the AI draft, and then check every single line before anything is sent. Marco sent his that evening — every line true, and every line his. That is a résumé an employer can trust, from a person who can stand behind it. Good luck out there — and keep it honest.