ChatGPT for Beginners: Build a Resume and Cover Letter in 6 Easy Steps

0:00Hey y'all, I'm Ida. I'm 54. I deliver mail. And 2 years ago, I was right where you are. Every time I went looking for a video to teach me how to use AI, I was getting like 20 and 30-year-old tech gurus just step fresh out of Google or Apple factory or something using big words I couldn't understand

0:25and I have a master's. So I set out to figure it out for myself and it's been a ride. I will tell you that. I've learned so much and now I'm going to share it with you. I'll tell you how I started. The first time I opened chat GPT, I typed "So I heard you going to take my job."

0:47Well, first of all, you can have it. The pay is lousy, benefits are worse, and forget about employee morale. Then it typed back, "I don't want that job, love goddess. You can keep it." I said, "Okay, me and chat going to get along real good." Call me love goddess, all right. I didn't realize that he was using the name associated with my email

1:12till I used to sign in. But hey, I like it. I like being called the love goddess. So yeah, it works. So yeah, so I said we're going to get along real fine and we have. We've come a long way, me and chat. And Claude has come in along the way as well and I'm

1:30going to teach you about all of them. So today's episode is going to be how how to build a resume and cover letter with AI on your phone in about six easy steps. And my assistant is going to take it from here. You need a job or a better job and your resume is 10 years old.

1:52Or you do not have one at all. Welcome to broke to boss. I am a cartoon with a computer-made voice speaking for a real mail carrier who is still learning AI, same as you. She was never a tech person. She started right where you are, and she welcomes you to learn with her. I am not a doctor, a lawyer, or a money expert, and nothing here is advice from

2:16one. Today, how to build a resume and a cover letter with AI without making anything up. First rule, every word on your resume has to be true. AI will happily invent a job, a degree, or a skill if you let it. Do not let it. Employers check, and it is your name on the page. Step one, tell it about your work in

2:43your own words. Open the app. Do not worry about how it sounds. Just type or talk using the microphone. Tell it every job you have had. How long, what you did every day. Include the things you think do not count. Running the church bake sale, taking care of your mother, handling cash at the register. That is real work, and it shows you are

3:09reliable. Leave out your social security number, your date of birth, and your home address. You can add the phone number and email yourself at the end. Step two, ask for the resume. Type, turn what I told you into a one-page resume. Use only what I told you. Do not add any jobs, skills, or numbers I did not give you. Use plain,

3:35simple words. Step three, read every line, out loud if you can. Anything that is not true, take it out. Anything that sounds like somebody else, change it. Type, line three is not accurate. I only did that part-time. Step four. Point it at the job. Find the job listing you want. Copy the words from

4:03the listing. Paste them in. Then type. Here [snorts] is the job I want. Change my resume to match what they are asking for using only true things. Tell me what is missing. That last part is useful. If it says they want computer skills and you have none, now you know what to learn next.

4:25Step five. The cover letter. Type. Write a short cover letter for this job. Four short paragraphs. Warm and professional. Do not make it sound like a robot wrote it. Then read it and change anything that does not sound like you. Step six. Save it and print it. Copy the resume into a document. Check the spelling one more time. Save it as a PDF if you can and and ask the AI how if

4:54you do not know. You may be nervous that using AI is cheating. It is not. You still told it your story. It helped you say it clearly. A good friend would do the same. There is a free story waiting for you at graysonmainpress.com. I will see you next time.