How To Screen Resumes Using ChatGPT- 5 Simple Steps

With the increasing number of job applicants, screening resumes has become an uphill task for recruiters. With dozens, probably hundreds of resumes submitted by job applicants, it can be hard to sift through the noise and find the right person for the job. Some organizations use Application Tracking Systems to help them narrow down their search. Such systems can however discriminate against good applications simply because they don’t adhere to a given resume structure.

For this reason, it is usually ideal to have the human eye scrutinize every application before dismissal to avoid missing potentially great candidates for the job. However, it’s clear that having humans sift through potentially hundreds of resumes can be painstaking. But humans need not to work by themselves.

Thanks to the creation generative AI technology, humans can leverage the power of AI Chatbots such a ChatGPT and use them as an assistant to screen resumes faster and with ease. With the hybridization of human and Artificial Intelligence, humans can screen resumes written in varying formats more efficiently leading to better results from the process.

In this article, we will go step by step and look at how recruiters can leverage ChatGPT to screen resumes thoroughly and with ease. Note that for these steps to work correctly, it is essential to carry them out within the same Chat since the most steps rely on memory from previous steps.

How to Screen Resumes using ChatGPT

Screening resumes using ChatGPT is a straightforward process that involves a few simple steps. By following these steps, you can effectively analyze resumes and shortlist candidates efficiently.

Step 1: Summarizing Key Categories/sections

Screening resumes begins with the knowing what you are looking for in a candidate. This ranges from educational background, work experience, character traits or professional skills. The first step of screening a resume is to summarize the key metrics one intends to scrutinize in a candidate. ChatGPT Prompts you can use to summarize these key resume sections are as follows:

1. Starting with the name of applicant, briefly summarize the following sections of their resume [Insert text e.g.  educational background, work experience, professional skills, projects and interests]. The resume is as follows: [Insert Resume]
2. Summarize the following resume to highlight the applicants [Insert text e.g. educational background, work experience, professional skills, projects and interests]. Start with the name of the applicant.

Using these prompts, recruiters can summarize each applicants resume according to the key sections they are interested in evaluating. A recruiter can use these prompts to summarize all the resumes before beginning the process of elimination.

It is important to include the applicants name in order to distinguish between candidates as we further analyze the resumes. This leads us to the next step.

Step 2: Listing Candidates

This step is meant to ensure you have good work flow. To achieve good work flow, it is essential to list the names of all the candidates whose resume you have screened. The following are examples of prompts to do this:

1. List the candidates whose resume has been screen in this Chat.
2. Outline the names of candidates whose resume has been summarized in this chat.

Once you have listed all the candidates, you can proceed to the next step.

Step 3: Looking for desired qualities in a resume

Now that you have summarized all the resumes under scrutiny, we proceed to define the preferred qualities for the ideal candidates. This is the first step in the process of narrowing down the list of candidates.

Examples of prompts for this step are as follows:

1. For the resumes summarized in this chat, identify candidates with a [Insert education level e.g. degree] in [Insert course e.g. Computer science] course from [Insert text e.g. Havard] university.
2. Scrutinize the resumes summarized in this chat and identify candidates with work experience in [Insert text e.g. accounting] for a period of [Insert text e.g. five] years at a [Insert text e.g. technology] company.
3. In the resumes summarized in this chat, list candidates who have mentioned projects and/or interests related to [Insert text e.g. agriculture].

These prompts will enable you identify candidates who you can further scrutinize and compare. You can narrow down the list further by choosing to weed out candidates with qualities you don’t want. Prompts you can use to identify candidates who you are not interested in are as follows:

1. For resumes summarized in this chat, update the candidates list by striking through  the names of candidates who don’t have [Insert text e.g. an undergraduate degree in commerce] qualification and a [Insert text e.g. CPA level 3] training.
2. Among resumes summarized in this chat, update the candidates list by striking out the names of candidates without a work experience of [insert text e.g. three years] in the [Insert text e.g. insurance] industry

Using these prompts, you will eliminate candidates who don’t fit into the given criteria and get an updated list of viable candidates

Step 4: Compare and contrast main sections of the resume

This is the next step in the elimination process. Here recruiters can do further elimination by comparing the viable candidates’ qualifications. The main areas for objective comparison are academic qualifications, work experience and projects and interests. Comparing these categories individually for each candidate can narrow down the list further and leave candidates with the best qualifications in each category. Examples of prompts for this step are as follows:

1. Compare the academic qualifications of candidates in the updated list and identify the top [Insert text e.g. five] candidates with the most attractive academic qualifications.
2. Compare the work experience of candidates in the updated list and identify top [Insert text e.g. five] candidates with the most experience in the marketing industry.
3. Compare and contrast the resumes summarized in this chat and identify top [Insert text e.g. five] candidates with fascinating projects and interests related to [Insert text e.g. electrical engineering]

After using these three prompts for comparison, you now have your top candidates under each key category. The best candidates for the job are likely defined by either of these categories. To determine the most qualified and suitable candidate will require further scrutiny by the human eye.

Also, this step will form the list of viable candidates who you can now call for an interview. To compile that list use the following prompts:

1. Compile the list of top [Insert text e.g. five] candidates in each category from the comparisons done above.
2. Outline the top [Insert text e.g. three] candidates in each category compared above.

Step 5: Adding further elimination criteria

If you think the list is still long, you can eliminate further using different criteria such as age, gender, place of residence among others. However, these are not objective selection criteria and may cost you the most qualified candidate for the job. In spite this it may be necessary for some positions and will also narrow down the list further. Prompts you can use for further elimination are as follows:

1. Check the resumes of the top candidates listed above and strike through the names of candidates who live [Insert text e.g. outside New York city]
2. Screen the resumes of the top candidates in the compiled list above and strike the names candidates who are [Insert text e.g. older than 50 years old].

Following these steps will help recruiters screen resumes faster and with ease. These steps are also objective, focusing on the major areas of evaluation for any job. It is important to note that ChatGPT should only be used as a guide and not a replacement when screening resumes.

Note: ChatGPT can help recruiters summarize resumes and eliminate unviable candidates, but decision making always lies with the recruiter.