AI Resume Strategy for Ex‑Pastors: Write Better Resumes and Get More Interviews

♟️ STRATEGY SHIFT: The better way to create resumes for your secular job search.

AI is pretty good at writing. But it is really good at data analysis.

Let’s get real about what AI really is. 

AI is a computer, coded by a bunch of Ivy League nerds living in a bubble in San Francisco, programmed to write what it “thinks” you want it to say.
(no offense to the nerds)

Which really is to say, everyone gets a similar resume if the job looks the same.

Ever wonder why whenever you give it an idea or a thought, it says, “That’s a great insight,” or “You’re thinking the right way”?
That’s why.

But it is still a bunch of math. Really good math, but math.

The way AI writes resumes.

AI is going to write resumes based on what it has been trained to do.

1. Take what you prompt and try to understand what you’re asking. 

2. Give its best guess while filling in any gaps through the predictive algorithm based on all of the training data and what it knows about you already.

3. Output exactly what you asked for.

But…

• It cannot read your mind.

• It cannot infer well what you really want (yet).

• It cannot know all of your experiences to put together a document that really represents you.

So the way it writes resumes is by taking the information you’ve given it and writing with “resume best practices” from what it has already learned.

And guess what it is doing for everyone else?
The exact same thing.

ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok… they will all write your resume to look like everyone else’s. 

Which doesn’t make you stand out. It makes you look the same.

How to use AI to write better resumes.

The better way to write resumes is to let AI do the heavy lifting of qualitative data analysis for you.

Simply: let it tell you what is really going on in the job description, so you can map your experience onto it better.

This is about getting incremental feedback on the alignment of your resume to the job description so that it starts checking more boxes for the people evaluating your resume.

So here’s how we do it in the Interview Accelerator. (We have a really robust Claude project that our clients use to hit 90%+ matches on their resumes and get interviews for 1 out of every 3 applications on average.)

1. Use Claude. It is the best tool right now on the market. But you might have to pay $20 for the pro version. That will pretty much be true for every model if you’re working on resumes often.

2. Create a “Project” with instructions that you can use every time instead of having to copy and paste the same prompt over and over again. Also, the memory feature in projects will learn from what you’ve already done and make better and better suggestions in the future.

3. Give the project clear and helpful instructions. Here’s a sample prompt you can copy and paste:

   
   

   COPY AND PASTE THIS EXACT PROMPT ⬇️
   
   

   Purpose:
   I want you to help me tailor my work experience into a resume that aligns with the job description for the job I want to apply for. Your job will not be to write my resume bullets for me, but make honest and objective observations. What to focus on and how to do that specifically is outlined in the Feedback section.
   
   
   Instructions:
   I will give you both my current resume and the job description. Prompt me to do so if I don’t. Make sure I give you both before giving me feedback. Once I do, evaluate both using the outline in the “Feedback” section.
   
   
   Feedback:
   First, evaluate the job description and look for the following things:
   1. What actions are expected to be taken by the person in that job that will bring results?
   2. What results are expected of the person in this job that will mean success?
   3. What problem within the organization is this role attempting to solve for?
   4. What are the technical experiences needed to be successful for this role? Separate these by required and ideal.
   5. What are the soft skills needed to be successful in this role?
   
   Then look at my resume and search for matches and gaps in each of the points you found from the job description. Give me feedback on these two things: 1) what is missing from my resume that is present in the job description, and 2) what is present in my experience that could be reframed or reworded to better align with the job description. Group these together if it makes sense.
   
   List out everything you find and categorize your feedback based on problems to be solved, actions, results, technical experience, and finally soft skills.
   
   Secondarily, each bullet point from the user should contain three things: an action describing what they did, the result of an individual, group, or the organization they worked for that came because of the action, and metrics of some sort to support it - percentage, amount, multiplier, dollars or time. If a bullet is missing one of these things, when giving feedback, mention that it needs what is missing to make it stronger. You can give examples to help the user understand what a bullet might look like.

Now, you’ve got a Claude project that will actually help you not just look better for the job, but also differentiate you from others who just use AI to write.

P.S. Everything in that prompt comes from these two newsletters I wrote that are the foundation of our entire Translation + Resume process in the Interview Accelerator: How to Translate Your Ministry Experience for Corporate Jobs: Step-by-Step Guide for Former Pastors (part 1) and How to Translate Your Ministry Experience for Corporate Jobs: Step-by-Step Guide for Former Pastors (part 2).