What if I don't know what keywords the ATS is looking for?

That's exactly what the first-stage prompts are for. You paste the job description, and the AI extracts every keyword worth matching—technical skills, tools, experience types, industry language. It does the keyword detective work for you. Most of what you need is sitting in that job posting.

Will this make my resume sound fake or over-optimized?

Only if you ignore authenticity checks. The prompts are built to rebuild your language, not invent accomplishments. If you've done stakeholder management, saying 'stakeholder management' instead of 'working with teams' isn't fake—it's just clearer. Real before-and-after examples show what that balance actually looks like.

How do I know which keywords to prioritize if there are a lot?

The Stage 1 prompts rank them by frequency and weighting. Keywords that appear multiple times in the job posting, or in the job title itself, get priority. You don't need to use every keyword—just the ones that actually reflect your experience and appear consistently across similar roles you're applying to.

Can I use the same prompts for different jobs, or do I need to customize them?

The prompts are the same structure, but you run them against each job description you target. So yes, if you're applying to 10 similar roles, you'll run the Stage 1 keyword audit 10 times. But once you've done it 2–3 times, you'll spot which keywords keep appearing, and you can build a 'base version' of your resume that covers the common ones—then customize from there.

What if the AI suggests something that doesn't match my actual experience?

You override it. The prompts come with a troubleshooting guide for exactly this. You tell the AI what it got wrong, show it the actual context of your work, and ask it to regenerate. Usually takes one clarification to fix.

Do I need a paid AI subscription?

No. Free ChatGPT and Claude both have enough context length and reasoning to run all 12 prompts. No software, no templates, no paid tools required.

What to Type for AI

How to Audit Your Resume for ATS Keywords Using AI Prompts

Name: ATS Audit Prompts: Rebuild Your Resume Section-by-Section
Brand: What to Type for AI
SKU: WTTF-58XUKGOPQ4JNXQ4LN-HTNQ
Price: 29 USD
Availability: InStock

You can be perfectly qualified for a role and still get filtered out by ATS software—usually because your resume doesn't speak the same keyword language as the job description. The fix isn't rewriting your whole resume. It's running a targeted keyword audit to see exactly where the gaps are, then filling them with language that's both ATS-friendly and honest about your actual experience.

This guide walks you through using free AI (ChatGPT or Claude) to extract the keyword map from a job posting, compare it against your resume, and rebuild specific sections with the missing vocabulary. No template software. No paid tool. Just prompts you copy-paste and the thinking to act on the results.

ATS Audit Prompts: Rebuild Your Resume Section-by-Section

$29

Pay once. Keep forever.

Your resume is being filtered out before a human ever reads it. ATS systems—the software behind Workday, Taleo, and Greenhouse—score resumes on keyword density, section structure, and formatting compatibility. If your score is low, you're invisible. This...

One self-contained PDF. No hidden files or separate templates.

What's included

12 ready-to-run AI prompts organized across 4 audit stages, each with exact copy-paste text
Real before/after resume examples for every prompt—anonymized but realistic mid-career language
Stage 1: 2 prompts for extracting ATS keyword maps and running a gap analysis against your resume
Stage 2: 3 prompts for restructuring bullet points using verb upgrades, honest metric-building, and PAR format
Stage 3: 4 prompts for rebuilding your Summary, Skills section, Experience headers, and a full job entry end-to-end
Stage 4: 3 prompts for catching hidden formatting errors, choosing the right file type, and running a final keyword coverage verification

Get it — $29 →

Or get free updates & new releases:

Follow for updates

Why a Keyword Audit Actually Works (And Why Keyword Stuffing Doesn't)

ATS systems scan for relevance signals—keywords that appear in both the job description and your resume. But they're not stupid. They won't pass you through if you jam unrelated keywords into your summary or list skills you don't have. An audit approach is different. You're identifying which *legitimate* keywords from the job description are missing from your resume, then adding them back in places where they actually belong. If the job wants someone with 'stakeholder management' experience and you've done that work but called it 'cross-functional coordination,' the audit finds that gap. Then you rebuild that section to include both phrases in authentic context. ATS sees the keyword match. A hiring manager sees honest, relevant experience. Both pass.

The 4-Stage Audit Process (And How Long Each Takes)

Stage 1: Extract keyword map from the job posting and run a gap analysis against your resume (15 minutes). You paste the job description into an AI prompt. It pulls out technical skills, soft skills, required experience types, and industry-specific terms. Then you paste your resume and ask it to flag which of those keywords are missing or buried. This tells you exactly what to rebuild. Stage 2: Rebuild your bullet points with the missing keywords (20–30 minutes). This isn't about adding keywords randomly. You use prompts to restructure existing bullets using stronger action verbs, concrete metrics, and PAR format (Problem-Action-Result) so the keywords fit naturally while your accomplishments become clearer. Stage 3: Rebuild larger resume sections (Summary, Skills, Experience headers) (20–25 minutes). Your Summary and top Experience bullets get the most ATS weight. Prompts guide you to rewrite these sections from scratch using the keyword map, so they speak directly to what the job is looking for. Stage 4: Catch hidden formatting and file-type errors (10 minutes). ATS can't parse some formatting tricks. Final prompts verify keyword coverage one more time and confirm your file type won't confuse the system.

When an Audit Changes Your Outcome

This approach works best if you're already qualified but invisible to the system. You've got 5+ years in your field. You know the work. But your resume uses slightly different vocabulary than the job postings you're targeting, or your accomplishments are buried in vague language, or you haven't updated it in 3+ years and the keyword landscape has shifted. It also works well if you're switching roles or industries and need to translate your experience into the vocabulary of the new field. You actually have the skills. You just need to show them in a language the new industry recognizes. The audit won't help if you're missing hard qualifications (10 years of experience when they need 10, or a specific certification you don't have). But for the qualified-but-rejected scenario, it's direct and fast.

What You Need to Start

A free ChatGPT or Claude account. Your current resume as plain text or a copy you can paste in. The job description you're targeting (or a few job descriptions if you're auditing against a pattern). Access to the 12 audit prompts, organized by stage, with real before-and-after examples showing what mid-career language actually looks like when rebuilt. A troubleshooting guide for the 5 most common AI output failures (like when Claude adds jargon you didn't ask for, or ChatGPT suggests keywords that don't fit your role). And a quick-reference checklist so you know which prompt to run next and how long each stage should take.

The Real Work Isn't Running the Prompts—It's Deciding What to Keep

AI will generate a lot of options. Your job is to filter for accuracy and voice. If a prompt suggests a bullet point that inflates your accomplishments, cut it. If it uses language you'd never say in a conversation with your manager, adapt it. The prompts are a tool for speed and structure, not permission to change your actual qualifications. The goal is a resume that passes ATS *and* holds up in an interview.

FAQ

What if I don't know what keywords the ATS is looking for?: That's exactly what the first-stage prompts are for. You paste the job description, and the AI extracts every keyword worth matching—technical skills, tools, experience types, industry language. It does the keyword detective work for you. Most of what you need is sitting in that job posting.
Will this make my resume sound fake or over-optimized?: Only if you ignore authenticity checks. The prompts are built to rebuild your language, not invent accomplishments. If you've done stakeholder management, saying 'stakeholder management' instead of 'working with teams' isn't fake—it's just clearer. Real before-and-after examples show what that balance actually looks like.
How do I know which keywords to prioritize if there are a lot?: The Stage 1 prompts rank them by frequency and weighting. Keywords that appear multiple times in the job posting, or in the job title itself, get priority. You don't need to use every keyword—just the ones that actually reflect your experience and appear consistently across similar roles you're applying to.
Can I use the same prompts for different jobs, or do I need to customize them?: The prompts are the same structure, but you run them against each job description you target. So yes, if you're applying to 10 similar roles, you'll run the Stage 1 keyword audit 10 times. But once you've done it 2–3 times, you'll spot which keywords keep appearing, and you can build a 'base version' of your resume that covers the common ones—then customize from there.
What if the AI suggests something that doesn't match my actual experience?: You override it. The prompts come with a troubleshooting guide for exactly this. You tell the AI what it got wrong, show it the actual context of your work, and ask it to regenerate. Usually takes one clarification to fix.
Do I need a paid AI subscription?: No. Free ChatGPT and Claude both have enough context length and reasoning to run all 12 prompts. No software, no templates, no paid tools required.