Too Many Tools, Not Enough Signal
The AI tools market has exploded. Every week there's a new tool promising to "10x your job search." Most of them do one thing badly or are wrappers around GPT-4 with a nicer UI.
Here's an honest breakdown of what's actually useful.
Category 1: Resume Optimization
Worth using: Tools that analyze your resume against a specific job description and flag keyword gaps. The best ones highlight what ATS systems are scanning for.
Look for: Specific, actionable suggestions — not generic "add more action verbs" advice.
Skip: Generic resume "scorers" that give you a number without explaining how to improve it.
Category 2: Cover Letter Generation
Worth using: AI that lets you provide context (your experience, the JD, the company) and generates a first draft you then edit. Think of it as a starting point, not a finished product.
The rule: Every AI cover letter needs at least one piece of information the AI couldn't have known. Otherwise it reads like AI.
Category 3: Interview Preparation
Worth using: Tools that generate likely interview questions based on the JD and your CV, then let you practice answering them with feedback.
The best ones: Give you company-specific questions based on publicly available information about the company's challenges and direction.
Category 4: Company Research
Worth using: AI search tools (Perplexity, or AI features in GotHired) that synthesize recent news, funding, and strategic moves about a company into a brief.
This saves hours of manual research and means you go into every interview better prepared than 95% of candidates.
The Stack That Works
For a full job search, you need: resume optimizer + CV-to-JD matching + cover letter generator + interview prep + company research. That's exactly what we built GotHired to do — in one workflow, without switching between five tools.