DigCompEdu Competence Area(s)

Teaching & learning, Empowering learners, Facilitating learners’ digital competence

Target groups

Any

By the end of this lesson, educators will be equipped to teach learners how to:

• Use an AI tool (like ChatGPT or a dedicated ATS checker) to perform a gap analysis, comparing their CV/cover letter against a specific job description to identify missing keywords and skills.
• Apply AI-generated feedback to strategically enhance their own documents, improving relevance and impact without losing their authentic voice and experience.
• Critically evaluate and verify AI suggestions to ensure accuracy and avoid generic or misleading content.

• Create Practice Materials: Source or create a realistic but anonymized CV and a detailed job description. Ensure there are clear, teachable gaps between them (e.g., CV lacks a keyword like “project management,” cover letter doesn’t mention a required skill).
• Test Prompts Thoroughly: Develop and test the prompts in the “AI Reviewer” Prompt Book to ensure they yield consistent, useful, non-writing-focused feedback.
• Prepare the Critical Lens: Anticipate common poor AI suggestions (e.g., adding overly flashy jargon, inventing soft skills) to discuss in the “Red Flag” activity.
• Set Up a Shared Workspace: A simple Google Doc or Padlet where participants can post one “before and after” example of an improved bullet point.

Part 1: Framing the Tool (30 mins)

• Problem Introduction (10 mins): Start with the problem: “You’re a qualified engineer, but your CV keeps getting rejected. Why?” Introduce the concept of Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) and human scanners looking for a “fit.” Explain that AI acts as a “simulator” that can test documents against these filters.
• AI Demonstration (20 mins): Show a bad prompt (“Write me a CV for a nursing job.”) vs. a good prompt (“Analyse the alignment between this CV and this job description.”). Demonstrate the difference in output. Emphasize: “Your experience is sacred. AI’s job is to help you package it powerfully for a specific audience.”

Part 2: The Hands-On Review (70 mins)

• Activity 1: Keyword & Skill Gap Analysis (25 mins): Participants, in pairs, use Prompt 1 from the Prompt Book with the sample CV and job description. Use AI to generate a list of key skills/verbs from the Job Description and check the CV for them. Participants then log gaps on the Strategic Revision Worksheet. Checkpoint: Groups share one key word missing from the CV.
• Activity 2: The “Red Flag / Round of Applause” Review (30 mins): Participants use Prompt 2 to get AI feedback on their cover letter’s tone and argument. For each AI suggestion, they must use the physical card to give it a “Red Flag” (vague, misleading) or a “Round of Applause” (specific, actionable). They must justify their choice to their partner and note on the worksheet which suggestions they will implement.
• Activity 3: Strategic Rewriting (15 mins): Participants choose one bullet point from their CV to improve based on the gap analysis. They rewrite it themselves, using AI only for synonym generation (“Give me 5 stronger action verbs for ‘responsible for’”) or clarity checking (“Is this sentence clear?”). They post the “before and after” to the shared workspace.

Part 3: Synthesis and Critical Guardrails (20 mins)

• Discussion: Evaluating AI Advice (10 mins): Lead a discussion: “How do you know the AI’s advice is good?” Establish a protocol: Cross-Check: Does the suggestion match the facts of your experience? Human Check: Would a trusted mentor or advisor agree? Culture Check: Does it fit local professional norms (refer to Local CV Format Guide)?
• Lesson Planning for Educators (10 mins): Educators reflect on how they would structure this session for their learners. What scaffolding would their specific learners need? They begin to sketch a lesson outline.

• For learners with complex careers: Focus the AI analysis on skills translation – helping identify how “diagnosed patients” translates to “analyzed complex data and implemented solutions.”
• For learners with gaps in employment or changing careers: Guide the AI to help reframe experiences strategically, not hide them. Prompt: “How can I present my time managing a household as relevant to office administration?”
• Language Support: Encourage using AI to check phrasing and clarity without rewriting: “Is this sentence in my cover letter grammatically correct and professional?”

Jobscan: jobscan.co – for ATS matching practice.
Local Employment Service Guidelines – for regional CV norms.