I work in recruiting tech. Here's how the smartest candidates use AI differently in their job search.

• AI tools can make everyone's résumé look the same, says HR pro Trent Cotton.
• He recommends using AI instead to act like an expert career coach.
• Run brutal mock interviews with bold AI personas for honest feedback, says Cotton.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Trent Cotton, an HR industry veteran who is head of talent-acquisition insights at recruiting-software company iCIMS. This story has been edited for length and clarity.

As someone who works in the talent space, I've lately noticed that many people think AI helps make their résumés look better. My response to that is: You know your AI agent is cheating on you, right? It's doing the same thing for everyone, so your effort to try to stand out is actually making you blend in.

Treat AI as an expert career coach

It's OK to use an AI agent to improve your résumé, but instead of asking it to do a rewrite, which can introduce errors, prompt it to behave like an expert career coach. Have it analyze your résumé and ask you probing questions to help you further build out your experience profile.

Next, ask the agent what roles you might qualify for based on your skill set. The results may include ones you didn't know about, so have it explain what those jobs involve. Sometimes you just need to get a different perspective.

Use AI to explore unknown options

In my job at iCIMS, I analyze millions of data points collected from our recruiting software. Each month, I take a look at a specific sector or hot topic and dive deep.

One thing I saw last year was a pretty decent increase in application volume in manufacturing. If I'm sitting in tech, manufacturing isn't the sector I'm thinking of, but manufacturing needs tech to do things like track what's coming in and out of warehouses. AI can provide that kind of insight — but only if you ask for it.

Sticking with this example, you want to ask the AI: What are some of the top manufacturing companies looking to hire tech talent, and for what kind of positions? Keep going down that rabbit hole to really understand what opportunities are out there.

Do mock interviews with AI Gordon Ramsay

Once you find job listings that interest you, plug the descriptions into your AI agent and tell it to start interviewing you. When I was in college, you always went through mock interviews. They would just be absolutely brutal with you, but they prepared you. I think we've skipped a couple of generations in doing that. AI can bring mock interviews back.

Tell the AI agent that you want the interviewer to be like someone with business savvy, such as Steven Bartlett from the podcast "Diary of a CEO." But also say you want feedback from the likes of chef and TV personality Gordon Ramsay, because he's known for providing his employees with brutally honest, constructive feedback. Say you want a true grade about your interview performance and recommendations for ways you can get better.

Most AI agents will say your answers are great if you don't give them a persona like that of Ramsay. The AI version of him is going to tell you the good, the bad, and the ugly, and you're going to be better off because of it.