Looking for the right job can be tough. The job descriptions can be very daunting and either you feel you’re a perfect fit or you don’t fit at all.   Either way, it can be discouraging.  If you’ve ever applied to a job thinking, “I’m a perfect fit,” only to hear crickets, you’re left confused and discourage.   If you can’t find a single job description that seems to fit your skills and experience, again discouragement. The reality? Most resumes don’t quite line up with the roles we’re aiming for—and often, we don’t even know where the gaps are. This is where a job gap analysis can be helpful.

That’s where a job gap analysis comes in.   ChatGPT and any other AI chat tool can help find those gaps and even offer suggestions on how to bridge those gaps.

I’m going to walk you through a simple, structured process to perform a job gap analysis.  We will,

  • Compare your resume to real job postings
  • Spot skill and experience gaps
  • Turn this information into projects that you can do to bridge those gaps.

What’s a Job Gap Analysis (and Why Bother)?

This of a job gap analysis as a skills audit. You compare what you bring to the table (your resume) to what employers are asking for (the job descriptions).

If the gap analysis is done sincerely and with care, you will have,

  • A shortlist of missing or underrepresented skills
  • A path to fill those gaps
  • Better language for your resume and cover letters

It may be that the gaps show you were you may have missed including examples or experiences at previous jobs that you never thought to include.

What You’ll Need for a Job Gap Analysis

  • Your latest resume (PDF or Word)
  • A few job postings you’re excited about (3–5 is ideal)
  • ChatGPT (or any other conversational AI tool.  E.g. Claude, Grok, Gemini, Perplexity)

Step-by-Step: Run a Job Gap Analysis with ChatGPT

Step 1: Upload Your Resume

Tell ChatGPT to review it and summarize what it sees—skills, experience, keywords.

Prompt:

Please go over the attached resume and summarize my key skills, tools, experience, and keywords. I’ll be comparing it against job postings next.

Step 2: Add the Job Descriptions

Upload your list of job descriptions (the roles you actually want).

Prompt:

Please review the attached document of job postings I’m targeting.

Step 3: Ask for a General Gap Analysis

Now ask ChatGPT to spot what’s missing, across the board.

Prompt:

Based on the resume and job postings, please provide a general gap analysis. What are the most common or critical skills, tools, experiences, or qualifications that are missing or underrepresented on my resume?

You’ll get an overview of trends and areas to improve.

Step 4: Go Job-by-Job

This is where it gets specific. Ask ChatGPT to compare your resume to each job posting.

Prompt:

Create a gap analysis between my resume skills and experiences with each individual job. Break it down by:

  • Hard skills
  • Soft skills
  • Responsibilities
  • Keywords

This step gives you a cheat sheet for tailoring your resume to each application.

Step 5: Ask for Personal Project Ideas

Use the gaps to guide your growth. Ask for realistic, resume-worthy project ideas.

Prompt:

Based on the gaps you identified, can you suggest personal projects or case studies I can work on to demonstrate the missing skills? Please include:

  • Project idea
  • Tools/platforms to use
  • What I can show in a portfolio or resume
  • Difficulty level (Beginner / Intermediate / Advanced)

These projects can double as interview stories or portfolio pieces.

Why This Works

It’s easy to fall into a cycle of applying and hoping or waiting for the right job to come along. Doing a job gap analysis turns things around. It gives you clarity, direction, and confidence and a personalized path forward.

Prompting Note

The result of every prompt is going to be different depending on the information provided to the AI conversational tool.  As a result, follow up questions you ask/prompt the AI chatbot should be tailored to the results.  These prompts are a starting point.   Being curious, detailed and probing will help with prompting and getting more clear results from these AI conversational tools.

Lani Haque
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Lani Haque

I enjoy learning and sharing that knowledge. Sharing has been in many forms over the years, as a teaching assistant, university lecturer, Pilates instructor, math tutor and just sharing with friends and family. Throughout, summarizing what I have learnt in words has always been there and continues to through blog posts, articles, video and the ever growing forms of content out there!

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