Building an AI Resume Builder for Lawyers

How layoffs suck and how I hope to help

I don’t know about you but I think it really sucks watching all these LinkedIn updates from former co-workers and law school classmates announcing they’re "Looking for new opportunities after my position was eliminated." The accompanying comments are a familiar chorus of support, networking offers, and thinly veiled anxiety about who might be next to go from their companies. And these are some of the most talented people I’ve had the opportunity to learn from and work with.

So instead of doom-scrolling through more bad news, I'm doing what I do best when faced with a problem - I'm building something. Give it a spin! -

https://resumebuild.replit.app

Do People Care About Resumes Anymore?

In an age of LinkedIn profiles it’s worth asking, whether employers still care about resumes? The answer is pretty surprising! Turns out, recruiters spend just 6-7 seconds reviewing resumes, and 75% of resumes are rejected by applicant tracking system (ATS) software and never seen by a human eye. Only 2-3% of sent resumes result in an interview.

Yet paradoxically, seems like 65% of managers say they will hire you for your skills alone, and 98% of employers appear to agree that skills-based hiring is more effective than blindly relying on resumes. This creates a bizarre contradiction where resumes are simultaneously crucial gatekeepers and yet inadequate measures of talent.

For legal professionals, this tension is particularly acute. Law firms still heavily rely on traditional recruiting processes, but they're increasingly using AI-powered systems to filter candidates. Every live job advert receives a crazy amount of resumes, making that initial algorithmic screening more critical than ever. The resume hasn't become irrelevant—it's become the most important 6 seconds of your career.

At the same time, the NY Times reported that the market is flooded with AI generated resumes some using fake identity and many of them not customized to job roles but simply a regurgitation of job descriptions.

Let's address the elephant in the room. The AI and job displacement debate isn't just academic, it's personal for millions of workers. The pessimists warn of mass unemployment, while optimists speak of creative liberation and new opportunities. The truth, as usual, lies somewhere in between.

Yes, AI is eliminating some jobs. But history shows us that technological revolutions typically create more opportunities than they destroy. The printing press didn't eliminate storytellers, it created an entire publishing industry. The internet didn't kill commerce, it transformed it.

The real question isn't whether AI will change the job market (it already has), but how quickly we can adapt and ensure the benefits don't accrue only to those who already have advantages.

Building the Solution: AI as Career Copilot

My legal-focused resume builder isn't trying to replace human judgment, it's trying to augment it. Here's how it works:

Legal Expertise Analysis: Using Gemini's natural language capabilities, the tool analyzes legal job descriptions and identifies key practice areas, required skills, and firm cultures that often get overlooked by human readers. It understands the difference between BigLaw requirements and public interest positions.

Practice-Specific Recommendations: The AI tries to provide suggestions tailored to specific legal roles instead of generic advice. It might suggest rephrasing "handled corporate transactions" to "advised Fortune 500 clients on M&A transactions totaling $2.3B in deal value" for a corporate associate position. Obviously please make sure its true. Its totally possible it’s hallucinating to make you sound amazing. I mean, I’m sure you are - but check, okay?

ATS Optimization: The system understands how recruiting systems and how job platforms parse resumes, suggesting formatting and keyword improvements that hopefully resonate with hiring managers and recruiters.

Lessons I'm Learning

Building with the Gemini API is teaching me that the magic isn't in the complexity, but instead in the thoughtful application. The most impactful features aren't the ones that use the most sophisticated prompts, but the ones that solve real, specific problems.

For example, one of the most appreciated features is turning out to be the "translation" function—helping users reframe legal achievements in business language that non-lawyer hiring managers can understand. A corporate attorney's "negotiated purchase agreements for asset acquisitions" becomes "led complex business transactions, ensuring regulatory compliance while protecting client interests in $50M+ deals."

The AI doesn't make these connections because it's smarter than humans but because it can process patterns across thousands of legal job descriptions and successful applications simultaneously.

The Human Element: What AI Can't Replace

Here's what building this tool is reinforcing for me: AI excels at pattern recognition and optimization, but it can't replace human intuition, creativity, and authentic connection. The best resumes the tool helps create aren't just keyword-optimized documents but instead those that are compelling narratives that happen to be ATS-friendly. The most successful users don't just input their information and accept the AI's suggestions blindly. They add personal touches that no algorithm could generate.

And once you get the interview, then it’s all you!

This collaborative approach is how I believe AI and human workers will coexist. Not in competition, but in partnership, each amplifying the other's strengths.

Looking Forward: Realistic Hope in Uncertain Times

The legal job market is undeniably challenging right now. Layoffs are real, competition is fierce, and the skills demanded are evolving rapidly. Pretending otherwise would be naive and unhelpful.

But I'm seeing too many success stories to believe the situation is hopeless. The BigLaw associate who pivots to legal tech. The public defender who discovers a passion for policy work. The corporate counsel who transitions to compliance consulting. Adaptation is happening everywhere and I love it!

A Quick Ask: Building and running this tool isn't free—my Replit credits are running low from all the API calls! If you've found value in this post or the resume builder, consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the tool running. I'm also offering one-on-one legal career consulting for subscribers who want personalized guidance beyond what the AI can provide. Sometimes you need a human touch to navigate the really tricky career decisions.

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What's your experience navigating the current legal job market? Have you found ways to make AI work for you rather than against you? I'd love to hear your stories in the comments below. And if you found this post helpful, sharing it with someone who might be job searching in the legal field would mean the world to me.