I’ve been through enough resume rewrites to know that staring at a blank document is the worst part. When I needed to update my resume for a role in product marketing, I decided to test an AI resume maker with smart suggestions 2026 — specifically jobly, since it advertises both resume and cover letter generation with AI. I wanted to see if the so-called “smart suggestions” actually saved me time or just added more noise.
Getting started: uploading my old resume vs. building from scratch
Jobly lets you either paste your existing resume or start from a template. I went with the paste option because I wanted to see how well the AI cleaned up my unstructured bullet points. The first thing I noticed: the tool parsed my experience fairly accurately, but it misinterpreted one job title (it merged two roles into one). I had to correct that manually — a small friction, but worth checking if you have complex work history.
Once the base was set, the “smart suggestions” kicked in. For each bullet point, jobly offered rephrases that were supposed to be more impact-driven. Some suggestions were genuinely better — for example, turning “Managed social media calendar” into “Scheduled and coordinated weekly social media content across 3 platforms, improving post consistency by 40%.” That felt like a real upgrade. But a few suggestions added vague buzzwords like “leveraged synergies,” which I deleted immediately. You still have to read every suggestion critically.
Testing the ATS optimization claim
Many tools claim to be an AI resume builder with ATS optimization, but I wanted proof. I picked a real job description from a mid-size tech company and pasted it into jobly’s optimization field. The tool then highlighted missing keywords in my resume and suggested where to add them. It flagged “cross-functional collaboration” and “OKR tracking,” which were indeed relevant. However, it also recommended adding “stakeholder alignment” three times — that felt excessive. I used it twice and kept the phrasing natural.
This feature is helpful, but it’s not magic. The AI doesn’t know whether you actually performed those tasks, so you still need honest editing. For a free AI resume maker 2026, the ATS check alone makes it worth trying, but I wouldn’t blindly accept every suggestion.
Cover letter generation: hit or miss
I also tested jobly to generate a cover letter from the same resume and job description. The output was structurally decent — it followed the standard hook-body-close format. But the tone felt too generic for the specific role I had in mind. I ended up rewriting the first paragraph entirely to match the company’s culture language. If you have a strong sense of your brand, this is a starting point, not a final draft. For someone in a hurry, the cover letter generator could save 10–15 minutes of formatting, but you’ll still need to personalize the substance.
Tradeoffs and a cautious verdict
Here’s the realistic tradeoff: jobly speeds up the mechanics of resume writing — word choice, keyword matching, formatting — but it can’t replace your judgment about what’s relevant or authentic. I found myself spending about 30 minutes tweaking suggestions, which is still less than the 2–3 hours a full rewrite would take. The AI resume builder with smart suggestions 2026 is a decent shortcut, but only if you treat it as an editor, not a writer.
If you’re starting from zero or need a quick structural foundation, this tool is probably one of the better options I’ve seen. If you already have a strong, well-edited resume, the value is lower. I’d put jobly in the mix as a best AI resume builder 2026 candidate for its ATS features and speed, but I’d also keep a critical eye on every change it makes.
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