Check your resume for ATS-friendly keywords using Hugging Face’s Inference API

Create a free Hugging Face account

Go to huggingface.co and click Sign Up in the top-right corner. Fill in your email, choose a username and password, then click Create account. Check your email and confirm your account.

You’ll see your Hugging Face profile page. This is your dashboard — your home base for using AI models.

Email: [email protected] Username: resumehelper Password: MyPassword123!

You'll know it worked when you see your profile picture and username in the top-right corner.

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Open the Inference API page

On the Hugging Face homepage, look for Products in the top menu. Hover over it and click Inference API. This is a free tool that lets you run AI models without installing anything.

You’ll see a page with a text box and a list of AI models. This is where you’ll paste your job ad and resume.

💡 What is an API? Think of it like a waiter in a restaurant. You tell the waiter what you want (your job ad and resume), and the waiter brings it to the kitchen (the AI model) and brings back the answer — without you needing to cook.

You'll know it worked when you see a text box that says Enter your prompt here and a button that says Submit.

Choose an ATS-friendly keyword finder model

In the text box, type or paste this model name exactly:

microsoft/Phi-3-mini-4k-instruct

Then press Enter or click Submit.

This model is a smart AI assistant that can read your job ad and resume and tell you which keywords are missing.

💡 What is a model? Think of it like a super-smart student who has read thousands of job ads and resumes. It knows what words to look for.

You'll know it worked when you see a chat window open with a welcome message from the AI.

Write your job ad and resume into the chat

In the chat box, type or paste this exact prompt (copy the whole block):

I need help finding ATS-friendly keywords for a job application.
Here is the job ad:
[PASTE JOB AD HERE]

Here is my resume:
[PASTE RESUME TEXT HERE]

List the top 10 keywords from the job ad that are missing from my resume.

Replace [PASTE JOB AD HERE] with the full text of the job ad you’re applying for. Replace [PASTE RESUME TEXT HERE] with the text of your resume. To copy text from a PDF, open the PDF, select the text, and press Ctrl+C (Windows) or Cmd+C (Mac). Paste it into the chat with Ctrl+V or Cmd+V.

I need help finding ATS-friendly keywords for a job application. Here is the job ad: We are looking for a digital marketing specialist with experience in SEO, Google Analytics, and content creation.

Here is my resume: I have 3 years of experience in digital marketing, including social media management and email campaigns.

You'll know it worked when the AI replies with a list of keywords, like:
> The top 10 keywords missing from your resume are: SEO, Google Analytics, content creation, PPC, keyword research, on-page optimization, conversion rate optimization, Google Ads, Ahrefs, backlink building.

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Ask the AI to rewrite a sentence with the missing keywords

Copy one of the missing keywords from the AI’s reply. Then, in the same chat, type:

Rewrite this sentence from my resume to include the keyword [KEYWORD]:
"I have 3 years of experience in digital marketing, including social media management and email campaigns."

Replace [KEYWORD] with the keyword you copied, like SEO or Google Analytics.

Rewrite this sentence from my resume to include the keyword SEO: "I have 3 years of experience in digital marketing, including social media management and email campaigns."

You'll know it worked when the AI replies with a rewritten sentence that includes the keyword naturally, like:
> I have 3 years of experience in digital marketing, including SEO strategy, social media management, and email campaigns.

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Save your updated resume

Copy the rewritten sentence from the AI’s reply. Open your resume file (Word or Google Docs), find the sentence you want to update, and paste the new version over it. Save the file with a new name like Resume_ATS_Updated.pdf.

💡 Why save a new file? This way, you always have your original resume to go back to if you need to.

You'll know it worked when you have a new file saved with your updated resume text.

Run the process again to double-check

Repeat Step 4 with your updated resume. Paste the same job ad and your new resume text into the chat. Ask the AI:

List the top 10 keywords from the job ad that are still missing from my resume.

You'll know it worked when the AI replies with a shorter list of missing keywords, or says:

All the top keywords from the job ad are now included in your resume.