A software developer in Alexandria is piloting a new digital tool to help job seekers improve their resumes.
Craig Certo created Career Catalyst last year. It’s an application designed to cross-analyze a user’s resume and offer fine-tuned editing suggestions based on job postings they’re applying for.
“It’s just a very confusing process right now when applying to jobs, and there’s very little feedback in the process,” Certo said. “[It’s] just a challenge to know whether something is wrong with you, or the way you’re representing yourself, or if they’re just not even accepting jobs anymore, there’s just very hard to tell. So, I built Career Catalyst.”
Certo launched the application in December. It uses artificial intelligence via Google Gemini’s language model to review a user’s resume and other job application materials, comparing those items with specific job postings. The application then offers users suggestions on which skills they might want to highlight, to help “close [their] gaps” between their expertise and a prospective job’s requirements.
With the rise of AI posing threats to existing jobs through displacement, as well as employers who may be using AI to scan job applicants’ materials, Certo said he hopes Career Catalyst can give job-seekers a leg up in an increasingly tech-forward market.
The app’s website tells users that it aims to turn AI “into your career advantage, not your competition.”
“From a candidate’s point of view, if the employers are using AI to scan, then if the candidate doesn’t also have a tool to help them in that process as well, to get through that scanning process, then they’re at a disadvantage,” Certo said. “The goal is, if you use Career Catalyst, we’re going to try to give you AI in a way that can help you enter the workforce and enter the job seeking process with the same tools available that the employer has.”
The application structures tailored resumes with a user’s submitted materials. The distinction between Career Catalyst and using a language model to create a resume, Certo said, “is that nothing in your resume gets generated.”
“It’s not like throwing your resume into ChatGPT and getting some garbage out,” Certo said. “It’s really supposed to be like a self-serving process where you can learn, ‘maybe I’m not actually expressing the fact that I have this experience in the best way.’”
Upon submitting a job application, job seekers may also send a link to Career Catalysts to employers, “allowing recruiters to explore deeper context and ask questions beyond a single page.”
Certo said the idea was born out of a recent job search about halfway through last year, as he planned to leave his former post at Fannie Mae. His wife and co-founder, Lauren Certo, came up with the concept, and he developed it.
“There was a lot of turmoil happening, so I was looking to change jobs,” Certo said. “I was getting a lot of rejections, and it’s tough, because I would sometimes even send multiple types of resumes to a job posting … it was just very hard for me to know, like, is something wrong with my resume?”
Part of the inspiration also came from Certo’s father-in-law, who recently left the military for a new career path. At the time, he relied on a service that helped him present his military experiences “into something that was more compatible with that corporate world,” Certo said.
“I’m looking, also, to try to help people who have a more difficult time representing their experience well, even if it’s maybe a language barrier,” Certo said.
Upon creating the tool for personal use, Certo said it helped him land his current job at a remote startup in December. Given the region’s job losses over the last year, he hopes the tool can help others in need find employment during a turbulent time.
“The market is really hard right now, especially in our area,” Certo said. “I do want to do everything I can to help people get a job.”
Certo is currently offering free trials with three “resume tailoring credits,” equivalent to three job application sessions, each worth $2.99. His rates also include a $14.99 “monthly subscription” with eight job tailoring credits.
Eventually, he said he’d like to partner with regional universities to help students searching for jobs. Certo is currently working with the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership, and he plans to host some community events to gather more feedback.
