AI-Powered Resume Shortlisting Using Python + ChatGPT API

🔍 Introduction

Resume shortlisting is one of the most time-consuming tasks for HR and recruitment teams. With hundreds of applications for each opening, manually reviewing every resume is not only inefficient but also prone to bias and inconsistency.

In this project, I built a smart AI-powered resume shortlisting tool using Python and the ChatGPT API, which evaluates resumes against a job description and provides a structured recommendation — all without any manual review!

🚀 What This Project Does

✅ Reads resumes (PDF format) from a folder
✅ Reads a plain text Job Description (JD)
✅ Sends both to ChatGPT via API
✅ Gets back:

• A relevance score (0–10)

• Candidate strengths

• Gaps (if any)

• Final recommendation: Shortlist or Reject
  ✅ Saves everything to a clean Excel report

🔧 Tech Stack

• Python

• PyPDF2 – to extract text from PDF resumes

• OpenAI GPT-3.5 API – for intelligent evaluation

• pandas – for Excel reporting

🏗️ Folder Structure

The folder structure for your project is organized as follows:

• resume_filter_project/

  • job_description.txt – Contains the job role details.

  • resumes/ – A folder containing PDF resumes.

    • john_doe.pdf

    • meera_singh.pdf

  • resume_filter.py – The main script for the project.

  • Resume_Evaluation_Report.xlsx – The output report containing the evaluation results.

🧠 Prompt Used for ChatGPT

You are an expert recruiter.

Evaluate this resume against the job description below.

Job Description: [...job description content...]

Resume: [...resume content...]

Please answer:

1. Relevance Score (0–10):

2. Key Strengths:

3. Weak Areas (if any):

4. Final Recommendation (Shortlist/Reject):

💻 Full Python Script (resume_filter.py)

import os
import PyPDF2
import openai
import pandas as pd

# Set your OpenAI API key
openai.api_key = "your-openai-api-key"

# Load job description
with open("job_description.txt", "r", encoding="utf-8") as f:
    job_description = f.read()

# Folder containing resumes
resume_folder = "resumes"
evaluations = []

# Loop through PDF resumes
for file in os.listdir(resume_folder):
    if file.lower().endswith(".pdf"):
        with open(os.path.join(resume_folder, file), "rb") as f:
            reader = PyPDF2.PdfReader(f)
            resume_text = "".join([page.extract_text() or "" for page in reader.pages])

        prompt = f"""
You are an expert recruiter.

Evaluate this resume against the job description below.

Job Description:
{job_description}

Resume:
{resume_text}

Please answer:
1. Relevance Score (0–10):
2. Key Strengths:
3. Weak Areas (if any):
4. Final Recommendation (Shortlist/Reject):
"""

        # Call ChatGPT API
        response = openai.ChatCompletion.create(
            model="gpt-3.5-turbo",
            messages=[{"role": "user", "content": prompt}],
            temperature=0.3
        )

        evaluations.append({
            "Resume": file,
            "Evaluation": response.choices[0].message.content.strip()
        })

# Save to Excel
df = pd.DataFrame(evaluations)
df.to_excel("Resume_Evaluation_Report.xlsx", index=False)
print("✅ Evaluation complete. Report saved.")

📊 Sample Output

📣 Real-World Use Cases

This project can be adapted for:

• HR tech startups

• Recruitment firms

• In-house HR teams automating hiring

• Freelancers helping clients filter talent

💰 API Cost Estimation (ChatGPT)

🧾 Chosen Model for Resume Project: GPT-4.1 nano

(Fastest, most cost-effective model as of May 2025)

📄 Cost per Resume Evaluation (Approximate):

📊 Bulk Evaluation Cost (GPT-4.1 nano):

🔐 This means you can screen 1,000 resumes for less than ₹40 — making this tool incredibly scalable and affordable.

📢 Let’s Connect!

If you're working on automation or AI tools in HR, finance, or operations, I’d love to connect and learn from your journey.

Follow me here or on LinkedIn for future posts!

👇 Drop your thoughts or feedback in the comments!

#Python #ChatGPT #AIProjects #Automation #Recruitment #CareerSwitch #OpenAI #PortfolioProject #PowerAutomate #TechForHR