JobBuddy

JobBuddy - AI-powered Chrome extension for instant resume parsing, job form autofill, and personalized cover letter generation.

Comment

Inspiration

To accelerate my career growth in the tech industry, I actively apply for various opportunities. However, most job applications require repetitive manual entry of similar details and uploading resumes, which is both time-consuming and inefficient. A job autofilling extension assistant can significantly streamline this process by automatically populating resume details, generating tailored cover letters based on the user’s profile, and summarizing job descriptions — ultimately saving time and enhancing the overall application experience.

What it does

JobBuddy is an intelligent Chrome extension that transforms the tedious job application process into a streamlined, automated experience. It leverages Chrome's built-in AI capabilities to parse your resume, auto-fill application forms, generate personalized cover letters, and provide smart job description summaries—all while keeping your data private and secure on your device. Main Features:

  1. Smart Resume Parsing & Profile Management: Paste Resume Text: Manually paste your resume for parsing Intelligent Data Extraction: AI analyzes your resume and automatically fills: Personal information (name, email, phone, location) Professional summary Work experience (company, title, dates, responsibilities) Education (degree, institution, field, dates) Projects (name, description, technologies, links) Skills (technical and soft skills) Auto-save: All profile data automatically saves as you type Editable Fields: Review and edit all extracted information before saving

  2. One-Click Form Auto-fill: Intelligent Form Detection: Automatically identifies job application form fields Smart Field Mapping: Matches your profile data to form field. Resume Auto-upload: Automatically uploads your PDF resume to file input fields Multi-format Support: Works with various job application platforms (Workday etc.)

3.AI-Powered Job Description Summarization: Auto-detect from Page: Automatically extracts job description from the current webpage Manual Paste: Option to paste job description manually AI Summary Generation: Creates concise 5-10 line summaries highlighting.

  1. Personalized Cover Letter Generation: AI-Powered Writing: Generates professional, tailored cover letters Tone Selection: Choose from three tones: Formal: Professional and traditional Neutral: Balanced and approachable Casual: Friendly and conversational Personalization: Combines your resume with job description to create relevant content Context-Aware: Highlights your relevant experience for specific job requirements Copy & Export: Easy copying to clipboard or exporting to file.

  2. Privacy-First Design: Local Processing: All AI operations run locally in your browser No External Servers: Your data never leaves your device Secure Storage: Profile data stored in Chrome's local storage Offline Capability: Core features work without internet connection

How we built it

Tech Stack & Architecture Frontend: HTML5, CSS3, Vanilla JavaScript Platform: Chrome Extension (Manifest V3) AI Engine: Chrome's Built-in AI APIs (Prompt, Summarizer, Writer)

  1. Prompt API (LanguageModel API) Where Used: Resume parsing in profile.js

Purpose: Extracts structured data from unstructured resume text. Parses manually pasted resumes. Uses multi-strategy approach with fallbacks for reliability.

  1. Summarizer API Where Used: Job description summarization in popup.js

Purpose: Condenses lengthy job descriptions into key points Extracts essential requirements and qualifications Generates medium-length summaries (~5-10 lines)

  1. Writer API Where Used: Cover letter generation in popup.js

Purpose: Creates original, personalized cover letters Combines job requirements with candidate's resume Generates professional content in selected tone

Challenges we ran into

  1. AI JSON Parsing Reliability Problem: Chrome Prompt API often returned malformed JSON (single quotes, trailing commas, incomplete responses) Solution: Implemented 3-tier parsing strategy with aggressive JSON repair logic and multiple fallback methods (master prompt → field-by-field → chunk-based extraction)

  2. Form Field Detection Across Platforms Problem: Different job platforms (Greenhouse, Workday, Lever) use varied field naming conventions and dynamic loading Solution: Created heuristic matching system with fuzzy logic, multiple attribute checks (labels, placeholders, IDs, names), and progressive scroll-and-retry for lazy-loaded fields

3.Large Resume Parsing Timeouts Problem: Sending full resume text exceeded Prompt API's context window, causing failures or 5-15 minute wait times Solution: Implemented chunking strategy with progressive parsing and progress indicators

Accomplishments that we're proud of

100% Local AI Processing Successfully integrated 3 Chrome AI APIs (Prompt, Summarizer, Writer) to create a fully privacy-preserving extension—no user data ever leaves their device, yet delivers enterprise-grade AI capabilities.

Universal Form Auto-fill Created an intelligent form detection system that works across multiple job platforms (Greenhouse, Workday, Lever, Indeed) by:

Personalized AI Content Generation Achieved true personalization by combining job descriptions with user profiles to generate:

Tailored cover letters that highlight relevant experience for each specific role Contextual summaries that extract exactly what matters for the position Tone-adaptive writing (formal/neutral/casual) based on company culture

Sub-2-Minute Application Flow Reduced job application time from 20-30 minutes to under 2 minutes:

One-click form filling (saves ~15 minutes) AI-generated cover letters (saves ~10 minutes) Smart job summaries (saves ~3-5 minutes of reading)

What we learned

What's next for JobBuddy

  1. Use Translator API to autofill the different language resumes.
  2. Integrate AI answering based on resume for more detailed questions in applications.
  3. AI PDF Parsing.

Built With

  • chrome
  • chrome.runtime
  • chrome.tabs-other:-pdf-text-extraction-(browser-file/blob-apis)
  • css3
  • css3-frameworks/libraries:-none-(vanilla-js
  • dom-manipulation-for-auto-fill-cloud/databases:-none-(all-data-stored-locally-in-browser-storage)-ai-processing:-100%-local
  • extension
  • html5
  • javascript-(es6+)
  • no-frameworks)-platform:-chrome-extension-(manifest-v3)-chrome-ai-apis:-prompt-api-(languagemodel)
  • prompt
  • promptapi
  • proofreader-api-chrome-extension-apis:-chrome.storage.local
  • summarizer
  • summarizer-api
  • vanilla
  • writer
  • writer-api
Share this project:

Updates