You decide – have AI tools changed the recruitment process forever?

Is using AI while job-seeking ‘cheating’?

Many people would argue that the use of AI means a candidate is lying on their CV or, at the minimum, gaining some competitive advantage over other applicants.

In terms of creating a disadvantage, the first thing that might come to mind would be the fallout for older applicants who may not lack the know-how to access and apply the latest AI technology.

But the survey of 5,300 people in France revealed that nearly 70 per cent of people over the age of 50 used AI tools as part of their job search compared to 83 per cent of people under 25. These figures present a lower discrepancy than many might’ve predicted, and is one that will likely lessen over time.

Still, should an AI-assisted resume be considered fraudulent? Should using AI to help describe your skills and experience in a cover letter be considered ‘cheating’?

The UK-based publication HRnews says an application’s authenticity really depends on how much AI is used. They note that a total copy and paste job is easy to spot, with tools such as OpenAI using broad generalisations that can’t match up to a unique career experience written by an actual human.

When applicants use AI to generate answers to interview questions, complete a test assignment or skills assessment to hide a lack of relevant skills, or to mass-apply to jobs and clog the recruiting pipeline, this may be perceived as cheating behaviour.

That said, more and more people have started using AI as a tool to streamline or improve the presentation of their work. The most common ways AI is used in a legitimate way when individuals are aiming to refine their CV, find relevant job openings, or refine their cover letter.

This not only gives job seekers the opportunity to complete more applications, but to improve their likelihood of being interviewed compared to those who haven’t used AI tools.

Considering this, is using AI the game we’ll be forced to play when looking for new jobs in the future?

A self-perpetuating cycle

Many job applicants are well aware of the fact their CVs and cover letters will be scanned by AI software well before they land in human hands.

According to the career website Resume Builder, around 82 percent of companies use AI tools called Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) which analyse all resumes and cover letters, quickly identifying potential candidates by matching their skills and experience with a list of keywords included in a job description.

This is super helpful for recruiters, especially now that they’re receiving 500 percent more applications on average, a newfound reality they attribute to AI-generated resumes and job search results.

Still, the use of AI during the hiring process doesn’t begin and end at resume scanning.

Around 40 percent of companies employ AI chatbots that communicate the next stages of the interview process with candidates, and a furhter 64 percent use AI to review assessments submitted by applicants.

All of this can be really discouraging to those who want to apply for jobs the old-fashioned way. Why are honest human candidates who dedicate hours of their day to applying being treated like nothing more than an algorithm?

It’s likely the intensive use of AI in the hiring process will cause people to abandon their ‘from scratch’ approach to job applications in order to maintain their competitive edge.

If AI is being used at every stage of the hiring process – by graduates, seasoned professionals, recruiters, and hiring teams alike – then is the AI-assisted job seeking game one we will all need to play eventually?

You decide.