About half of job seekers are using artificial intelligence tools to apply for jobs, inundating employers and recruiters with low-quality applications in an already tight labor market.
Candidates are increasingly turning to generative AI, used to generate conversational copy in chatbot products such as ChatGPT and Gemini, to help them write resumes, cover letters and complete assessments.
Estimates from employers and recruiters who spoke to the Financial Times, as well as several published surveys, suggest the figure is as high as 50% of applicants.
Khyati Sundaram, CEO of recruiting platform Applied, said that the “barrage” of AI-powered applications has more than doubled the number of applicants per job posting, “lowering the barrier to entry.”
“We're obviously seeing more applications and less quality, which means it's harder to screen,” she added. “Applicants can copy and paste the application questions into ChatGPT, which they can then copy and paste into their application form.”
As labor markets have weakened in recent months on both sides of the Atlantic, recruiters are receiving more applications for each job opening, employers need to fill fewer vacancies and more people are searching for work after being laid off.
Longer-term trends such as the rise of online job boards that expose jobs to a wider range of potential candidates and make it easier to apply are already increasing the number of applications.
According to a survey of 2,500 UK workers by human resources startup Beamery, around 46% of job seekers use generative AI to search for and apply for jobs, while a separate survey of 5,000 global job seekers by creative platform Canva found that 45% use generative AI to create or improve their resumes.
“The use of AI is on the rise,” said Andy Hayes, regional managing director at UK-based tech recruitment firm Harvey Nash, adding that “features like American grammar” and “bland” application documents are “indicators of whether an applicant has used AI.”
Many recruiters are grappling with a flood of AI-generated resumes from applicants who have used AI tools to refine their bios and add keywords. The actual figures are likely higher, some added, but these estimates are based on what is apparently found because they were cut and pasted, usually without editing.
“Without proper editing, your writing will come across as awkward and generic, and recruiters can see through that,” says Victoria McLean, CEO of career consultancy CityCV. “Your CV needs to showcase your personality, passions and history – and that's something AI just can't do.”
Many major companies are taking a zero-tolerance stance on the use of AI, people familiar with the process said, with four major accounting firms — Deloitte, EY, PwC and KPMG — warning graduates not to use it in their job applications.
Increasingly, applicants are also using generative AI to rig job evaluations.
“The last 18 months have seen more disruption on the employer side than we've ever seen before,” said Jamie Betts, founder and chief product officer at Neurosight, a consultancy that advises companies including Virgin Media, Grant Thornton and the NHS on psychometric testing.
Betts highlighted the early career sector, where applicants tend to be younger, “highly skilled” in using advanced generative AI and “able to evade detection.”
Neurosight recently surveyed 1,500 student job seekers and found that 57% have used ChatGPT to help with their job search.
They also found that people who used the free version of ChatGPT were less likely to pass the psychological test, while those who used the paid version were much more likely to pass.
Betts said a quarter of job seekers who paid for ChatGPT were accepted with “fine print”, and that the results were “overwhelmingly from higher socio-economic backgrounds, male applicants, people without disabilities and, because it correlates with socio-economic status, mostly white”.
Many employers and recruiters expect that if an applicant has cheated or lied during the hiring process, it will become apparent during the final in-person or virtual interview.
“Job seekers are becoming pretty lazy about how they stand out in the job market and are simply relying on generative AI to portray their real experiences in an exaggerated way,” said Ross Crook, global managing director at recruitment firm Morgan McKinley.
“At the moment, everything is automated as much as possible, but there will always be some human interaction before the final selection.”
Video: AI: Blessing or curse for humanity? | FT Tech
Source link
