The Rise of AI in Job Applications: Opportunities and Challenges

AI is supposed to make applying to jobs easier -- but it might be creating another problem

Companies have touted new AI technology that allows users to apply to thousands of jobs per day, flooding job openings with resumes. Artificial Intelligence is reshaping the job application process, simplifying some aspects -- and creating new potential frictions in others. The introduction of the technology to the hiring and recruiting process comes as job searching reaches record highs: More than 28% of Americans were searching for a new job as of Aug. 28. As the use of AI in hiring and applying increases, many job seekers are having to go to extra lengths to stand out. "You have to be willing to be f-----g crazy," content creator Jeff said in a TikTok describing his AI-powered preparation process for a series of job interviews. The creator said that to land the job, he used ChatGPT at every stage of his application -- to help craft his application, connect with current employees and practice interview questions. On the other side of the table, recruiters and hiring staff have mixed feelings about AI. "What AI is doing is actually just creating more noise. ... Normal people who are not using AI are hurting in the job market, and then they have to go start using AI to apply to jobs to be competitive," Maddie Macho, a reverse recruiter (a service provider for applicants who manages applications and communications with companies), said in a TikTok video. With the help of new AI software, applicants can now revise their resumes and cover letters, receive live interview scripts and launch chatbots to submit thousands of applications almost instantly. To some, AI usage is seen as a helpful tool that enhances applications in a competitive job market. To others, it raises questions around applicant credibility and the integrity of the hiring process. Chantal Cowie, a self-described "zillennial," started searching for a new job as AI software like ChatGPT and Gemini first began to take off. "I was working like 60 hours a week at the time, so any time I could save was precious," she said. As Cowie applied to jobs, she fed ChatGPT her experience and used the AI tool to write cover letters and answer application questions, which she said allowed her "to apply to more [jobs] in a shorter period of time." Though she landed a job, she was laid off and re-entered the job market nine months later. By that point, AI had advanced significantly. She was able to use more specialized AI platforms like Teal to build her resume and Claude to analyze company websites and job descriptions. "I would make it further in interview rounds. I was making it to the second-to-last round or the last round for most of the interviews that I had," Cowie said. "And I think that's because I was able to come to them so prepared because of the extra tools that I had." Cowie took to social media to explain her AI-powered process that she said landed her a "six-figure, fully remote job." "AI is going to be integrated in our lives at every level, and it's here to stay," she told NBC News. "You might as well learn how to use it to your advantage and add a new skill set." As the usability and popularity of artificial intelligence grows, more platforms have found success in catering to job applicants. LazyApply, Simplify and AI Hawk are all AI services that launch assistants to help collect applicant information and submit automated job applications through sites like LinkedIn and Indeed. Using the tools, job seekers can save hundreds of hours -- and apply to up to thousands of jobs a day, according to the services. AI Apply, which claims its users are "80% more likely to get hired," offers tools like a cover letter and resume builder, an auto-apply feature, an interview practice generator and a specialized interview buddy. A premium membership starts at $38 a month, according to the website -- a cost AI Apply notes is much lower and more accessible than the cost of a career counselor. "We're doing what every job seeker is told to do by a career coach, and that is customize and tailor your resume to every job you're applying to," AI Apply CEO Aidan Cramer told NBC News. Watchdogs have warned about the risk of hallucination and error with AI tools, but Cramer says AI Apply is specifically designed to translate skill sets into language that's the best fit for a given application -- not make up experiences. "AI is prone to hallucination," Cramer explained. "If someone was using ChatGPT to update their resume, you're giving it a very small amount of context. It's more prone to make stuff up, because it doesn't really understand exactly what you're trying to do." "The way we've tried to build it is that when you put in the job description, that acts as some kind of grounding. So the level of hallucination is a lot lower," he added. A spokesperson for OfferGoose, a company that claims to have a 300% higher-than-normal success rate with its AI interview aid features, echoed that view. "We believe it's important to clarify that AI is a tool designed to assist and enhance human capabilities," the spokesperson said in an email interview with NBC News. "The quality and accuracy of AI-generated content largely depend on its training data and how it is used." "Employers should not fear this tool, nor should they resist it as a form of cheating," the spokesperson said. "We encourage job seekers to discuss their use of OfferGoose with potential employers." According to the company's respective websites, OfferGoose has helped applicants land over 17,000 job offers, and AI Apply has over 340,000 "freelancers and job seekers" using the service. Nevertheless, many companies have enlisted additional safeguards to detect the use of AI. Some employers now require e-confirmation codes to submit applications and prevent automated submissions. Others have added prompts asking AI bots to use specific words like "banana" in responses to catch chat-generated application answers, according to longtime job recruiter and tech agency director of talent Mike Peditto. But job seekers are not the only party using AI in the application process, according to a recent University of Washington study. The researchers estimated that "99% of Fortune 500 companies are already using some sort of AI assistance when making hiring decisions," and found that resume-screening tools have an incredible bias toward white, male applicants -- with the large language models favoring white-associated males roughly 85% of the time and disadvantaging Black males in "up to 100% of cases." The use of AI by both applicants and employers has created a distinct dynamic, in which applicants are using AI, but are also reticent about employers screening them with AI. A Capterra study found 58% of job seekers use AI in their job search, and 83% of these same respondents also used AI to "exaggerate or lie about their skills." But around 66% of Americans say "they would not want to apply for a job with an employer who uses AI to help with hiring decisions," according to a 2023 Pew Research study. "The mission is all about helping give job seekers a leg up in a world where they kind of have been fighting against AI tools that have been screening them out," Cramer told NBC News, encouraging hiring managers to "rethink the automatic pre-screening processes" and "give people more of a chance to get in front of them and to shine as a human." Raechel Boston, a retail product manager whose social media presence is dedicated to informing potential applicants on the possibilities of AI, explained that such technology takes the labor out of hand-tailoring resumes or cover letters. "To get past [applicant tracking software], you have to have a specific type of catered resume to match up with the job qualification and job description," Boston told NBC News. "To do that manually, one by one, with every single freaking job application would take hundreds and hundreds of hours that even someone who is unemployed is going to get exhausted from." "If I was unemployed and had the means to pay for a tool and a service that would get me ahead, I, no-brainer, would do it," she added. Ruth Edwards, head of the New York office of Tiger Recruitment who has over 20 years of experience in senior commercial recruiting, expressed excitement surrounding the potential of AI in her workplace. "Eighteen months ago, I think people were quite daunted by the idea of AI," she told NBC News, adding that AI quickly became "part of the day to day." Though Tiger Recruitment does not use AI to screen personal information such as resumes due data privacy concerns, the company does use it to assess diversity demographics and create competitive salary benchmarks. "The whole hiring process for [clients] has now become more time-efficient and more cost-effective," she added. But recruiters also warn that using the software incorrectly could drastically hurt applicants looking to get hired. "It's not that you're being eliminated for using AI, it's [that] you're being eliminated because you didn't use AI well," Peditto, better known as @realisticrecruiting to his almost 150,000 TikTok followers, told NBC News. "You will only get so far if you try and manipulate the AI tool," Edwards said. "You notice certain keywords, key phrases that tend to pop up when something is artificially generated." Peditto, who screens and hires job applicants for a living, emphasizes the need to use AI cautiously to help -- and not harm -- your chances at getting noticed by a company. He recognizes the use of AI as a good "starting spot," but recommends that applicants always review generated responses, noting that "AI misses things, too." "If you're just letting AI do 100% of it, I think it is going to hurt you in the applications," he said. "AI is not perfect. I think that you have to go through and make sure that you're talking to the right people and still looking for things that it's missed."

Recruiters urge candidates to use AI to apply for jobs

Top recruiters are urging jobseekers to use artificial intelligence tools to apply for roles, indicating a growing acceptance of the new technology among employers. Several big international recruitment companies have started offering AI tools to candidates and are suggesting that using them to write CVs, draft cover letters and research job openings will help a wider range of candidates show their skills. James Barrett, managing director at Michael Page Technology, said it was "well down the path of established AI usage" in its recruitment processes and that it was "important for candidates to adapt accordingly". "When used correctly, [AI tools] can help an application progress to the next stage." Sebastian Dettmers, chief executive of European recruitment company The Stepstone Group, also advocated for using AI "as long as [it] supports you in showing the best version of yourself in terms of what's required for the job". Such views signal that large language models are becoming accepted as a necessary part of job hunting. That suggests a shift in focus, following recent warnings from recruiters that automated applications could misrepresent candidates' abilities, or complicate the process by flooding companies with mass applications. Stepstone provides candidates with a tool that creates a cover letter from a CV and job description, and a CV generator, which it says have been used 2.6mn times in the past year. Such products join widely available tools from companies that specialise in AI-assisted CVs or cover-letters, such as Kickresume. LinkedIn, the career-focused social network, offers an AI tool that assesses users' fitness for jobs based on skills and experience, helps draft a cover letter, and gives feedback on resumes. LinkedIn said 90 per cent of subscribers who used the features found them helpful, and will soon announce and roll out the next iteration of AI insights to non-paying users. Such tools are in part a response to the use of AI screening technologies by recruiters. Stepstone's CV generator claims to "easily pass ATS scans", referring to screening software embedded into applicant tracking systems that may rank candidates based on keywords. Survey data indicates a significant proportion of candidates are already using AI. According to research published this month by human resources group Randstad, about 57 per cent of Gen Z workers say they are using AI to write job applications, CVs and cover letters. For millennials the figure is 40 per cent, for Gen X and baby boomers 21 per cent and 13 per cent respectively. But even this may be an underestimate. Kelly-Ann Mallon, head of student employability at the University of Manchester, said she believed the "vast majority" of students were using AI for tasks such as researching potential employers and drafting applications. AI can scan job descriptions and CVs for applicants, identifying the specific requirements of a role then generating a cover letter that "highlights and articulates why [they] match to that job", said Dettmers. That helps candidates understand what employers require and express why they fit a role. "The technology helps you present yourself as the authentic you to the recruiter," he added. Applicants must strike a careful balance, however. "As more employers integrate AI into their hiring processes, it's smart to consider how your CV or cover letter measures up," said Amanda Whicher, UKI technology director at recruiter Hays. But she added it was "crucial" to fit AI-generated content to "your own experience and adjust the language to reflect your style". Some employer systems are designed to weed out fully AI-generated applications, according to Mallon, while human recruiters are likely to be put off by submissions that appear generic, so candidates must be careful not to disadvantage themselves with AI. Michael Stull, UK managing director of human resources multinational Manpower Group, said candidates should steer clear of using AI in assessments, or misrepresenting their abilities in other ways. "You could be selected for a role that's not right for you." The risks of cheating demonstrated the importance of responsible AI systems that did not nudge candidates to exaggerate their achievements, said Dettmers, for example by suggesting they include skills that appear in a job description but not their CV. However, he stressed cheating of this kind was not caused by AI. Such guardrails were necessary, recruiters said, with AI use already widespread. "We need some openness and to be open to using technology on both sides," Dettmers added. "You can warn people not to use AI, but they'll use it anyway. You need to be prepared."

HR leaders are open to candidates using AI tools -- but there's a catch

With many industries hit by layoffs, 2024 saw a challenging job market, with some professionals experiencing longer than usual job searches and increased competition for positions. To navigate this market, job seekers are turning to AI tools to increase their chances of standing out and, potentially, shorten the length of their unemployment. AI tools offer the allure of enhancing a job seeker's professional brand, but is it wise to rely on them? And how do HR managers and professionals view the use of AI in the job search? Data from Zety's HR and AI Recruitment Report sheds light on these questions, providing insights for job seekers to leverage AI responsibly. HR managers are open to AI -- within limits One key takeaway from the Zety report is that while most HR managers are open to job seekers using AI in the application process, there are limits. Sixty-six percent of hiring managers approve of using AI tools to create résumés and cover letters, seeing it as an asset for those job seekers who struggle to craft these documents. AI can even the playing field by allowing candidates to present their best professional brand, elevate their application materials, and stay more competitive in a saturated job market. However, while moderate AI usage might be accepted, hiring managers have their limits. Concerns about using AI tools still exist for hiring managers, as 42% consider its use unethical. For job seekers, AI can be helpful, but it's crucial to ensure final products maintain a human touch that highlights your unique professional identity.