If you have applied for a job in the last few years, it’s a fairly safe bet that at some point in the process, your application would have been processed by artificial intelligence (AI), perhaps as part of a wider applicant tracking system (ATS) process. Recruiters are loving this trend; in fact, 77% of HR professionals feel that soon, they won’t need to be involved in the recruitment process at all.
Candidates are less sure, with 66% of US adults stating they would not want to apply for a job that uses AI for hiring decisions. That said, AI is irreversibly changing the job application process, and this article aims to demystify what this means and how jobseekers can use AI to their advantage.
What AI Brings to the Party
Since the Covid-19 pandemic, 88% of organizations have reported using AI technology in HR, including in recruitment, with 61% seeing AI playing an increased role in recruitment as time goes on. Clearly, recruiters are already seeing the benefits, but what about from the perspective of employees?
One of the clearest ways candidates can benefit from recruitment AI is through saving time… lots of time. AI algorithms parse candidates’ résumés, their online profiles, and interactions on ATS tools to match them with best-fit job opportunities. This is a game changer; candidates can go out and apply for two jobs and be recommended for another four that they never thought existed. AI can also pre-fill application forms, complete applications on behalf of the candidate, and even interview candidates remotely.
AI can also reduce the risk of candidates being ‘ghosted’ by recruiters. Automated feedback and ATS tools can deliver specific feedback to rejected candidates and send them updates when selection processes are taking longer than expected. Given that one hurdle many candidates experience is delays in getting interviews arranged due to various parties playing diary tag until the process fizzles out, AI can support with the scheduling of interviews, facilitating a timely and communicative recruitment process.
In a world where unconscious bias, such as judging someone on their hometown or accent, can inadvertently cost them their job, AI job application tools remain dispassionate. These programs objectively screen candidates, can anonymize applications for the candidate, and offer a wide variety of testing tools that can impartially assess competencies.
In between all the focused benefits for the candidate experience, AI recruitment tools also support candidates in less direct ways. Some programs can offer résumé feedback as part of the parsing process, and other tools might offer development opportunities and mock interviews for candidates to use. Those candidates who are rejected can even find themselves receiving ‘post-care’ as part of the AI system’s candidate triage processes!
Ultimately, if you are looking for a job, AI job application tools are there to help you by making you more efficient, leveraging your talent as a top candidate, and ensuring a fairer experience throughout the process.
What Are the Risks?
Like with anything in life, there are always “Buts” and cons, and it is the same with AI influencing job searches. Left unchecked, AI can create challenges to the job application experience, but these challenges can be overcome, to the point that they can be used for the benefit of the jobseeker.
The greatest benefit of AI to candidates – efficiency – can also be an Achilles heel. With the speed and impartiality that AI tools – especially advanced ATS programs – can parse résumés and process applications, great candidates can sometimes be overlooked. In some cases, the reason for this can be as simple as a résumé being uploaded as a .pdf file, a format much harder to read than .doc, for example.
Similarly, many candidates lament fewer human touchpoints in AI-driven recruitment processes. In fact, it’s been reported that some tech firms, such as Amazon, can go so far as to hire people without a single human interview. Given the flawed nature of human beings, it can be argued that AI recruitment, geared to select the perfect candidate, might be too hasty in filtering out best-fit candidates based on their inherent idiosyncrasies. In one situation, someone reapplying for their role during the pandemic was rejected because the AI screening tool analyzed their body language as overly negative.
Another double-edged sword is that because AI recruitment tools might recommend far more opportunities to candidates, including job suggestions that they were not aware of, this makes the job search process much more competitive. Whereas the feedback provided in AI-driven recruitment processes can indeed be high value, one risk is that if too many people are screened out at an early stage because of the high volume of applications, initial feedback for most unsuccessful applicants will be less specific, and sometimes hopelessly vague.
It can also be argued that the increased use of technology in the application process can alienate applicants who are less IT-literate or have limited access to technology. A few years ago, I was administering a hotel recruitment drive for older workers (50 years old and over) in Dubai, as part of the UAE’s goal to have private organizations focus their hiring on an under-represented demographic. Part of the government’s screening process for this program was an electronic, video-based interview. After a couple of weeks with only one or two applicants, I decided to relaunch the hotel’s local process with the video interview left out and saw over fifty people apply in under a week.
When I spoke to some of the shortlisted candidates, I learned that due to their lack of familiarity with automated recruitment processes, they were initially put off by an arduous registration process for the video interview and not much support when they tried it out but became stuck when attempting to use the technology. We guided them through the video interview process personally, only after they had been interviewed face-to-face by one of our own hiring managers and we had made a connection with them.
How to Make AI in the Job Application Process Work for You
Ultimately, AI recruitment programs can bring a great deal to the workplace, and their ‘cons’ are merely byproducts of the immense advantages these tools offer candidates. Jobseekers should view these points as opportunities that can be leveraged to take their job applications to the next level.
One of the best ways to make AI-powered ATS programs work for you is to adopt a hybrid approach to job seeking. Look for opportunities to connect with the people pulling the strings. Interact with them on social media like LinkedIn, introducing yourself and your personal brand. Attend industry networking events and let employers get to know the ‘real you,’ not just what AI will linearly convey. Similarly, prepare to showcase your skills in ways that AI might not pick up. This can include brushing up on organizational information to showcase your fit to the company culture, and preparing for in-person assessment days that might form a more tangible part of the recruitment process.
Ultimately, your success in an AI-dominated job market is a certainty; after all, it’s not going anywhere and it’s simply a matter of adapting to this exciting new reality. Take time to learn about how AI in recruitment works, its limitations, and how you can ride the wave to find that perfect job. Ensure your application documents are ‘ATS friendly’; formatted in a way that AI understands, tailored to the role’s job description, and aligned to keywords. It’s not unheard of for candidates to have a bank of various résumés ready to go, depending on the role they are applying for and the industry it is in. This sounds like a lot of work but consider it an investment in your future.
Final Thoughts
It’s safe to say that AI usage is still in its infancy, and the way it’s used to process job applications brings many benefits, but also can create unique challenges along the way. Nevertheless, jobseekers should take comfort in knowing that AI is on their side, as well as the side of the recruiters, supporting them in finding great roles, helping their profile stand out for the right reasons, and ensuring applications are sifted fairly.
By understanding the challenges AI can bring to their applications, jobseekers should become familiar with AI processes and tailor their applications and offline interactions with recruiters to ensure their application stands out, and that AI stages of the process are working for them, not against them.
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