AI Has Broken the Hiring Process |
I got into human resources and recruiting because I like people. I like hearing their stories, working with them and talking to them. But lately I’m finding myself in conversation with computers.
Since ChatGPT was released in 2022, AI has permeated every corner of life, and job-hunting is no exception. The appeal is obvious. Crafting the perfect cover letter and resumé are challenging and universally dreaded tasks. It’s been beaten into applicants’ heads that they need to find ways to stand out. This means writing polished and concise prose, incorporating keywords from job descriptions and tailoring each application to the desired position—exhausting work that AI pulls off in seconds. Combine that with the human propensity for finding shortcuts, a competitive job market and tough economic conditions, and the temptation is hard to resist.
I first noticed the use of AI in job applications in late 2022, while working as a manager at a Sobeys just south of Barrie, Ontario. We received a flood of applications after the pandemic, but many of them felt off. I kept seeing the same quirks over and over again: punctuation not typically used by the general population, like em dashes, semicolons and Oxford commas; full sentences instead of bullet points on resumés; and clinical writing styles. They used recruitment buzzwords like “cross-functional,” “alignment” and “collaboration.” Around one in 10 applications I received during this time sounded the same. Retail always attracts a wide range of personalities, so the uniformity set off alarm bells.
I was disheartened to see applicants taking the easy way out. Worse, it made me question their abilities. If they were enhancing their........