Screaming at the screen - AI Job Applications

There is a lot of balanced articles and blogs on the subject of recruitment on the web and in many respected online magazines. I read a lot, and I engage with large numbers of recruiters and candidates.

It is therefore with some angst that I read the BBC article.

AI job application rise risks employing incapable staff, boss warns

I can hear the screams of a gazillion job applicants. Surely Mr Robinson, you can see the irony?

As I have written on numerous occasions, there is a now an arms race and frankly, the candidates did not start it. But as the old saying goes, you reap what you sow.

This is exactly why we started Candidates Matter. To see the quote "Careers adviser Megan Cooper said that while AI could be a useful tool for job hunters, it should never replace "human judgement"."

So, what is going on here, for those who have not yet caught up with the latest trending news. It's really quite simple, businesses have been cutting corners on recruitment, taking advantage of automation and AI in their recruitment processes and making the process of applying for a job about as inhumane as you can achieve. How? The use of ATS tooling, automatic AI driven sifting and a combination of automated responses to candidates or, typically, complete ghosting.

When some of our candidates have sent in dozens (many hundreds) of CVs to roles they know they are qualified for an hear NOTHING, then the only way to move forward is to use the very tools that the employers use to try and get themselves to a stage in the process that they can actually speak to a human being.

So, candidates start to use AI to do cover letters (writing hundreds yourself just to get ghosted is hard work), AI improved CVs, ATS compliant CVs to try and trigger the right key word detection and even automated application systems that will apply for roles for you. See the trend? It's truly a road to hell we are on.

When you see articles in the BBC outlining the challenges employers have, one does wonder how many bosses in their own firms actually understand what their recruiters do. AI is purported to be the end to many jobs. The advice is always to get up to speed with the tools. Businesses will be adopting them. But when you do use them, then there are complaints from the very employers who are seeking to adopt the very tools to make their business more efficient. Seriously ironic.

Candidates Matter is a disruptive service that puts humans back into the center of the process. Take a look at what we do to see how your business could avoid the above arms race.