Employers are being inundated with “machine gun” job applications as job seekers increasingly use AI to write cover letters and resumes, warning that applicants who rely too heavily on technology risk wasting their time.
Zoe Sullivan, director of human resources and culture at the Co-op Group, an employment organization, said AI has led to a surge in job applications, primarily in white-collar roles.
“While some applicants are using AI to polish their resumes, many are using it to misrepresent themselves,” she says. “That means a lot of manual processes for recruiters.”
Sullivan said a recent job opening for case managers received nearly 100 applicants, compared to the 10 to 20 that would have been available before the introduction of AI. “It was really tough,” she says. “It was very difficult to differentiate between what experiences people had and what they didn’t have.”
Joel Delmaire, chief strategy and product officer at AI recruiting software company JobAdder, says his company has seen a 42% increase in job application volume over the past year.
“Candidates can now prepare their applications much faster than before, but we are seeing two very different behaviors,” he says.
Delmare calls one of these actions a “machine gun application.” Candidates use AI to “spam” their resumes to a wide range of potential employers, generating hundreds of versions in hopes of getting noticed.
“Another action is to tailor your resume and use AI as a guide to prepare for jobs that are really right for you,” he says. “You’re more likely to succeed that way.”
David Holland, managing director of talent solutions at recruitment software company Employment Hero, said while it has become easier for job seekers to apply through traditional job sites using AI-powered cover letters and resumes tailored to cover job description keywords, employers are also seeing an increase in “unrelated applications.”
Holland says that when candidates rely too much on AI and use it to write entire cover letters or optimize resumes, they end up wasting their time.
“Any talent acquisition manager today will tell you that they’ve had the experience of getting a 90 or 95 on paper based on a technical review of a job application, but not getting it across in the interview, and the difference is stark,” he says.
“It’s not going to do you any good to qualify for an interview for a position you’re not qualified for.”
Dean Connelly, director and founder of recruitment agency Latte, says that while AI allows candidates to create customized cover letters in a fraction of the time, job seekers still need to be able to express themselves clearly. “If you can’t bring your AI-generated brief to life with a unique perspective, you’re not saving time, you’re just automating your own rejections,” he says.
In response to the surge in AI job applications, companies are also leveraging this technology. Australian HR Institute chief executive Sarah McCann-Bartlett said companies were increasingly using AI to scrutinize resumes and cover letters after receiving “so many” applications.
“The use of AI in vetting is increasing because the vetting process has become so onerous for employers,” she says.
Companies such as buy-now-pay-later company Zip are actively encouraging the use of AI as part of their recruitment process, saying they believe it is a core skill of the future, while blue-chip consultancy McKinsey & Co. is asking graduate applicants to work with artificial intelligence tools as part of its hiring process.
Mr Holland said he believed 90 per cent of Australia’s mid-sized and large businesses had already implemented AI into their recruitment processes, with the exception of some brick-and-mortar retail and hospitality sectors that still tended to rely on walk-ins.
“[Using AI] That way, recruiters can spend time on the final stage of the hiring process: understanding who the person is and what they truly bring to the role. ” he says.
According to Delmaire, more than 80% of companies surveyed by JobAdder say they use AI in their hiring process, up from 69% last year.
Bunnings is an example of a major employer using an AI interviewing platform in the early stages of recruitment. The process includes an online survey with five behaviorally-based questions, which the leading hardware company says is “similar to a phone interview with a recruiter,” but is “completely unbiased” because it focuses only on answers that compare to what the company is looking for.
However, a Bunnings spokesperson said its recruitment team was responsible for reviewing applications, conducting in-person interviews and “making all decisions throughout the recruitment process”.
While AI is widely used in the early stages of hiring, Delmare says AI-driven interviews are unlikely to become widespread.
“My belief is that human contact is invaluable, especially in the area of recruitment and human resources,” he says. “Will AI ever be as smart as humans in these kinds of deeply personal relationships? We don’t see any signs of that right now.”
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Millie Mulloy is an economics writer for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. She was previously an economics correspondent based at the Press Gallery in Canberra and a banking writer based in Sydney.connect via Twitter or Email.
