Tyler Sorenson was tired of hunting for work, so he went to old school. He dropped off his paper resume at a local technical repair company.
The 24-year-old Sorenson had a common frustration among job seekers. He saw a “I wanted help” sign and heard about a understaffed business, but was unable to get a reply to his online job offer. The store he finally landed on had no opening listed on its website, but when he visited in person it appeared to require more workers.
“I literally had to step into the store and hand over my actual resume for them to see me,” he said. It just happened to be a district manager. “I got a call a week later.
His paper resume may be a particularly retro outlier in a sea of hopeful job seekers, but in an era where companies employ at near-low rates in a decade, it becomes more necessary to be a little more creative, with AI and fatigue on both sides of the recruitment table.
Over the past few months, Business Insiders have heard from hundreds of frustrated job seekers reporting thousands of failed applications. On the other hand, hiring managers are flooded with applications, many of which are optimized to make them seem like the perfect fit. In response, a subset of employment attends old school. Think of paper resumes, walk-in applicants, people taking flight, and make sure they are a real deal.
AI is adopted in technical cat and mouse games
When Devon Pastorius began hiring for a new role at an advertising agency, he asked the candidates to answer two questions in the cover letter: what were their thoughts on AI in the creative industry, and what were their favorite ads and social media accounts?
Pastorius was hoping to get the answers generated by some AI. What he didn't expect was 20 creepy similar reactions. He speculated that they came from the chatbot. Ironically, in response to the first question, AI responded that it was a tool and not a creative alternative. Its favourite ad campaigns have always been Nike and Coca-Cola, and often cited Duolingo's Tiktok account. Applicants' responses regarding the campaign were also virtually identical.
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Pastorius says it will track how LLMS works. AI washes the internet to answer questions. The brands that have continued to mention are “a phenomenal PR team.” This means that there was probably a lot of coverage in their campaign.
Hatim Rahman, an associate professor at Northwestern University's management and organization, said the AI hired a “cat and mouse game” between candidates and employers. Some of this may be seen in a spray-and-play approach in which applicants use bots to apply in large quantities to their work. Meanwhile, employers are using AI to sift through candidates and intervene in to interview virtual agents for future new hires.
That escalation means it's difficult for employers to understand where quality candidates are, and future employees will understand what the company is like. As a result, he observed the driving force behind finding “more human signals in both the search and application processes,” Rahman said.
Cindy Mace, director of undergraduate career services at the University of Iowa's Tippie College of Business, said he wants what employers call multiple touch points.
“You have to keep going to career fairs. You have to stand out, reintroduce yourself into those recruiters and go to that table event to have those connections within the organization,” Mace said. “You once could do that with a cover letter.”
For applicants who participated in an interview with Pastorius, he insisted on asking for follow-up on what they wrote in their responses. Additionally, the second round of interviews ask candidates to perform sample tasks in the office on a computer disconnected from the internet. It removes the possibility of AI interference.
Pastorius is not anti-eye. He noticed an improved resume format. It was easy to read and information on related work experience and skills was easy to find.
“There are ways to use AI to reduce the burden of seeking work, but there are ways to use AI to make yourself even more difficult,” Pastorius said. “And unfortunately, the analysis between the two is a skill within itself.”
Employers are keen on job hunter walk-in
Victoria Thomas, chief and chief business officer at Porsche customization and racing company Kelly Moss, adopted new employment practices in the post-pandemic era.
She said the company will use AI to create job descriptions and rank potential candidates. However, she also encountered the opposite problem. AI-covered resumes can make some candidates look stronger than they actually are. That's where face-to-face tryouts appear. She hires for positions that require a lot of physical work, so it's important to see how potential candidates work with the team.
“We are also very dependent on referrals,” Thomas said. “When someone is willing to put an individual's name behind someone, when a technician is referring a friend, there is a greater success rate.”
Of course, these tactile methods are still very common in the minority, but more and more companies may adopt them to deal with fire hoses in applications. And while they are easier to implement in small businesses, the death of mega-employers may mean that small businesses are becoming more and more future for workers.
Nastasia Wali, director of the prestigious Hotel Chelsea front office, said the candidates who appear directly show “eagerness and extra effort.” Online applications mean more resumes than ever before, so sifting through potential candidates requires more patience. Wali said she likes to receive a paper resume. The candidate can make a first impression on the front desk team who will bring her insights.
“When the team gave me my resume, the first thing I would ask is what stood out about the candidates and how their attitude turned out,” she said. “If a team notices something, I usually pick it up too.
