Why hiring decision-makers are now rejecting AI use in job applications

Among the many difficult conversations I have with my job seekers, AI tends to sit near the top.

And understandably so: job seekers are heavily discouraged from using AI to create their resumes and cover letters. More and more employers are putting out notices that applications will be rejected if AI use is detected in any part of the application.

Yet once that job seeker is employed, AI tools are not only back on the menu, but they're often required to be used. If you don't document your AI use, you could easily get written up by your employer. I've spoken with managers who missed out on career advancement opportunities because they didn't feel comfortable pushing AI onto their teams.

Why does this discrepancy exist? Why are job seekers being penalized for using AI in their job searches but are forced to use it after they land the job? After speaking with a couple dozen hiring decision-makers on the subject, I feel comfortable saying that the discrepancy only exists because of the number of fake applicants that flood the market each day.

Bots, spam applications, underqualified candidates submitting dishonest resumes - the list goes on, and all of it is made worse by the AI tools that exist today. There's not enough hiring support staff to parse through an application pile that's nearly four times larger than what we saw prior to 2022.

The natural response to this was going back to human-written material. Human-written resumes and cover letters take time. The work, the investment, and the little details that go into human-written resumes are difficult to replicate at scale. The human voice that comes out in a cover letter is difficult for a bot to mimic.

This is why I suspect that we'll continue to see the trend of employers rejecting AI on job applications. Even though it might feel like an unfair or backwards approach, this is the solution that seems to be making the biggest difference for our hiring decision-makers.

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