AI & the Job Search: Friend or Foe?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has shown us the future isn't coming, it's already here! It’s reshaping how we live and work, including the hiring process and job search. From customizing resumes to finding relevant opportunities, AI tools help job seekers with the more time-consuming job search tasks and improve job search results. Consider these statistics from Forbes magazine:

• Nearly 1 in 6 who used AI receive more callbacks than when they didn’t use it.

• Fourteen percent of job seekers have relied on AI throughout the entire job search process.

• Seventy-seven percent felt that using AI tools boosted their confidence during the job search.

  

  
  

However, as with any new tool, AI has drawbacks that can frustrate candidates and overwhelm employers:

• Recruiters are receiving a huge surge in applications that they believe are AI generated. One HR consultant recruiting for a fully remote, popular job at a tech company received 400 applications after one day. After three days, more than 1,200 were submitted.

• AI tools contributed to a 45% rise in applications on LinkedIn over the last year.

• Recruiters say many résumés look quite similar. In fact, Robert Half research shows that 82% of U.S. hiring managers can tell when a candidate has used AI to create their materials.

• Recent research shows that almost 50% of candidates use AI to build or improve their resumes. These tools often use standard templates and language, which lack authenticity and don’t portray who you really are, thus reducing your chances of landing the job.

Clearly, AI has a place in the job search. Like any tool, success depends on how strategically you use it as outlined below.

Pros and Cons of AI in the Job Search

Resumes and Cover Letters

Pro: One of the most time-consuming and tedious aspects of the job search is customizing resumes and cover letters for each role. AI can quickly analyze job descriptions, use relevant keywords and strong language, catch errors, and generate customized materials. This improves your chances of passing applicant tracking systems (ATS) but also ensures your documents align with the job requirements.

Con: A resume that duplicates the job posting can make you appear as the ideal candidate, even inflating your actual experience. It may get you past the initial screen, but you may get cut when an actual human reviews it, you have an interview, or can’t deliver on the job.  Hiring managers can spot inconsistencies in all these scenarios and, if caught, the damage to your reputation is long term. Use AI to create a draft but always revise it to reflect your authentic voice and achievements.

Targeted Job Recommendations

Pro: Instead of endlessly scrolling through job boards, AI-driven career platforms can suggest opportunities based on your skills, experience, and career goals. These tools often identify openings you may have overlooked, helping you cast a wider net.

Con: AI tools focus primarily on already advertised positions, missing opportunities in the hidden job market which are found through networking and referrals. According to Randstad USA, using only AI-powered job boards can cause you to not build critical relationships that help you find unadvertised positions where you have less competition and a positive referral. 

Interview Prep

Pro: AI can help you improve your interviewing skills. Virtual mock interview platforms driven by AI can simulate actual interview scenarios, ask common questions, and analyze your responses, tone, body language, and pacing.

Con: AI responses can sound generic and scripted, lacking the authenticity important to building rapport. Relying on AI for interview responses can also affect developing essential skills such as critical thinking and improvisation. AI could also misrepresent your background, since they are only as accurate as the data provided. This may cause you to not be able to elaborate on your experience and skills. The goal should be to enhance your preparation and performance, not to automate the entire process.

Networking and AI

Pro: Networking has always been the most effective way to find a job. AI tools can suggest key people to connect with, draft outreach messages, and analyze LinkedIn profiles to identify shared interests and connections.

Con: Networking  by definition is about creating genuine relationships. Over-reliance on AI for connections could diminish developing crucial social skills such as navigating complex emotions, empathy, social intelligence, and spontaneous interactions. IT can also mean missing unadvertised openings that can only be accessed through human connection.

The Bottom Line

Employers are still hiring people, not algorithms. Use AI as support, not a substitute. AI is a great tool, but the best results happen when you combine its efficiency with your individual reflection, unique skills and experience, and personal touch.