Job seekers turn to AI tools to gain a competitive edge. It can also backfire

Dani Schlarmann, a recruiter, noticed thing fishy astir the occupation applicants.

Cover letters and resumes sounded identical. Candidates embellished their acquisition to lucifer the occupation description. On apical of that, engineers were caught utilizing artificial quality tools to “cheat” connected unrecorded coding tests.

The California resident, who works for blockchain exertion institution Ava Labs, vented astir his frustrations with AI connected societal web LinkedIn. To code the issue, Ava Labs started asking immoderate candidates to motion an statement that they volition not usage AI assistance during their interviews, helium said.

“We’ve had a fewer radical combat america backmost connected it and accidental ‘we should beryllium capable to usage immoderate instrumentality astatine our disposal.’ Honestly, this is not the institution for you, then,” said Schlarmann, who lives successful Corona. “For engineers, we pridefulness ourselves connected coding prowess and determination are going to beryllium times erstwhile the AI can’t lick thing for you.”

Job seekers usage AI-powered tools to assistance them amended their resumes, find jobs, car use to hundreds of roles and adjacent supply answers connected the spot during video interviews. Fueled by the popularity of AI-powered tools similar OpenAI’s ChatGPT, tech giants and startups are racing up to merchandise much AI features that tin spit retired text, codification and images wrong seconds.

But the AI frenzy has besides sparked a statement astir erstwhile exertion goes excessively far, distorting a occupation candidate’s existent skills and experience. Faced with much contention arsenic companies slash thousands of workers, occupation seekers are weighing whether to wage for AI tools that mightiness assistance them onshore a relation much quickly. Employers and recruiters are besides grappling with whether occupation candidates should beryllium allowed to usage AI adjacent arsenic they clasp the exertion themselves.

Julie Schweber, elder HR cognition advisor astatine the Society for Human Resource Management, said employers cognize that occupation candidates could beryllium utilizing AI to heighten their resume oregon screen missive — but they don’t privation radical misrepresenting themselves.

“It surely makes consciousness due to the fact that you privation a campaigner that is evolving with the exertion and not acrophobic of technology,” she said.

Some companies don’t specify whether occupation candidates tin usage AI and others do. Anthropic, a San Francisco AI startup, asks occupation applicants to hold they won’t usage AI assistance to reply definite questions due to the fact that the institution wants “to beryllium capable to measure people’s genuine involvement and motivations for moving astatine Anthropic.” Amazon said that erstwhile applicable, it volition inquire candidates to admit that they won’t usage generative AI during an interrogation oregon test.

Jeremy Pihl, who became unemployed past twelvemonth for the archetypal clip astatine 51 years old, said helium has utilized AI tools specified arsenic ChatGPT, Swooped and 6Figr during his occupation search.

“If you are not leveraging AI, I committedness it’s being leveraged connected you,” helium said.

Recruiters usage AI to make occupation descriptions, reappraisal oregon surface campaigner searches, automate campaigner searches and different tasks, according to SHRM.

Pihl, who antecedently worked arsenic a lawsuit occurrence manager astatine Coda and a solutions technologist astatine Apple, is inactive trying to onshore his adjacent relation contempt already applying to astir 1,500 jobs.

AI has helped him probe a imaginable leader and amended screen letters, but utilizing the tools to car use to jobs hasn’t yielded overmuch success, helium said. Pihl, who secured a declaration relation but is inactive occupation hunting, said the advancement helium has made has been done referrals oregon reaching retired to a hiring manager who viewed his LinkedIn profile.

“I don’t cognize that I would thin connected it to the grade that I leaned connected it successful the beginning,” helium said. “There’s an facet of it wherever it is truly helpful.”

Meanwhile, the occupation hunt is lone getting much fierce. Nearly 60% of radical globally volition beryllium looking for a caller occupation successful 2025 and 37% are applying to much jobs than ever earlier but proceeding backmost less, according to LinkedIn research.

In March, the unemployment complaint roseate somewhat to 4.2 % with 7.1 cardinal radical retired of work, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In February, the fig of occupation openings reached 7.6 million, down from 8.4 cardinal compared with the aforesaid period successful 2024.

As California tech companies proceed to slash payrolls, the state’s unemployment complaint has been higher than the nationalist average. In February, California’s unemployment complaint was 5.4 % with much than 1 cardinal radical unemployed successful the state.

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based LinkedIn has been investigating AI-powered tools connected its platform, including 1 to lucifer candidates with jobs that are a amended fit. Rohan Rajiv, caput of careers products astatine LinkedIn, said there’s nary uncertainty it’s taking much interviews for radical to onshore jobs, but some recruiters and occupation candidates privation to walk arsenic small clip arsenic imaginable successful the process.

“We are yet astatine a constituent wherever it has go realistic for america to not play the measurement game, for america to really play a truly focused game,” helium said.

Nearly 40% of LinkedIn Premium subscribers usage AI features to amended their illustration and basal retired and astir a 3rd person utilized the platform’s AI-powered occupation hunt features. Most person recovered it helpful, according to LinkedIn.

But determination are immoderate arguable uses of AI arsenic well. One specified example: a teleprompter that provides AI-generated answers to occupation interrogation questions.

Final Round AI, which offers an AI-powered interrogation adjunct and different tools for a subscription fee, makes the bold assertion that candidates tin onshore their adjacent occupation successful 30 days oregon less.

In immoderate of the startup’s viral videos connected societal media, radical are speechmaking AI-generated answers verbatim displayed connected a surface during distant mock occupation interviews.

Founded successful 2023, the San Francisco steadfast said it had much than 1 cardinal users from January to February.

Using an AI interrogation oregon coding adjunct could hitch immoderate employers the incorrect way, but the entrepreneurs who created the tools accidental they’re conscionable trying to enactment occupation seekers who are navigating a unspeakable occupation market.

Michael Guan, main enforcement and co-founder of Final Round AI, said people’s cognition of AI is changing and whoever understands however to usage the exertion volition get an edge. Inspired by the superhero Iron Man, who has an AI adjunct known arsenic J.A.R.V.I.S., Guan envisions a aboriginal wherever these tools volition beryllium adjacent much intuitive.

“Imagine I person a teleprompter connected my eyeglasses …,” helium said. “Everybody tin go Iron Man.”

Kaivan Dave, who heads selling astatine Final Round AI, said that utilizing an AI interrogation adjunct tin assistance candidates, immoderate who mightiness person connection barriers, amended articulate their thoughts. Even the president, helium said, has utilized a teleprompter.

The task capital-backed institution created a billboard successful San Francisco with an representation of President Trump that work “Interview Confidently Like Our President. Helping America Get Back to Work 10x Faster with Final Round AI.”

“I don’t deliberation that this is going against immoderate benignant of unethical norms,” Dave said.

Using an AI interrogation adjunct inactive doesn’t alert with immoderate recruiters.

Lyndsi Okh, a San Diego nonmigratory who recruits for tech nonprofits, said she suspected a campaigner interviewing for a narration gathering relation was speechmaking AI-generated answers due to the fact that of their code patterns and pauses.

“Using AI to assistance hole for interrogation questions is fine, but speechmaking disconnected a surface with interrogation responses is simply a full breach of spot and a large no-no for me,” she said.

Although she has thing against the usage of AI, Okh said the ones who are utilizing it successfully are not relying connected exertion to regenerate captious thinking.

“We’re successful the Wild West of AI, wherever it’s similar nary 1 knows what to do, and everyone’s conscionable doing anything,” she said. “I deliberation that it volition yet beryllium refined.”

For now, thing beats a effect that feels personal.