Does AI have a place in the job application process?

A recent poll we held on LinkedIn suggests not, as a large proportion of respondents voted that they would think unfavorably of an application if they knew it had been created using artificial intelligence, but why is this and should it be the case?

With all the hype around ChatGPT it's not surprising that people are wary of the authenticity of AI produced job applications.  It feels like a helping hand from AI is unfairly winning against the Applicant Tracking Systems to get through their screening process.

So is AI the villain that it's perceived to be?

A candidate recently asked my opinion on using ChatGPT to tweak their CV and I shared my thoughts; If you paid for a professional CV writing service, engaging a human to write your CV for you, how is that different from using an AI tool to do the same?  The content still has to be factual, both options take the information that you share and enhances it to make it sound just a little bit more impressive.

To explore further, I recently asked ChatGPT to write me a project manager CV to see what it would produce. What I got was a relatively standard template for a project manager CV, one that would be a good starting point to add context and examples to.  It was no different to downloading an online template that someone else had created.  Of course the more information I share, the more detailed and accurate the CV will be but what it didn’t do was fabricate the finished article, it needed input from me to make it my own.  

But it’s not only CV’s where AI can lend a helping hand in the job application process.  When used correctly it can be a great tool in drafting cover letters or emails, introductory or follow up emails.  It can help improve your LinkedIn profile, meaning you can be found more easily for the types of roles you’re looking for and can also be a great resource for creating practice interview questions or presentation preparation.  

Another thing to bear in mind is that a job application is only part of the recruitment process. Regardless of how outstanding your CV is, you need to be able to back this up with examples and evidence throughout the interview process, so if you're using artificial intelligence to fabricate a CV, that's going to be very hard to deliver.  Having a robust screening and interview process in place is essential, regardless of whether a CV has been produced using an AI tool or not, you need to know a lot more about a person to know if they are the right fit for your team.

So does AI bring any benefits to the recruitment process?

Absolutely, one of the ways that we use AI as recruiters is to ensure our job adverts are gender neutral.  We use a gender decoding tool to make sure our adverts aren’t unconsciously using language to make them gender biased, the result is that we are able to build more diverse shortlists for our clients by attracting a wider range of people.

The way in which artificial intelligence can enhance and improve recruitment is endless but ultimately recruitment is about people. We all want recruitment to be an engaging experience, not robotic and soulless, and since AI tools are here to stay, perhaps they should be embraced responsibly for certain tasks in the process, but used with caution when it comes to how we communicate and interact with each other.