‘Spray and pray’: How AI job applications can backfire

Could using AI in your job application be ruining your chances of getting hired?

Would you use AI to help you write a CV or cover letter? How about during an online assessment or video interview for a job?

But when does it cross a line from being acceptable to unethical, or even cheating?

He says the process was "exhausting" and "demoralising", with employers often not even getting back to him, and he wouldn't have got through it without some help from AI.

Tom says it's "hypocritical" for companies to ask candidates not to use AI when some are using it themselves to screen applicants

While Tom says he never used the technology in an assessment or interview, he did use it to help him with cover letters and CVs or to find the right "buzz words" that early stage screening in a recruitment process will pick up on.

"That's where it feels like a weird tightrope. You can't use AI too much because otherwise you're not human. But if you don't write like an AI, you may get skipped by the AI screening."

This summer, the Institute of Student Employers (ISE) surveyed 155 of the UK's biggest graduate employers and found they were becoming "more accepting" of candidates using AI during recruitment "at some stages of the recruitment process".

However, it also found some 92% of employers had encountered or suspected AI "misconduct" in the job selection process - up from 85% last year. Most commonly this included using AI as a real-time assistant during online video interviews or to complete online assessments.

EDF's Hollie Moody says the use of AI in job applications is a "moral dilemma" for both employers and employees

Hollie Moody, head of early careers recruitment at energy giant EDF, says she doesn't blame graduates for using AI in applications given how "brutal" the jobs market is right now. But she does think it's becoming a problem.

Moody says AI almost certainly contributed to this, adding that the tech is being used "a lot more freely" in the actual selection process.