AI in the recruitment process

AI is rapidly gaining popularity. When it became available, people immediately started using AI to write general resumes, and recruiters started using AI to gather lists of global contacts. AI is being used on both sides of the hiring desk. The job search is becoming an AI vs. AI battle involving ridiculously high numbers.

The quality of the AI program depends on the package. Some AI programs can 10X resume distribution in seconds. With a solid program, job seekers can find a job within two months, which is a very short time. Since 2020, the search can otherwise go on for years.

The recruiter firm I partner with uses a few AI programs to provide contacts, introductory emails, and even follow-up emails. They have developed excellent AI programs for contacting hiring managers, Human Resource executives, and other decision-makers related to hiring. This is quite impressive.

Another career agency that I worked with was a pure AI company. From client onboarding to job offers, they used four different AI programs, none of which were synced or compatible. So, every time I worked with a client I had one to four screens open. Out of seven clients, one landed a job. So, sometimes AI doesn’t work so well.

Using job boards to post your one general resume to 500 applications through one-click systems probably won’t get you noticed, because the ATS or the knock-out questions will stop you. But sending your generic bad resume directly to thousands of contacts via AI, bypassing the ATS, will get you noticed by at least a few people for very little effort, regardless of how bad your resume is. These distribution numbers are so high, and the outreach is so extensive, that the rejections don’t matter. 500 rejections out of 10,000 direct emails is a no-brainer decision. The ratio is just too good.

Recruiters are charging thousands of dollars for this service, and it’s worth the money if you only care about your immediate income and you have no thoughts about your future career.

While AI sounds very appealing because it seems like a done-for-you-perfectly service, there are a couple of challenges here.

1. Challenge #1: Laziness. The ease of use and access to an enormous network immediately available with AI means that job seekers get lazy. AI recruiters are swamped with clients because those clients distribute their sometimes bad (or mediocre) resumes to thousands of people.

2. Challenge #2: Waiting. You are not the only one doing this, and therefore you are one of many people flooding recruiters and the marketplace with your possibly bad general resume. This means that you might not hear from the companies for a while, because so many people are using mass distribution that inboxes are flooded with (mostly inappropriate) resumes that hiring teams have to weed through. Recruiters are using AI on their end as well to weed out hundreds or thousands of applicants.

3. Challenge #3: Some AI programs don’t work. On the backend, behind the scenes, AI technology can be a mess. As the advisor, I see AI server issues, broken links, and vanishing emails. To provide excellent customer service, I have to get around all of this.

If you’re going to use AI and send that one general resume to 10,000 people, I recommend that you be very confident about your interview skills. Because, assuming that you get through the knock-out questions, the interview will be your next step, and if you talk about your hard work, skills, loyalty, education, passion, communication, and leadership during the interview, you will have wasted the amazing opportunities that AI provided for you.

The biggest mistake that job searchers make is using AI programs to create one resume to apply to all positions. While this may seem like the easiest route, because it requires the least amount of effort, it actually takes longer to find a job this way, let alone a job that’s appropriate. Many of my clients have come to me after depending solely on an automated resume review program, sending out that one AI-based resume hundreds of times and hearing nothing. That doesn’t surprise me at all.

Other versions of AI are the automated resume review programs like Jobscan and Resume Worded. I’ve tested AI so I can advise my clients appropriately. In my experience, AI systems actually cause as many problems as they solve.

As of 2024, companies in four U.S. states by law must provide the option for the candidate to opt out of an AI review prior to applying for the job. How does this help or hurt you? How can you leverage AI in the right way to maximize your potential and land your dream job quickly and efficiently? Send me an email at coach@maximizeu.life to find out!

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