As artificial intelligence becomes a bigger part of the hiring process, job seekers are asking themselves one main question: How much AI is too much AI when applying for jobs?
From being advised to use ChatGPT to help with your resume and cover letter, to hearing recruiters say they’re tired of reading “AI-generated applications,” professionals today are inundated with conflicting advice about how the technology may or may not aid their job search.
To clear the air, I spoke with AI experts and hiring managers about the ways in which they would and wouldn’t use AI if they were looking for a job today. Here’s what they had to say.
Brian Elliott, future of work strategist and CEO of the think tank organization Work Forward
Elliott, who previously worked as an executive at Google and Slack, says one of the biggest ways he would use AI if he were job searching today is to research potential employers.
“I would definitely use it to help me understand a company better, to get a deeper understanding of what they do and what type of people they hire,” he says. “I would use it to try to get a better understanding of the types of work that happen within the company and how they support people because part of what you’re looking for are companies that are going to support long-term growth and skills development, which is what people really need.”
But Elliott, who was named to Forbes’ 2023 list of top 50 leaders rethinking the world of work, says he would definitely not use AI to write his resume or cover letter.
“I might write my cover letter, run it through AI to see if it’s got suggestions for improvements to make sure that I’m not making grammatical errors or that I’m stating things in a good way,” he says. “We’ve certainly seen the issue of people letting AI do the whole thing as far as writing their cover letter and filling out all of their job applications, and then the person sort of runs into a wall.”
Crucially, this advice goes against what many job hunters are doing today. In a survey of nearly 3,300 job applicants, global research and advisory firm Gartner found that nearly 40% used AI during their job application process. Of those who used it, 54% said they used it to generate text for their resume/cover letter, 36% said they used it to generate text for a writing sample, and 29% said they used it to generate answers to questions on an assessment.
As a result, some hiring managers have developed an AI-induced hiring paranoia, where they worry that candidates are using the tool to inflate their capabilities, leading them to underperform if they actually get the job. This is the wall Elliott says job seekers can run into if they submit an AI-generated application that sounds generic and inauthentic to employers.
Margaret Burke, Principal, Talent Acquisition & Development Leader at PwC
Burke says that even when talking to her own kids about how to navigate the job market she advises them to use AI, but with special parameters.
“AI can be used to tighten up your resume and it can be used to enhance your cover letter, but it still needs to be your own voice and it still needs to be your own experiences on that resume,” she says.
Additionally, she says AI can be helpful when it comes to “doing research on the company you’re interviewing with, helping you prepare for what questions could be asked, and helping you understand how the market is affecting them right now.”
“I think it’s very valuable from that perspective,” she adds. “All the things that maybe would’ve taken hours to do research on can really be done in minutes with AI.”
As someone with over 20 years of experience in the HR and talent acquisition space, Burke says that if she was job searching today one of her biggest dont’s when it comes to AI would be using it in the actual interview process.
“In the interview you have to talk about your own true experiences,” she says. “AI can make things sound a bit sterile and generic and interviewers can see right through that.”
Clara Shih, Founder and Executive Director of New Work Foundation
“I think that people should use AI in two different modes,” says Shih, whose non-profit is geared towards equipping young workers with the tools, information, and skills needed to navigate an economy that’s being reshaped by AI. “There’s apprentice mode and there’s productivity mode.”
Shih, who previously served as the Head of Business AI at Meta, explains that apprentice mode is when someone is brand new to learning something. “It could be writing your first cover letter. It could be learning how to do software programming. It could be creative writing. If you’re brand new to something, there is incredible learning value from working through and struggling and making mistakes,” she says.
For young professionals who are just entering the job market, Shih says that using AI in apprentice mode isn’t a bad idea as it “can be an incredible coach and give you feedback on your cover letter and say, ‘This is what is good about it and here’s where you can improve.’”
But, she says, using AI to completely write your resume or cover letter, especially when you don’t have much experience with writing one on your own, is never a good idea. She warns that “young people should resist the urge to delegate that learning phase to AI.”
However, if you’re an experienced professional who has written several resumes and cover letters throughout your career, then she says you may be at the point where you can use the tool in productivity mode because you have the knowledge to assess whether its output is good or bad.
“Say, AI generates a creative writing assignment or software program, can you critique it?” she asks. “If you cannot do that then that means you haven’t graduated from apprentice mode yet. It’s very similar to when you’re joining the workforce. Nobody ever gets hired as a people manager. You haven’t earned it yet. You haven’t even done the job yourself so what business do you have delegating to a person or to an AI until you’ve done the job yourself and can critique it, evaluate it, reject it, and judge it. That’s how I would encourage people to think about AI.”
When taking Elliott’s, Burke’s, and Shih’s advice into account, it’s clear that there are a few red flags and green flags for using AI in your job search.
How To Use AI In Your Jobs Search:
- Do use AI to research a company
- Do use AI to get suggestions on grammatical errors and how to improve your resume and cover letter
- Do use AI to understand how the current market is impacting a company
How Not To Use AI In Your Job Search:
- Don’t use AI to write your resume and cover letter
- Don’t use AI to generate text for a writing sample
- Don’t use AI to generate answers for an interview
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