Fed up of lazy AI use in recruitment

[DerelictWreck]

AIBU? Are others finding this?

We use an online recruitment system at work which is designed to reduce bias - we can only see how candidates have answered work based questions which are designed to assess their ability to do the job. We don't see any personal information or CVs.

As part of the process the candidates are told that use of AI will not help them and when they submit, they have to sign a declaration that it is their own work, not generative AI. Any AI work found will mean they are automatically dismissed from the process.

But over the last year this has so rapidly scaled that I'm now looking at over 50% of applications copying and pasting from AI chatbots. It's blatantly obvious, gives poor answers, massively slows down my recruitment processes, and is a complete waste of the candidates time as they get auto-rejected! I'm at the point where I'm also going to start blacklisting their names from future recruitment, and sharing said list with our sister companies (part of a large network).

I don't understand why they do it - using it to get ideas and editing it I get. But copying and pasting - how stupid do they think we are?!

Probably because so many big companies make them jump through hoops. It's absolutely ridiculous you don't get a CV. Im sure you still ask them to submit it though - what's the point in them doing it? And let me guess. Your system asks for their cv, then for them to I put the info all manually, then to supply a cover letter, then answer questions? And of course they won't give any feedback if asked because they're SO BUSY.

Applications should not take hours.

No, they just have to answer 3-5 situation based questions. If invited to interview they may submit their cv in a normal document form.

I'd be interested to see how your gdpr policy allows you to retain personal details for the purposes of blacklisting.

I have been applying for jobs recently and I have to be honest I am so incredibly fed up of wasting hours and hours on every single application only to never hear from the company or agency. So I can understand why people start doing this. Each application I have filled in has had 10 plus questions wanting me to give examples. The last one took me 5 hours. The only reason I haven't used ai is because I figure it would be found out but tbh seems I never get a response anyway I can understand why people do.

I would email all those you are identifying and inform them they have been autorejected and blacklisted so they're in no doubt about the outcome of their attempts.

Are there patterns identified? An age group or similar cohort? You don't see that data at the time of review but it's something that would be worth assessing.

It also suggests there might be better ways to assess the candidates if this method is not working for you.

This. I hope you state on your job description that you will be using their personal identifiable information for this purpose, the length of time you'll retain their data, and how they can remove their permission for you to use it.

We use an online recruitment system at work which is designed to reduce bias - we can only see how candidates have answered work based questions which are designed to assess their ability to do the job

You are right to be annoyed by candidates using AI, which is lazy and a waste of time, however, you are also open to that accusation by using a computer generated algorithm to screen excellent candidates out of the process because "the computer says no". Recruitment should be a people centered process, yes, I know you get many hundreds of applications, but my personal opinion is that it should be based on human interaction and intuition not computer screening. And don't get me started on psychometric testing.

It also suggests there might be better ways to assess the candidates if this method is not working for you.
My first thought, too.
I'm pretty sure (but haven't confronted them on it) that one of my relatives got through the initial stage of a selection process because a friend, who works for the company, helped them fill in the computer form. It's not terribly different from getting AI to do it.
Obviously they then went on to gain the place on their own merit at interview, but it can be very easy to game these computer systems that HR departments love so much.

Name changed, OP?

Try being a teacher. So many blatantly AI-generated essays.

Apologies for possibly a stupid question, but how does your computer know that responses are AI generated?

I'd say that blacklisting someone is pretty much the definition of bias as well as a clear breach of data law

And don't get me started on psychometric testing.
Like I said, if it is done remotely / from home then the employer has no idea who is really entering the information...

But who cares. As long as the employer can tick some EDI form about 'blind' recruitment then all is well.

Yes, YABU. There are multiple legal pitfalls in compiling and sharing data for this purpose, keep yourself safe!

You can feedback to applicants that they have been rejected because of use of AI, it may reduce it in the future.

Wait, how do you judge experience if you can’t look at CVs?! Is there a later step in the process where you can?

This does sound like a somewhat offputting recruitment process. If it’s clear to the candidate that all they will be assessed on is those questions then they may feel that they are being treated like just a number rather than a person. Especially if the questions are irritatingly generic HR type questions rather than technical job based questions.

This does sound like a somewhat offputting recruitment process. If it’s clear to the candidate that all they will be assessed on is those questions then they may feel that they are being treated like just a number rather than a person. Especially if the questions are irritatingly generic HR type questions rather than technical job based questions.
Ha, yes. The employer might think that they are screening out applicants but actually the candidates who can pick & choose (i.e. the better ones) will be screening out the employer!

I feel your pain OP. If I see the words 'seamlessly aligned' once more on an application form or CV I might explode

How are you going to blacklist them if you don't see personal details? Presumably the name would be blanked out because that would be an easy way to discriminate against people who had names which are not traditionally of this country.

I totally agree with this. I even had a ridiculous conversation recently with a recruiter who had omitted to mention the "job" was actually a contract and they wanted an immediate start - a waste of her time and mine that could have been prevented by simply making it clear in their ad.

It's almost impossible to get a job at many places due to the ridiculous processes they have - and then they complain there are no good applicants.

If you’re going to see the CV in the second round, what’s the point refusing to look at it in the first?

All you’re doing is a) screening out people who are already employed and don’t have time for your cumbersome application process- arguably the best candidates, and b) encouraging low-quality applications from people who have 4 other applications to do that day and don’t have the time to spend several hours answering ‘situation based questions.’ Especially not for a first-round application that they’re unlikely to succeed with or get feedback from.

Applications like these are absolutely obnoxious. just… don’t.

I think you may be in the wrong job.

Your recruitment process sounds rubbish and I'm not surprised people will not waste their time answering written questions.

What you're describing there sounds like it needs to be assessed during an interview.

YANBU - people complain of a recruitment crisis but I think they're not looking at applications properly.

I really don't know what was wrong with the old systems whereby you posted a vacancy saying what was required and then went through the applications you are sent.

Wow, I know mumsnet loves to pile on but the ability users have to jump on a runaway train is impressive.

I don't think our application system is perfect - but I'm not in charge of that!

What I object to is cheating, is that unreasonable?

Also can I just say there's no psychometric testing or computer algorithms involved, not sure where that has come from? We ask candidates to answer 3-5 situation based questions and the hiring manager then marks them against a tailored marking scheme. That's why it's so easy to spot AI as we put the questions through AI tools to check what answers are generated.

And no we won't blacklist, realistically HR are going to talk me down. I'm just so fed up of it