Possibly screwed over by AI

[Zkr623]

In the interests of time and to avoid errors, I wanted to reply as quickly and smoothly to an interview request by email from a recruiter who wanted to move to the next step. So I let my AI app formulate a quick reply. Only after sending, I noticed AI had added a telltale 'signature' to the bottom.

" Thank you for reaching out. Thursday, November 20th at 1pm works perfectly—I’ll be available and looking forward to our conversation.

You can reach me at (XXX) XXX XXXX.

Best regards,

Would you like a slightly more casual or more formal version as well? You can reach me at 2XX XXX XXXX

"

Am I screwed? AI suggested a followup to tell her to disregard the last email BUT that would just draw more attention to it. I am so embarassed. Aren't recruiters trained to look for details? Is this over?

Why are you blaming AI for your inability to proof read?

It's very well known that AI works like this. You didn't even remove the em dash!

Oh, and I'm sure you're absolutely perfect and never make a single mistake.

So not screwed over by AI at all - just by being too lazy to respond yourself to an email about a job you clearly are not really that bothered to get. As a recruiter it might put me off, yes.

This response is loaded with shame avoidance. Time to watch that Brené Brown ted talk op

Depends on the job. If it’s one where admin features, I wouldn’t be impressed. Firstly because it looks like you don’t have the confidence to put a simple email together and secondly because somehow you’ve still managed to spell a word incorrectly and miss the footer. If it’s say in hospitality front of house, I would probably overlook it.

Not sure how you can mix up a one liner AI and your own input like that though.

Surely it took longer to prompt AI to write that email and then copy and paste it in than it would to actually write the email yourself?? That’s literally a 1 min or less email. So yes if I received that I’d find it bizarre and kind of off-putting. Especially as you didn’t notice the bit at the bottom which is about half the overall text! Sorry OP but that’s the truth.

It wasn't a mistake though. A typo is a mistake. Using AI and then not proof-reading AI output for something that literally takes 30 seconds is a huge alarm bell that the candidate can't be arsed.

If I have a choice between a candidate who has put the effort in to the recruitment process and someone who hasn't, obviously I'm going to pick the non-lazy one.

I mean, that is literally the point of recruitment processes, to find decent candidates.

I'm not the OP but imma watch it anyway. You're never too old to learn. 😊

Sorry OP but I think this will seriously impact your chances.. I don’t think it’s “shallow” of them to want a candidate that can formulate their own email responses that are in essence very basic. I think it’s less about the importance of this particular email, but more a sign of things to come, I.e. you would be relying on AI for more complex tasks in the role, in which it is crucial to avoid mistakes etc. all the best on your job search!

It's not great, OP. Was this to an external recruitment consultant or internal recruiter? (TBH most people would assume this was an AI response due to your use of "reaching out" and the em-dash, but leaving the footer on is pretty poor, sorry.)

I would be very unimpressed by this. By your own admission you were being lazy which doesn't scream being very invested in this new job.

The recruiter will probably assume that you aren't really interested in the job and are going through the motions to keep your work coach happy.

It would put me off, personally... would you like it if they contacted you with an obvious AI job that they hadn't checked and had left the patter in?

But if it was a recruitment agency, they won't care.

You would have to be the most amazing candidate ever at interview for me to get past that.

Not because you used AI, but because you didn't care enough to double check before you pressed send and I would be concerned I'd have to spend my time micro-managing and double checking things.

However, it's not as bad as:

The candidate who sent their cover letter and cv in 8 point bold Edwardian script as a pdf (I have no clue what they wrote as it was impossible to decipher).

The candidate whose entire application was: 'Plz check my Insta to see if your company is gonna be a good vibe for me.'

Stop relying on AI. If you don't have the confidence to send your own emails you don't have the skills for the job.

In my workplace it wouldn't make much difference as the application and interview process are competency based with all candidates asked the same questions and scored. Plus HR deal with all the correspondence to applicants so we wouldn't even see the email.

i Can’t imagine any world where it is quicker to do a ChatGPT one liner then it is to actually write it yourself

Depends on how desperately they want to fill the role, how qualified you are etc. However, I wouldn’t hire you and I’d be so unimpressed at the inability to write a short email response. Also do people not get how much of a twat AI makes them sound in these messages?

It wouldn’t be nitpicky to discount you for this, you said yourself you were too lazy to bother replying properly - why would they pick the lazy one with crap spelling? Also AI isn’t alive, you screwed yourself over

It’s a recruiter though so they will read the email and can choose to pass on other candidates rather than OP

If I was the recruiter, I'd be leaning towards rejecting you regardless of how well you did in the interview, sorry. Not being able to write a two-line email response without using AI and not proofing the message it came up with before pressing send would give me major reservations about the sloppiness of your work in general.

Aah that's unfortunate. Screwed over by yourself though really! Yes it would put me off hiring you. Hopefully it'll work out

If you are too lazy to write a simple email (surely by the time you've told AI what you want you could have written it yourself?) and either can't be bothered to proofread/missed the errors that is a big red flag for recruiters. If you can't be bothered to make an effort during the recruitment process, you're unlikely to suddenly become professional once offered the post.

Ask yourself, if the company is either unable to spot the errors/is so desperate for staff that they will take anyone with a pulse, do you really want to be working for them?

It has a spelling mistake, it sounds wooden, and its left the AI tag in it.
You were feeling lazy... which resulted in a poor email. What if you worked for them and did this to a customer?
AI is a great tool for speeding up manual tasks, it's not a replacement for human interaction.

Nah, sorry. I'd be super put off if I was that recruiter. Even if it's not the case, I'd question why you need AI to write a two sentence email and wouldn't feel particularly respected about it. It suggests you're either incapable of clear communication or very unsure of your abilities.