Is everyone now using AI for job applications?

[june35]

I have never used AI for this purpose, but if everyone is doing it I wonder if I’ll be disadvantaged to not use it?

What puts me off is the time to put everything you need into AI, work out what you want it to do, and then edit it. I may as well just write it myself?

But if I’m missing a trick please advise!

If we pick up that the application has been done using AI, we don’t interview the applicant.

I'm not. I did use it to get advice on my CV but for applications I write the cover letters myself. Not having any success either way!

Hilarious as AI told me to list some thing specifically on my CV and then when I uploaded it again it told me to compile those specific things into something else. I can't stand it and wish it was not a thing!

AI is such a double edged sword. On the one hand it’s a nightmare because I just can’t tell people apart, they’re all saying the same thing (and yes, I’d say 90% of people are in the roles I’m recruiting, mostly senior and technical).

But on the other I’m in the civil service and we are seeing a much broader range of candidates coming through, people from the private sector, different backgrounds, it’s like it’s levelled the playing field somewhat (sadly a low level!) the civil service application process can be so impenetrable so AI has made it much easier for people to fling applications in.

Even the £1000 a day contractors are doing it. So it’s our recruitment process that has to change because AI isn’t going anywhere, at the moment I’m just having to interview a lot more people than I usually would to see behind the application, but we probably need to start more layers of application, probably telephone interviews to knock some people out before a full interview.

It’s not as simple as just ignoring them for us as we’re a hard field to recruit in and I have found some pretty good candidates are guilty of it.

IMO it's easy to tell if an application has been written using AI. It would really put me off and I'd be reluctant to interview if they can't use critical thinking skills to come up with their own material.

I used it to get the type of format to use and key things
then totally rewrote it in my own words and completely rephrasing things

I wouldn’t use it to write a CV.
I have copied in the job advert, and uploaded my CV, and asked for suggestions on whether the CV was good for the role and how it could be improved. It gave some helpful comments around where I could maybe have highlighted certain elements more, flagged bits from the job description that I was missing so I could think whether I had any relevant experience to add in for those requirements. That sort of thing.

Nothing a helpful and intelligent friend couldn’t have done, in the sense that sometimes you need a fresh pair of eyes. But quicker. And probably most helpful if you’re applying for a few jobs and want to tweak your CV each time to make sure it’s suitably tailored.

I’m not in recruitment so I am only thinking about my recent use of AI for my professional reports.

I would not say that I am “guilty” of using AI. I do tell my readers what I have done. I am perfectly capable of writing reports, I wrote a perfectly compelling 80,000 word thesis to gain my PhD, but AI can collate a hefty amount of information into a readable document in a few minutes. I would do the same in two days!

You still have to input the right data and edit what it gives you back.

So to the OP I think you would be crazy not to use the tool if you need a structure or if you need to ask a question. The job application still must be yours and you have to be able to defend it at interview.

I didn't use it to get interviews recently - NHS and a school. They both had disclaimers about using AI on their recruitment platforms, and you have to declare if you're using it.

I did however use ChatGTP and YouTube to help me prepare for the interviews.

No, I'm not. Keeping it real. Time will tell if I get an interview on what I have written myself

sometimes it helps structure the main contents of the paragraphs etc and then the editing it is refining the ideas it suggests, sorta like a way to get you writing,

how ever some companies do request no ai is to be used in the application process however i did wound what happens when you use Ai to make a list of different answers you can use eg you create a generic list of questions but tailor them to a role, what happpens then because strictly speaking you didnt use ai it unless even using stock answers is the same as using ai during the application

overall id say it helps when its faster and your stuck on what to put etc

Oh I agree, I’m actually pretty sympathetic to it and use it in my work. I suppose by guilty I meant more guilty of ineffectual use of it, if I’m struggling to set people apart it’s probably been over relied on and not tailored enough, some better prompt engineering needed.

I did ask it for potential interview questions based on a vacancy recently. It wasn’t very helpful.

It wouldn't cross my mind to use an LLM on my job application.
I applied for a job last year, and the year before, so I suppose I have had this decision at least twice.

They would be hiring me not an LLM.

I am currently applying for jobs and haven’t used it - I’ve had an interview for everything I’ve applied for so far. I did ask chat gpt for interview questions but didn’t find it useful, it was just scraping the most bland and obvious websites and the results were very generic.

Crap in, crap out. It can be helpful but can’t be used indiscriminately. If you know how to prompt, it can be very helpful to get you into the interview. But at the end of day it’s you in the room and you have to be able to string a sentence together under pressure.

I can easily tell if an applicant has used AI for the CV or cover letter and I wouldn’t progress them to interview. There are so many tell tale signs.

However, if someone is using it as a tool, and they review what is churned out and revise it. I think that this can be a good approach and I likely wouldn’t be able to tell.

Can you give examples of these telltale signs?

“Spearheaded”

Same as this.

I’ve got an interview next week on the back of an application written entirely by AI. I saw the job with less than two hours before the closing deadline. Bunged all my applications for other jobs into one word doc and ask it to write one using my material and in my style. I’d normally start by doing that and then refine which has worked well.

I've used it when I have a complete block on how to word something but then usually change it a bit to sound more like my voice. But sentences rather than a whole paragraph of text.

Writing CVs and examples helps it stick in my mind, I'd worry that if I just used AI to do it for me I wouldn't remember any of it in an interview.

Yes I've used it for applications, like a previous poster getting it to spot gaps and prompting me to add some examples. Also running a mock interview. The process of speaking answers out loud really helps as it's actually the ' performance ' element I struggled with. It definitely didn't sound like AI on my CV as I have a good radar for it I think. I made sure it was in my own words.Good luck!

Indeed, such a cliché!

As I said upthread, I wouldn’t use it to write a CV, so this isn’t me being defensive about my own applications. But realistically, you don’t know if you can easily tell if someone has used AI, because you won’t know all the times you’ve read something written by AI and not spotted it.

but do you actually tell candidate's this and if not then why because in someways its just another tool the same as Grammarly etc