'Grammatically correct and emotionally vacant': The pitfalls of relying on AI too much in your job hunt

• Recruiters warn that overusing AI can reduce candidates' odds of success.
• Résumés written with AI tend to feature the same formatting and buzzwords, plus factual inconsistencies.
• Some job hunters appear to be using AI during video interviews, sneaking peeks at their phones throughout.

Job seekers are going overboard using AI.

With so many relying on tools like ChatGPT to cut corners, recruiters say they're getting stuck with piles of robotic-sounding résumés and applicants who appear to be cheating during video interviews.

While the recruiters BI spoke with said there's nothing wrong with using AI to save time writing, research a prospective employer, or practice answering common questions, they warn that applicants are denting their odds of success by becoming too dependent on it. They say the timing of the trend is especially bad given how many people are looking for jobs.

"In this market, you've got to stand out," said Steve Levy, a recruiter in Long Island, New York.

When it comes to résumés, it's not just the well-known overuse of em dashes that's tipping off recruiters. It's also the eerie perfection of the documents themselves.

"Every sentence is grammatically correct, evenly spaced, and emotionally vacant," said Levy, who's been a recruiter for nearly four decades. "Real résumés have scuff marks."

Buzzwords and blunders

Another telltale sign is that résumés written with AI feature the same formatting and hollow buzzwords, such as "dynamic," "innovative," and "cross-functional." Many also contain the same phrases such as "accelerated time-to-market" and "exceeding stakeholder expectations."

Rather than use these, job hunters should find ways to insert personal touches that add substance to their résumés, said Tejal Rives, a hiring manager in Tempe, Arizona, for a large tech company.

"There's no harm in using AI or templates, but the customization is not there," she said. "You're hurting your chances by sounding like everyone else."

AI tools have a tendency to introduce factual errors in résumés, which are often apparent to recruiters because dates, numbers, and other details are inconsistent with what is on a candidate's LinkedIn profile or what the person says during the interview process.

"Take a real fine-tooth comb to what AI produces for you," said Desiree Goldey, a recruiter in Austin, Texas, who reviews an average of 500 résumés a week and estimates that about half are written with AI to the point that it's noticeable. "Yes, it saves you time, but you have to go back and look at it."

Overall, résumés written by AI tend to come across as soulless, she added. The human element is just missing and that's a turn-off.

"You're not portraying yourself with any authenticity," Goldey said. "You become this robot and nobody is going to hire a robot."

AI shows up in interviews, too

Some candidates are also sneaking a peek at AI apps on their phones while interviewing with recruiters over video apps such as Zoom. Recruiters say these individuals repeat the questions they've been asked out loud, then sneak glances to the side of the screen at whatever AI program they're using so they can read the results it spits out. They also usually take a brief pause before answering.

Goldey said it's fine to practice interviewing with AI, but when it's time to go on camera, she expects candidates to look at her the whole time — not their phones.

"To use AI in an interview to me is a no," she said. "It's the worst thing you could do."

Bonnie Dilber, a senior talent-acquisition manager for a fully remote software company, said she's seen such behavior rising over the past few months. She recalled an instance in which a candidate went even further by using an AI filter to impose their face on another person's body. The other individual — the one who could only be seen from the neck down — answered the recruiter's questions.

"You could see the filter glitch," she said.

Dilber suspects people are going to such lengths because they lack confidence in their interviewing skills and believe AI will give them an edge. Or, she said they could be engaging in fraudulent activity, such as trying to understand the interview process so they can sell the information they glean to job seekers.

She and other recruiters on her team use an AI platform that records interviews for generating transcripts and summarizing what's discussed. If they sense something is fishy, they'll review the footage.

"Recording the interviews for us is a huge way that we can catch these things," Dilber said. "I imagine a future in which maybe to begin an interview, you have to scan an ID."

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