Recruitment is a cat and mouse game. AI gives the mice real edge! 30 ways candidates use AI to get new jobs…

I gave a talk on AI for recruitment in Scandinavia this year, showing how ‘recruitment’ was one of the first things to be hit by AI. For all the abstract talk on AI, let's get practical.

There was the famous interviewee who got a job as a space engineer by taking the online questions from the interviewer, applying speech to text along with insertion into Chat GPT, then coming back with answers, which he read in his own words. He had no knowledge in the domain but was offered the job! This was unusual but candidates are almost invariably using AI to increase their chances.

In truth, anyone who recruits needs to know about what is happening here. My talk was largely about how recruiters can use AI to improve the process of recruitment but first you need to know how potential candidates are using AI. Believe me – they are!

So here’s my Cliffnotes for job seekers….

30 ways candidates use AI to get new jobs

General

Prompt for jobs you may not have thought of that match your quals/CV and experience

Write and refine speculative email/letter

Use Ad, Job description, org website, anything you can find in your prompts

CV/Letter

Personalise CV for every new job

Identify key skills for that job then adjust your CV

Rewrite CV with key points at top

Rewrite with keywords from ad/Job Description in CV

Make CV more concise/turn into bullet points

Summarise down to 1 or 2 pages

Continue to create/adjust/rewrite your CV to match Ad/Job Description

Summarise your CV for the covering letter

Create the covering letter

Critique/proofread your final CV/covering letter

In online applications rewrite entries before inputting

Create your own avatar and send with CV!

Interview preparation

Ask for top ten interview questions (interviewers are lazy)

Ask for likely questions from Ad/Job Description

Use CV to create great answers for each predicted question

Make your achievement answers more memorable

Create answers that showcase specific skills from your CV

Include keywords from Ad/Job Description do I need to include in my answer

Create questions you may want to ask

Create credible answers for gaps in CV

Go to web site and get AI to summarise what ‘organisation’ does

What challenges/opportunities does the organisation have with solutions

Interview practice

Prompt with your Job description and CV and get AI to interview/role play for the job

Try speech dialogue in ChatGPT4o for realistic spoken dialogue

Negotiation

Create a negotiation strategy for salary

Create follow up email if you haven’t heard

Create thank you email even when you don’t get job

PS

If you’re feeling uneasy with this list, then I recommend that famous quote from Catch22…

“From now on I'm thinking only of me. 

But, Yossarian, suppose everyone felt that way?

Then, said Yossarian, I'd certainly be a damned fool to feel any other way, wouldn't I?”

Next post will be 30 things you can do as a recruiter…