Dive Brief:
- People looking for employment are working harder on applications but getting ignored, with 71% saying they “took an extra step to get noticed” and 81% saying they were rejected in the past year without ever being contacted, according to new data from hiring platform Greenhouse.
- Almost one-third (31%) of job seekers told Greenhouse that being rejected without speaking to anyone, artificial intelligence or human, happens “often or almost always.” That percentage increases to 38% among Generation Z respondents.
- Applicants told Greenhouse that the current hiring market “feels like a black box.” As a result, “job seekers are tailoring their job search strategies for two audiences: the automated systems that screen them and the employers who might suspect them of using AI.”
Dive Insight:
The study surveyed more than 2,800 people looking for employment in the U.S., U.K., Ireland, Germany and Australia, and found that nearly half of applicants sought a referral to increase their chances of being hired, while 27% paid for a resume service. Even among candidates who secured an interview, 96% said they had “at least one complaint.” Just under half (45%) cited “being ghosted by the employer,” while others cited having to repeat what was in their application.
AI has clearly been important to the job search process, with 77% of U.S. job seekers reporting that they used AI to look for a job in the past year. However, 60% said they either changed or thought about changing the way they wrote their application so it wasn’t mistaken for something crafted by AI. Another 39% actually rewrote their entire application for this reason.
“For the first time I can remember, neither side thinks hiring is working,” Sharawn Tipton, chief people officer at Greenhouse, said in a statement. “Candidates send applications into a black hole, while employers sift through AI-polished resumes that all look the same. The application used to be a front door. Now, too often, it’s a dead end. Candidates need a system that actually works and gives them a fair shot. Bolting bad AI on top only hurts them and employers.”
Most candidates are just looking for a better way to demonstrate who they are to potential employers, the report said. Yet sometimes, that means proving to a bot that they’re not a bot. Nearly two-thirds (62%) said they attempted to use various tactics to get past AI screening processes, including using AI to figure out what the system wanted (54%) and adding skills or keywords they didn’t have (40%). In addition, a third of applicants said they added hidden text designed specifically to appeal to AI reviewers.
Nonetheless, 96% of job seekers said they wanted a way to show potential employers “something more clearly than their job application allows,” and 52% said they specifically wanted to demonstrate their ability to learn and adapt. Interviews don’t always help.
Candidates are willing to try alternative methods to get a foot in the door, per the report, which found that nearly half sat for an AI interview in the past year, and 70% said the AI interviewer allowed them to showcase their skills. Just 7% said they would completely refuse to be interviewed by AI. However, candidates value transparency; 88% said they wanted at least one legal requirement compelling employers to disclose when they would be using AI in interviews, and 55% said they wanted advance notice.
“AI can polish a resume or fire off hundreds of applications, but it can’t show an employer how someone thinks or learns,” Ophir Samson, head of voice AI at Greenhouse, said in a statement. “A structured conversation early in the process could give the right candidates that chance. But it only works if candidates understand how they’re being evaluated, and know a real person will review their responses. Trust must be built into the process from the start.”
HR professionals are also grappling with the best way to use AI in the hiring process. A recent report from TestGorilla found that although 72% of U.S. talent professionals surveyed said AI made finding candidates quicker, one-third said it didn’t make them confident in the candidates they found. Meanwhile, 8% said that using AI actually made their confidence drop.