How job applicants are using AI tech to 'game the system'

Artificial intelligence (AI) is quickly becoming an indispensable tool for HR professionals who use the technology to help them identify, sort and even vet potential employees before they get to the interview phase.

This reality is creating new challenges for HR professionals to address, Lehua Stonebraker, SVP of People for hiring platform SmartRecruiters; many candidates are themselves now using AI tools themselves to increase their chances of advancement through the hiring process.

It’s not necessarily a bad thing, she told HRD.

“I think in some cases it’s actually encouraged. If you talk to a career coach, and somebody's looking to make a job change, let's say they’re a teacher that's looking to break into the corporate environment, and they don't know what transferable skills as a teacher would relate to, say, a customer support job at a company, [AI] could help with that,” Stonebraker told HRD.

“You could load in your resume as a teacher and go to chat GPT and say, ‘extract the skills that would align with a customer support job.’ That would be very beneficial.”

AI being used to enhance job applications

When this practice becomes problematic, Stonebraker said, is when candidates use ChatGPT and other generative AI tools to enhance their resumes or applications in inaccurate ways, in an attempt to jump the line.

For example, she said, a candidate can load their resume into ChatGPT and ask it to make it appear they were more senior in previous roles than they actually were. This requires HR to introduce new levels of scanning and research into their hiring process; SmartRecruiters has created a tool that will provide specific questions to ask candidates around the keywords or phrases found on their resumés.

“We have systems that look at key information, whether it's key skills or key words that are pulled from a resumé or a CV, that is highlighted to a recruiter that says, ‘hey, this person says that they have all of these skills’, compared to what's required of this job – this is what questions you should start to ask, to determine if they actually have the right level of experience, knowledge, ability, etc.”

“So a line detector that helps us know where to dig in the most to have meaningful conversations, but also to help kind of sift out maybe the ‘BS’, if you will.”

Analog processes still essential to counter AI-enhanced job applications

While very helpful, using technology in hiring isn’t necessarily foolproof, said Stonebraker; processes such as behavioural interviews, reference checks and skills testing are still essential to countering candidates using AI in their job applications.

And, she said, it’s also up to the employer to do their own due diligence on their end, ensuring that they, too, are being forthcoming about the details of the jobs they are hiring for.

“I do believe in that too,” she said. “I believe as much as you want to try and find the best fit, I do think that there is an element of telling somebody what the job is, including all of the non-attractive pieces, so you're not wasting anybody's time to go all the way to final interviews, starting a job and then to have the ‘smoke-and-mirrors’ go away.”