Generative AI tools like ChatGPT are transforming many areas of our digital lives, from smartphone apps to web searches, and they’re also penetrating deep into the recruiting industry: companies are increasingly using the AI to sift through applications – and candidates are increasingly using AI to find the right roles.

At 404 Media, Jason Koebler talks about an automated application tool called AI Hawk, which helps job seekers apply for a multitude of jobs with just a few mouse clicks: it will find vacancies for you, fill out forms necessary, and even write a few lines explaining why you really want the job, while you move on.

On the other side of the fence, about one in five large companies use AI to facilitate “human resource and talent acquisition,” according to IBM. You might even find yourself interviewed by AI for your next job. So, what AI tools are available to help you stand out in the job market? And should you use them?

How AI can increase your chances of landing a job

AI Hawk takes moments to install and is coded in Python. It will automatically search LinkedIn for jobs that match your specifications, then take care of the application: you can connect an extended language model or LLM (such as ChatGPT or Gemini) to take care of any text generation that might be needed. .

It’s hard to argue with some of the results reported by AI Hawk users: according to its Telegram community and the 404 Media report, it helps people apply for hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs, with very little effort . This resulted in real interviews and real job offers, although it’s difficult to gauge how effective it is to apply to a large number of positions at once.

LinkedIn has its own set of AI tools.
Credit: LinkedIn

LinkedIn, of course, has its own AI tools, but you must be a Premium subscriber (starting at $29.99 per month) to use them. You can get help from AI to fill out your profile, decide if you’ll be a good fit for certain positions and companies, search for positions that match your specific criteria, and even send messages to recruiters.

Do you also need a little help sprucing up your CV? A host of apps are now available to help, from Kickresume to Enhancv, although they’ll typically charge a few dollars a month (or limit what you can do on a free plan). They are simple and straightforward to use and can produce text on demand based on a few details you provide about your education and experience.

Also, don’t forget about traditional chatbots like Copilot, ChatGPT, and Gemini. You can get help from one of them to write cover letters, make your CV text more impactful and send messages to recruiters. Even if you don’t want every word you write to be produced by AI, you may want to consult these bots for some adjustments in terms of style and tone.

Another way to use generative AI chatbots is to think about what roles might be right for you. Pop in a few details about what you’ve done in the past and what your skills are, and you’ll get some suggestions on what kind of roles might suit you – and you might get some ideas you wouldn’t have. not thought otherwise. These tools can also help prepare for interview questions.

Other AI platforms such as Teal (free or from $9 per month) give you a complete, all-in-one job search package: you can produce multiple CVs, get feedback on them , search for relevant jobs, track interviews you’ve had. been called, and more. It is a suite of robust tools for professionals.

Some of the features offered by Teal.
Credit: Teal

The arguments for not using AI to find a new job

For many professions and roles, this is difficult for candidates and if you are looking for a job, you have every right to use any tool at your disposal to try to get ahead. I don’t want to warn you against using AI help if you think it might improve your chances of getting hired, but there are some reasons to think twice about whether it is for you.

Although it is difficult to generalize to every job and every industry, it is often helpful to know a lot about the company you are applying for and the position on offer, especially when you get to the application stage. face-to-face interview. If you’re applying to hundreds of positions while you sleep, you can’t really know much about what you’re applying for or where you’re applying.

Finding the right job isn’t easy, so it’s natural to want help.
Credit: Lifehacker

Then there’s the rather generic nature of AI-generated text. Remember, if you ask the AI ​​to write your resume, it shuffles together the millions of resumes it’s already trained on, ready to write something full of buzzwords, clichés, and platitudes (and some personalized touches added by you). I quickly asked ChatGPT for a cover letter and got such hackneyed phrases as “proven experience” and “expertise and passion.”

And let’s not forget AI hallucinations either – a generative AI problem that hasn’t gone away but now seems largely ignored. Chatbots like Google Gemini, by their very nature, are designed to be creative and deviate from their training models. Errors will therefore inevitably creep in. Jason Koebler, for example, reports that the AI ​​Hawk robot sometimes indicated its location as Italy, not Italy. It would be a shame if you missed out on your dream role due to an AI error.

Koebler reports that the bot sometimes got stuck, sometimes confused company names, and sometimes applied for positions it didn’t want. On top of all that, automated tools like this are banned by LinkedIn anyway (although they obviously remain discreet): AI Hawk co-founder Federico Elia was himself banned by LinkedIn for this reason.

ChatGPT will write your cover letter for you, but should you do that instead?
Credit: Lifehacker

There are also problems for recruiters. Studies have shown that AI can introduce bias toward or against certain groups of people, even over something as simple as a name. Both in the design of training data and in the design of algorithms, AI models may struggle to be fair: if a role is generally occupied by a certain type of individual, the AI ​​may continue to favor same characteristics in the future, and perhaps even reject the best candidates. .

Then you have to think about where this is all going. If we are moving towards a world where AI chatbots apply for jobs and then are screened and interviewed by other AI chatbots, then where is the nuance and human touch? Before long, the logical conclusion might be that AI chatbots could also fill these roles (after all, they did all the hard work to apply).