ChatGPT: how artificial intelligence is already changing hiring and job search

Since November 2022, the ChatGPT artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot has enabled anyone with internet access to generate almost any type of text.

They can be complex essays, short memos, or poems. Even with basic directions, ChatGPT it can complete complex writing assignments in minutes and work as a creative tool to produce efficient content quickly.

“I’ve had students use ChatGPT to write appeals for parking tickets,” says Vince Miller, a professor of sociology and cultural studies at the University of Kent in the UK.

“But in general, technology allows people who don’t necessarily have the best writing skills suddenly have them“he adds.

Among those reporting such benefits are job seekers. Leveraging a huge set of data, text, and words, ChatGPT—powered by OpenAI—can write compelling cover letters or synthesize career details into a good resume.

Want to email a hiring manager? Ask the chatbot, then copy and paste the AI-generated text directly into the message.

But hiring managers are no stranger to this: they already know that candidates are leaning on AIand it is possible that they will do so even more as the technology grows in sophistication.

This could create a change in job applications as we know them, moving recruiters away from traditional ways of evaluating candidates.

Not all recruiters see the use of AI as a red flag, or something to worry about.

Adam Nicoll, director of marketing at UK-based recruitment and employment consultancy firm Randstad, says hiring managers short on time are unlikely to distinguish between a cover letter written by a candidate and one generated by AI. .

“The language generated by ChatGPT reads clean, even though it uses formulas. Compared to most cover letters, there are no idiosyncrasies; no red flags, but no personality either,” she says.

Despite this, he says that I would not necessarily consider thisor ato trap in the recruitment process.

“It’s helping those who aren’t the best at writing and editing to produce an uncluttered summary of their career highlights. It’s the digitized version of asking a friend to look over your CV,” he argues.

Nicoll points out that recruiters still they already rely less on traditional methods of evaluating candidates.

“The cover letter has been out for years: Hiring managers read a resume for less than 10 seconds, let alone read a 200-word personal statement. At best, the cover letter is an exercise. of checking boxes that accompanies the CV; it’s practically obsolete,” he says.

Instead, Nicoll says that recruiters increasingly prefer to view a candidate’s social media and LinkedIn profile to understand his personality.

And as more candidates use AI to compose their written materials, he adds, the importance of these application elements becomes even more irrelevant.

“If someone can artificially enhance the email they send to a hiring manager, then the email is meaningless,” says Miller, of the University of Kent.

Experts say that standard hiring processes may change as a result of new technology.

For example, since AI can create pre-interview presentations, employers can introduce harsher assessments in response.

“The (employer’s) responsibility is to test and evaluate what machines can’t do“, says Miller.

“While AI can organize data in interesting ways, it’s not particularly creative: it can only work with what’s already there. So that could mean assessments that require more creative and abstract thinking of the candidate,” he adds.

In addition, there could be a greater emphasis on vetting candidates in face-to-face settings, says Brooke Weddle, a partner at Washington, DC-based consulting firm McKinsey & Company.

“Unlike cover letters, which typically convey little information critical to the actual hiring decision, employers take a hard look at cultural background and soft skills during the interview process,” he says.

On the other hand, some recruiters are already adopting new artificial intelligence tools in their part of the hiring process.

For example, some large corporations are leveraging AI in the hiring process to test the qualities of job seekers through skills and personality assessments, which use data-driven behavioral insights to match candidates against job openings and see your interpersonal skills.

These types of emerging platforms that provide recruiters with more data on candidates they can also change the job application processespecially as “we move from degree certifications to skills-based hiring,” Weddle says.

And this may just be the beginning of big changes to come.

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