So far, more than 3,000 people have applied for open data science positions at a US health technology company this year. The best candidates undergo a long and difficult evaluation of tasks that very few pass, says a company recruiter who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to speak publicly.
The recruiter says he believes some of those who passed may have used artificial intelligence to solve the problem. In some there were strange words, the recruiter explains, in others the use of AI was revealed, and in one case, when the person moved on to the next interview, he could not answer questions about the task. “Not only have they wasted their time, but they have also wasted mine,” says the recruiter. “It’s really frustrating.”
It’s not uncommon for tech positions to now receive hundreds or thousands of applicants. Round after round of layoffs since late 2022 have sent scores of skilled tech workers scrambling for jobs, and the widespread adoption of generative AI has also disrupted the hiring process, allowing people to apply in droves for positions. All those eager to work hit a wall: overwhelmed recruiters and hiring managers.
WIRED spoke with seven recruiters and hiring managers in technology and other industries, who expressed concern about the new technology; For now, much is still unknown about how and why AI makes the decisions it does, and it has a history of making biased decisions. They want to understand why the AI makes the decisions it does and have more room for nuance before accepting it: Not every qualified applicant will be a perfect fit for a position, one recruiter tells WIRED.
Recruiters say they encounter piles of resumes submitted through tools like LinkedIn’s Easy Apply feature, which allows people to quickly apply for jobs within the site’s platform. Then there are third-party tools for writing resumes or cover letters, and there is generative AI built into tools on sites from major players like LinkedIn and Indeed, some for job seekers, others for recruiters. These come along with a growing number of tools to automate the hiring process, leaving some workers wondering if a person or robot is looking at their resume.
“For job seekers and recruiters, AI is a kind of black box,” says Hilke Schellmann, whose book The algorithm discusses software that automates resume screening and human resources. “What exactly are the criteria by which people are suggested to a recruiter? We do not know”.
Still, generative AI tools for both recruiters and job seekers are becoming more common. LinkedIn launched a new AI chatbot earlier this year, aimed at helping people navigate the job search. The hope was that it would help people better see if they are a good fit for a job or better tailor their resume to it, pulling back the curtain between a job seeker and the hiring process.
This came after LinkedIn began rolling out a new set of Generative AI tools for recruiters look for candidates in October. Using the search tool, recruiters can search for a phrase such as “I want to hire engineers in Texas” and profiles of people who may meet those criteria appear, as well as other specific skills that may be related to the position. They can also send messages written with generative AI and set up automatic follow-up messages. LinkedIn data shows that AI-generated messages are accepted about 40 percent more frequently than unique messages written solely by a recruiter.