Some applicants use tricks such as 'white fonting', or copying and pasting job advert into resumes, hiding them from human eyes to try to get past AI bots. But why are people doing it and does it work?
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00:00 Are you a recent graduate or just looking for a new job?
00:03 Well, how much do you think about AI screening bots
00:05 when writing your resume?
00:07 Whatever the answer, it's probably not enough
00:10 because AI could be the thing keeping you out in the cold
00:13 even if you are qualified.
00:15 Let's talk about the seedy hiring software
00:16 that employers use that scans your resume
00:18 and how you can beat it.
00:20 The technology they are referencing,
00:21 known as ATS, is increasingly common.
00:25 According to a study by Harvard Business School,
00:27 some 99% of Fortune 500 companies use it
00:30 to screen applicants.
00:31 This despite the study finding that the vast majority
00:34 of companies know that this technology has a dark side,
00:38 namely that the software is screening
00:41 qualified applicants out.
00:43 There are many reasons this happens.
00:45 In 2018, Amazon stopped production of its hiring software
00:48 because it was ranking qualified female applicants
00:50 below their male counterparts.
00:52 ATS can also reject applicants with long gaps
00:55 in their resume or be confused by lengthy
00:57 and worthy job postings.
00:59 ATS systems like almost all forms
01:02 of artificial intelligence don't think, they don't reason.
01:06 They're not smart in the way humans think of intelligence.
01:10 Quite a lot of the problems with artificial intelligence
01:13 in hiring actually fall at the feet of the employer,
01:18 not the technology.
01:20 Job descriptions are ingested by AI
01:23 the way they are written.
01:25 And the technology takes the language
01:28 in that job description and more or less
01:32 treats it as scripture.
01:34 But there are some things you can do
01:35 to try to get around this.
01:37 If you're worried about a gap,
01:39 you can pick up some part-time or gig work
01:41 so that the screening bots don't flag
01:43 that you had a career break.
01:44 Candidates can also use new technologies,
01:47 such as chat GPT, to determine the most important skills
01:50 to highlight on a resume.
01:52 Or they can go to LinkedIn and look up how people
01:54 at the company describe their jobs
01:56 and echo that on their own resumes.
01:59 But AI is also progressing rapidly.
02:02 Meaning that screening is not the only time
02:04 that a person could encounter this technology
02:06 during the hiring process.
02:08 In some cases, AI is now writing the job posts,
02:11 screening applicants, and even interviewing them.
02:14 A problem, according to some AI experts,
02:16 because during the interview stage,
02:18 the software relies on programming
02:19 that's been described as pseudoscience.
02:22 It makes decisions based on unfounded assumptions
02:24 about body language and even physical appearance,
02:27 such as wearing glasses.
02:29 In this case, cautious applicants should speak
02:32 to the hiring team if they want to opt out.
02:34 I would encourage candidates to be able and willing
02:37 to reach out to their contact at a company
02:39 when they're being hired and say,
02:41 "Actually, I do have these concerns.
02:43 It's very important to me to make sure
02:45 that I'm being treated fairly.
02:46 I would like to request a human interviewer.
02:49 And here I can attach some resources, some newspaper articles,
02:53 some academic articles which show
02:55 that actually my concerns are really legitimate."
02:57 (whooshing)