The rise of AI-generated job applications
The widespread adoption of platforms like ChatGPT has led to a significant rise in AI-influenced early careers applications. Awareness of ChatGPT and its capabilities among students has grown to 96% over the past year, according to research by HR consultancy Neurosight, commissioned in May 2024. Many use it to assist with coursework and increasingly, job applications and assessments.
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While AI can help candidates produce polished responses, it presents new challenges for hiring managers. AI-generated applications may mask a candidate’s authentic motivations and capabilities, making it harder to assess real potential. It also raises important questions around fairness; how can employers ensure all applicants, regardless of background or access to technology, are evaluated equitably?
Make recruitment more AI-resilient
To tackle these challenges, organisations have an opportunity to audit and evolve their recruitment processes; not to reject AI entirely, but to design strategies that highlight the human behind the application. The goal is to protect integrity while remaining inclusive and accessible.
Rethink CVs, prioritising strengths and motivation
Traditional CVs are increasingly vulnerable to AI-generated content and may favour those with greater access to online resources. Instead of requiring applicants submit a CV, organisations can shift focus toward assessing strengths, motivations, and future potential through other types of assessment. This reduces AI influence and provides a more level playing field, allowing recruitment teams to evaluate what drives a candidate, not just what’s on paper.
Smarter online testing: understanding the ‘why’ behind decisions
At the online test stage, organisations can adopt AI-resistant assessment technology designed to evaluate not just what a candidate answers, but how they think. For example, some leading businesses are using assessments that track the decision-making journey. Instead of focusing purely on right or wrong answers, the system evaluates how candidates make decisions allowing recruitment teams to detect authentic cognitive patterns rather than polished, AI-generated responses.
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The test then captures a 'decision-making fingerprint', providing insight into a candidate’s natural thought process and emotional response to scenarios. This fingerprint isn’t just innovative, it’s inclusive. By tailoring algorithms to the individual rather than benchmarking against a single standard, organisations are better able to accommodate a diverse talent pool, including neurodiverse individuals who may process information differently. It’s a more accurate, and ultimately fairer, way to understand talent.
Strengths-based telephone interviews: keeping it human
Replacing pre-recorded video interviews with live video or phone interviews is another effective way to reduce reliance on AI. Unlike video formats, where candidates might rely on AI-generated scripts, live conversations demand real-time responses.
Adopting a strengths-based approach within these interviews further reduces AI interference. Instead of focusing on rehearsed examples from past experiences, this approach explores what engages and motivates the candidate. This not only makes it harder for AI to be used mid-interview but also provides a more genuine insight into a person’s potential, mindset, and cultural fit.
Virtual assessment centres: combining inclusion and integrity
Virtual assessment centres continue to offer major benefits for early-careers hiring. They eliminate travel costs and logistical barriers, making opportunities more accessible for candidates from underrepresented backgrounds, including those with disabilities.
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To minimise the risk of AI misuse during these sessions, recruitment teams can employ tactics like reducing preparation time and using tasks that require analysis of new or time-sensitive information. These steps help ensure that outputs reflect genuine human thought, while preserving the benefits virtual assessments provide.
The future of AI in the workplace
AI is here to stay. When used responsibly, it can be a valuable tool for both candidates and employers. However, recruitment processes must be carefully designed to ensure AI enhances rather than replaces human potential.
As technology continues to evolve, so too must hiring strategies. But one principle remains unchanged: people, not machines, are an organisation’s greatest asset.
By Karen Handley, head of future careers, Virgin Media O2
