Since getting laid off from a giant financial institution in March, Lamar Rogers has used AI to assist him apply to just about 200 jobs.
He turns to Claude to tailor his résumé, makes use of an AI-powered dashboard for each interview, and just lately vibe-coded a résumé-review app. But Rogers attracts the road at letting AI apply for jobs on his behalf.
For the senior roles in banking and tech that he is pursuing, utilizing AI to deal with your complete utility can be “disingenuous,” Rogers, 34, mentioned. “I need to put much more thought and care into it.”
Whereas employers use AI to display screen purposes, job seekers are utilizing AI to whip up résumés and apply for jobs.
But as AI corporations make it simpler to establish a bot’s serving to hand — Anthropic just lately mentioned new Claude fashions would insert an “imperceptible watermark” into textual content that AI kicks out — the large query is how a lot AI is an excessive amount of within the utility course of?
Enterprise Insider spoke with headhunters and HR execs about finest practices for utilizing AI in your job hunt:
You need not cover AI
Job coaches mentioned that candidates do not essentially want to cover their use of AI. Employers are extra targeted on whether or not a candidate’s claims maintain up than on how polished their résumé seems to be.
“It is not likely about whether or not AI helped write it,” mentioned Stephen Telford, a headhunter and profession coach. “It is about whether or not the declare truly holds up as soon as I begin digging.”
If a candidate claims they “improved gross sales by 30%” but cannot present an in depth breakdown or level to proof of how they achieved that consequence on their LinkedIn profile or elsewhere, Telford mentioned he begins to lose belief.
“That tells me it is simply AI-generated confidence,” mentioned Telford, who beforehand recruited for AWS.
He mentioned candidates can use a easy take a look at: Earlier than letting AI phrase an accomplishment, ask whether or not the declare would maintain up if a recruiter regarded into it. Might you clearly clarify the mechanics behind it, the place to begin, what you probably did, and the end result?
“If AI helped you say one thing you’ll be able to’t independently show, that is the place I might draw the road,” Telford mentioned. “AI can assist you inform your story higher. It simply cannot be the supply of the story.”
Focus in your model
In a sea of AI-generated cowl letters utilizing the identical buzzwords and excellent grammar, sustaining a private model can assist candidates stand out and seem authentic.
Liz Andora, chief folks officer at DHI, mum or dad firm of tech profession market Cube, mentioned that AI might be helpful for structuring a résumé or sharpening the language, although candidates ought to make certain their apps nonetheless replicate them precisely.
“You need to be sure to’re representing and placing ahead who you might be and what you supply to the potential employer,” mentioned Andora, who additionally does profession teaching.
That extends past your résumé and cover letter. At a time when it may be tough to inform whether or not you are interacting with an individual or a bot, recruiters need to see proof of the individual behind the applying. That does not imply leaving grammatical errors to show you are human. Nevertheless, candidates ought to maintain their LinkedIn profile up-to-date and provides hiring managers a transparent sense of what they’ve completed.
Ron Porter, a senior consumer accomplice on the recruiting agency Korn Ferry, mentioned he generally comes throughout supplies with phrasing that’s technically right, however would not sound like the one that wrote it. Candidates ought to make sure the language displays how they really talk and is one thing they might have written themselves.
Do not attempt to undermine the ATS
In a job market the place getting past résumé-screening software can really feel not possible, it could be tempting to attempt to sport the system by doing one thing like hiding key phrases in white textual content.
Andora mentioned getting by means of ATS is a “authentic concern.” Nevertheless, secretly stuffing purposes with key phrases that do not match your expertise may backfire.
Telford mentioned it may possibly sign {that a} candidate is extra targeted on maximizing visibility than constructing credibility.
“If that key phrase record would not match what’s truly on their LinkedIn, their GitHub, or what they’ll converse to after I ask about it, it would not simply damage that one utility. It makes me second-guess all the pieces else they’ve instructed me, too,” Telford mentioned.
Job seekers’ frustrations are comprehensible, mentioned Xenia Wade, an AI adoption marketing consultant. Employers “don’t need the résumés to sound an excessive amount of like AI, however they’re filtering it out with AI,” Wade mentioned.
One strategy to sidestep the difficulty is to get a referral from somebody inside the corporate. DHI Group’s Andora mentioned it is best to search out an insider to ensure your utility will get seen.
Applicant bots are dangerous
Candidates are sending out extra purposes on common, making the competitors for every opening steeper. Within the third quarter of 2025, hiring software program firm Greenhouse discovered that the average job opening obtained practically triple the quantity of purposes from 2017, when the unemployment price was comparable.
That does not imply utilizing an AI bot to mass-send applications is the best strategy to land an interview.
One danger is that, if it is apparent, it may possibly sign that the job wasn’t definitely worth the candidate’s time or effort, Telford mentioned. And in a aggressive market, generic purposes are unlikely to get you very far.
All through his job search, Rogers has leaned on AI. Nonetheless, he mentioned, it took months of experimenting to get his résumé, cowl letter, and utility course of the place he wished them.
“AI can’t do all the pieces for you,” Rogers mentioned. He nonetheless checks its work and makes the ultimate calls.
“It is the construction of the automobile, nevertheless it’s not essentially the engine,” Rogers mentioned. “You have got to have the ability to drive it your self.”
