AI in Hiring: Can You Land a Job by Beating the Bots?

Speaker 1: Applying for jobs today isn't what it used to be. Most employers will screen your resume using automated software before a human even sees it. But what are the resume robots even looking for? And can job seekers use AI tools to game the machine and get noticed? The rise of artificial intelligence has completely changed. Hiring and recruitment candidates apply for a job online and their applications get processed through software called an ATS or applicant tracking system. The ATS will sort [00:00:30] and rank applicants based on how well they match the job profile for job seekers though automated hiring tools are a black box, you'll never know which algorithms are being used and you won't know who or what is making the decisions. Job searches are already intimidating and not understanding how these tools work make it even scarier. The use of AI and employment is raising serious ethical concerns about bias, privacy, and transparency. But some advanced technology can benefit job [00:01:00] seekers. Think about algorithm-based career networking platforms like LinkedIn and ZipRecruiter that give you job recommendations and greater access to networking. You can also optimize your resume with keyword matching software. Write your cover letter using generative AI or practice an interview with an automated communication coach. It won't feel the same as personal feedback, but it could improve your chances and give you a leg up. Speaker 1: One of the coolest hacks for job [00:01:30] seekers is a keyword simulator. This software mimics an ATS by scanning your resume and comparing it with a job posting. If you have a high keyword match, your chances of moving on to the next round are better. If you have a low keyword match, you'll probably end up in the rejection pile even if you're fully qualified for the job. Two things to know before you get started. First, don't try to trick the tech. Using white font or listing skills you don't have isn't being authentic. [00:02:00] Remember, you're trying to get seen by an actual human next, don't use the same resume for each position you apply for. Tailor it for the job description every time and adjust it based on the requirements and make sure it's freshly updated with your qualifications. Let's walk through one of these resume optimization tools called job scan. Speaker 1: Job scan promises to get under the hood of an ats. It knows what the resume robots are looking for. Okay, so the first thing I did was [00:02:30] I looked for an open position that I was interested in and I found one on scene's sister site bank rate for a senior editor role. And then I got my resume and I made it as simple as possible. That way the ATS can read it and anything like graphics or headers or fancy fonts won't act like a force field. I also made it a Microsoft Word document instead of a pdf and I'm gonna save my more elaborate resume for later down the road when the recruiter asked for it. Okay, so I got access to a [00:03:00] premium version of job scan and the first thing I'm gonna do is go to my dashboard here and I'm gonna go to create new scan and I'm gonna copy my resume and I'm gonna paste it here and then I'm gonna go to my job description and I'm just gonna pull out the main things that the job is looking for, the qualifications and the experience and I'm gonna go ahead and paste that into the job description. Speaker 1: And then I'm gonna hit scan. What I'm looking for [00:03:30] is a keyword match rate of 70%. At least I got a keyword match rate of 34%. That's pretty common on the first run. That's usually because of the fact that it's not tailored for that specific job description. So I'm gonna go through and show you what job scan has to offer here. First thing it says is searchability. It gives me an ATS tip, which is that I should have the company name some contact info, job title match. That's [00:04:00] all easy to fix. It also goes down to the hard skills and this is the most important part. What it's doing here is it's giving me the key words of the job description and the key words in my resume and it's telling me if there's a match or not. Here you'll see analytics tools, content creation, quality standards, project management skills, continuous improvement. Speaker 1: These are things that appeared in the job description that were not in my resume. Go down to soft skills. Same idea [00:04:30] what appears in the job description as the keywords and what doesn't appear in my resume. The cool thing about job scan is that if you don't think that something is really a key word, you can click on it and you can report that it's not relevant to the job, it's not a skill or it's too generic. And then it will eliminate that as a key word and you can rescan your resume and get different results. And then down below it gives you a couple other ideas. Word count, which is good job level match words to avoid [00:05:00] references. But the one thing that my resume doesn't have is measurable results. So I'm gonna go back and try to adjust my resume according to these guidelines to get a higher match. Speaker 1: One thing you can do with job scan is you can go straight to the power edit tool. It will take your resume and then it will give you the list right next to it. So you can go ahead and you can edit alongside the list of keywords that you need to put into your resume. You don't have a cover letter yet. You can save your jobs in your [00:05:30] job tracker and I'm gonna want a cover letter that's specific to that job. Go to the cover letter generator. I can then go through and I can edit if I wanna change it around, if I want to add some personal touch to it and then I can go ahead and save it. That will be saved automatically to my job tracker where I can move certain jobs around. Based on the status of the hiring process, jobs can recommends that you get at least a 75% match in order to get your foot in the door [00:06:00] and be recognized by a recruiter. Speaker 1: Let's say that you go to that next step and the hiring manager emails you and asks for a Zoom interview. You can rehearse in front of the mirror or ask a friend for help, or you can use an AI powered speech coach online that helps you with your interview and gives you real-time feedback. One of those AI interview tools is called Uley. Okay? So once you sign up for an account with Uley, then you can practice by going to interview and it gives [00:06:30] you a whole bunch of different options for what kind of interview you wanna practice. You can also practice with your own questions. For this interview, I'll go with friendly and supportive. So the prompt is describe an accomplishment that you are proud of. I'm gonna press start 3, 2, 1. When I was working for a publishing company, the, Speaker 1: Okay, so I just finished three interview [00:07:00] questions. It was a little bit scary and a little bit lonely, but I think I did a pretty good job considering my first time. And then Yu Lee's gonna offer an analysis of my interviews. It's gonna give me analytics, word, choice and delivery. So for word choice, I had about nine fillers, so about 2% was things like, um, uh, things that indicate pausing along the way. Non inclusiveness, I didn't, they didn't detect any non-inclusive language. That's good. Gives me my top keywords and it [00:07:30] gives me the script so that I can look at it. It also gives me some of the weak words. These are also filler words. It also gives me feedback on my delivery. So in this case it said my pace was fast and I should try speaking slower than 170 words per minute. My average pace was one 90. Speaker 1: All in all, when I practice with Yulee, I thought it was pretty useful just in the sense that those are questions that usually come up in an interview and it's always useful to have something that you can pull from and some practice as much practice [00:08:00] as possible. I don't know how much I felt comfortable with the recording aspect of it and some of the analysis seems like it would be rather biased against neurodivergent people or anyone with disabilities, for example. It rates you on eye contact, pauses, smiles, and loudness. However, if you're someone who really, um, confronts things like shyness or difficulty being on the screen or you get red light fever when the camera goes on, then [00:08:30] this might be something that will actually help you improve your skills. Speaker 1: AI power tools can definitely help you finesse your employment profile and they can save you time and energy, but you still have to find a way to tell your own story and be you. It's unclear if hiring and recruitment is ever gonna be a hundred percent automated. For now, there's still quite a bit of room for human intervention and personal [00:09:00] assessment. And remember, rejections do happen, but maybe the robot can give you some tips to redirect you. Let me know if you've tried any of these AI powered tools and if they helped you on your job search. And don't forget to like this video and subscribe to cnet.