Applying for Jobs in the Age of AI
Since the introduction of ChatGPT, the number of job applications has more than doubled. By the time this article is printed, it will likely have already tripled. Employers are increasingly using AI to review applications and weed out unsuitable candidates. AIs are now even participating in interviews, evaluating spontaneous answers in real time and reading body language. As you might guess, what employers can do, employees can do too. One applicant even managed to have an AI appear on their behalf in an online job interview without the employers realising it. It seems an arms race is underway between increasingly powerful AIs. The role of the human being, who will ultimately be doing the work and whose competence is being assessed, is questionable in such a game.
As applicants increasingly bombard employers with AI-generated information, which is then filtered by AI, the personal touch will become more important than ever.
What do these developments mean for job seekers?
You can use AI to create error-free applications, but readers, especially HR departments and supervisors, are sensitive to the typical AI writing style. Use AI only as a tool, not as the author of your application materials. Assume that all employers use AI to filter out unsuitable applications. Therefore, always make sure to feed the algorithms the keywords from the job posting while simultaneously organising the most important information in an appealing way for humans. [See Wer liest Ihre Bewerbung? 10-2021]
You can practise job interviews with AI by entering a job posting and your CV to generate questions, or even conduct a mock interview directly with an AI. This also prepares you mentally for the possibility that your first interview will be conducted by an AI. In a conversation with an AI, you should behave as you would with a human, as the models are becoming increasingly human-like.
Back to the beginning. Allow me to make a prediction, despite the rapid developments in the AI age making such statements highly uncertain: As applicants increasingly bombard employers with AI-generated information, which is then filtered by AI, the personal touch will become more important than ever. Ultimately, a human will still make the decision, tasked with discerning the core truth from the flood of information.
Support your statements in your application documents and in job interviews with personal examples that only you have experienced. Don’t spend all your job-hunting time on your application materials; network. Try to become a familiar face. An expert interview or a conversation with a former colleague can be more effective than constantly throwing more data into the arms race.
This article was first published in Nachrichten aus der Chemie (issue 06-2026). See here the German original.
If you want to learn about the use of AI in the job hunt and all other techniques and tricks you need to know, you might be interested in our workshop Job application and interview strategies.