Jobseekers are increasingly tailoring their CVs to beat AI screening tools — and risking turning off the humans who actually make hiring decisions, new UK research suggests.
A survey of more than 1,000 candidates and 233 recruiters and employers by jobs site CV-Library found that CVs and cover letters are increasingly being written with AI scanners in mind.
Seven in 10 jobseekers said the trend is making it harder to stand out. A similar share of recruiters said AI-generated applications are making it harder to spot the strongest candidates.
More than a third of recruiters also said they were less confident than a year ago that CVs accurately reflect candidates’ real skills.
“Candidates are becoming so focused on writing for AI that they risk forgetting their real audience – the human making the final hiring decision,” said CV-Library’s Alec Stanwell.
AI can sharpen an application, Stanwell said, but it shouldn’t erase the personality, skills and real-world examples that make candidates memorable.
For employers, he added, increasingly polished CVs mean interviews and skills-based assessments are becoming even more important for finding out what applicants can actually do.