Advantages (and Disadvantages) of Using AI in Your Job Search
Generative AI tools like ChatGPT are transforming many areas of our digital lives, from smartphone apps to web search , and are also reaching deep into the recruitment industry: companies are increasingly using AI to screen applications, and job seekers are increasingly using AI to finding the right roles.
At 404 Media, Jason Koebler reports on an automated job application tool called AI Hawk , which helps job seekers apply to a variety of jobs with a few clicks: it will find open jobs for you, fill out the necessary forms, and even write a few lines about it , why you actually want this job while you’re doing something else.
On the other hand, according to IBM , approximately one in five large companies use AI to help “attract human resources and talent.” You might even get interviewed by an AI for your next job. So, what AI tools will help you stand out from the crowd in the job market? And is it worth using them?
How AI can improve your chances of getting hired
Installing AI Hawk takes a few minutes and is written in Python. It automatically searches LinkedIn for jobs that match your requirements, and then takes care of the application: you can plug in a large language model or LLM (like ChatGPT or Gemini) to take care of any text generation that might be required. .
It’s hard to argue with some of the results reported by AI Hawk users: According to its Telegram community and 404 Media report, it helps people apply to hundreds or even thousands of jobs with minimal effort. This has led to real interviews and real job offers, although it’s difficult to gauge how effective it is to apply to a huge number of jobs at once.
LinkedIn, of course, has its own artificial intelligence tools , although you need to be a Premium subscriber (from $29.99 per month) to use them. You can get help from AI when filling out your profile, deciding whether you’re a good fit for certain jobs and companies, finding positions that match your specific criteria, and even messaging recruiters.
Do you also need a little help improving your resume? There are plenty of apps available now, from Kickresume toEnhancv , although they usually ask you for a few dollars a month (or limit what you can do with the free plan). They are easy and straightforward to use and can generate on-demand text based on a few pieces of information you provide about your education and experience.
Don’t forget about traditional chatbots such as Copilot, ChatGPT and Gemini. You can get help from any of them in writing cover letters, adding punch to your resume, and communicating with recruiters. Even if you don’t want all the words you write to be AI-generated, you can turn to these bots for some tweaks in terms of style and tone.
Another way to use generative AI chatbots is to think about roles you might be suited for. Provide some details about what you’ve done for work in the past and what your skills are, and you’ll get some suggestions about what roles might suit you, as well as some ideas you didn’t like. I wouldn’t have thought otherwise. These tools can also help you prepare for interview questions.
Other AI platforms, like Teal (free or $9/month), give you a comprehensive all-in-one job search package: you can create multiple resumes, get feedback on them, search for suitable jobs, track your interviews. was called up and much more. This is a powerful set of tools for professionals.
Arguments for not using AI to find new jobs
Many professions and positions are tough for job seekers, and if you’re looking for a job, you have every right to use every tool at your disposal to try to get ahead. I don’t want to warn you against using AI help if you think it could improve your chances of getting hired, but there are a few reasons to think twice about whether it’s right for you.
While it’s difficult to generalize from every job and every industry, knowing the details of the company you’re applying to and the position on offer often helps – not least when you get to the in-person interview stage. If you’re applying to hundreds of jobs while you sleep, you won’t really know what you’re applying for or where you’re applying to.
Additionally, there is the rather generic nature of AI-generated text. Remember: if you get an AI to write your resume, it will pull together all the millions of resumes it’s ever been trained on and be ready to write something filled with buzzwords, clichés, and platitudes (and a few personal touches added by you). I quickly asked ChatGPT for a cover letter and received in return such tired phrases as “proven track record” and “experience and enthusiasm.”
And let’s not forget about AI hallucinations, a generative AI problem that hasn’t gone away but now seems to be largely ignored. Chatbots like Google Gemini are by nature designed to be creative and deviate from their learning patterns, so mistakes are bound to creep in. Jason Kebler, for example, reports that the AI Hawk bot sometimes listed its location as Italy rather than the US. It would be a shame if you missed out on your dream role because the AI got it wrong.
Kebler reports that the bot sometimes got stuck, sometimes got company names confused, and sometimes applied for roles it didn’t want. On top of that, automated tools like this are banned by LinkedIn anyway (though apparently they’re still making their way in): AI Hawk co-founder Federico Elia was himself banned by LinkedIn for this reason.
By the way, recruiters also have problems. Research has shown that AI can create bias in favor of or against certain groups of people, even on something as simple as a name . Both when developing training data and when developing algorithms, AI models can have issues with fairness—so if a role is typically filled by a certain type of person, the AI may continue to favor those same traits in the future and perhaps even reject better candidates. .
Then you have to think about where this is all leading. If we are moving towards a world where AI chatbots apply for jobs and are then screened and interviewed by other AI chatbots, where is the nuance and human touch? Soon, the logical conclusion may be that AI chatbots can fill these roles too (they did all the hard work of applying, after all).