Should you use AI in your Job Application?

And will Human Resources ever sniff you out for it?

Does HR screen for the use of AI in your application? Image created with DALL-E

The short answer: AI can be your friendly, grammar-obsessed assistant for first drafts, but if the final version sounds like your keyboard was possessed by a synthetic ghost, even a half-awake recruiter will still notice. Consider this your reality check in what has basically become an arms race. Companies are getting better at spotting text that’s weirdly too perfect, too soulless — yet they might never openly admit it, because no AI detection program is 100% certain.

To make matters more interesting, many job postings read like science-fiction these days. Employers want “agile, youthful geniuses with twenty years of experience in a technology invented last Tuesday,” and also some intangible superpower such as “proficiency in five languages, including Martian.” Deep down, hiring managers know this is absurd, but they still scribble everything into the official job spec. Maybe they hope a brilliant unicorn who can code in Klingon and charm bees out of their hives will show up at their doorstep. And perhaps that unicorn exists somewhere, but I wouldn’t count on it. Despite this, you should absolutely apply anyway — sometimes the hiring team in Human Resources (HR) is amused enough by a creative cover letter to give you a chance.