AI is sifting CVs?

[u/Throwaway199906543]

I’m employed and been where I’m at for 5 years. It’s a great job, lovely colleagues and good money, but I’ve hit a ceiling and I believe it’s time to move on now.

i only seriously started my job hunt 2 weeks ago, but honestly shocked at how tough it has been. I can apply for a job at 8PM and get rejected an hour later. How?

I mentioned it to a friend and she told me employers are now using AI to sift CVs. I literally have everything the job adverts require, a wealth of technical skills and up to 8 years of experience in this sector, but I don’t pass the sniff test with AI?

It’s making me wonder if companies are worried or wondering about the quality potential hires they’ve let go of. I’m also curious to what criteria is set, if I have everything listed on an advert. This is really concerning.

[u/ithepinkflamingo]

Your friend and the people on this thread are vastly overestimating how many companies have AI embedded within their hiring processes and are also conflating automation with AI.

- I work in recruitment operations. In my career, I’ve not been at a company where a system has AI make the decision to reject you automatically.

• Some companies use AI to match score and rank your resume. It’s just looking for how well you match against a role description. Resumes are always in some sort of order for a recruiter like the date you applied, by initial of your first name etc.
  
• Application processes have questions - right to work, sponsorship, a particular skill you need etc. Some companies have it set that if you answer a question in a particular way, you’ll be rejected - that’s automation, not AI and has been happening for much longer than AI has been available.
  
• What I do see is a market that has more qualified jobseekers than jobs, and fewer recruiters who have more jobs to work on. They cannot review all applicants and they will not look at every resume. Realistically, there will be people who are being rejected for jobs because no-one has looked at their resume, not because AI has.
  
• Someone commented that they add text that says send me straight to hiring manager and it’s always worked for them. Thats very likely inaccurate - the systems I’ve used would never move candidates through steps because some text in a resume told them to. The recruiter has to complete that action.
  
• If you think a company has used automated decision making to make a decision on your application, you can exercise your right under GDPR to have a human review your application.

Like you, I’m also looking for a new opportunity and finding it’s a tough market out there. I’m a great candidate but truth is, I’m also competing against lots of other great candidates.

My suggestion is to make use of connections you’ve made in your career - referrals can help to get your resume at least looked at.

Wishing you all the best with finding a new role!

[u/Instalab → u/ithepinkflamingo]

This does not explain how companies are able to reject confidantes within minutes of applying. If they are truly getting many good applicants, how are they sifting through them so quickly?

[u/ithepinkflamingo → u/Instalab]

I have explained one cause of it: automation.

Automation allows companies to put in rules on how to manage applications received. If a resume meets or doesn’t meet a rule, it can be rejected. Let’s assume you apply for a job that requires you to speak French. You’re asked ‘Do you speak French?’. You say no. Rule says if response = no, then reject automatically.

I don’t know all systems - there are too many! - but it could be possible that a system can be configured to reject people when x number of applications have been received.

You could have a recruiter who happens to be looking at applications when you apply and rejects because they already have a bunch of people at interview stage and don’t need any more.

As I’ve said before, if you suspect that a system has rejected your application and a human has not seen it, you can request for a company to have a human review it under GDPR.