Latest news with #jobapplications
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Unemployed to get AI chatbot for filling out ‘boring' job applications
Unemployed people will be given an AI chatbot to help them fill out job applications as part of a government scheme to help Britons cut down on 'boring life admin'. The Government will next week unveil plans to develop an 'AI helper' that will help people apply for work – a move that critics warned could mean employers are flooded with irrelevant job applications. The scheme comes amid a surge in working-age Britons on jobless benefits and a slump in entry-level roles. Official data published this week showed that 3.7 million Britons are now claiming Universal Credit with no work requirements – a rise of more than a million since Labour came to power. On Monday the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology will issue a notice inviting AI companies to help develop an 'agent' that can fill in forms, complete job applications and register patients at doctors' surgeries. While existing chatbots such as ChatGPT are best known for answering questions, AI agents are capable of handling tasks such as booking flights and sending emails as well as answering questions. The Government's AI agent is expected to be in use in 2027. It could also be used to help people update addresses on driving licences and register to vote. Doing so would only require a short prompt, rather than filling in multiple pages of forms. Officials said the initiative was designed to 'save people time and modernise the state'. However, it comes as employers are grappling with a deluge of job applications as AI tools mean candidates can instantly generate CVs and cover letters tailored to job descriptions. A study by recruitment website Totaljobs released on Friday found that recruiters are drowning in CVs, with almost three quarters saying they were being inundated with irrelevant applications. Claire McCartney, of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, said: 'When used appropriately, AI tools can be a useful aid for jobseekers.' However, she added: 'If candidates heavily rely on or misuse AI tools, it could mean that they're unsuitable for the roles they've applied for.' She said a quarter of firms were attempting to reduce or monitor the use of AI by applicants. Neil Carberry, the chief executive of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, said: 'If you are advertising a job you will get hundreds more CVs than a few years ago and a large number will demonstrate they haven't really thought about the job. 'They have done 50 applications in a couple of days where previously they'd have done 10 good ones.' AI tools such as ChatGPT have been blamed for a decline in graduate opportunities, but Rachel Reeves has also been criticised for hitting the jobs market with record-breaking tax rises.
CNA
06-08-2025
- Business
- CNA
Work It - Work Feed: When the job market feels hopeless, how do you stay in the game?
From unanswered job applications to oversaturated industries, Tiffany and Gerald unpack why the job market feels rough and how to stay marketable. Have a work-related question to ask a career counsellor? Email us at cnapodcasts [at]
Daily Mail
23-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Revealed: The telltale sign showing when someone has used Chat GPT
Job seekers around the globe might sneakily employ the help of ChatGPT or other AI platforms when writing their applications. However, Reddit users have pointed out that there might be a telltale sign that gives away when a person has used the platform. Writing on a forum, an anonymous US-based user asked other social media users about whether they think the em dash is a giveaway. The em dash isn't typically used by the public daily, but ChatGPT implements the dash on a regular basis. As a result, some have warned against using the em dash so as not to be accused of using AI. Taking to a forum, the anonymous US-based Reddit user questioned, 'Em Dashes -The Biggest ChatGPT Giveaway? ' He explained, 'As an advertiser, I love em dashes (—) for emphasis, but let's be real -nobody uses them in emails or comments. 'They're uncommon, and keyboards don't even have a key for them. Is this the ultimate ChatGPT tell?' Users took to the comment section to share whether they believe the em dash is a sign someone has used ChatGPT. One wrote, 'I used to use them more until this view got so popularised that I just stopped using them so as not get falsely accused.' Another added, 'I definitely see more of them since the new ChatGPT release for sure. Then when you look at the overall text as context with the em dashes, you know where it came from. ' A third wrote, 'I just tested this. I asked them to write three emails. Everyone contained an em dash.' A fourth added, 'Yeah whenever I use something Chat GPT wrote I always replace those with commas.' However, others thought differently, with one saying, 'I use them all the time, to the point where sometimes I'll go back and replace some with commas because I feel like I've overdone it. This isn't a tell.' Another wrote, 'I'm an academic. I use em dashes for clearer writing (academic writing is notoriously obtuse). If that's evidence of ChatGPT use, then that's very bad for me.' It comes after a report found that the number of new entry-level jobs has fallen by nearly a third since ChatGPT was launched in November 2022. Openings for apprenticeships, graduate roles, internships and junior roles with no requirement for a degree fell by 31.9 per cent, according to The Times. Research by jobs search website Adzuna found that entry-level vacancies only make up a quarter of the overall jobs market, which is down by nearly four per cent since 2022. It comes as more companies are outlining their plans to use AI to reduce their headcount. BT said in May 2023 that 10,000 jobs would be replaced by artificial intelligence by the end of the decade. The roles impacted include call handling and network diagnostics. Its chief executive Allison Kirkby has claimed that advances in AI could result in even more job cuts at the company. Dario Amodei, head of $61billion AI start-up Anthropic, warned that the technology could cut half of all entry-level white-collar jobs within five years. The CEO said the change could increase unemployment by between up to 20 per cent. James Neave, the head of data science at Adzuna, said AI was a major factor in the reduction of entry-level jobs. 'If you can reduce your hiring at the entry level, that's just going to increase your efficiency and improve cost savings,' he said. Businesses are facing increasing costs including rises in national insurance contributions and the national minimum wage. The number of entry-level roles fell again by 4.2 per cent in May. Experts predict a 50-50 chance machines could take over all our jobs within a century. But a poll of 16,000 workers last year found many employees believe AI could do it already. Nearly half admitted the technology can outperform them in 'routine tasks' – while also paying better attention to detail. The 'jobs apocalypse' is expected to see admin and entry-level roles first – but will increasingly affect those higher paid as it becomes more sophisticated. The Future of Work Report by jobs website Indeed found just one in three respondents were confident AI would have a positive impact on their role. The majority however – nine in ten – felt confident they would be able to adapt to the changes over the next five years. Workers told how much of their day-to-day responsibilities were already ripe for automation – with three in five saying that AI can carry out data analysis better than humans. Routine tasks (48%) and attention to detail (45%) were other tasks where workers felt AI had the upper hand. While repetitive jobs are well-suited to AI, workers said they still felt confident they were better in critical thinking, creativity and emotional intelligence. Asked which jobs are most likely to be untouched by AI in a decade's time, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Chief Economist, Barret Kupelian said people should look to traditional trades - with roles plumbers, electricians and decorators He explained: 'It appears to me that jobs that require a quite a lot of manual labour...I don't think the technology is skilled there, in terms of augmenting those skills.' The PwC spokesman said that roles that require 'a high degree of judgement and creativity' are also unlikely to be able to be automated any time soon because they require 'bespoke skills that are quite difficult to replicate on a digital basis.'
The Guardian
13-07-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Teach First job applicants will get in-person interviews after more apply using AI
One of the UK's biggest recruiters is accelerating a plan to switch towards more frequent face-to-face assessments as university graduates become increasingly reliant on using artificial intelligence to apply for jobs. Teach First, a charity which fast-tracks graduates into teaching jobs, said it planned to bring forward a move away from predominantly written assignments – where AI could give applicants hidden help – to setting more assessments where candidates carry out tasks such as giving 'micro lessons' to assessors. The move comes as the number of people using AI for job applications has risen from 38% last year, to 50% this year, according to a study by the graduate employment specialist Bright Network. Patrick Dempsey, the executive director for programme talent at Teach First, said there had been a near-30% increase in applications so far this year on the same period last year, with AI playing a significant role. Dempsey said the surge in demand for jobs was partly due to a softening in the labour market, but the use of automation for applications was allowing graduates to more easily apply for multiple jobs simultaneously. 'The shift from written assessment to task-based assessment is something we feel the need to accelerate,' he said. Dempsey said much of the AI use went undetected but there could be tell-tale signs. 'There are instances where people are leaving the tail end of a ChatGPT message in an application answer, and of course they get rejected,' he said. A leading organisation in graduate recruitment said the proportion of students and university leavers using AI to apply for jobs had risen to five out of 10 applicants. Bright Network, which connects graduates and young professionals to employers, found half of graduates and undergraduates now used AI for their applications. More than a quarter of companies questioned in a survey of 15,000 people will be setting guidelines for AI usage in job applications, in time for the next recruitment season. Kirsten Barnes, head of the digital platform at Bright Network, said employers had noticed a 'surge' in applications. 'AI tools make it easier for candidates of any age – not just graduates – to apply to many, many different roles,' she said. 'Employers have been saying to us that what they're seeing is a huge surge in the volume of applications that they're receiving.' Breakthroughs in AI have coincided with downward pressure on the graduate and junior jobs market. Dartmouth Partners, a recruitment agency specialising in the financial services sector, said it was increasingly seeing applicants using keywords written in white on their CVs. The words are not visible to the human eye, but would instruct a system to push the candidate to the next phase of the recruitment process if a prospective employer was using AI to screen applications. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion Vacancies for graduate jobs, apprenticeships, internships and junior jobs with no degree requirement have dropped by 32% since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, according to research released last month by the job search site Adzuna. These entry-level jobs now account for 25% of the market in the UK, down from 28.9% in 2022, it found. Last month, another job search site, Indeed, reported that university graduates were facing the toughest job market since 2018, finding the number of roles advertised for recent graduates had fallen 33% in mid-June compared with the same point last year. The Institute of Student Employers said the graduate and school-leaver market as a whole was not declining as rapidly as reported, however. Its survey of 69 employers showed job vacancies aimed at graduates were down by 7% but school-leaver vacancies were up by 23% – meaning there was an overall increase of 1% in a market earmarked for AI impact. Group GTI, a charity that helps students move into employment, said job postings on UK university careers job boards were up by 8% this year compared with last year. Interviews with graduate recruitment agencies and experts have found that AI has yet to cause severe disruption to the market for school and university leavers – but change is inevitable and new joiners to the white-collar economy must become skilled in AI to stand a chance of progressing. James Reed, the chief executive of the Reed employment agency, said he 'feels sorry' for young people who have racked up debt studying for degrees and are encountering a tough jobs market. 'I think universities should be looking at this and thinking quite carefully about how they prepare young people,' he said. He added that AI would transform the entire job market. 'This change is fundamental and five years from now it's going to look very different – the whole job market,' he said.
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Companies are relying on aptitude and personality tests more to combat AI-powered job hunters
Employers are overwhelmed with job applications and leaning more on a particular hiring tool. Cognitive and personality tests are becoming mainstream, hiring test providers told BI. Employers are the most interested in testing for soft skills, like emotional intelligence, the firms said. Are you happy? Do you sleep well? Do you have many friends? Are you a workaholic? Those are some of the questions Katelin Eagan, 27, said she had to answer recently when she was applying for a job. She agreed to take a cognitive and personality assessment as part of the hiring process, but was a bit bewildered. Many of the questions had nothing to do with the engineering position, which, after completing the tests and going through several months of silence, she was eventually rejected for. Eagan says she's been applying for jobs full-time since the start of the year. Her efforts haven't panned out yet, which she attributes partly to how competitive her field has become and employers having room to be picky. "I think there's definitely a lower amount than I thought there would be," she said of available roles. But that may be only part of the story. Employers are growing increasingly selective, partly because many are seeing a flood of seemingly perfect candidates, many of whom are suspected of using AI to finesse their applications, according to recruiters and hiring assessment providers who spoke to BI. The solution many companies have come to? Make everyone take a test — and see who candidates really are, irrespective of what ChatGPT suggested they put on their résumés. According to surveys conducted by TestGorilla, one firm that administers talent assessments for employers, 76% of companies that had hired in the 12 months leading up to April said they were using skills tests to determine if a candidate was a right fit, up from 55% who said they were using role-specific skills tests in 2022. Employers seem most interested in testing for soft skills — amorphous qualities like communicativeness and leadership — as well as administering general aptitude and personality tests, Wouter Durville, the CEO of TestGorilla, told Business Insider. TestGorilla's Critical Thinking test was completed more than 100,000 times in the first quarter of this year, a 61% increase compared to the same quarter in 2024. The firm also offers a Big 5 personality assessment, which was completed more than 127,000 times in the first quarter — a 69% increase compared to last year. Demand among US employers in particular has been "massive," Durville said, adding that many firms have turned to tests as a result of being overwhelmed with job applications. The US is the largest market for the firm, which is based in the Netherlands. "The biggest thing is people just want to hire the best people. It's very selfish and it's fine," Durville said. Canditech, another firm that offers hiring assessments, says it's also seen rapid growth in the last year. In 2024, the assessment usage grew 135% compared to the prior year, CEO Guy Barel told BI. He estimates that assessment usage is on track to soar 242% year-over-year. Barel says the surge is partly due to the job market tipping more in favor of employers. In many cases, companies he works with are flooded with "tons of candidates" and looking to "move forward as fast as possible," he said. Criteria, another skills-based assessment provider, says test usage has more than doubled in recent years. "AI is kind of creating this authenticity crisis in talent acquisition, because everyone can and is putting their résumé into ChatGPT." Criteria CEO Josh Millet told BI. "It's all about demonstrating your ability or your skill or your personality in an objective way that's a little bit harder to fake." Jeff Hyman, a veteran recruiter and the CEO of Recruit Rockstars, estimates that demand for testing among his clients has increased by around 50% over the last 18 months. That's due to a handful of different reasons, he said — but companies being inundated by job applications is near the top, thanks to candidates leaning more on AI to gain an edge and send out résumés en masse, he says. Hyman says a typical job he tries to fill for a client has around 300 to 500 applicants, though he's spoken to companies trying to fill roles with more than 1,000 candidates within several days of being posted online. The number of job applications in the US grew at more than four times the pace of job requisitions in the first half of 2024, according to a report from WorkDay. Companies also want to test candidates' soft skills as remote work grows more common, Hyman adds — and they want to be sure they're getting the right person. Depending on the size of the organization, a bad hire can cost a company anywhere from $11,000 to $24,000, a survey conducted by CareerBuilder in 2016 found. According to TestGorilla, 69% of employers who issued tests this year said they were interested in assessing soft skills, while 50% said they were interested in assessing a candidate's cognitive ability. A separate survey by Criteria ranked emotional intelligence as the most sought-after skill among employers, followed by analytical thinking. "It's about their personality and to see if they are a good fit to the organization, if they share the same DNA," Durville said, though he noted that, in many cases, companies find the results of the tests to be shaky as a sole evaluation metric. TestGorilla, Canditech, and Criteria told BI that employers say they're enjoying the time and cost savings of administering tests. According to TestGorilla, 82% of employers who said they used skills-based hiring — a catch-all term for hiring based on proven skills — said they were satisfied with new hires, compared to 73% of US employers on average. Canditech, meanwhile, claims its assessments can help employers cut down on hiring time by as much as 50%, and reduce "unnecessary interviews" by as much as 80%, according to its website. But Hyman thinks there are some issues with hiring tests. For one, he says employers turn down candidates who don't score well "all the time," despite them being otherwise qualified for the job. The trend also appears to be turning off job candidates. Hyman estimates around 10%-20% of applicants will outright refuse to take a test if employers introduce it as a first step in the hiring process, though that's a practice Canditech's Barel says is becoming increasingly common. Hyman says he frequently has conversations with employers urging them not to put so much weight on test results, due to the potential for a mis-hire. "That's lazy hiring, to be honest. I think that's not the right way to go about it," he said. Read the original article on Business Insider
