The Use of AI by Job Candidates: Employer Recommendations

Employer Recommendations

Employers must be prepared for candidates to use AI in a variety of ways during the job application process and should draft rules and procedures that address the various ways candidates can use AI and take into account existing federal, state, and local laws and guidance.

Employers and their counsel should stay on top of the ever-evolving legal landscape in this area and the new AI tools entering the market.

With this general advice in mind, employers should consider taking the following steps to address job applicants’ use of AI:

Ensure there are nondiscriminatory business reasons for prohibiting or restricting the use of AI at various stages of the application process.

For example, some uses, like preparing for a job interview with AI generated questions or using AI to edit resumes or cover letters, might be acceptable, while other uses, like using AI to draft resumes or cover letters from scratch, draft or edit writing samples, or answer interview questions might be problematic.

Post on your job portal or third-party job posting a notice about your AI rules and a link to those rules.

Post on your job portal or third-party job posting a specific notice tailored to particular jobs if certain AI-related rules apply only to those positions.

Depending on your AI rules, require candidates to attest that they have not used AI in any part of the application process or require them to disclose their use of AI.

Include in your notices and rules information about seeking a reasonable accommodation in the application process, including using AI.

Train job recruiters, HR personnel, and interviewing staff to detect potential job application materials that have used AI.

AI “tells” in written materials include things like:

1. use of repeated words or phrases;
2.  a lack of personalization, including failing to include details about skills and experiences or failing to address the specific job for which the applicant is applying and parroting back language from the job posting without elaboration or context;
3. formatting inconsistencies;
4. different tones and writing styles within a single document and across documents;
5. overly complex or verbose language; and
6. similarities between multiple applicants’ written materials.

Indicators that an applicant is using AI during interviews in real-time include things like:

1. applicants pausing too long after the question is asked;
2. applicants looking off camera before answering; and
3. applicants providing answers that sound scripted.

In addition, as candidates progress through the hiring process, job recruiters, HR personnel, and interviewing staff should be on the lookout for inconsistencies in what candidates said about their experience and skills in written materials or video interviews and what they or their references say later in the hiring process.

Include an in-person, nondigital interactive step during the job-application process (e.g., in-person interview without electronics) and be diligent with checking references to better assess an applicant’s skills and experience (e.g., by comparing what skills and experience is conveyed during the in-person interview or by references and with what was conveyed in the applicant’s written materials or during remote interviews).

Conclusion

Employers should be mindful that job applicant use of AI is likely to increase over time. Additionally, it may become more difficult for employers to accurately track job applicant use of AI as AI improves and there are fewer noticeable AI “tells” or “hallucinations” in job-applicant materials.

As employers attempt to navigate this evolving landscape, they must proceed cautiously when imposing restrictions on job applicant use of AI to ensure they remain in compliance with existing federal, state, and local employment and labor-law obligations.