Is ChatGPT a legitimate tool or a sham in the hiring process?
From writing resumes to LinkedIn profiles, ChatGPT has fundamentally changed the way that both candidates and employers are approaching job searching and recruitment
In the not-so-distant past, just a few months ago, job searching required candidates to invest a lot of time: going through a large number of job postings, drafting cover letters, updating their LinkedIn profile, and tailoring their resume to each position. However, today, finding the right job, writing a resume, crafting a LinkedIn profile, preparing for a job interview, and even completing assignments, have changed significantly due to access to AI tools like ChatGPT.
From the employer’s perspective, AI has countless applications including to refine job descriptions, formulate interview questions and tests, and quickly filter through a large number of resumes. However, if the candidate, organization and job description are all presented via AI, this calls into question the transparency of the job search and candidate recruitment processes.
"The advent of AI has created a new world of employee recruitment…from both the recruiter’s side and the candidate's side," says Ido Namir, Partner and Portfolio Lead of Human Capital and Knowledge Management at Deloitte Israel. "On the recruiters' side, we are witnessing the trend of using these tools to create job descriptions and precise role definitions tailored to the specific organization. The system can learn the profiles of existing employees on internal and external social networks, their resumes, the systems they work on, their work routines, training content for new hires, and more, and build a very precise job description from it."
Another application of AI tools for recruiters is the construction of a story for candidates as part of company branding - why it is worth working for the company, what they will learn in the first year in the company, what makes it unique, and more. They can also utilize an AI tool to build assignments instead of recruiters, to build a specific interview script for a particular job and time, and to conduct market research before opening a position.
"Currently, everyone is talking about 'skills-based hiring.’ The advancement in this field due to the emergence of artificial intelligence tools is amazing, such as finding a candidate for a programming position. Today, unlike in the past, these tools can scan millions of profiles, content created, GitHub and more, to find perfect candidates for recruitment," Namir says.
On the other side, candidates are increasingly using AI tools to perform tasks on their behalf. "Candidates for programming positions can actually take entire lines of code from an AI tool, which isn’t much different from searching for the answer on the internet or paying someone to write it for you. It's just easier," says Namir.
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Using artificial intelligence in recruitment processes creates a kind of technological "arms race". "In the short term, we have seen the use of various technological tools to narrow down candidates, but there has been an increase in the importance of the evaluation and sorting processes carried out by in-person recruitment teams for the final candidates. Similarly, the use of AI to solve homework assignments will bring back pen and paper homework," says Avi Snir, CEO of Elevation, which develops platforms to train and upskill employees or train and hire candidates.
"In 2023 companies are expected to examine candidates based on their skills and fit for the company, and to avoid various biases as much as possible. Therefore, we see and expect that in the medium and long term, recruitment processes will change accordingly, and it may even require the use of different AI tools to evaluate a candidate’s ability to adapt to technology. We already see the use of various platforms that allow for video questions, different simulations, and various tests being performed in real-time using platforms that ensure that everything is done by the candidate," he says.
To what extent is the use of artificial intelligence by job candidates common? According to a survey conducted in February on the website ResumeBuilder, out of 1,000 job seekers 46% used ChatGPT to compose their resumes or cover letters.
Furthermore, 70% of job seekers who used artificial intelligence received more responses from companies when they used ChatGPT. A large majority of candidates, some 78%, who used ChatGPT were invited to an interview, and 60% received an offer after using the AI tool in the recruitment process.
However, 11% of candidates were rejected as soon as the company they interviewed with found out they had used ChatGPT.
It seems that the approach of many recruiters in the country is that even if the use of AI during the job search is acceptable, using these tools to prepare homework assignments is unacceptable.
"ChatGPT is an amazing learning tool, and there is no doubt that it will change the world of homework tasks for candidates," says Dana Barzilay, Chief People Officer at gaming company Overwolf. "There are candidates who use these tools to respond to homework assignments without understanding the task and showing their skill set. Since part of the task is to explain what you did and why, it is not difficult to distinguish the difference and unfortunately we have already encountered assignments that were done using ChatGPT. In these cases, the candidates were not accepted."
One of the proposed solutions to candidates using AI tools to do their assignments is to have them complete their assignments in office by hand.
"We believe that it is more appropriate to perform the task in office,” says Barzilay, adding that “this allows the candidate to experience the work in the office, to feel our special "vibe," to get to know more managers and team members, and for us to see the employee's skills in real time. This of course lowers the "risk" of using ChatGPT, and if candidates nevertheless choose to use this tool, but know how to justify the results when presenting the exercise, it may work for them in the real world as well."
In a company like Orca Security, they did not give up on the home assignment but shifted the emphasis in the screening process to a technical interview. "Upon understanding that there are candidates who use ChatGPT to pass the home assignment, our focus and attention shifted to the technical interview in addition to the personal interview, while the home assignment is just a tool for initial screening," says Gal Tanchelson, Orca’s SVP of HR. "The technical interview includes a brainstorming session with another team member and adds an aspect of team communication and the candidate's thought process. There is no issue with the fact that AI-based technological solutions assist developers in doing their job better, but our challenge is to determine whether candidates who use AI tools have knowledge to design and produce the solution. While this is a period that requires adapting to changing work methods, in the end we also need to trust the candidates."
On the other hand, there are recruiters who see the use of AI tools (including for the purpose of solving the home assignment) as an advantage and proof that the candidate can adapt to and makes an effort to utilize the latest technology. "As technology advances, changes, and improves, recruitment teams also need to improve and develop their ways of thinking and assessing candidates. \[Our\] role has always been to examine the extent to which candidates fit the organization according to its needs, with an emphasis on professional, personal, and ethical suitability. From this standpoint, there is no obstacle, and the recruitment teams should even require the candidates to use AI tools to answer the homework tests and prove how they integrate new tools in their daily work. This ability indicates adaptability and advanced thinking patterns, which are some of the abilities we strive to find in a potential candidate," says Lipaz Tzitrinovich Daudi, a recruitment manager at Gloat.
"As the world progresses and changes, so do the recruitment processes. We expect candidates to adopt new technologies and emphasize how they did it and what their thinking behind it was. That's it. The use of ChatGPT is adapted to different positions, at different levels - from juniors to managing technological teams," she says. "The fact that our product is based on AI only makes us further appreciate candidates who know how to adopt advanced tools and use them wisely. This proves the high value they will contribute to the organization."
However, a candidate who is hired based off of a script fed to them by ChatGPT, could be in real trouble if they don't have the required skills for the role.
"Employers will have to change the parameters by which they sort candidates, because it is no longer enough to recruit candidates based on professional knowledge - AI has plenty of that. Instead, greater weight must be given to other skills - human qualities that no robot (at least in the near future) possesses. For example: intuition, emotion, creativity, initiative, leadership, empathy, and flexibility - these cannot be artificially created, so these soft skills and the potential of the candidate should now have a much greater impact on the decision of whether to hire a candidate," says Maya Buchnik, a career and job search consultant and mentor from Yad2.
Candidates who are able to use new artificial intelligence tools to improve their work are of course an asset to any organization. Expecting candidates not to use these tools to improve their chances of being accepted is like expecting them not to use the internet to research the company before an interview. "Using AI tools such as ChatGPT to solve homework tasks may save time, but it certainly does not create the desired impression. Therefore, present your answer against that generated by ChatGPT and explain why yours is more complete or accurate. This demonstrates seriousness, creativity, critical thinking, and accessibility to technology," says Snir.
From a recruiting standpoint, the use of AI can completely change the game. In addition to the uses mentioned in the recruitment and selection processes, they can use these tools to smartly filter resumes when the system self-educates itself and takes into account many criteria simultaneously without missing outstanding candidates who may not meet the required criteria. "The system can draw insights from life experiences that are not related to experience and education but to motivation and abilities," says Nili Goldfein, co-founder and Executive VP Business Development at Niram Gitan Group (NGG).
In addition, recruiters can use AI tools to predict the adaptation period, success rates in the role, and even improve the candidate experience through a precise and shorter process. However, just as candidates may exploit the technology to their disadvantage, there is also a risk of misuse by employers. For example, tracking performance and fulfilling roles could be used for development and promotion purposes, or redirecting a person's career path in a direction they did not consider. The data collected may serve both the individual and the organization. On the other hand, accurate data collection and analysis that includes delays, deficiencies, absences, erratic behavior, lack of adherence to standards or performance goals, or creative behaviors that are not acceptable in such an organization, or elsewhere, may 'implicate' energetic people. Furthermore, AI systems may perpetuate discrimination and result in the acceptance of only 'stereotypical' candidates.
From the wording of the job description, through the preparation of the interview questions to the wording and solving of the homework, it is clear that AI tools are already part of the job recruitment process. You can't stop the shift, but if you use ChatGPT to prepare for an interview or solve homework, be prepared that it could cost you the job.
