Job Seekers Dehumanized by AI-Driven Hiring
338 posts across 44 communities in the last 30 days; 51% from r/recruitinghell.
“TL;DR: Research suggests years of previous work experience barely predict job performance (r ≈ 0.07). So here's my hypothesis: randomly selecting 100 applicants out of 1,000 might be almost as effective as filtering them through an ATS, at a fraction of the cost and with fewer…”
“I find it annoying that companies expect so much for an application that it should really be paid work...”
“I considered trolling the AI like in those videos that are going around lately, but honestly that's just time and energy I don't want to relinquish. If they can't respect potential employees enough to actually spend a few minutes with them, I don't imagine the workplace itself…”
Job seekers are experiencing frustration and a lack of personalized attention during the application process. They feel their applications are often processed by impersonal AI systems, leading to generic rejections, wasted effort on cover letters, and a sense of being treated as data points rather than individuals. The current job market exacerbates these issues, making the search feel overwhelming and discouraging.
SOURCES (60)
“How do you'll think? cuz my bro said it's hella creepy submitted by /u/Queasy-Manner-3006 [link] [comments]”
“Entry level SWEs are having a particularly rough time because AI. This resume needs to be formatted to be less busy, look at r/resumes [re: Hi everyone,like everybody, I've been applying to roles for last 7-8months and every time unfortunately came . I'm a fresher starting to spiral and genuinely can't tell if the jobmarket is completely frozen right now or if my resume or skill is not good enough , I started to doubt myself now.]”
“If I am up at 2:30 am doomscrolling jobs/applying can they see that? Does that even matter? submitted by /u/OddDevelopment5297 [link] [comments]”
“Doesn't sound like it. Some organizations encourage you to look at other roles while they evaluate your application. [re: Is this a rejection email ?]”
“From the other side, we keep getting applicants that know this is an in person job, but are always asking if they can do it remotely [re: Do people who've had the same job for years (15+) not understand how difficult it is to get a job interview?]”
“Why [re: If you are applying for a job in 2026 and link takes you to the "Workday" portal.You know you will never make it]”
“Applicants should be required to use one resume across all applications. Enforce it at the level of LinkedIn or Workday or something. You lose some flexibility, but at least it eliminates all the insane AI optimization. Applicants will have to decide "who they are", and hiring companies will maybe get an accurate picture of the applicant. [re: Tougher interview funnel than 4 years ago]”
“Mention which companies those are. [re: Got auto rejected by all top 25 firms please help]”
“I think the resume process is pretty broken with it being so easy to apply and so many AI tools to make resumes and read them. In that environment, if I were unemployed, I’d be making it out to industry events and conferences - they’ll often give discounts to people unemployed, and try to network directly with companies that are hiring or even better people that are hiring. That’s how I got my last job, even though the time between the first connection I made at a conference and the time I got t”
“Automated AI systems are definitely flagging overqualified. [re: A Princeton Ph.D. Applied to 2,300 Jobs. He Still Can’t Get One.]”
So? [re: Got auto rejected by all top 25 firms please help]
“This one surprised me. A company sought me out because of my experience and education in the AML and fraud space, which was exciting because the requisition wasn’t even open yet. Someone asked for my resume and forwarded it to HR. Within 13 minutes, HR emailed me asking to schedule an interview. They said they weren’t sure how soon the requisition would open but they definitely wanted me to meet with the VP. They scheduled that conversation, it turned out they were opening a role and the intervi”
“Is do I just Google as out my resume through and see what pops out? [re: Got auto rejected by all top 25 firms please help]”
“It's like a week's worth of experience and takes up 15% of your resume. [re: Got auto rejected by all top 25 firms please help]”
“I absolutely loathe any sort of “skills assessment” or “personality test” during the job application, but these little simulation quizzes might be the worst. There is nothing any 30 minute little game will tell you that my resume, project portfolio, professional references, and credentials wouldn’t. And if you are really looking to know me personally, then just fucking interview me. Any time a place makes me do any of these dumb little games, I withdraw my application. I just tell them, “Thank y”
“Yup, I had a final round with a pretty big company to get an automated rejection as well. They don’t care. [re: automated rejection email after in-person final round]”
“Thanks for sharing I'm looking for work and will not be applying with them [re: Everyone, beware of Podify]”
“I mean whats the big deal? Companies use ai for their job role descriptions, and half the time the job doesn’t even match the JD. So I guess everyone’s a liar now. And most jobs posted are fake or filler postings on job application portals anyway [re: Has anyone landed an i*nterview and job offer from using an AI apply system?]”
“Everyone wants AI on their resume, so everyone with the ability to weasel their way into an ai project regardless of capability, skill or knowledge is doing it right now. The people that control budgets at most orgs do not know how to assess ai talent, so you end up with people that aren’t qualified to lead ai projects, hiring grifters that don’t know how nor care to learn how to build ai projects, building ai projects based on articles they read written by people trying to sell courses on how t”
“If I ask an AI agent to help with an application, I might want it to research the role, fill in a draft, or show me what it plans to submit. That does not mean it can press Submit. The same thing happens with email. “Help me ask them about this” might mean “write a draft for me.” It does not mean “send the first thing you write before I see it.” I wanted a small local detector for this exact gap: did the user ask the agent to prepare an action, or did the user actually approve doing it? I tested”
“Hiring teams keep saying the same thing lately: a remote posting goes up and within a day there are a thousand-plus applications, a lot of them AI-written and nearly identical. Job seekers are saying the opposite side of it, that they apply to hundreds of roles and hear nothing back. So for people who've landed interviews or offers in the last few months: what actually worked? Referrals, applying in the first day, rewriting your resume by hand, skipping the portal and messaging someone on th”
“Welcome to the wonderful world of Ai hiring. [re: Got this email when I was applying for jobs. I've lost all hope in this world.]”
“Nah dude. I don't need to see shit you generated with AI as proof. And it might help if you disclose what type of jobs you are applying for. Because it makes a huge difference. [re: How I got 30+ call backs in a month]”
“I've had recruiters ignore my available time I've told them waaaaay before AI was a thing. [re: guys i can’t do this anymore]”
“had a final round interview for a company recently. waited weeks and weeks to hear back just for…. a non-personalized automated rejection email honestly quite impressive that they’d spend over $1k on me between lodging, travel, and food just to ultimately treat me as any other candidate submitted by /u/_interpretation [link] [comments]”
“I can DM it to you, I’m getting to no interviews at the moment! I’m not sure if it’s not good. I hand typed it I didn’t use AI submitted by /u/QuestionEcstatic8863 [link] [comments]”
“I’m assuming you didn’t have a high gpa lmao. Years of evidence being overridden by an hour of interview is crazy work. Maybe they are just awkward. Deciding off of interview has its own inherent biases. [re: Your school performance does not MATTER in the workforce]”
“use AI to tailor your resume for specific jobs. Being lead on projects, configuration, and automation will help you stand out vs "support" which is why people aren't getting sys admin roles [re: Laid off today for the first time ever]”
“TL;DR: Research suggests years of previous work experience barely predict job performance (r ≈ 0.07). So here's my hypothesis: randomly selecting 100 applicants out of 1,000 might be almost as effective as filtering them through an ATS, at a fraction of the cost and with fewer built-in biases. I can't test this without real hiring data. Can someone who has access to it try? I'd genuinely love to be proven wrong. I've been looking into research on the predictive validity of hiring”
“Just submitted an application and at the end it gave me the option to opt out of the AI they use to evaluate candidates. Any hiring managers have experience with this? I want to opt out but I feel it will hurt my chances. submitted by /u/Odd_Self7283 [link] [comments]”
“Past was bleak to be fair [re: Two AI agents in a job interview and neither one knows how to hang up]”
“Applicant counts on job listings seem to have exploded. I wonder how much of that is AI auto-apply making it easier to send applications in bulk, and how much is fewer openings pushing more people toward each role. If a chunk of the applications are mass-generated or poor fits, a high count seems like a worse indicator of actual competition. For recruiters or hiring managers, are you seeing more applications without a similar increase in qualified candidates? And for job seekers, do those counts”
“I find it annoying that companies expect so much for an application that it should really be paid work... submitted by /u/Outrageous-Pea-2717 [link] [comments]”
“I considered trolling the AI like in those videos that are going around lately, but honestly that's just time and energy I don't want to relinquish. If they can't respect potential employees enough to actually spend a few minutes with them, I don't imagine the workplace itself is very healthy. Not to mention, the job would require a lot of driving my own personal vehicle to and from clients with no compensation for the mileage. I was unfortunately willing to overlook that a bit a”
“As the days wear on after applying to a job I really wanted, I continue to look for reasons why I never hear anything back. Today's fresh hell is realizing that I may have my dates formatted wrong, as I only use years and not months. (2007 - 2019 instead of 11/2007 - 3/2019) Is this really enough to get ousted on a resume submitted through Workday?? submitted by /u/CattitudeProblem [link] [comments]”
“As we all know recruiting is pretty tough these days. With AI screening, thousands of applicants, multiple stages of logic games and pre-recorded interviews. The game is rigged and because of it a lot of companies dont let you apply to more than one role at their firm within 12 months. I was wondering if anyone knew how to get past ATS on jobs sites like Workday to make applications to multiple roles (NOT THE SAME ROLE), without getting flagged. I typically change my email name, address number a”
“Create a username. There are secret requirements, but we'll only tell you them after you try and fail. Create a password. There are secret requirements, but we'll only tell you them after you try and fail. Oh, wait, 7 years ago, you also recommended someone for this. What? You don't remember? You'll have to recover your old account. Grrrrr. submitted by /u/Doctor_Schmeevil [link] [comments]”
“I tried to get into a game company in cali that used this. The only time I was ever seen for an interview was when a friend on the inside handed my resume and cover letter directly to the hiring manager. You absolutely need to know someone on the inside to get anywhere in the interview process. [re: If you are applying for a job in 2026 and link takes you to the "Workday" portal.You know you will never make it]”
“They're getting desperate using hijacked accounts 🤭 [re: Why is there a gap in your resume]”
“I agree. OP please go one week without using automation to chuck people into a wood chipper. [re: Hoping to help job seekers: DO NOT use auto apply services/sites]”
“Oh. Well, I’ll see myself out. Thanks for explaining! [re: Two AI agents in a job interview and neither one knows how to hang up]”
“Oh yay. Having it auto parse my resume and having to correct absolutely everything every single time. [re: If you are applying for a job in 2026 and link takes you to the "Workday" portal.You know you will never make it]”
“I think companies are laying them off and relying on this AI shortcut but it never gives you contact information for the interviewer. It handles the interviewee’s scheduling over the phone but doesn’t always notify the interviewer. [re: AI Job Interviewer Loses Its Cool After Applicant Speaks Gibberish, Tells Him He's 'Completely Unqualified']”
“Or it’s like when you were in high school and trying to get to that 500 word mark lol [re: Two AI agents in a job interview and neither one knows how to hang up]”
“I applied for a job (perfect match for YOE and education) on Indeed this afternoon. Recruiter or Hiring Mgr looked at my resume and rejected it in 60 seconds. OP I stopped bothering with cover letters 5 months ago. You need to conserve your personal resources, and CLs don't get read anyway. Unless the ad specifically requests a CL, don't waste your time. [re: Applied for a job I was a near perfect match for waited three weeks, and finally received an auto rejection email after reaching o”
“Everyone is different cmon you know that [re: Honest Question to Hiring Managers . How do your brains work when hiring?]”
“What do you think is the reason? Could it be your social skills? Are you having someone else review your resume and applications? Sometimes people’s applications lack enthusiasm that can cause them to be glanced over… [re: No job in accounting]”
“Hi. I am a recruiter; I work for a big corporate company and see thousands of applications and resumes any given week. Seeing a huge rise in applications coming from auto & bulk apply service sites, where applicants think they’re getting a great deal, having a site, service or AI platform submit hundreds of applications across multiple companies and sites, “tailored” to relevant jobs (lol) What you are not seeing: these services and companies are absolute trash and make you look totally inco”
“The JD on LinkedIn stated “Mandarin required,” and my resume only says “Bilingual in Mandarin and English,” without specifically mentioning reading or writing proficiency. Anyway, shortly after applying, I received an email written entirely in Simplified Chinese from the person handling recruitment, asking me to add her on WeChat. The email even included the phrase “ Since we're both Chinese” .” After I replied, “I’m Taiwanese American,” I never heard back from her again. —— Yes, I’m well aw”
“Job market just sucks in general, AI slop or not. [re: A weird thing just happened....]”
“I dont do those partner 😂 these mfers want you to sign up for an acct just to submit an application to some random company no one knows about [re: If you are applying for a job in 2026 and link takes you to the "Workday" portal.You know you will never make it]”
“For the platforms i know use ai, i have been just copying and pasting the entire job description into my resume and hiding it. I haven't gotten an interview from it yet but it hasn't been instantly rejecting me either [re: If you are applying for a job in 2026 and link takes you to the "Workday" portal.You know you will never make it]”
“The AI interview plus near-instant hire defintely sounds like an impersonator, not necessarily Omaha Steaks itself. [re: Omaha steaks - scam ?]”
“Applying for a senior IT Manager's position with what sounded like a good company and a good fit for my skills. Spent a good couple of hours tailoring my CV and writing a cover letter. Upload both to LinkedIn only to find at the last stage the first mention of the derisory salary for the experience they wanted and WTAF is that at the end? "Make a Loom account and upload a video of yourself." Probably just to check I'm a good "fit" I imagine e.g. I'm the right age”
“While the clankers have made mincemeat of resumés, interviews exist as another layer. There is no reason to be indulging with such malarkey of a requirement other than to "other" folks. That is to say, a learning plan != being passed along. [re: I do not know how to teach kids this low]”
“I got an email today and honestly it reads like a template idk how to post a screenshot but here's the email..Hope you are well! If you are interested this role, please share your Updated resume. Role: Pre-Authorization Specialist Location: 100% Remote Job Type: Long Term Contract Rate: $17 per hour Job Description Basic Requirements: High School or equivalent - Document will be required so please ask if they have a hard copy available. 1 + Year of WFH experience with High-speed internet. 1+”