I've said before that I am a bit of a Luddite...but with the years come technological advances and whilst some can be life changing, some, not so much. I can't fight them all though and I'm certainly an adopter of some. ChatGPT and AI are not really that new but we've had a few instances recently where I've seen ChatGPT being used on application forms and on CVs.
There are not many agencies who use application forms but there are some. And an application form is used as part of the shortlisting process for interview. Clients take it very seriously. They're not looking for yes/no answers, they're looking to see several things, not least, how seriously you're taking your application for that job specifically and how much time and effort you put into crafting your answers to make them relevant.
One of my clients who does use an application form rejected a candidate this month because the application form clearly showed similar ChatGPT responses to the questions to other applications she had had previously. It was all the more disappointing because the role was for a Content Writing position (!) and the candidate on their CV, looked like a good fit.
I know that Students are repeatedly warned during their degrees now that any identified use of AI or ChatGPT will result in a fail on that particular project or piece of work. I imagine if you are a Lecturer and you receive 40 essays on a particular subject, it would be very easy to suss out if work has been plagiarised or copied from the internet. My niece, currently in her final year of a degree tells me that they have to 'declare' on each assignment that it is all their own work and there is 'zero tolerance' for any use of ChatGPT.
Any client (or lecturer!) does not want to see generic copy and pasted text. They want to see original thinking and writing. Genuinely, it's not worth shooting yourself in the foot - put the effort into writing your own answers and it won't backfire.
Similarly with CVs. I understand that it can often be daunting when you have to start your CV from scratch. But it's still a major tool used by hiring managers and employers and is usually the introduction of you to a potential employer. It's important that it's individual, that it stands out - for the right reasons. We're mostly seeing the use of ChatGPT in the writing of a personal profile at the head of a CV. So many of these are so generic that they're worthless. BUT, a well written and crafted profile can make a world of difference to securing an interview vs not. Potential employers will visualise you as lazy, not willing to put in a bit of effort and someone who cuts corners - generally those are not attractive qualities in future employees of any business.
So, it's worth remembering that the process of recruiting and hiring is still a human one. Real people are reading applications, CVs and covering letters. During the writing of this blog I googled 'CVs with ChatGPT' and I'm quite depressed at how many tutorials are out there. Please don't fall into this trap, you'll be caught out!
I'm always happy to offer constructive and objective advice on CVs and application forms. Shout out if you'd like me to take a look at anything.
Written by Fiona Christian, 24 March 2025