Fake Resumes and Applicants are storming companies – Do You Look Real?

Fake Resumes and Applicants are storming companies – Do You Look Real?

The rise of AI has led to job seekers and companies using AI to make life better. Applicants are using AI to write their resumes and the feedback from companies is that applicants are all sounding the same. There is also a rise in outright fraud by cyber criminals.

We all think about competing against the other candidates for a job, but rarely do we think about competing with criminals and AI for the interview.

Why is this happening?

AI-Enhanced or created resumes generate words based on the probability of words going together. If multiple people (even using varying prompts) have AI generated language it will inherently use the same buzzwords, sentences, and approach. In the best case it may accidentally fib on your behalf, but even worse a great applicant will look either average or like a bot!

“We’re seeing this a lot with our tech hires, and a lot of the sentence structure and overuse of buzzwords is making it super obvious,” said Joel Wolfe, president of HiredSupport

What are companies doing about it?

Ignoring Applicants: If your resume doesn’t “feel” human hiring managers may exclude you. Too many buzzwords or commonality with other resumes? You might look like a bot and get ignored as well

Using AI tools to see if you are human on the internet or the internet trying to be human. This ranges from checking online profiles to seeing if the language used appears to be AI generated. As companies lean into more tools for filtering candidates, human connection has never been more important

Read more at HR Dive who has a great article for employers on how to better protect themselves

Do you seem real to a potential employer?

What applicants can do about it:

●       Look real online: Have a professional presence from your LinkedIn to your email that conforms to the typical professional format. Correctly connect your profiles to the organizations relevant to you with data that matches your resume and elsewhere on the internet

●       Human written communication: Whether it is your resume, cover letter or your Linkedin Profile – we are here to help

●       Human connection: Use a short and to the point cover letter when getting introduced to a potential employer (either through application, introduction from someone in your network or in reaching out directly). Show them you are a person with a story that makes sense for this role, and not a bot!

Cyber Criminals and Fake Applicants:

During the application process, AI and bots can fake being a real candidate in order to get the hiring manager to click on spam links or use other methods of social engineering (without ever having to even speak with a real person)

o   See this link from SHRM on the real risk to employers

Once hired, these fake applicants (using AI to generate not only their resume but their ID and credentials) can steal data, money, install malware, or even hold certain things hostage for payment. American companies have unknowingly hired hundreds to thousands of North Korean workers and bots for remote IT positions according to the US Department of Justice. The ability to create massive volumes of resumes and credentials for little cost has lowered the barrier for these actors to apply for US jobs, putting the burden on hiring companies.