00:00 Are you a recent graduate or just looking for a new job?
00:03 Well, how much do you think about AI screening bots
00:05 when writing your resume?
00:07 Whatever the answer, it's probably not enough
00:10 because AI could be the thing keeping you out in the cold
00:13 even if you are qualified.
00:15 Let's talk about the seedy hiring software
00:16 that employers use that scans your resume
00:18 and how you can beat it.
00:20 The technology they are referencing,
00:21 known as ATS, is increasingly common.
00:25 According to a study by Harvard Business School,
00:27 some 99% of Fortune 500 companies use it
00:30 to screen applicants.
00:31 This despite the study finding that the vast majority
00:34 of companies know that this technology has a dark side,
00:38 namely that the software is screening
00:41 qualified applicants out.
00:43 There are many reasons this happens.
00:45 In 2018, Amazon stopped production of its hiring software
00:48 because it was ranking qualified female applicants
00:50 below their male counterparts.
00:52 ATS can also reject applicants with long gaps
00:55 in their resume or be confused by lengthy
00:57 and worthy job postings.
00:59 ATS systems like almost all forms
01:02 of artificial intelligence don't think, they don't reason.
01:06 They're not smart in the way humans think of intelligence.
01:10 Quite a lot of the problems with artificial intelligence
01:13 in hiring actually fall at the feet of the employer,
01:18 not the technology.
01:20 Job descriptions are ingested by AI
01:23 the way they are written.
01:25 And the technology takes the language
01:28 in that job description and more or less
01:32 treats it as scripture.
01:34 But there are some things you can do
01:35 to try to get around this.
01:37 If you're worried about a gap,
01:39 you can pick up some part-time or gig work
01:41 so that the screening bots don't flag
01:43 that you had a career break.
01:44 Candidates can also use new technologies,
01:47 such as chat GPT, to determine the most important skills
01:50 to highlight on a resume.
01:52 Or they can go to LinkedIn and look up how people
01:54 at the company describe their jobs
01:56 and echo that on their own resumes.
01:59 But AI is also progressing rapidly.
02:02 Meaning that screening is not the only time
02:04 that a person could encounter this technology
02:06 during the hiring process.
02:08 In some cases, AI is now writing the job posts,
02:11 screening applicants, and even interviewing them.
02:14 A problem, according to some AI experts,
02:16 because during the interview stage,
02:18 the software relies on programming
02:19 that's been described as pseudoscience.
02:22 It makes decisions based on unfounded assumptions
02:24 about body language and even physical appearance,
02:27 such as wearing glasses.
02:29 In this case, cautious applicants should speak
02:32 to the hiring team if they want to opt out.
02:34 I would encourage candidates to be able and willing
02:37 to reach out to their contact at a company
02:39 when they're being hired and say,
02:41 "Actually, I do have these concerns.
02:43 It's very important to me to make sure
02:45 that I'm being treated fairly.
02:46 I would like to request a human interviewer.
02:49 And here I can attach some resources, some newspaper articles,
02:53 some academic articles which show
02:55 that actually my concerns are really legitimate."
02:57 (whooshing)
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