Technology | Striking the balance between humans and robots in the hiring process

New research into job-seeker attitudes to digitisation, automation and AI in the recruitment process has revealed how job-seekers are cheating recruitment technology platforms, to better their chances of landing a job. Seven in ten (67%) job seekers admitted to deliberately using optimisation strategies to improve their chances of getting a job.

The study, Hiring Humans vs. Recruitment Robots, canvassed the views of over 1,000 employees and job seekers in the UK. The findings revealed a worrying trend: as technology continues to permeate the recruitment and HR industry, job-seekers are looking for ways to game the system.

Of the tactics used, just over a fifth (22%) have searched online to find out how other people have been hired, a similar number (19%) have used buzzwords in their CV in order to manipulate an automated system, 15% have lied or exaggerated about their experience to get an interview, while nearly one in ten (8%) have cheated on a psychometric, skills or other kind of test.

These stats increase considerably among those candidates who understand what an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is. Nearly nine out of ten (88%) of candidates aware of what an ATS system is, admitted to optimising their CV with keywords and skills they know some automated tools are looking for, while those that are aware are also four times more likely to cheat, by using keywords for skills they may not necessarily have, to increase their chances.