Getting out of the AI recruiting doom loop
AI has become a familiar tool for recruiters in the hope of streamlining the process of finding IT talent. Meanwhile, countless job seekers in IT and other industries use AI applications to prepare resumes and cover letters, and to find job openings.
Unfortunately, in both cases, using AI in the job search and talent recruiting process may make both processes less efficient.
“We call it the ‘AI Recruiting Doom Loop,’ explains Lili Foggle, director at the Interview Institute of the Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches (PARWCC), and founder of Impressive Interviewing. She says the process creates a counter-productive loop in which:
- Job candidates use AI to enhance their resume and tailor it to the job description.
- Companies become flooded with a sea of sameness – all the resumes look qualified, and it becomes difficult to identify truly qualified candidates.
- Companies apply more or tighter AI filtering, making it harder for candidates to get an interview.
- To get an edge, candidates apply to even more jobs – often using AI to do so at scale – flooding companies with yet more often unqualified applications to filter through.
The result is a huge disconnect between needy employers and deserving candidates that may be genuinely qualified for a given role, Foggle says. According to Career Plug Recruiting Metrics 2024 Report, only 3% of applicants typically get invited for an interview.
“AI Platforms like AI Apply and EZ Apply can automatically apply candidates to hundreds of roles, tailoring their application materials to each one, in the hopes of increasing their chances of landing an interview,” Foggle explains. “AI-assessed and AI-assisted interviews help companies manage and filter the increased scale of applications. This AI Doom Loop makes it harder for job seekers to get an interview, and harder for companies to find good candidates.”
Recruiters use AI throughout the entire process
Employers aren’t just using AI to help them review resumes, although it is still widely used there, explains Kyle Elliott, a career coach specializing in the tech industry and founder of CaffeinatedKyle.com. “They’re using AI throughout the entire hiring process to streamline workflows and save time, particularly as companies reduce recruitment headcount.”
Companies use AI to summarize information from resumes, verify the accuracy of candidate-provided information, and assist recruiters in preparing for interviews, Elliott says.
But Lacey Kaelani, CEO of job search engine Metaintro sees a number of problems with the new AI job search and recruiting reality.
“AI is changing many things in the labor market – from the way we search for jobs, how we apply for jobs, and how quickly we’re able to find jobs, “Kaelani explains. “We see this in three different ways:
- The majority of applications and resumes are filtered out by AI before ever being seen by a human – with the help of keyword matching and predictive pattern recognition.
- While AI-powered platforms can make job recommendations, these recommendations are based on an individual’s job search history, which is often narrow, potentially preventing job seekers from seeing other jobs that they could be qualified for.
- Increased speed and quantity of job applications — individuals can apply for jobs at a rate of 100x in the same time frame that it would have taken to submit only 10 applications. Sometimes quantity is not better than quality, and it’ll ultimately lead to AI acting as a gatekeeper.
IT skills and job gaps put pressure on both recruiters and job seekers
The increased pressure on both hiring managers and job seekers is certainly understandable, and that drives much of the focus on AI tools.
“It’s no secret that 2025 was a tough year for tech professionals, with layoffs topping over 125,000 in that calendar year alone,” explains Lisa Dupras, owner of Elev8 Coaching & Resumes, a career coach with an HR and IT background who specializes in resume writing and coaching tech professionals. “Over 25% of job seekers have been unemployed for over six months. This additional pressure has resulted in a significant increase in the competition for open jobs, with companies now experiencing high volume increases in the number of applicants per open position.”
Dupras offers several examples of how organizations are incorporating AI and social media into the recruiting process:
- Scoring and ranking candidate resumes against job posting requirements
- Incorporating social data as an input into profile evaluation and decision-making
- Using semantics for AI-driven platforms to infer and extract expanded skill lists
- Favoring resumes that include preferred skills and experience during the ranking process.
- Analyzing keyword density to help reduce the impact of keyword packing
- Applying rule-based or model-driven signals that may lower visibility when risk indicators are present
How companies use AI for recruiting
Recruiters apply AI to several areas of the recruiting process, Dupras explains:
Many companies have invested in applicant tracking systems (ATSs) that leverage AI to improve and speed up the efficiency in evaluating resumes. Once resumes are uploaded to an ATS, the data is evaluated against the standards of the posted job. This is commonly called ‘job ranking.’
Ranking has been available in ATS systems for over 10 years, but AI automates the process and provides analysis around the results, Dupras explains. Recruiters report using ranking more often to reduce the time they need to review hundreds of resumes, which then determines.who gets interviewed and who receives a rejection letter. Still, many recruiters don’t trust the ranking results and will review a targeted list of resumes on their own, she explains.
The specific AI is trained to mimic the recruiter’s resume evaluation and choose them for interviews. Each AI can be trained differently based on what the company needs, Dupras explains.
“I have not seen any firm evidence that AI is auto-rejecting resumes without humans approving the sending of ‘no thank you’ emails,” Dupras says. “Note that there are legal reasons that humans must review resumes before there is a rejection action.”
Break through AI resume filtering
Job seekers should consider a three-pronged approach to being ‘found’ and surviving the AI filtering process by focusing on their resume quality, LinkedIn profile, and social media accounts, Dupras says. Each area contributes to visibility, relevance, and professional trust in AI-driven recruitment.
Talent platforms such as Workday continue to leverage AI to expand capabilities. ATS systems are evolving from databases with keyword filters to systems that support candidate matching, automated scoring, and job-fit analysis using candidate skills and experience data, Dupras explains.
To align with AI-based evaluation, job seekers should avoid using tools that mass-apply to open jobs; customize every submitted resume to improve alignment with role requirements; and develop a process to tailor resumes to AI-driven evaluation logic before applying to improve match strength.
