Ghost Jobs, Deepfakes, and Bots: Welcome to the AI Job Hunt

Job searching has never been fun, but a stream of AI-generated job listings and applicant tools has made it even harder. According to a Washington Post report, both employers and job seekers report disorientation and mistrust in the process despite AI tools being marketed as making the process faster and more straightforward. 

How employers can identify fake candidates 

Employers deal with a flood of applications that could include deepfakes. Even when the applicants are real, they may submit near-identical cover letters written using generative AI. Cybersecurity company Vidoc Security Lab released a report detailing their experience with deepfake video in a job interview. They recommend the following for detecting deepfakes in interviews: 

Conduct a comprehensive background check, looking for inconsistencies.

Ask specific questions about their location, country of origin, or educational institution.

Be wary of distortions or lag in video calls; it could indicate a deepfake.

Even tech companies which want employees to be able to use AI in the course of their jobs are trying to filter out AI content in applications. They also need to assess whether potential employees are too reliant on generative models. AI-generated resumes can be filled with errors and inconsistencies, costing recruiters valuable time.

On the other hand, job seekers are told to optimize their resumes and cover letters with the expectation that those materials will be read by automated applicant tracking software before reaching a human reviewer. 

AI adds to frustration for job seekers 

Companies that make recruiting software have embraced AI. While job seekers may use AI tools to write results, they can also expect to interact with AI while submitting applications and scheduling interviews. For some job seekers, all of this leads to a sense that the process is even more impersonal and random than ever. Some services that promise to format resumes to pass AI screening can be scams, churning out nearly identical resumes for multiple clients. 

Candidates also have to contend with ghost jobs, listings companies post in order to give the impression of growth but never intend to hire for. 

The World Economic Forum said 90% of employers use ATS and 88% use some form of AI. Some companies even use AI to interview candidates. Famously, Amazon stopped use of a conventional AI applicant screening process in 2018 because it was found to discriminate against women. On the other hand, the WEF’s 2025 study found that using conversational AI helped organizations save money and generally let high-quality candidates through their initial filter.

Several individuals interviewed by The Washington Post emphasized a familiar point: at the end of the day, personal connections still matter most in a job search. AI can’t replicate that. 

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