Using AI
Use of AI and attitudes to it in applications and recruitment are rapidly evolving.
If you are thinking about using AI to help you write your CV or application, you should be aware that employers vary in their approach. Consider the points below to make an informed decision, and come and talk to us if you have any questions.
- Some employers welcome the use of AI and see this as a valuable skill; however others prohibit its use.
- Workplace use of generative AI varies. Some industries use AI regularly and, in others, use of generative AI is not allowed for legal reasons. For example, in heavily regulated industries, such as pharmaceuticals, misrepresentation is an offence, and because of this AI may be blocked on work computers.
- Use of AI in job applications is prohibited by some companies. Some employers may view AI use as “false authorship”, or indicating a lack of personal integrity. It may trigger a ‘detection flag’ and could result in your application being rejected. AI use may be detected where there’s a gap in performance between the application and interview.
- Employers want to find out about the real you and your skills and potential. AI generated applications tend to look similar to each other, and so differentiating between candidates becomes more difficult for the recruiter.
- Some employers recognise that AI can be a useful tool to enhance your application and encourage thoughtful use; see for example Shoosmiths (law firm) advice on Why AI matters in your job application.
- Please check job descriptions and employer websites to research individual employer’s attitudes and guidance (although this is not always stated).
- You can produce a draft in seconds, which avoids the blank page.
- You can generate prompts for how to describe your experience on your CV, cover letter, application or presentation, which can be adapted.
- Using AI, you can generate interview questions based on a job description that you can use to practise your responses.
- AI can provide concise summaries of lengthy pieces of text, including company policies, job descriptions and articles.
- AI may act as an assistive technology to support students with disabilities.
- It can generate vocabulary, which may be especially useful for international students.
- You can use AI to write prose which can then be tailored and edited in terms of tone, length and style by using detailed and specific prompts.
- AI can offer instant initial feedback, including grammar, spelling, consistency of tone and clarity of structure (please note ChatGPT is currently set to American English).
- Unless you edit it, your application may look quite similar to that of other candidates who have used the same software; remember employers are interested in your authentic self.
- The work produced by generative AI may sound impressive at first glance, but can sound inauthentic and lack impact, if you don’t illustrate your points with specific examples from your personal experience.
- AI is trained on publicly available data. Data you provide to AI may be retained and may appear in future outputs. To keep any personal data out of the public domain, anonymise your work. It may be possible to disable chat history and model training. For example, instructions on how to do so for ChatGPT are available on Data Controls FAQ | OpenAI Help Center.
- AI can be unreliable in terms of sources: references may be incorrect; AI is trained on historical data and may not be up to date. All work needs to be thoroughly checked.
- By using AI to generate your application and not authenticating your work, you could present a false impression of skill level, at least in terms of writing ability, comprehension and level of English. This may be noticed later in the selection process.
- You may not feel confident in, or actually enjoy, the job if you haven’t taken the time to research the role and consider the application without the use of AI.
- University of York IT services guidance on Generative AI tools
- AI generation - Digital Creativity: a Practical Guide - Subject Guides at University of York - practical advice about AI tools that you may wish to use.
- Student guidance on using AI and translation tools - please note that this is for assessment purposes, a different context to using AI as an applicant.
- Artificial intelligence - Jisc JISC is a UK digital, data and technology agency focused on tertiary education, research and innovation. Great for useful guides to get started and interesting articles that are regularly updated.