Landing a job interview increasingly means navigating artificial intelligence, whether it’s helping write a resume, screening an application or even conducting an initial interview.
The growing use of AI in hiring comes as Canada’s job market remains challenging for many job seekers, prompting both employers and applicants to adopt new technology in an effort to gain an advantage.
Companies are using a range of AI-powered tools to sort through applications, evaluate candidates and streamline recruitment.
“Employers are using it to be able to help them manage their time. To help them rank, to help them sort, to help them summarize,” said Jason Murray, president and managing partner at executive recruitment firm BES Executive Search in Toronto.
Some technologies are even replacing traditional first-round interviews.
Toronto-based Ribbon has developed an AI-powered interviewing platform in which candidates interact with a conversational bot rather than a human recruiter.
Other platforms, such as Ottawa-based Knockri, rely on recorded interview questions and artificial intelligence to analyze candidate responses.
Knockri chief executive and co-founder Jahanzaib Ansari said the system is designed to identify aspects that predict success in a particular role.
“We’re looking for certain behaviors and skills that correlate to success predictors in that job role,” he said.
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Ontario introduced new rules this year requiring employers to disclose when AI is being used to recruit or screen job candidates.
The requirement comes as references to AI in job postings have risen sharply across a wide range of occupations.
Supporters of AI hiring tools argue they can help reduce some forms of human bias by focusing on job-related competencies rather than subjective impressions.
Ansari said the technology is designed to avoid penalizing candidates for characteristics unrelated to job performance.
“I grew up with a terrible stutter. So that is not penalized,” he said.
But critics and some job seekers remain skeptical.
Complaints are common on professional networking sites such as LinkedIn, where candidates often speculate that automated systems rejected their applications before a human reviewed them.
Murray said the technology must be used carefully.
“Here we have technologies that can actually make us go backwards if we’re not using them correctly,” he said.
At the same time, job seekers are increasingly turning to AI tools of their own.
Some applications promise to help users prepare resumes, tailor cover letters and even generate interview answers in real time during virtual interviews.
Murray said new tools are emerging that could allow applicants to automate large portions of the job application process.
“There are a lot of AI technologies that are starting to pop up that will allow individuals to not be a part of their application process at all,” he said.
However, employers may view some uses of AI differently than others.
Ansari compared certain AI-assisted interview tools to using a calculator when independent thinking is expected.
“It’s like there is a particular time in an interview or an assessment, you want them to just use their brain and not the calculator,” he said.
As AI becomes more deeply embedded in recruitment, employers and candidates alike are weighing where to draw the line between embracing technology and relying on it too heavily.
Both sides appear to agree on one thing: AI is becoming an increasingly influential presence in the hiring process, and its role is likely to continue expanding.
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