As Amazon announces new staff cuts and tech layoffs continue to reshape the industry landscape, career coach Kyle Elliott is warning laid-off workers against over-relying on AI tools during their job search. Elliott, who has been coaching tech employees since 2017, emphasizes that while artificial intelligence can be a helpful tool, depending too heavily on it for résumé writing and job applications can actually hurt candidates’ chances.
The career coach outlines a strategic two-step approach for recently laid-off workers. First, create a list of “must-haves” and “dealbreakers” for the next role, including salary expectations, remote work preferences, and relocation willingness. This helps job seekers act from logic rather than panic. Second, update résumés and LinkedIn profiles to reflect current roles and optimize for 2026 job market requirements.
However, Elliott cautions against what he calls “quick hacks” in the job search process. He’s observed clients using AI to tailor résumés or automatically find and apply to roles, but warns this approach makes candidates blend in rather than stand out. “I can usually tell quickly if someone’s written their résumé with AI,” Elliott notes, pointing out that AI-generated résumés often lack specific job titles and relevant phrases that human recruiters look for.
The fundamental problem, according to Elliott, is that “everyone thinks only AI is reading their résumé,” but humans remain integral to the recruitment process, even at major tech companies. His advice: “In the age of AI, be more human.” He recommends creating a master résumé that can be manually tailored in about 20 minutes for different roles, using AI as a supplementary tool rather than the primary driver of the job search.
Elliott also emphasizes that layoffs have become normalized in tech, with less stigma attached, but the job market has become more competitive because AI makes it easier to submit applications. To stand out, candidates need to identify what’s unique about them by reviewing past performance evaluations and gathering feedback from colleagues about their distinctive strengths and contributions.
Key Quotes
I can usually tell quickly if someone’s written their résumé with AI. For example, they’ll be applying to a systems engineer role, and it won’t even have the phrase ‘systems engineer’ in it.
Career coach Kyle Elliott explains how AI-generated résumés often fail to include basic job-specific terminology that human recruiters expect, making them easy to identify and potentially less effective in the hiring process.
Everyone thinks only AI is reading their résumé, but I have clients who work in talent acquisition and HR — the humans who are still involved in the recruitment process. Humans hire other humans, even at big companies.
Elliott challenges the common misconception that AI has completely automated hiring, emphasizing that human recruiters remain central to employment decisions even at major tech companies, making human-readable résumés essential.
In the age of AI, be more human.
This is Elliott’s core advice for job seekers, suggesting that as AI tools become ubiquitous in job applications, authentic human differentiation becomes more valuable rather than less important.
If you’re using AI, use it more like an extra tool, rather than the thing that’s driving your job search.
Elliott recommends a balanced approach where AI assists rather than replaces human judgment and personalization in the job search process, helping candidates maintain their unique voice and qualifications.
Our Take
This article reveals an important inflection point in how AI is reshaping employment markets. The irony is striking: as laid-off tech workers—many of whom likely built or worked with AI systems—turn to AI for help finding new jobs, they’re discovering that AI-generated applications create a commoditization problem. When everyone uses the same tools, no one stands out.
Elliott’s observations suggest we’re entering a phase where AI literacy includes knowing when not to use AI. The most sophisticated approach isn’t maximum automation, but strategic human-AI collaboration. This mirrors broader trends across industries where AI augmentation rather than replacement proves most effective.
The persistence of human recruiters in hiring processes, even at tech giants, indicates that companies recognize AI’s limitations in assessing cultural fit, creativity, and interpersonal skills. As AI becomes more prevalent, authentic human qualities become premium differentiators—a counterintuitive but crucial insight for navigating an AI-saturated world.
Why This Matters
This story highlights a critical paradox in today’s AI-driven job market: while artificial intelligence tools promise to streamline job searches, over-reliance on them can actually diminish a candidate’s competitiveness. As tech layoffs continue and companies like Amazon reduce headcount, thousands of qualified professionals are flooding the market simultaneously, all potentially using the same AI tools to generate similar-looking applications.
The insight that human recruiters can detect AI-generated content is particularly significant, as it challenges the assumption that automation has completely taken over hiring processes. This reveals an important truth about the current state of AI adoption: despite technological advances, human judgment remains central to employment decisions, especially at elite companies.
For the broader tech industry, this represents a cautionary tale about AI’s limitations. While AI can assist with tasks, it cannot replace the authentic human differentiation that employers seek. As more workers turn to AI for job search assistance, those who maintain a human touch and genuine personalization will have a competitive advantage. This trend suggests that as AI becomes ubiquitous, human authenticity becomes more valuable, not less—a principle that likely extends beyond job searches to many aspects of business and society.
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Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/tech-career-coach-do-after-lay-off-common-mistake-ai-2026-1