The modern job application process has reached a breaking point, with applicants submitting hundreds of applications and recruiters drowning in résumés. LinkedIn is now deploying AI-powered tools to fix the disconnect, making them widely available to all users in the coming weeks. The platform’s new AI features will analyze job listings against user profiles, providing transparency on how well candidates match roles and how recruiters might evaluate them.
Job applications are up 20% year-over-year according to LinkedIn data, with job seekers like Paloma Canseco applying to 250 positions since July, spending an average of 30 minutes per application. The frustration has intensified as both sides increasingly rely on AI—applicants use generative AI to mass-apply to jobs, while recruiters deploy AI to screen the flood of résumés. In a ZipRecruiter survey, 25% of people who landed new jobs used AI assistance in their search.
Rohan Rajiv, LinkedIn’s head of career products, says the goal is to encourage users to apply to fewer but better-matched positions, rather than “swinging at every pitch.” The company previously rolled out AI tools for premium subscribers, including chatbots that assess job fit and generative AI that writes cover letters. Starting this week, LinkedIn is also launching a hiring assistant for recruiters that uses generative AI to synthesize job qualifications and build candidate rosters.
The AI arms race in hiring has created new problems. A Society for Human Resource Management survey found that 65% of companies using AI in recruiting deploy it for writing job descriptions, 34% for scanning résumés, and 33% for communicating with applicants. However, automated HR tech has a documented history of bias, favoring men over women and down-ranking résumés with Black-sounding names or employment gaps.
Recruiters like Millie Black report seeing an uptick in fake candidates and note that AI tools don’t always “read between the lines” to identify qualified candidates whose skills aren’t explicitly listed. The average recruiting time has climbed to 44 days in early 2023, according to The Josh Bersin Co. Both job seekers and recruiters are caught in an exhausting loop, with viral LinkedIn posts like Hayley Finegan’s “open but picky” banner capturing the widespread fatigue with the current system.
Key Quotes
This is meant to be a conversation. I’m not going to spend my time with this recruiting company if they don’t hire actual recruiters.
Paloma Canseco, a job seeker who has applied to 250 positions since July, expressed her frustration after receiving a call from an AI recruiter named Robin. Her reaction captures the growing resentment among applicants who invest significant time in applications only to encounter automated responses.
It’s natural to make quantity and volume your friend. But the greater the volume, the tougher the match.
Rohan Rajiv, LinkedIn’s head of career products, explained the platform’s strategy to encourage users to apply to fewer but better-matched jobs. This reflects LinkedIn’s attempt to reduce the noise created by mass applications that overwhelm both applicants and recruiters.
My whole job is to beat down the fakers before they make their way to the hiring managers.
Millie Black, a principal technical recruiter at Techtrust, described the emerging challenge of fake candidates exploiting AI tools to game the system. She now requires identification documentation and video prescreening to verify applicants are legitimate, highlighting unintended consequences of AI-enabled job hunting.
If you just throw a job up as Easy Apply and don’t add pre-screening questions, you get way too many people.
Millie Black also noted how LinkedIn’s Easy Apply feature, combined with AI tools, has created an avalanche of low-quality applications. Recruiters must now add additional barriers to filter out less serious applicants, ironically making the process more cumbersome for everyone.
Our Take
This article reveals a fascinating paradox: AI tools designed to streamline hiring have instead created a dysfunctional feedback loop where automation begets more automation. LinkedIn’s solution—using AI to provide transparency and better matching—is conceptually sound but faces significant challenges. The platform’s effectiveness depends on users maintaining detailed, accurate profiles, which many don’t. More concerning is the documented bias in automated HR systems, which LinkedIn must address to avoid perpetuating discrimination at scale.
The real issue isn’t technology but incentive misalignment. Job seekers rationally maximize applications when individual success rates are low, while recruiters deploy AI screening because they’re overwhelmed. LinkedIn’s approach could work if it genuinely improves match quality, reducing the need for mass applications. However, the company’s dual role—serving both job seekers and recruiters while monetizing premium features—creates potential conflicts. The coming months will test whether AI can actually fix hiring or simply automate dysfunction more efficiently.
Why This Matters
This story highlights a critical inflection point in the labor market where AI is simultaneously the problem and proposed solution to hiring dysfunction. As generative AI tools become ubiquitous, they’re creating an arms race where both applicants and recruiters deploy automation, leading to massive inefficiencies and frustration on both sides.
The implications extend beyond individual job searches. The 20% surge in applications reflects how AI-powered mass-applying is fundamentally changing recruitment dynamics, forcing companies to invest in counter-AI screening tools. This creates barriers for qualified candidates while potentially amplifying existing biases in automated systems.
LinkedIn’s approach of using AI for transparency and better matching—rather than just automation—could set an important precedent for the platform economy. With over 900 million users, LinkedIn’s decisions about AI deployment will shape how millions experience the job market. The success or failure of these tools will determine whether AI can genuinely improve labor market efficiency or simply accelerate a race to the bottom where human judgment is increasingly removed from hiring decisions that profoundly impact people’s livelihoods and career trajectories.
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Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/hiring-broken-linkedin-ai-fix-fewer-jobs-resume-spammers-2024-10