Is it OK for jobseekers or employers to use AI?

Could using AI in your job application be ruining your chances of getting hired? Would you use AI to help you write a CV or cover letter? How about during an online assessment or video interview for a job? We are increasingly using the technology to help us with job applications, graduates, external and recruiters say, with many employers happy for us to do so within reason. But when does it cross a line from being acceptable to unethical, or even cheating?

Tom, 22, from Maidstone, graduated last year with a geography degree and says he applied for over 200 jobs before finally landing a role last month as a restaurant manager. He describes the process as "exhausting" and "demoralising," noting that employers often did not respond to his applications. Tom states, "Employers want you to put your absolute best into the application, but if I'm applying for 10 to 20 jobs in a day, the reality is you can't do that."

Tom believes it's "hypocritical" for companies to ask candidates not to use AI when some are using it themselves to screen applicants. While he did not use AI during assessments or interviews, he utilized it to assist with cover letters and CVs, as well as to identify the right "buzz words" that early-stage screening processes often look for.

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"That's where it feels like a weird tightrope. You can't use AI too much because otherwise you're not human. But if you don't write like an AI, you may get skipped by the AI screening."

This summer, the Institute of Student Employers (ISE) surveyed 155 of the UK's biggest graduate employers and found they were becoming "more accepting" of candidates using AI during recruitment "at some stages of the recruitment process." The most commonly accepted use was for writing cover letters or CVs, followed by completing online application questions.