AI Is Giving Job Candidates A “Reputation Score”

Join us as we talk about…

In this week’s episode…

• You’ll learn that AI is affecting job seekers across the country
• Next, you’ll learn how employers are using AI to filter out job candidates
• Finally, you’ll learn what a reputation score is and how it can affect your job search

Job seekers across the country are struggling to stand out among hundreds if not thousands of applicants for a single job and often receive no response after applying.

Many job seekers are starting to understand that AI is to blame and that things will only get worse. This is true. AI has given employers far more leverage than job candidates. Now, many job candidates are surprised to find out that today’s AI gives job candidates a reputation score.

Here’s how it works. Today’s AI recommendation systems prioritize factors other than qualifications. AI-driven job matching relies on historical data, including whom employers have typically contacted or liked, their past searches, which resumes they’ve rejected, which they’ve approved, the profiles they’ve clicked on, and more.

Not only this, but AI shares this information across platforms and across companies. In other words, if your resume has been rejected numerous times in ZipRecruiter by a handful of employers, this information can be shared not just across ZipRecruiter, but across Indeed, LinkedIn and even individual employers Applicant Tracking Systems.

The more you’re rejected, the more you’re likely to be rejected, to the point of being completely invisible in these systems. Those who try the shotgun approach of applying to hundreds of jobs with the same or nearly the same resume are the most likely to be completely sandboxed; as in, buried at the bottom of the ATS ecosystem.

Experts studying AI in recruitment acknowledge that the situation may become even more complicated as more advanced AI systems are implemented. Bias can emerge when AI algorithms favor certain groups based on historical patterns, and it can be challenging to identify and eliminate.

To address these issues, job sites claim that they take steps to combat algorithmic bias. For instance, ZipRecruiter continually retrains its systems with new data and scrubs personally identifiable information. LinkedIn has adjusted its recruiter search tool to reflect gender diversity among candidates. But this is just for improving public relations. I wouldn’t expect much here.

AI companies and employers want to share this information. They don’t want to waste time evaluating candidates who don’t even know how to create a proper resume. They don’t want to hire someone that everyone else has already rejected.

Job seekers are advised to prepare for increased AI integration in the hiring process. While AI can streamline and simplify job hunting, job seekers may need to adopt strategies such as contacting potential employers directly to complement their online job searches.

In short, you have a reputation score in the job market and you need to start taking it seriously. You’ll never find out what this score is, unless you can convince LinkedIn to share their proprietary algorithms with you. Good luck.

Instead, focus on only submitting quality resumes that are highly targeted to jobs. You can’t fix what you did in the past. You can’t know what your score is. But you can improve it by getting the knowledge you need to apply to companies correctly.