Has AI screened you out of a potential job? Employers and employees weigh in

I used to job hunt almost annually (either out of necessity or boredom). In fact, I did it so much that I toyed with the idea of starting a business writing resumes because I had gotten quite good at it. Just about everyone I helped made it to at least a first-round interview. 

Good thing I never bothered because that business would have died a quick death with the advent of AI. Now everyone can refine their resume and highlight key skills with the click of a prompt. But on the flip side, companies are now using it to help with the hiring process.

According to Human Resources Online, a pan-Asia media and events brand, over 82% of organisations in Singapore leverage AI within their hiring, onboarding or training processes. This adoption rate is actually much higher than the global average of 67%. While it’s mainly being used in sectors like information technology, manufacturing and utilities, government agencies, and multinational corporations also use AI to automate candidate sourcing, resume screening, and first-round video interviews.

This means in an early interview screening, you might not necessarily be speaking to a person. I heard from a friend who helps students prepare for internships that one encountered an AI screening as a first-round interview. He ended the interview and didn’t pursue the role. He said it “lacked sincerity”.

Kepler Search, an executive search firm that provides bespoke recruitment solutions, reminds us that AI is only as good as the data it learns from. As they note on their website, if historical data contains human bias around gender, race, education or background, AI can simply learn and reproduce those patterns. In hiring, this could mean disadvantaging women, favouring “Caucasian-sounding” names or overlooking candidates from lesser-known universities.

Perspectives from the other side

Richard Todd, Senior Director, HR, Head of Recruitment, Asia Pacific for hotel giant Hilton feels AI has helped them streamline certain processes, which has then allowed them to hire the right people. “AI has enabled us to offer same-day hiring for many hotel roles, helping us connect talent with opportunities more quickly,” he says. He also believes it has helped make some hiring processes fairer, noting that their hiring managers are trained to recognise and mitigate unconscious bias, and their recruitment processes are designed to promote diversity. “AI-powered assessments support these processes by providing data-driven insights for more objective evaluations while ensuring our people remain at the centre of every decision”.

Eleanor Tan, Senior Consultant of HR & Business Support from recruitment firm Robert Walters Singapore, sees the adoption of AI as positive as long as there are limits. “It has to be used to support the process, not replace it. Recruitment is still a very people-centric job,” she says. “A CV can tell you what someone has done, but it can’t tell you why they’re looking, whether they’re genuinely interested, how they communicate, or whether they’re the right fit for a particular team. Those are things you only really understand by speaking to candidates.”

Conversely, some hiring managers have noticed that AI has made it harder for candidates to stand out. Says Marcus* 37, who works as a project manager in the tech industry, and who has done his fair share of hiring and being hired, “[AI] drives homogenised job descriptions and candidate profiles, making differentiated experience harder to spot. It can also mis-rank strong, non‑linear qualities and backgrounds.”

The human element in AI-driven hiring

As a global recruitment company, Robert Walters deals with many candidates who may come across AI screening in their job hunt. To prepare them, Tan says, “We often advise our candidates to tailor their resume to the role they are applying for. Make sure the skills and experiences that are most relevant to the role are easy to find. Use straightforward job titles where possible, include the systems or technical skills they have utilised, and quantify their achievements rather than just listing out responsibilities.”

But one issue that comes with the ease of accessibility to AI is candidates using it to improve or even write their resumes. As a polytechnic lecturer who mentors students for internships put it: “Young people feel that they need to be able to include the specific key words so that their resumes will be picked up.” 

Hiring managers say it’s about more than just keywords. “I think the biggest misconception is that AI screening is about ‘gaming the system,’” says Todd. “No amount of keyword optimisation can replace genuine capability. The goal is not to make your resume appear to be something it isn’t — it’s to accurately represent your experience in a way that both technology and recruiters can easily understand.”

How AI is changing the job application process

AI is great for resumes – when used correctly. “I use [AI] to benchmark and tailor my CV/cover letters to specific jobs and seniority levels,” says Marcus, while both Todd and Tan agree that AI is an excellent editor. “It can help identify relevant terminology from a job description and suggest ways to better articulate transferable skills,” says Todd. “Many tools can compare a resume against a role and highlight missing keywords or areas where experience may not be clearly communicated.” 

However, he still maintains that it’s no replacement for genuine experience and cautions candidates against using it to invent or inflate experience. “While that may help a resume get through an initial screen, it quickly falls apart during interviews, assessments, and reference checks.” Tan adds, “As recruiters, we often notice when a very polished CV does not match how a candidate speaks about their experience. AI can enhance how you present your experience, but it should never replace it.”

The final decision

At the end of the day, everyone I spoke to agrees that there is one thing that AI can’t successfully replicate, and that is the kind of human connection one makes at an interview (with another human being). It just isn’t possible to gauge how well a person could potentially perform at a job without actually meeting them first. “The most successful candidates use AI to better communicate their genuine strengths, not to manufacture credentials they don’t possess,” says Todd. “Candidates who are authentic and thoughtful in how they present themselves will always stand out, regardless of the technology involved.”

Authenticity is so important, perhaps even more so today when it’s so easy to manufacture or falsify it. Tan brings this point home at Robert Walters. While the company uses it in hiring/screening processes to boost efficiency, candidates they present must still be reviewed by an actual recruiter first. “We spend time understanding their motivations, career goals and suitability for the role because hiring is still ultimately about the people. That is something AI will not be able to emulate.”