New Greenhouse data on job hunting, nicely written up by HR Dive, reads like a breakup text. 81% of job seekers say they were rejected in the past year without anyone, human or bot, ever talking to them. 71% took an extra step to get noticed. And 60% changed, or thought about changing, how they wrote applications so they wouldn’t look AI-written. Rich, given the AI screening them on the other end.
Lawyers chasing in-house roles know this black box well. Applying cold through a portal is a lottery ticket. The useful stat is that nearly half of applicants sought a referral, because people still hire people they’ve heard of. Keep that in mind before working through our guide to getting an in-house job: a warm introduction still beats a perfect upload. And skip the hidden keyword text a third of applicants admitted to. Somebody will read it eventually.
“Nearly two-thirds (62%) said they attempted to use various tactics to get past AI screening processes, including using AI to figure out what the system wanted (54%) and adding skills or keywords they didn’t have (40%). In addition, a third of applicants said they added hidden text designed specifically to appeal to AI reviewers.”
Read: Job seekers say they’re still being ghosted — even as they’re trying harder to get noticed at HR Dive