Applying For A Job Is Too Easy

One of the consequences of AI content generation tools combined with a push from recruiting platforms to make it easier for applicants to put in their resume for a job is that the market is getting flooded. Several years ago, a posting might have attracted 100 or so applicants if they were lucky. Now it can number in the thousands:

“A year ago, every recruiter would tell me: We want to make it as easy as possible to apply for jobs,” offering candidates a “seamless experience,” Ophir Samson, the head of voice AI for Greenhouse, tells WIRED. Samson joined the recruiting platform earlier this year, when it acquired his startup, which used AI to conduct job interviews. “What they got was 2,000 applicants in 24 hours for a job. That is a shitty experience for everyone.” Good applicants can’t stand out, while bad candidates slip through the cracks.

The growing conclusion from hiring professionals and job seekers alike is that the process of searching for a job is fundamentally broken. The solution seems obvious: add more friction into the process. So how can anyone recruiting for a new position do this? One solution is to use job listing boards created by people within an industry. For example, Mandy Hofmockel is a journalist who created a postings board and Substack for journalism jobs. It is the sort of resource that is passed from one person to another by word of mouth - and therefore unlikely to be a target for bot farms or for mass submissions of resumes. I’ll be on the lookout for other solutions to this challenge and if you can suggest any, let me know.