The Robotic Reality of Modern Job Hunting
Bhuvana Chilukuri, a 20-year-old Indian-origin third-year business student at Queen Mary University in London, has applied for over 100 jobs as she approaches graduation this summer. To her dismay, she has faced rejection from every single one, attributing much of this frustration to the rise of artificial intelligence in recruitment processes.
"It's Robotic. It's Brutal."
"It's robotic. It's brutal," Chilukuri told the BBC, describing her experience with AI-driven hiring systems. She recounted instances where she received rejection emails less than two minutes after submitting applications, a process she finds particularly disheartening. Chilukuri believes that very few, if any, of her applications were ever reviewed by a human being, as companies increasingly rely on AI to screen candidates.
"The first step is AI screening your CV. You can get rejected pretty quickly at that stage. Then the next process would maybe be an AI video interview," she explained. Despite having several work experiences and internships under her belt, Chilukuri has struggled to secure a job for after graduation, a sentiment she says is shared by many in her age group who find the first rung of the career ladder increasingly out of reach.
The Growing Use of AI in Hiring
Job vacancies in the UK have nearly halved since the post-pandemic peak, while higher costs for employers and strengthened rights for new hires have made firms more reluctant to recruit. When companies do hire, they are turning to AI to manage the overwhelming volume of applications. According to recent data from LinkedIn, approximately 89% of UK recruiters plan to use more AI in their hiring processes this year.
Chilukuri described the impersonal nature of AI interviews, where candidates log into portals, answer questions while video recording themselves, and stare at their own reflections for up to 20 minutes. "I do tend to feel like a robot, because you're just seeing yourself on screen, and answering questions for almost 20 minutes. You become sort of monotone. You don't speak to anyone, and it takes away your personality. It's quite sad," she said.
Industry Perspectives on AI Recruitment
Denis Machuel, CEO of Adecco Group, acknowledged that the AI interview process can be demoralizing. His company uses AI for candidate pre-screening. "People need to send, on average, 200 applications to get a job offer," Machuel stated. He explained that while AI brings scale to recruitment, it also amplifies frustration. "Before, you would reach out to 50 people, and out of that you will take one, so you will have 49 people frustrated. Now, if you reach out to 500 candidates, you create 499 people frustrated."
Chilukuri understands why companies use AI, given the flood of applications they receive. However, she noted that this has led to a counter-movement among candidates. "Students are becoming lazy. They're like 'if you're going to screen with AI, I'm going to apply with AI.' And they use AI to write their CVs. I don't blame them either. Everyone's trying to figure it out," she said.
Case Study: Law Firm Mishcon de Reya
Law firm Mishcon de Reya turned to AI after receiving 5,000 applications for just 35 roles in its last hiring round. Tom Wickstead, early careers manager at the firm, highlighted the challenges: "We've got more legal graduates, we've got fewer graduate roles, and we've got more candidates using AI to write more applications. So for us as an employer, we've got this explosion of applications, and it's harder to tell the difference between those applications."
The firm trialed an AI chatbot developed by graduate careers advisors Bright Network, which screens candidates in real-time and identifies parts of applications that may have been AI-generated. Wickstead reported positive feedback from candidates so far and suggested that AI tools could make hiring fairer. "I just don't think that any recruitment process is free from bias," he said. "So what AI has a potential to do is be far more consistent, far more fair than the old process."
Human recruiters still conduct interviews later in the process and make final hiring decisions, but Wickstead is exploring whether AI can match or even surpass human consistency in decision-making.
The Human Element in AI Recruitment
Despite these advancements, Chilukuri remains skeptical. "I don't trust the AI, I think I'll always trust a person. But it's hard to get the opportunity to see the person," she said. Machuel emphasized the need for a balanced approach: "What needs to happen is to inject the AI smartness at the right moment in the process, so that you compliment the efficiency of AI with the judgement and human touch of people. That's the combination that will break this arms race."
As AI continues to reshape the job market, the debate over its role in recruitment highlights the tension between efficiency and humanity. For job seekers like Bhuvana Chilukuri, the hope is for a future where technology enhances rather than replaces the personal connections that define meaningful career opportunities.
