The survey of nearly 500 recruiters and 1,100 candidates highlights that while businesses are receiving more applications, the use of AI to process applications quickly is causing high-quality talent to be overlooked or filtered out.
- 35% of recruiters say they are missing out on top talent due to a lack of human intuition when AI is used in the process.
- More than a quarter (27%) say strong applications are filtered out before reaching an interview.
- One in five (20%) report an overall decline in candidate quality where AI is used.
Job seekers increasingly frustrated with AI use in hiring
It’s a view that job seekers have long suspected. More than half of the jobseekers surveyed (53%) believe their application has been rejected by AI without a human reviewing it, while 46% say unfair rejection is one of their biggest frustrations when job hunting.
It’s leading to 40% of jobseekers abandoning or considering abandoning an application due to AI being used in the hiring process. This is particularly the case when AI bots are used for screening.
David, 37, a part-time bartender, describes the experience of being interviewed by an AI bot as deeply impersonal:
“Being interviewed by an AI bot felt incredibly alienating – there's no feedback or human interaction, so you have no idea how you’re coming across. It feels like you’re being filtered out, and with so little real communication, it’s easy for the effort you put in to be completely overlooked.”
Younger candidates are particularly sceptical
- Nearly two-thirds (64%) of Gen Z suspect AI is responsible for rejecting them during early hiring stages, making them the generation most likely to question automated hiring decisions.
- Gen Z is also the most frustrated by unfair rejection (53%), followed by Millennials (47%) and Gen X (46%).
Current jobseeker, Simon, said:
“I stayed away from initial interviews with AI platforms – there's no human interaction and just entirely impersonal. But now AI is in human calls too, taking notes during interviews. After three months without a job, what am I supposed to do? If AI is going to be a gatekeeper, I may as well use it to help me get through those gates.”
AI use in hiring has surged, but it struggles with soft skills and cultural fit
AI adoption has surged as employers try to manage rising application volumes in a challenging market for jobseekers. More than four in five recruiters (83%) use AI to speed up hiring, while 28% rely on it to manage high volume of applications.
However, recruiter confidence in its effectiveness remains limited for now, with just 36% saying it improves speed-to-hire.
Recruiters say it performs best when writing job descriptions (63%) and handling tasks such as interview scheduling (38%). But when it comes to more nuanced qualities, confidence drops sharply; 72% say that AI struggles to identify cultural fit and 55% say it performs poorly at assessing soft skills.
Lee Biggins, CEO and Founder of CV-Library said: “Candidates have long felt that the human touch is ebbing away from the hiring process and that good people are getting screened out unfairly. This insight from recruiters in both agencies and businesses suggests their frustrations may be justified.
“It’s a timely wake-up call that not everything should be outsourced to AI, especially in recruitment where every candidate is individually unique. It can add value in automating some laborious process, but good recruiters are using it to support human intuition, not replace it.”
Five ways to make sure AI doesn’t filter out your CV
- Frontload your skills – start your CV with clear bullet points that match the job description. Make it easy for recruiters to see your key strengths immediately.
- Showcase unique achievements – use active, measurable language to showcase your achievements. Highlight real results, not generic claims, so both recruiters and AI can recognise your impact.
- Tailor every application – customise your CV and cover letter for each role. AI can help with formatting or phrasing, but show you understand the company and role.
- Be specific, not vague - avoid relying on generic claims like “improved”, “led”, and “managed”, and instead include data and context. AI systems spot quantifiable outcomes.
- Stick to simplicity – avoid text boxes, images, graphics and tables as AI tools struggle to interpret them. Stick to simplistic layouts with basic styling, and clean, professional fonts like Arial or Calibri. Prioritise clarity over creativity.
Five ways employers can get hiring right - without losing top talent
- Always include human oversight – keep humans in the loop – use AI for admin tasks, freeing your time to assess skills, cultural fit, and personality.
- Be AI transparent – be clear about AI, as candidates often overestimate its use. Explain how it will be applied to build trust and reduce drop-offs.
- Audit AI tools – ensure tools are set up correctly to avoid filtering top talent unintentionally – specifically looking for errors, gaps in selection and bias.
- Find individuality – only humans can recognise unique achievements, measurable results, and personal impact.
- Balance efficiency with candidate experience – use AI to reduce admin but keep the application process engaging and request candidate feedback for continuous improvement.
The full report and additional insights are available here:
https://www.cv-library.co.uk/recruitment-insight/ai-in-recruitment-survey/
https://www.cv-library.co.uk/recruitment-insight/how-to-fix-problem-with-ai-hiring/
If you do cover the research, we’d appreciate a link to https://www.cv-library.co.uk/.
