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#HRManagement : 4 Strategies To Mitigate The Rising Trend Of Job Candidate ‘Catfishing’. “Catfishing” is When Candidates Over Rely on AI or Lie on Their Resumes.

Applying for a new job can be an arduous task, depending on the company and the process they have in place. An unspoken rule for job applicants is to be honest and not be rude during an interview. Many hiring managers reject job applicants when they over rely on AI or lie on their resumes. But the process works both ways. Job seekers have bad experiences, too during the interview process, and 42% of candidates decline offers as a direct result of a bad interview experience. The trend of “catfishing” is often the cause of rejection from either job hunters or hiring managers.

The Rising Workplace Trend Of ‘Catfishing’

“Catfishing” is pretending to be someone else online, and it has become a widespread and well-known challenge in the dating and cyberspace worlds. Now, in the world of work, job candidate “catfishing” is the latest deception facing businesses and hiring managers when it comes to talent acquisition, according to Kara Ayers, Xplor Technologies senior vice president of global talent acquisition, total rewards and inclusion.

“Catfishing” occurs when job hunters give fake or rosy information or outright lie to hiring managers. ResumeLab found that 70% of job seekers confess they have lied on their resumes with 37% admitting they lie frequently; 33% have lied once or twice; 15% have considered lying; 15% have never considered lying. Lying rates increase in cover letters and peak during job interviews. The top lies told on resumes are embellishing job titles and responsibilities in general (52%), exaggerating the number of people managed (45%) and overstating length of employment (37%).

“Catfishing” also occurs when job hunters over rely on AI. According to a EduBirdie survey, one in four Gen Z uses AI to supercharge their careers, with 15% crafting better resumes and cover letters. While AI can be a great resource in crafting a resume, under certain circumstances, there are caveats in terms of how far to go when using it. According to Resume Genius career expert Eva Chan, “AI can start the conversation, but it can’t finish it. ChatGPT is a helpful resource in preparing a resume, but it’s critical to be aware of how you use it.”

Overuse of AI can make a resume appear formulaic and impersonal. It can muffle the job seeker’s unique voice and potential. Experts advise that it’s best to use it to improve spelling and grammar without sanitizing your resume at the same time. When job seekers overuse AI and embellish a job title and responsibilities or exaggerate the number of people they managed, the truth usually comes out, and they are immediately rejected for the position. It also can harm their reputation with other recruiters in the same industry.

“Job seekers are using AI to craft their cover letters and resumes, and now many application materials all look the same,” Ayers told me by email. “Some job seekers have even started to use AI when interviewing over video, which is a challenge for global companies who primarily hire remote talent.” She says at Xplor Technologies, most of the fake candidates they’re seeing on video interviews are for tech jobs.

 

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What Skill Sets Do You Have to be ‘Sharpened‘?

 

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Article continued …

“Alongside this, those in charge of hiring have seen a notable rise in the number of applications received,” Ayers explains. “At Xplor Technologies, we have experienced a 75% increase in the volume of job applications. We’re attributing part of this surge to job candidates’ AI usage, as many are using AI to robo-apply to hundreds of jobs. All of this makes it harder for employers to avoid being misled by job applicants and to distinguish the truly qualified candidates from the fakes.”

Steps Employers And Hiring Managers Can Take

Ayers describes four steps her organization has implemented to weed out applicants who are using AI for bulk applying-.

1 – Key words and phrases. She described that at the bottom of their job descriptions, they ask the candidate to enter a certain key word or phrase and to place that word or phrase somewhere specific in their application. “If they have read the job description they know to enter a certain word or phrase when applying,” she notes. “If AI is generating the application, it would not decipher this or add those words correctly. We then filter resumes based on who has followed our instructions.”

2- Use of live video interviews. Ayers suggests that business leaders push human resources and hiring managers to use live video interviews more frequently throughout the screening process for each candidate. “Knowing they could prompt generative AI tools to write answers for questions they anticipate getting, hiring managers need to use live calls to gauge each candidate’s enthusiasm and conviction, in addition to assessing their answers—which they may be reading aloud from AI,” she states. “In the age of AI, a candidate’s genuine interest in a job can be more important than their writing samples, which can be generated easily.”

3- Follow-up questions. While consistency and structure are key to ensure fairness when interviewing, Ayers believes it’s helpful to allow for some natural flow and follow up questions that dive deeper into examples of work experience. “Surface level questions are easy for candidates to respond to leveraging AI, even during video interviews,” she says, pointing out the importance of asking follow-up questions that go into more detail about the candidate’s experience and skills. “Never rush or cut corners with this,” she cautions. “And, with the recent uptick in job candidate fraud, employers shouldn’t pull back on key skills testing, either.”

4- The old-fashioned way. “Employers should remember that they can still find promising job candidates the old-fashioned way: by implementing referral programs and incentivizing their workforce to spread the word about open roles,” Ayers suggests.

 

“We know that AI has its benefits for both candidates and employers. Like many organizations, we are just getting started and exploring how best to keep the hiring process authentic, while creating a fair process where both candidates and employers have a healthy balance of using AI,” Ayers concludes. “We are discussing guidelines for our candidates on where we will accept that they use AI and where it is not acceptable. Once we have made those decisions we will publish guidelines on our external career site to provide a level of transparency to those that want to apply for our jobs and work for us.”

 

A Final Word: Job Seekers Can Have ‘Shift Shock’

Job seekers are not the only ones with a pattern of “catfishing.” Some hiring managers are guilty of the deceptive practice, too, giving false descriptions about an open position. Research shows that 70% of hiring managers have lied to job candidates during the recruitment process due to pressure to meet hiring demands and protect company interests, with 35% admitting they frequently engage in this practice.

Job hunters realize they’ve been “catfished” after a hiring manager lies or sugar-coats a position to hook them. Once in the job, they discover the hiring manager presented a picture of the role that doesn’t fit with the daily job tasks. This realization—known as “shift shock—was one of the top 10 workplace trends of 2023, and it has risen in 2024. Shift shock is the realization that a job seeker’s new job isn’t what it was cracked up to be. A Muse Shift Shock Survey found that 72% say they’ve experienced shift shock, and 80% say it’s acceptable to leave a new job before six months if it doesn’t live up to your expectations.

Forbes.com | August 13, 2024 |

#JobSearch : Top 5 Résumé Trends For 2024, With AI Prompts To Reshape Your CV. Here Are the Top 10 Trends for Asking your Résumé Stand Out.

In a competitive job market, where AI and cutbacks can jeopardize numerous career paths, it’s crucial to have a high-quality résumé. According to ResumeGenius, there are some top trends emerging in 2024 as must-haves on your CV (curriculum vitae, another word for résumé). Resume.io, one of the top online tools for AI-generated résumés, says that only 2% of résumés make it past the initial screening. What are you doing, right now, to make sure you get past that threshold? As recruitment evolves, and HR departments become more and more selective, it’s crucial that your résumé rises to the occasion. Talent cloud company iCIMS says that 47% of college seniors are already using AI to write their résumés – and chances are 100% that AI will be used to read them. In 2024, here are the top 10 trends for making your résumé stand out – with some AI prompts to help you create a message that matters.

One. Résumés Are Becoming More Skills Focused

Rapid advancements in tech have created an ever-expanding digital skills gap. However, both hard skills (like computer programming, product management, and electrical engineering) are not the only story that makes a difference in your résumé. AI Prompt: inside of ChatGPT, Bard, Gemini, or your favorite résumé-focused AI tool, enter all or a portion of your résumé and ask for a summary of your demonstrated hard and soft skills. (Some good AI tools include KickResumeResume.io and Teal). What skills will make you stand out? Are your skills matched to the opportunity, and the job description? Think about skills as keywords: what experience(s) need more amplification?

Two. Hard Skills Matter on Your Résumé

Do you have experience in artificial intelligence (AI), data science, machine learning, digital marketing or cybersecurity? These hard skills are top of mind for recruiters, according to ResumeGenius.com. LinkedIn Learning reports that 64% of L&D (learning and development) pros say that reskilling the workforce is more of a priority than ever before. Showcase your skills, and make things easier for the L&D folks, by showing what you know. As they say in Texas, “It ain’t braggin’ if you can do it.” AI Prompt: after entering a section of your résumé, ask for an evaluation of demonstrated skills. What stands out, and how can you clarify/quantify your hard skills?

 

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What Skill Sets Do You Have to be ‘Sharpened‘?

 

Did you know?  First Sun Consulting, Llc (FSC) is celebrating over 32 years in delivering corporate & individual outplacement services & programs to over 1200 corporate clients in the U.S., Canada, the UK, & Mexico!   Visit us @ www.firstsun.com  OR Ask for a Quote for Services at  info@firstsun.com

We here at FSC want to thank each of our corporate partners for the opportunity to serve & moving each of their transitioning employee(s) rapidly toward employment!

 

Article continued …

Three. Soft Skills are Crucial for 93% of Hiring Managers, on Your CV

Forbes contributor Monique Danao says that “Soft skills—also known as “people skills” or “interpersonal skills”—are a set of personal attributes and abilities that allow individuals to effectively interact with others in a professional setting. At their core, these include the ability to collaborate effectively, manage time and communicate with clarity, among others.” Indeed, even getting the most out of AI tools requires effective communication. AI Prompt: after entering a section of your résumé, ask where soft skills can be highlighted. But don’t stop there: ask the AI to see what soft skills emerge, based on your work experience. If the AI doesn’t have good ideas based on what you feed it, consider how you can talk about skills like critical thinking, curiosity and flexibility. Extra credit if you write it in such a way that the recruiter says, “Tell me more about this particular experience.” Because, after all, the objective of the résumé is a simple one: having the conversation that really matters, in the job interview.

Four. Be Social Media Savvy

Resident rockstar recruiter, Jack Kelly, says that you would be wise to post important career milestones on social media – even if you’ve lost your job. But Kelly doesn’t suggest that you “spray and pray”, littering the internet with every ounce of pathos and self-expression you can muster. “Social media offers individuals the opportunity to build and showcase their personal brand and engage with industry-specific content. It can also help individuals stand out to potential employers and recruiters,” Kelly writes. Recruiters are looking at your socials, and the presence you create online (especially LinkedIn, but also on the Gram and TikTok) will be seen. Heard. And scrutinized. Let people know that you are available for work – and share the service that you know you can provide. Don’t waste time trashing your bad boss, or your previous employer – save that for Facetime, or a conversation at the pub. Make sure you send the right message at the right time. AI Prompt: if you were laid off or let go, even if you were fired, ask the Chatbot for ways to discuss your departure. What are best practices for talking about your last experience, even if it wasn’t necessarily a good one? While you don’t want to sound too rehearsed, it’s a good idea to choose your words carefully – so that your résumé and your interview are both focused on service. You can’t fix the past, but you can delete dumb posts. And that can help you to create the future.

Five. Tailor Your Résumé to Each Specific Opportunity

A shotgun approach to the job market may look smart, on the surface. After all, isn’t the job search a numbers game? But how you play it is up to you. Consider the difference between a shotgun blast, and a sniper’s bullet. The sniper is focused on a single target, and zeroes in on exactly what matters. Can you find the time to “adjust your sites” (and tweak your résumé) to fit the opportunities that are really attractive? Ida Petterson, a career expert at ResumeGenius, says, “Adapting your resume for different positions doesn’t have to be difficult or time-consuming, especially if you’re applying for similar types of jobs in the same industry. Simply replace any bullet points that aren’t relevant to the specific company, or adjust them so they focus on showcasing the specific abilities that the employer seeks.” AI Prompt: Remember, you don’t always need to ask AI to fix stuff. Trust your instincts on this one. If you do turn to AI, feed in the job description, and ask the AI to give you a summary of the skills requirement. If you really want the gig, don’t spray and pray. Get specific – it doesn’t take long to tailor your message.

ResumeGenius has some other guidance as well, especially regarding your side hustle. If you’ve done contract work to fill in some gaps on your résumé, make sure you include that experience. But be careful: if you have multiple gigs during the same time frame, you may get questions around your priorities, and your ability to commit. Is that a bad thing? I hope not – my diverse interests and skills are part of what makes my career meaningful. Perhaps you feel the same way? Just remember: like every aspect of your résumé and the entire job interview process, whether something is good or bad depends on what you do with it. Skills are skills; how you communicate your abilities is what separates your résumé from the rest of the herd. Ultimately, if you’re not sure how to talk about your experience, or if you’re still stuck on aspects of your résumé, remember: you don’t have to go it alone. An investment in a career coach – someone who’s there to listen to your goals, and focus on your success – can be a powerful one, at any stage in your career.

 

Forbes.com | January 23, 2024 |