The growing use of AI means even the most lovingly crafted CV could be ruthlessly filtered out before it’s even landed on a human’s desk. Photo / Getty Images
How jobseekers can get around increasingly common AI filters.
AI is making life hell for jobseekers. Not only do they have to worry about the new technology automating work and reducing the number of available positions, but it can scupper their chances of landing the roles that still exist.
The growing use of AI in the hiring process means even the most lovingly crafted CV could be ruthlessly filtered out by an AI-driven applicant tracking system (ATS) before it’s even landed on a human’s desk.
Telegraph Money explains how this technology works and outlines the steps you can take to either get your CV over the line, or bypass the problem altogether.
What are applicant tracking systems?
An ATS provides a way for recruiters to sift through huge numbers of CVs and filter out “unsuitable” candidates before a more streamlined list is presented to hiring managers.
James Reed, chairman and chief executive of recruitment firm Reed, explained: “Applicant tracking systems are essentially the databases that sit behind much of modern recruitment. Employers use them to collect applications, organise CVs, search for candidates and manage the hiring process.
“Increasingly, AI is being added to these systems to help recruiters summarise CVs, match skills to job descriptions and handle large volumes of applications more efficiently.”
The system scans for keywords, job titles and experience to work out if a candidate suits the role they’re applying for, and some also rank applications in order of suitability.
The worry, of course, for job-hunters is that simple things, like the wording on their CV or covering letter not matching the keywords the AI is looking for, might rule them out of jobs they are highly qualified for.
How likely is your CV to be filtered by AI?
The use of ATS now appears to be fairly widespread, especially among medium and large employers. “If you apply online to a major company, there’s a good chance your CV will go through some form of ATS before a recruiter sees it,” said Reed.
But it’s arguably affecting some job-hunters more than others.
Calypso Rose, the co-founder of OffScript, which runs careers events for young people in the UK aged 16-25, went so far as to say AI-screening is “universal at the graduate and apprenticeship end” of the job spectrum.
“Every big recruiter running a programme uses AI at every stage: CVs, cover letters, application forms, situational judgment tests, numerical tests, video interviews. A human often doesn’t enter the loop until the assessment centre, by which point candidates have already been filtered through four rounds,” she said.
Lucy Standing, the founder of Brave Starts, an organisation that helps over-50s find work in the UK, believes the systems are also negatively affecting older workers.
A survey of its members found that the number who said their career progression was hindered by ageism had risen from 41% in 2020 to 56% in 2025.
“I’d attribute much of this to AI screening tools,” she said. “Where a hiring manager might once have been won over by a well-crafted letter or an unexpected CV line, that brief moment of human connection has vanished. Now, it’s simply ‘computer says no’.”
One way to avoid the AI sift is to seek roles where there will be fewer applications.
“Smaller firms and specialist recruiters are often less reliant on automation because they receive fewer applications and place more emphasis on direct relationships and human judgment,” Reed said.
Rose added: “It’s much less common in small and mid-sized businesses, and in creative industries, where employers still hire on initiative, curiosity and scrappiness rather than keyword match.”
What makes a successful application
While some job hunters might not need to worry about AI bots, the reality of recruitment today means many will effectively have two choices: learn how to work with them, or find an alternative route.
Dos
- Mirror the language used in the job ad: “The AI scores keyword matches, not synonyms,” said Rose, so use the same wording used in the recruiter’s specification. One way to do this is making sure your CV has a skill section at the top, showing that your skills match the keywords from the ad to prove you’re a good fit. Just be careful not to cram your CV with too many keywords, otherwise you run the risk of pleasing the bot, but irritating the human that’s making the final call.
- Get the formatting right: Guy Allen, the director at recruitment firm Futura Talent, said: “Keep the formatting clean and simple, with a single column, standard section headings and sensible fonts. Submit it as a Word doc or a text-based PDF rather than anything image-heavy.”
- Be really specific: Laurie Macpherson, a careers and LinkedIn mentor, said you also need to bear in mind that AI won’t be able to make inferences from the information you’ve provided, or go digging for clarification elsewhere. “You have to make everything really clear. For example, if the role requires you to have 10 years’ experience, don’t assume the reader will count back through your listed roles to confirm this, you need to state this clearly in the first few lines of your CV, so they can make sure you meet that requirement.”
- Quantify your achievements: “‘Grew the school paper from 200 to 1,500 readers in six months’ beats ‘ran the school paper’,” said Rose.
Don’ts
- Be experimental: “Avoid graphics, icons, text inside images and elaborate layouts, because these are what tend to confuse parsing systems,” said Allen.
- Apply for every job: “This is the worst strategy now,” advised Rose. “Be authentic about who you are approaching.”
- Ask ChatGPT to write your CV for you: Even if employers are calling on AI to assess your application, it unfortunately doesn’t follow that you should rely on the technology to write your CV and covering letter. “People think it’s helpful, but employers are increasingly turned off by CVs that all sound the same,” said Macpherson.
- Try to trick the bot: Allen also warned against hacks, such as “white-fonting”, which lets you stuff your CV with keywords that will only be visible to the screening software. “Trying to game the system with tricks like hidden white text keywords tends to backfire, because recruiters routinely strip CVs to plain text, making these visible – and it looks like you’re trying to mislead them,” he added.
How to bypass AI
If you don’t fancy battling against AI, the other option is to take a different approach to job-hunting that’s not driven by the perfectly scripted CV.
Tips for first jobbers – find a side door or ‘proof move’
“It has never been easier to apply for a job, and never been harder to stand out,” said Rose. “Most young people I speak to are sending hundreds of applications, hearing nothing, and concluding they’re unemployable.
“They’re not, the front door is just shut. You need to pull the ‘proof move’.” This is taking positive action to show a potential employer what you can do, without being asked.
Here’s how to do it:
- Think small: Rather than applying to big businesses that receive thousands of applications, focus your job hunting on smaller operations. “Pick 10 to 15 start-ups or scale-ups as your target companies, not 500 big brands you don’t really care about. Find one person on LinkedIn in the team you want to join,” said Rose.
- Be creative: Rather than asking for a job, Rose suggested showing your potential future employers what you can offer. “A young architecture graduate I heard about had been cold-emailing CVs for months with zero replies. She switched tack: picked her three favourite recent projects from her dream firms, sketched her own version of each, hand-delivered them with a note and got offered a job. This is translatable if you care enough and you really give each brand serious thought and investigation. Pitch a piece, don’t ask for an internship; build the thing, don’t list the skill; critique a brand’s last campaign and send it to their head of marketing.”
- Ask for 20 minutes, not a job: “‘Can I have a job?’ gets a no. ‘Can I have 20 minutes to ask how you got into this?’ gets a yes about a third of the time,” said Rose.
Tips for more experienced job-hunters – network, network, network
If you’ve got more experience under your belt, the key is to work on the personal connections you’ve already built – and start forging new ones.
- Avoid job boards: “Applying through them puts you straight into the algorithmic filter, which is precisely where age bias takes hold,” said Standing. Instead focus on networking. “Networking remains your most powerful tool at senior level. Reconnect with former colleagues, engage with your industry on LinkedIn. Most senior roles are filled through relationships and timing.”
- Use LinkedIn to your advantage: Simply being on LinkedIn isn’t enough for future employers to find you. Macpherson suggested connecting with people you know, as well as those you want to work for – comment on their posts and write your own posts to give yourself more visibility. “Think about who you already know, who might be able to open a door for you, recommend you or point you in the direction of conferences and networking events that might be helpful,” she added.
- Build relationships with recruiters: “While recruitment is getting an increasingly bad name, do try and remember there are some fantastic recruiters out there who will, and do, advocate for those they think are great,” said Standing. “While algorithmic filtering is rife, there are specialist executive recruiters who genuinely advocate for experienced talent, who see seniority as an asset, not a liability. Seek them out, and invest time in those relationships.”